Loading...
> >

Moving Daz3d Library

PookPook Posts: 121
in Technical Help (nuts n bolts)

This is probably a really simple question, and probably one that's been asked before, so I apologise in advance!

It seems like my Daz3d library is taking up  a lot of space on one of my hard drives, and I would like to move it to an external hard-drive to save some space. Is it a simple case of moving the files in Windows Explorer to the new location, then updating the Daz3d and DIM softwares to point to the new location, or am I going to be better off uninstalling everything, and then reinstalling it all manually? I'm hoping it won't come to that, but if that's the only solution, then that's what I will do....

And if I do move it manually - is there anything in particular I need to watch out for?

Thanks in advance!

Comments

  • TheKDTheKD Posts: 2,691
    edited April 2017

    Yep, you can just move it like you say.

    Post edited by TheKD on
  • PookPook Posts: 121

    Thank you :) 100gb of content move coming up!

  • fixmypcmikefixmypcmike Posts: 19,583

    Two other steps you should do:

    1) if you have custom categories, tags, or metadata, make sure you Export User Data first.  The CMS in DS4.9 uses relative paths, so it should handle the new location seamlessly, but it's worth having the backup just in case.  The CMS in DS4.8 uses absolute paths, so if you use 4.8 you'll want to reset the database and re-import metadata after moving the content.

    2) DIM keeps a record of where it installed everything in the ManifestFiles folder.  For each item that's installed there's a .dsx file, and there will be a line that says

    <UserInstallPath VALUE="Q:/All Runtimes/My DAZ 3D Library"/>

    (I have a custom install location, the default would be something like "C:/Users/Public/Documents/My DAZ 3D Library" on Windows, note that the separator is a forward slash regardless of OS.)

    You can use a text editor that handles multiple files (I use Notepad++) to change that path in all the files to the new location; that way if you update or uninstall an item, DIM will be looking in the new location.

  • PookPook Posts: 121

    Thanks for that heads up - I don't have any custom categories (at the moment) so that's not an issue - but I'm gonna have to change all the ManifestFiles..... Time to download Notepad++ as I've got 1400+ items to amend!

     

  • TheKDTheKD Posts: 2,691

    Wow, yet another reason to breathe a sigh of release I don't use DIM lol. Maybe one of the really smarter code guys can write up some kind of batch script for that.

  • fixmypcmikefixmypcmike Posts: 19,583

    It would be pretty simple, but I haven't seen a need.  Doing a mass find & replace on a single line is really easy.  Updating or uninstalling a single product without DIM is several orders of magnitude more work.

  • borgtrekkerborgtrekker Posts: 112
    edited April 2017
    Fixmypcmike said:

    Two other steps you should do:

    1) if you have custom categories, tags, or metadata, make sure you Export User Data first.  The CMS in DS4.9 uses relative paths, so it should handle the new location seamlessly, but it's worth having the backup just in case.  The CMS in DS4.8 uses absolute paths, so if you use 4.8 you'll want to reset the database and re-import metadata after moving the content.

    2) DIM keeps a record of where it installed everything in the ManifestFiles folder.  For each item that's installed there's a .dsx file, and there will be a line that says

    <UserInstallPath VALUE="Q:/All Runtimes/My DAZ 3D Library"/>

    (I have a custom install location, the default would be something like "C:/Users/Public/Documents/My DAZ 3D Library" on Windows, note that the separator is a forward slash regardless of OS.)

    You can use a text editor that handles multiple files (I use Notepad++) to change that path in all the files to the new location; that way if you update or uninstall an item, DIM will be looking in the new location.

    Please advise on which files/folders need to be backed up when having to uninstall/reinstall DIM on a new machine to prevent having to reinstall all my content all over again...  All of my DIM downloaded files are on an external drive instead of being on my C drive, which is unable to handle the amount of content I own.

    Thanks.

    Post edited by borgtrekker on
  • fixmypcmikefixmypcmike Posts: 19,583
    borgtrekker said:
    Fixmypcmike said:

    Two other steps you should do:

    1) if you have custom categories, tags, or metadata, make sure you Export User Data first.  The CMS in DS4.9 uses relative paths, so it should handle the new location seamlessly, but it's worth having the backup just in case.  The CMS in DS4.8 uses absolute paths, so if you use 4.8 you'll want to reset the database and re-import metadata after moving the content.

    2) DIM keeps a record of where it installed everything in the ManifestFiles folder.  For each item that's installed there's a .dsx file, and there will be a line that says

    <UserInstallPath VALUE="Q:/All Runtimes/My DAZ 3D Library"/>

    (I have a custom install location, the default would be something like "C:/Users/Public/Documents/My DAZ 3D Library" on Windows, note that the separator is a forward slash regardless of OS.)

    You can use a text editor that handles multiple files (I use Notepad++) to change that path in all the files to the new location; that way if you update or uninstall an item, DIM will be looking in the new location.

    Please tell me which files/folders need to be backed up when having to uninstall/reinstall DIM on a new machine to prevent having to reinstall all my content all over again...

    Thanks.

    The ManifestFiles folder

  • CO3DRCO3DR Posts: 159
    edited April 2017

    I use Windows 10 assigned paths in Disk Management a lot to keep certain content on SSD and other content on spinners. Removes DAZ and IM from the conversation entirely, but because the paths are hierarcharical you can end up with other space management issues. For instance, I map my content to an SSD, but underneath my content directory I map my "General" and "Dreamlight" directories to a spinner, since they usually contain training videos. Now, if I get more than 100GB of Dreamlight videos, I'm going to have to copy my current partition to a larger spinner, or grow the partition, etc. I also map the ZIP file directory to a spinner.

    Post edited by CO3DR on
  • borgtrekkerborgtrekker Posts: 112
    Fixmypcmike said:
    borgtrekker said:
    Fixmypcmike said:

    Two other steps you should do:

    1) if you have custom categories, tags, or metadata, make sure you Export User Data first.  The CMS in DS4.9 uses relative paths, so it should handle the new location seamlessly, but it's worth having the backup just in case.  The CMS in DS4.8 uses absolute paths, so if you use 4.8 you'll want to reset the database and re-import metadata after moving the content.

    2) DIM keeps a record of where it installed everything in the ManifestFiles folder.  For each item that's installed there's a .dsx file, and there will be a line that says

    <UserInstallPath VALUE="Q:/All Runtimes/My DAZ 3D Library"/>

    (I have a custom install location, the default would be something like "C:/Users/Public/Documents/My DAZ 3D Library" on Windows, note that the separator is a forward slash regardless of OS.)

    You can use a text editor that handles multiple files (I use Notepad++) to change that path in all the files to the new location; that way if you update or uninstall an item, DIM will be looking in the new location.

    Please tell me which files/folders need to be backed up when having to uninstall/reinstall DIM on a new machine to prevent having to reinstall all my content all over again...

    Thanks.

    The ManifestFiles folder

    I have searched my computer and am unable to locate that particular file...  Assuming it is part of DIM where is this folder normally located?

    Thanks.

  • TheKDTheKD Posts: 2,691
    edited April 2017

    The actual file to search called manifest.dsx
    The folder you find that inside.

    Post edited by TheKD on
  • fixmypcmikefixmypcmike Posts: 19,583
    borgtrekker said:
    Fixmypcmike said:
    borgtrekker said:
    Fixmypcmike said:

    Two other steps you should do:

    1) if you have custom categories, tags, or metadata, make sure you Export User Data first.  The CMS in DS4.9 uses relative paths, so it should handle the new location seamlessly, but it's worth having the backup just in case.  The CMS in DS4.8 uses absolute paths, so if you use 4.8 you'll want to reset the database and re-import metadata after moving the content.

    2) DIM keeps a record of where it installed everything in the ManifestFiles folder.  For each item that's installed there's a .dsx file, and there will be a line that says

    <UserInstallPath VALUE="Q:/All Runtimes/My DAZ 3D Library"/>

    (I have a custom install location, the default would be something like "C:/Users/Public/Documents/My DAZ 3D Library" on Windows, note that the separator is a forward slash regardless of OS.)

    You can use a text editor that handles multiple files (I use Notepad++) to change that path in all the files to the new location; that way if you update or uninstall an item, DIM will be looking in the new location.

    Please tell me which files/folders need to be backed up when having to uninstall/reinstall DIM on a new machine to prevent having to reinstall all my content all over again...

    Thanks.

    The ManifestFiles folder

    I have searched my computer and am unable to locate that particular file...  Assuming it is part of DIM where is this folder normally located?

    Thanks.

    The default location is something like C:\Users\Public\Documents\DAZ 3D\InstallManager\ManifestFiles on Windows. 

Sign In or Register to comment.