Thank you for the replies. I apologize that I did not give all the requested info up front. I have an iMac 27" Late 2013. It's running OS X 10.9.5. I have some time machine backups but sounds like i should do a backup as recommended in the previous post. I will do that tonight. I have thousands of photos that I don't want to lose.
Since iPhoto has been replaced by Photos, is it an easy transition, or do I have to export all the photos once I upgrade?
Hi again
Tricia - you've been receiving some great advice - I agree w/
Rod, i.e. please provide some more information of your computer (year/RAM/HD size/Storage left/etc.) - may impact on whether you can easily upgrade to the latest macOS, i.e. Sierra, if you want to migrate to the newer
Photos app.
iPhoto & Photos are both on my laptops (iPhoto just carried over in my upgrades to the newer OSs) - in both of these apps, images are typically imported from elsewhere - for me, the 'Pictures' folder in Finder - open the app and check in that folder to determine if your images are also stored there (see my screen capture below, blue arrow) - if so, then for more reassurance, you could easily just drag that folder onto an external device, such as a large USB flash drive, an external HD, or other - let us know; of course, this is in addition to updating your TM backups and adding cloning software. Dave
.