Using old drive filled with content in new build
UnifiedBrain
Posts: 3,588
Hi there,
I just got a new computer. Finally went to Windows 10.
The plan was to take the storage drive (D) from my old computer (it contains all Daz installed content) and plug it into the new computer. I was hoping that DS would just recognize it, and my content would already be in place without needing to download it all over again.
FIrst I downloaded DIM. Then downloaded CMS. Then downloaded Daz Studio. Then I went back to DIM and attempted to add a path to the old drive. I did add a path, but no content shows up in the DIM "installed" pane
Have I done something out of order? Is there a specific path I need to change? Or, will I have to simply redownload all of my content?
Appreciate any suggestions!
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Comments
Is your DS configured to find the drive? (D;\My Library\ etc. etc) My understanding is your manifest files are what determines what DIM shows as "installed". Did you copy those over? Not at my Daz machine, but if I remember, those files aren't stored in your content library.
Probably should have brought up first, you mention you switched to Windows 10. Is the drive being read by windows File Explorer at all? Does DS show your content in the Content Library?
First, in order for DS to be able to use the content you'll have to tell DS where that content is, not just DIM.
Go to edit > preferences > content library > content directory manager in DS. You'll see a list of paths for various files formats, add the paths to your old content directories there in Daz Studio Formats and Poser Formats:
Regarding DIM seeing these as installed: DIM keeps track of what's installed using "manifest" files, which are stored in a specific directory. From memory by defaut that directory in in a subdirectory of "public documents".
You can only have one manifest folder, but you should be able to move the old manifest files into your new DIM Manifest folder if you still have them/
Thanks for the responses!
I did not copy manifest files from old machine. I assume they were on the C drive, and it is currently sitting in a box. I will ask about what to do later in this post, thanks.
Yes to both. Thanks for asking that second question. I was so concerned about getting smart content working, that I forgot to check the regular content tab.
That was helpful, thanks! The paths to the D drive were already listed. I clicked on each of them and hit "apply" just in case. For some reason, I now have a very small percentage of smart content showing up in Studio. Mostly Genesis 3 and 8. A Weird mix of other older stuff. But it is only a fraction of what is on the drive.
It sounds like I need to reactivate my old C drive and copy over the manifest files from there to the new manifest files location on my current C drive. Is that correct?
The latest DIM allows you to define where to place the manifest files so they don't have to be on your C: drive.
Your Smart Content will depend on the metadata that is loaded into CMS, which would be empty if you just installed it new. The metadata is in all the .dsx files in the Runtime/Support folder in your library. Right-click on the Content Library tab and select "Content DB Maintenance..." You will (eventually) be presented with a list of all products and User Data files to import. Select them all, and accept. Maybe go grab lunch, because it might take a while.
Thanks for your various advices, folks!
It looks like I may not have to mess with maifest files. I've decided to simply try redownloading everything into the old D drive. Will know the results later today.
Actually, there are two sets of manifest files, one for the downloads that resides with the product zips, and informs DIM of what you have downloaded. The other set is generated by DIM for the installed content that shows what was installed where. Some of that is displayed in the info pop-up you get when you hover the mouse over a product in DIM, and in the "Show Installed Files..." action with a right-click on a product. If you are using the same path as the original library, you can copy them directly to the folder of your choice, as long as you set that folder in DIM and restart it. If not, a small change in each manifest file would be needed to point to the right place. I have done that more than once without losing any data and without having to re-download or re-install anything (except maybe plug-ins).
If you did mess up (as I do each time I do this because there is no elegant way of changing the location of the downloaded product installers without editing the xml files manually that give their location & I'm far too lazy to do that) but have the downloaded installer files you need only correct the pathnames where the DAZ Content Library & the Downloaded DIM files are located on your new computer (basically update DIM & DAZ Studio Preference to reflect how you want them on your new computer) and then restart DIM and check the whole queue for installed products & run queue (3rd tab in DIM), that deinstalls, then those files will show up in the downloaded products to be installed (2nd tab in DIM) so check the box for the entire queue & click the green button to install them all unattended.
If you have as many products as I have it will take a while but all those manifests & CMS dB will wind up being corrected for you and you don't have to sit & watch it.
Don't forget to re-enter your serial numbers.
I use notepad++ and the "Find in Files" function to replace the UserInstallPath string in all the dsx files with the new one. Takes about 3-5 minutes for 15000+ files.
Some of you folks are more technical than me. :)
I went with the path of least technicality, and redownloaded the product files through DIM. It took less than an hour. In doing so, I'm assuming that DIM simply overwrote the product files on the old drive. Whatever, everything seems to be working properly now, with smart content showing up in both Studio and Carrara.
Again, many thanks for the responses.
These 3900x's are pretty amazing!
I thought notepad++ costs money?
Oh, with that few products purchased that makes sense just to download again. It takes me 3 hours just to copy the products installers from one HD to another (it's why I'm buying a 2 TB SSD in February too).
Nope. Gratis.