Setting up new computer
sfaa69
Posts: 353
I have a new computer with a small SSD with Windows on it and a 1TB HD for files. What is the way to move D/S and it's files to the new computer from the old which has everything on the C drive? Is there a way to do it and still keep the layout and plugins the way they are? Surely this has been covered before, but I can't seem to find any discussion about it.
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After further research, I think I was wrong. This hasn't been covered anywhere that I have found.
Plug-ins will need reinstalling and reserialising. Content can be copied across and placed where you like.
The layout and the content database are both in the %AppData%/Daz 3D folder - Studio4 and, if you used the defaults, cms/ContentCluster. For DIM there's a folder in the C:/Users/Public/Docuemnts folder for Daz Install Manager - the zips are in the Downloads folder, the list of DIM-installed content in the Manifests folder. You can choose to place the downloads elsewhere on the nwe system by editing the Downloads tab in the prefrences, reached by clicking the gear icon at top-right of the main interface. Similarly you set the path for content to be installed to in the Installation tab. In DS you can use Edit>Prefrences>Content tab>Content Directory Manager to tell DS where the content is going.
Content installed via DIM is the biggest potential issue as the manifests store the absolute location of the files, so if you move the actual fiels DIM won't be able to remove them. Usually that's just a nuisance, you could always "unisntall" (whic would do nothing, reinstall, and then uninstall for real if you wanted to remove anything. Updates can be told to use the current path in prefrences, then potential issue here is if an update needs to remove a file rather than repalce it with a new version.
I was waiting for someone to answer this so I could bookmark it. I haven't had to reinstall DS yet, but I know that day is coming.
Thank you, Richard. For the past few years I have only installed new content from within Studio. Everything has been fine doing it that way, and between the Smart Content and Content tabs I have had no problem finding things. However, when I copied everything in my user directory from the C: drive on my old computer to the D: drive on the new computer, many of my saved scenes and scene subsets can't find files, listing them as C:(file name) and when I search for them I can't find them. Is it possible they are somewhere else?
Upon further investigation into DAZ Connect, I found the files that are missing in the My DAZ Connect Library under Studio. I also read that files are encrypted for one year. Is this why I am having problems? And what can I do about it?
I really think we need to have a sticky that gives instructions, step by step, in moving Studio to a new computer so that ALL the information required is ported over and what additional steps need to be taken to make the new installation work like the old one.
No, soem content was rleased with encryption - and available only through Connect - with an unencrypted, DIM installable version following a year after release. All current content is unencrypted. The files installed by Connect are compressed, so they can't be read by a text editor without uncompressing them. Did you copy the My Daz Connect Library folder across, under that name or another, and add it as the new Daz Connect library or as a regular Daz Studio content diectory (either will work) in Content Diectory Manager?
I copied the entiry User directory to an external disk and then copied that intact to the new computer drive D.
and is it working?
No, when I open some scenes it says files are not found and offers to download them. Once I download them and save the scene, then it is fine, but it is slow going downloading anywhere from 2 to 8 files on scenes.
OK, are you sure you told DS to use the copied over content - the directories are not set in the AppData folder, if you are not using the defaults or have different user-names on both machines.
I checked out your last suggestion and found the directories were not all set up to direct to D:, so I corrected that and so far that seems to have solved the problem. I thought there must have been something I overlooked, but couldn't figure out what. Thank you for helping, Richard, as you have done so many times over the years.