Can I have DS 4.6 and DS 4.7 installed on the same PC at the same time?

wargis

Hello! I have a rather silly noobish question, sorry in advance. Does anybody know, is there a way to have two different versions of DS 4.x installed on one the same PC at the same time? I have old DS 4.6.1.39 Pro 64-bit installed long ago and want to try new DS 4.7 64-bit but I'm wouldn't like to reinstall all my heap of content, plugins, to re-customize UI etc. Somewhere in the forum I've met threads about installing DS 3.0 and DS 4.x versions at the same time and fully working. FAQ in the thread above http://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/48862/ about DS 4.7.0.12, tells that

Can I have the General Release and the BETA installed at the same time?
Yes! You can have both the General Release and a Public Build (as well as a Private Build, for those involved in that endeavor), of the same major version, installed at the same time. Please be aware that the settings for each of the builds are stored independent of each other. This includes mapped content directories, layout, style and style colors, among many others.

but DAZ Studio 4 Frequently Asked Questions has such the answer -

Do I have to uninstall previous versions of DAZ Studio before I install DAZ Studio 4?
If you have a previous version of DAZ Studio 4, then we STRONGLY recommend that you uninstall that version prior to installing the latest version of DAZ Studio 4.

What is true for DS 4.6 Pro and DS 4.7.0.12? Is it possible to install newer versions of DS4,without uninstalling my older version? If I install and use them under different user accounts, will they conflict? Can they share one the same Content library? That is if I install the newer DS 4.7 without Genesis\Genesis 2 Genesis Starter Essentials, can I switch it somehow to my old My DAZ 3D Library folder with all its Content, Runtime and other inner folders and use that content just as in old DS 4.6? Or I should update Genesis Starter Essentials for DS 4.7,because they could change since DS 4.7 has been released?

Richard Haseltine

You can have a production build and a beta build installed, you can't have two production builds or two beta builds. However, upgrading won't require a content or plug-in reinstall (exception: the first time you install a beta you will need to reinstall plug-ins, most shaders and some scripts) though where there is an update for a plug-in it's a good idea to install it.

WendyLuvsCatz

Well you sort of can if you install it manually to a different folder but it could cause issues with DIM and you certainly could not use both at once.
Both could reference the same library but would overwrite each others app data files etc.
I have done it myself with two builds when I was using it with and without a plugin in the past namely LAMH full and the free player when there was a bug with preloads and wanting my own creations.
That has been long fixed since.

wargis

Richard Haseltine said:

You can have a production build and a beta build installed, you can't have two production builds or two beta builds. However, upgrading won't require a content or plug-in reinstall (exception: the first time you install a beta you will need to reinstall plug-ins, most shaders and some scripts) though where there is an update for a plug-in it's a good idea to install it.

Thanks!. As I guess, both of these DS builds seem to be production builds (not beta), so I cannot install them as parallel versions. Then how to upgrade DS 4.6 properly to DS 4.7, keeping all content and plugins safe? Does it mean I must uninstall DS 4.6 manually before installing DS 4.7, and then I need install DS 4.7 manually, or I can download it through DIM (DAZStudio_4.7.0.12_Win64.exe only without other stuff) and install over DS 4.6? Should I upgrade Genesis Essentials, GoZ, DSON Importer too? And what about older plugins as Measure Metrics, designed for DS 4.6.2.118 and similar plugins, which haven't been updated yet - will they work in DS 4.7? And Lights and Shaders too.

mjc1016

4.6 and 4.7...no.

4.6 and 4.8...yes.

4.8 is the current beta. 4.7 is the current 'production' build. 4.6 is the previous full version/'production' build.

Richard Haseltine

wargis said:

Richard Haseltine said:

You can have a production build and a beta build installed, you can't have two production builds or two beta builds. However, upgrading won't require a content or plug-in reinstall (exception: the first time you install a beta you will need to reinstall plug-ins, most shaders and some scripts) though where there is an update for a plug-in it's a good idea to install it.

Thanks!. As I guess, both of these DS builds seem to be production builds (not beta), so I cannot install them as parallel versions. Then how to upgrade DS 4.6 properly to DS 4.7, keeping all content and plugins safe? Does it mean I must uninstall DS 4.6 manually before installing DS 4.7, and then I need install DS 4.7 manually, or I can download it through DIM (DAZStudio_4.7.0.12_Win64.exe only without other stuff) and install over DS 4.6? Should I upgrade Genesis Essentials, GoZ, DSON Importer too? And what about older plugins as Measure Metrics, designed for DS 4.6.2.118 and similar plugins, which haven't been updated yet - will they work in DS 4.7? And Lights and Shaders too.

How did you install originally? If you sued DIM then use DIM again and it should update things. The Starter Essentials packages have been updated at various points, so whether you need to reinstall them will depend on how old your copies are - I can't recall if they have been updated during the 4.7 releases. GoZ and Measure metrics are updated along with DS, but you don't absolutely have to get the latest versions (I can't see any good reason not to, they are small files, but it isn't absolutely required). The DSON Importer for Poser isn't linked to DS, but it has had a moderately recent update.

wargis

mjc1016 said:

4.6 and 4.7...no.

4.6 and 4.8...yes.

4.8 is the current beta. 4.7 is the current 'production' build. 4.6 is the previous full version/'production' build.

Oh, thanks! Honestly, I feel a bit lost in all that flow of new builds, sometimes it's hard to figure out what's the difference between new releases. At last you explain it clearly. Maybe I'll give it a try with DS 4.8, if it works. I suppose, if co-existence of two builds causes any big troubles, I may leave the latest version only. Originally I installed DS through DIM but some people all over the web wrote that installing newer builds through DIM above older versions causes more problems with Genesis, plugins, content library etc, so I prefer manual installation.