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Repair guides and disassembly information for Apple's Macintosh personal computers.

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How to fix iPhoto?

Everytime I click on my iPhoto application it shows up but then does the rainbow thing for hours and doesn't show anything.

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Chosen Solution

Generally we don't do software fixes... but since I"m here and I know the answer here it is: You have to rebuild, or create a new iPhoto Library.

Option 1

Back Up and try rebuild the library: hold down the command-option (or alt) keys while launching iPhoto. Once a dialogue box opens you can release them. First Choose to Repair Database. If that doesn't help, then try again, this time using Rebuild Database.

If that fails:

Option 2

Download iPhoto Library Manager and use its rebuild function. This will create a new library based on data in the albumdata.xml file. Not everything will be brought over - no slideshows, books or calendars, for instance - but it should get all your albums and keywords back.

Because this process creates an entirely new library you must have plenty of HD free space! You'll need double the library size + 20% of your HD total size (e.g. for a 120GB HD you'll need 12GB AND double your iPhoto library size) or you'll have freezes and slowdowns due to no VMEM swap space for the OS.

This last option leaves your old library untouched, it is non-destructive, so if you're not happy with the results you can try some other cure.

If this answer was helpful please remember to return and mark it Accepted.

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