# iphoto help



## pattracy (Mar 19, 2010)

I have a mac mini, my operating system is 10.4.11. I messed up my iphoto and it will not open anymore. When I try to open it I get a message and it will not open. The iphoto version is 5.0.4 and this is evidently not the right version. I can't find my discs or I would to a reinstall. Any idea how to fix this issue?

This is the message I get

You can't open your current photo library using this version of iphoto.
You have made changes to your photo library using a newer version of iphoto. Please quit and use the latest version of iphoto.


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## sinclair_tm (Mar 11, 2005)

The message says it quite clearly, the photo library was opened by a newer iPhoto, and it changed the library so that older iPhotos can't open it. Reinstalling will not be of any help. The only thing that you can do is upgrade to the version of iPhoto that the library is now set up for, or start over with the version of iPhoto you have.
To start over, move the iPhoto Library folder to your Desktop. Now open iPhoto and it should either create a new library, or ask what you want it to do because it can't find it. Once it's open drag your old library folder to the iPhoto window and then go do something else while it copies all the photos. You will lose all keywords and tagging, but you'll again have an iPhoto library that you can use.
Lesson learned, iPhoto is not backwards compatible, so do not open a newer version of iPhoto on your computer unless you are going to use it for here on out.


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