Content to new computer- transfer or reinstall?
SteveM17
Posts: 1,060
in The Commons
As I'm deciding on which new computer to buy, I was wondering just how I'd get my content from one laptop to the other? I'm assuming that's possible, otherwise it would mean reinstalling every figure and object, which would be a long and tedious process. So how is it done, if it can be done? Cheers.
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I was wondering if it can be done with a USB cable connecting the laptops and dragging/copying files into the DAZ folders on the new computer? Or is this not a practicle way to do it?
Many, many years ago, I bought and used a file transfer product called Laplink. It used the still prevalent MS-DOS interface (Windows was still in its early days.) and a cable that used the now defunct parallel port. I found it very useful. Laplink PC Mover has persisted to this day and its various editions are reasonably priced at Amazon, from the company Laplink Software (https://go.laplink.com/) and other locations including local electronics stores such as BestBuy. PCMover can transfer via a wireless connection, or a cabled (Ethernet, USB, Thunderbolt) connection.
I install DAZ3D content via DIM and third-party content for Daz Studio manually to an external hard drive (and duplicate the installed content on another external hard drive, so connecting the primary hard drive to another computer and configuring Daz Studio to look for content there is quite easy for me without the need for transfer software. I did this last year when I dropped my primary external hard drive but recovered from it the next day by using my backup external hard drive as the new primary drive.
Although I have not used Laplink in decades, I’d consider buying and using the current version again if needed.
The problem is unless you export & import the CMS db (Postgresql) for your 2nd PC, copying the entire DAZ Content Library won't work. Even in Batchmode DIM took over a day to install all my DIM products. I have my DIM products saved on USB SSD so at least I don't have to download all that again & again.
Re-importing metadata don't take that much time (for those who don't know, Right Click on Content Library Tab > Content DB Maintenance > Re-Import Metadata).
Thanks for that, maybe I'll try it next time but I don't mind clean installing either unless I were to have to re-download all 9000 products.
I have my library on an external hardrive connected to the laptop with usb. All I need to do is point DAZ Studio and Install Manager to the library when I change the Laptop for a new one. For new content I get that doesn't use Install Manager I just drag and drop from the downloads folder to the library folder.
The really important question is, if you are modifying content and add your custom morphs to it, or if you just use it out of the box.
If you don't, you can just reinstall, but if you have modified content you need to back up it and transfer it to your new computer. (Takes almost half of the day for me)
In all the years that I have had to transfer from one PC to another, I have found that just transfering to an external HDD and then transfering to the new PC is enough to keep everything intact. I have never lost any files this way.
If you are transfering over USB 2, then yes. If you have USB 3.0 or 3.1, then not so much. But all devices must support the faster transfer speed if you wnat to take adavantage of it
I'm usually saving the morphs I'm creating in an empty library called morphs, so it's easier to keep track of them.
Of course, I forgot to do it for some of them but a Bash script solved the problem nicely (~30 lines, likely 30 minutes to write and test them, after spending some time trying to copy them with the Finder before remembering I know my way around Bash
).
If you know your way around a shell langage (I don't know if Bash can be used directly on Windows, it should be possible to do so through the Windows Linux Subsystem, but it's a bit of a heavy handed approach to have a full Linux distribution running to run a 30 lines script
), it's easy.
You need both: USB 3 ports on your computer (it should be a given if your computer was bought this last 10 years) and an USB 3 cable to take advantage of the speed offered by USB 3. And of course, you need an USB 3 hard drive.
Regarding the speed, a 3.5" external hard drive will be faster than a 2.5" external hard drive and an external SSD will be faster than both.
I just bought a new pc and decided to rebuild my library from scratch. Its pretty much a big pain but I decided just to add the stuff I know I'll use. I'm also going in every 20 or so products and organizing everything to my tastes rather than leaving it to vendor choice. So many of the vendors are all over the place when packaging their products.
The ports, cables and devices must all support the same USB standard. So if they all support USB 3.2, then everything will tranfer at USB 3.2 speeds. But if one item only support USB 2.0, then you are stuck at USB 2.0 speeds no matter what.
If one computer has USB ports that are 2.0 or 3.0 and the other has 3.2, does that mean they can't connect? Or would they connect at the lower USB speed?
The lower speed.
I've installed my DAZ Studio content on an external drive ever since I bought my first Mac back in 2007.
I continued using an external drive when I switched back to a Windows PC.
That's good since it appears my HP Envy desktop is dying. I'm to cheap to upgrade to a new PC until we at least have DAZ Studio 5.
If Daz content is on an external drive, how do you make Daz look there instead of the C drive when you click on an item in your library to load it up into the software to use in the work screen (if it's called that)?
Daz Studio will check all of the locations listed as content directories (Edit>Preferences, Daz Studio>Preferences on a Mac, Content tab, Content Directory Manager) until it finds the file or runs out of content directories to check.
So would it be possible to have a runtime folder on the c drive and a runtime folder on an external drive with different content in each, and direct DS between the two depending on what I load into a scene?
If you can get them both on local network, there is a nifty program called localsend https://localsend.org/
Free, cross platform, fast, for a speed boost disable encryption as well. Before I found that I used to use a external hdd to transfer. Over network goes a lot faster than copying twice. It's how I transfer stuff to my "work" PC which never touches the internet.
DS will check both in turn, by the order in which theya re listed in Content Directory Manager, until it finds a copy of the file it is looking for or runs out of content directories.What are you wanting to achieve here?
Aside from settings nothing needs to be on C:
If you save everything in your current runtime or content folder to an external hard-drive, you can simply connect that drive to the new computer, and identify that drive in the DazStudio content manager tab, and all the files on that drive will be available for use. My C: drive only has the DazStudio appllication program, all the assets and contents are on the d drive or external drive.