Moving to a new computer - Daz Studio and product library on external drive
robkelk
Posts: 3,259
in The Commons
I finally have a computer that's powerful enough to use Genesis 9, s I want to migrate daz Studio to it. I currently have the software and my product library on an external drivve.
The old computer runs Windows 10, and I've been using Daz Connect to install new purchases. The new one runs Windows 11.
What di I need to do? Is it just plug-and-play, or do I need to install something on the new computer?
Daz 3D is part of 
Connect
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Comments
DS uses info stored in windows register, so the app most likely won't work if you just plug the drive in, you would at least need to reinstall DS itself.
I'm not sure if setting the Connect content directory in preferences to point to the directory on your external drive would be enough for DS to see the content as installed via Connect, as I don't know exactly how Connect records what is installed.
Where is your content database set, is it on the external drive too?
You would need to move the database across (copy it while nothing is connected, theer are multiple files and if DS or DIM updates it part way through a copy you can end up with broken data). This is one of the limitations of Connect - it cannot be reestablished if the database dies or is otherwise no onger available (though in theory it will see that the files are already isntalled as it goes through the products you want, and so won't need to redownload them).
I've used DIM for years. In that time my DAZ installation has been on Macs and PCs. My DAZ installation has been on external hard drives most of that time. I never trusted Databases, Smart Content, whatever.
I got a powerful PC to handle DAZ Studio, and used that external hard drive. When I got the new computer, I installed DAZ Studio on it. Then I configured the file locations and had fun.
I built a second PC for fun, and installed DAZ Studio and my content on an internal drive this time. I copied the content from the external hard drive to the internal hard drive on the new computer. No muss, no fuss.