External Drive for Daz Studio...
Kev914
Posts: 1,115
if I get an external drive for Daz studio, can I just leave the current content installed where it is and just have it install new content the extermal drive? And how would I tell Daz to install new stuff to the external drive?
I am using Connect and have been for some time, however a lot of my library was installed via DIM. I suppose I could just reinstall it all with Connect, if I get the new drive.
And what happens if I forget to plug in the external drive before I start up studio...will I just have to restart DS once the drive is plugged in? I'm sure I will forget from time to time.
Thanks.
Daz 3D is part of 
Connect
DAZ Productions, Inc.
7533 S Center View Ct #4664
West Jordan, UT 84084
Licensing Agreement | Terms of Service | Privacy Policy | EULA
© 2025 Daz Productions Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Comments
Yes.
You would need to change the install paths in DIM (if you use it) to point to the new drive. And then you would need to add the content location to the Content Library inside Studio (Edit > Preferences > Content Library > Content Directory Manager).
I have multiple external hard drives with content all runnning together. Never had any issues once the drives are 'mapped' in Studio.
I can't say I have ever started up DS without one of em plugged in though. Not sure if it will recognize the drive while running. My guess would be you would need to plug it in then right click on DAZ Studio Formats in your content window within DS and select refresh to bring up the newly pugged in 'mapped' drives.
Why not just leave me plugged in?
That's what it will do...if your OS gives it the same drive assignment every time it is connected.
@OP
Presuming you use Windows; right click on 'Computer' shown in 1.
When the Computer Management screen appears, Select Disk Management - shown in 2.
3 is an example of disks; those were visible on mine.
4. shows that if you right click on one, you can change the drive letter.
NOTE: Don't mess with the disk that contains your system files (probably C, but folks sometimes place it elsewhere).
Just slect a drive letter higher up the alphabet, leave the last few as they often get mapped to network drives. You'll notice I have one as R, it should always appear as R, and allows for USBs and other devices to take the lower ones.
I have others, but I use a switch panel on my PC; so when I don't use them, I have them turned off, and in the case of mechanical drives, unplugged too; they don't use power, and are safer from virus infection when disconnected - and importantly from my own POV, less noise. My PC is silent when not rendering, and very quiet when it is. Both of the disks shown are SSDs.
OK. Thanks.
I bought the drive and I can see where I add the new connect location. Does it go the folder "Daz Connect data" where the already existing folder on the C drive is listed?
If so, then how does Daz know to install new stuff into the drive on Q and not on on the C drive anymore?
Or maybe it would just be easier to use DIM for this?
Thanks.
Well, I figured out how to add a content directory and then install to it in DIM. But there does not appear to be a way to add a second Connect directory....unless I'm missing something. If you select the Connect folder in preferences in DS, it the add folder does not become active the way it does for other content locations.
Edit>Preferences>Content>Content Directory Manager allows you to set the content directories used. You can have only one Daz Connect directory at any time, but as long as the old one(s) are also set as Daz Studio Content Directories the files isntalled will continue to work. If you move the files from the old Connect directory to a new one you will need to "reinstall" them, though in the process Connect will see that the files are already in the new location and so not need to download them.
You click the gear icon at the top-right of the Install Manager interface and go to the Installation tab to chnage the paths used there. Or you can use the scripts Rob has written to copy directory settings, to make sure that they match up.
http://docs.daz3d.com/doku.php/public/software/dazstudio/4/referenceguide/scripting/api_reference/samples/file_io/install_manager_config/start
http://docs.daz3d.com/doku.php/public/software/dazstudio/4/referenceguide/scripting/api_reference/samples/file_io/install_manager_config_import/start
Thanks Richard
I'm not sure what you mean by this statement "You can have only one Daz Connect directory at any time, but as long as the old one(s) are also set as Daz Studio Content Directories the files isntalled will continue to work."
When I tried, DS wouldn't let me create a new Connect directory. You could only EDIT the existing connect directory. Or do you mean to add the existing Connect directory under the Content directories? And edit the existing one to point to the new one on the external drive.
I did copy the content of my existing connect folders to of the same name on my external drive incase I decide to go with that option. (Didn't realize how big that folder was!)
Existing is C:\Documents\DAZ 3D\Studio\My Daz Connect Library
New one I created is Q:\DAZ 3D\My Daz Connect Library
(Wasn't sure if the directory names had to remain the same. Don't actually know where the Documents folder is located. If you look at the C drive, it's not listed, so it must be a short cut to somewhere else.)
So would I go in to Studio and edit the existing path to point to the Q:\DAZ 3D\My Daz Connect Library? And then I would have to open the Install panel and all the icons should show as uninstalled? And then I would need to click on each one, and DS would see that they are already installed?
Is there a danger in trashing the database if I do this?
I like using Connect and the Install Pane and Smart Contect, but I suppose I could just go back to installing using DIM if that is a better option.
I did notice that the products that I installed with DIM to my external drive did not create any smart icons for Darius 7, etc. Is that because the connect drive is on C and DIM stuff is now being installed to Q? Or doesn't the DIM installer create smart icons. It seems like when I installed everything to the C: that smart icons were added for most things, even if I used DIM.
Yes, I meant edit the name but have the old directory listed as a Daz Studio Format/Poser Format content directory.
No, the names of the top level folders (My Library etc.) are non-functional, you can use anything you like.
Yes, change the path then select everything (that you want installed) in the Install pane and install (or do it in batches - but you don't need to do it one item at a time).
The CMS uses absolute paths - exporting your user data (Content Library option menu>Content DB Maintnenance) then reimporting the metadata (both user data and the product data) should readd the DIM installed items to the CMS, in their new locations.
Thanks!
This process actually was quite easy. I clicked to edit the connect path. I thought it was a field that I needed to type in, but it actually let me browse to the new connect directory. But first it warned me that the existing connect path was not list and wanted to know if I wanted it added. It said that some things migbt be broken, if it wasn't added. I said no, because I had copied the entire directory over to the external drive. Then I opened the Install pane. It showed all the new stuff at the top and there was quite a bit due to all the freebies lately. I started installing that. I figured that once I finished that, that I would start to see all the other items that needed to be re-installed.But when I finished the new items, I was back to the items that used to display before I changed the connect location...the stuff that was available to install through connect. I scrolled through the list, but I didn't see anything that I needed to re-install. (I had quite a bit of stuff as it took almost 2 hours to copy it to the external drive.) I went to the Smart Connect and all the icons looked OK. I tried adding some items that I knew I had installed previously through connect and everything seemed to be working. So maybe DS saw the existing stuff and added it when it was installing the new stuff? I even went back to preferences to make sure that the old connect directory wasn't listed and it wasn't.
So...I only have one question left? What about all the stuff I installed through DIM? Shouldn't that be showing in the install pane as availabe to install through Connect? (I used to install everything through DIM and then when Connect started, I switched to using it. I did not re-install the old stuff though.) Or maybe the install pane doesn't show the old stuff because it is already installed by DIM?
Anyway, thanks for everyone's help.
The Install pane shows only items that aren't isntalled at all. Items isntalled via DIM will have the installed icon on them, since they aren't installed via connect, but they will show in the Installed items list.
Thanks. I understand now.