Back-up Your DAZ Studio Before It's Too Late
hjake
Posts: 1,311
I am about to wipe my main hard drive and put a fresh install of the O/S on it.
What are the steps I should follow to back-up all my gigabytes downloaded content
so I do not need to re-download it. I'm talking about Daz Studio and DIM.
Post edited by hjake on
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What I've done is put my entire Runtime (all folders that aren't downloaded using the DIM, for example) on an external SSD (250GB). Works everytime.
In your case, though, if you just wipe everything, you can re-download purchased stuff through the DIM, but everything else will be lost and need to be re-installed manually.
I have my O/S on its own harddrive so when I do need to do a fresh install it pretty much leaves everything else alone (one of the other drives is also a backup drive of all the other drives...just in case!!)
I have my entire content/runtime on my E Drive. Its been there for 10 years and has not been afffected by multiple reinstalls.
Simply copy everything within the content folder to a new drive or external drive. If your computer only has USB 2 its going to take a while. if its an internal drive it will be faster
In DIM go to Settings (Gear Icon) and look what Path is set on the Download Tab under "Download To": Backup this directory
Also Saving your allready installed Library Folders is a good thisn, so you don't have to install again.
I'd also export the user data (make a backup of your database).
When you sweep the main drive, you will have to re-install all plugins you have for DS, because these get stored in the C-Drive.
Here's what I would store/backup:
Folks, really? If you're actively creating art (or not) don't think you should have a periodic, automatic backup scheme in place? 3TB External drives are available for the price of 1 DAZ shopping spree. Several choices for backup programs that do incremental backups on a frequency of your choosing.
1. Yes, I use Easeus Backup for do auto b/u of all drives on all computers. I am talking about starting a clean computer and clean DAZ Studio but NOT having DIM re-download my 5120 items in the database.
2. Thanks to everyone for taking the time to respond. I been out of the loop for a while due to work.
3. I have my runtime installed on a second hard drive (D:\RUNT\DAZ DIM) and my non DAZ DIM in sub folders of D:\RUNT\. So my runtime is safely on a separate drive.
4. These are the folders I know about:
C:\Users\spes1\Documents\DAZ 3D\Studio
D:\DIM - DAZ 3D Install Manager\Downloads
5. The "Downloads" folder contains a zip file and a partner dsx file. Is that all that is needed for DIM to reinstall the product WITHOUT re-downloading the content. If my runtime stays in RUNT how will DIM know that it is already installed?
I guess another way to ask this is:
I wipe c drive, install DAZ Studio and DIM. Copy the old folder "C:\Users\spes1\Documents\DAZ 3D\Studio" back onto the c drive.
Open DAZ DIM and tell it to look into "D:\DIM - DAZ 3D Install Manager\Downloads" to look for zip and dsx files.
Before that I went into DAZ Studio and told it my runtime libraries are in "D:\RUNT\DAZ DIM"
Will DIM know that all my content is already installed to the runtime folder (RUNT) and not try to re-install from the downloaded zip/dsx files?
Will DIM recognize that it has the zip/dsx files are will it say I have to download again?
Are there any config/ini/log files, registry entries, or such that I need to backup from c drive?
While you're about it don't forget to back up your Daz 4.8 intallation files because Daz.com ain't gonn'a let you have access to them anymore. Apparently the coffee machine has been moved too far away from their desks to let the tech guys attent to both 4.8 and 4.9 at the same time. The long walk has made them forget how to support more than one version at a time, so 4.8 is killed off. I guess the ability to multi-task at Daz hasn't caught on.
DIM tracks the installed files in C:\Users\Public\Public Documents\DAZ 3D\InstallManager so you'll need to copy that over.
If you use smart content and have made any changes yourself you need to export userdata from the content database maintenance menu from the content library or smart content options. And you'll need to re-import metadata after the move/install. OR - with both Studio and DIM shut down - you could just copy the database directory and its content.
No wonder why people manually install LOL and give "smart" content. the heave ho. What a convoluted process just to get the damn software to work as it should in the first palce.
I recommend Macrium:Reflect for backup and restore.
Each of my machines has it and backs up to an external drive. Every day. Some partitions get backed up 3 times per day. Every day.
Again, thanks to all for input.
Thanks namffuak, I wll add those items to my to do list.
It's late, I'm tired, have a good night. Maybe later I will recap everything discussed and put up in here.
I can't agree more with this. My DAZ Studio content (runtime and work) along with all of my other work, live on an external drive that is mirrored and I back it up with Apple's Time Machine. So, when my RAID complained that one of my disks was bad (and I had to wait a week for a replacement...I really should have planned ahead), I wasn't too worried. But, if that was my only copy, I would have been totally screwed. All because of a couple of nights of bad storms and constant power outages.
My backup device cost me maybe $120? I can't remember. It only has enough space to keep a few months worth of backups, but that's enough for my needs and I've retrieved a fair number of files off of it, usually do to careless purging:O
Plus, when I got my new computer (now over a year old), I didn't have to copy anything. I just installed DS onto the new machine and pointed to the external disk and my content was there. Smart stuff sounds like a bit more planning is necessary, but it should be manageable without too much of a headache.
Also - always test your backups regularly, to make sure they're really working. The only thing worse than no backup is an automatic backup that hasn't been saving the right data. Restore selected items to a different directory or drive and compare them to the originals.
Backup these.
C:\Users\Public\Documents\DAZ 3D
C:\Users\YOUR_NAME_OR_WHATEVER\AppData\Roaming\DAZ 3D
You'll get your various settings back
One thing to note, if you change the drive from where Daz files used to be, IE: C drive to E drive, you'll have to manually edit some files for the straight copies to work.
Or if your name changes from John (for example) to a Windows 10 nomenclature. Windows is not case-sensitive, which in this case is not a negative.
An example below:
A file that will need changing if you copy things over after reinstalling; take the Account file in C:\Users\YOUR_NAME_OR_WHATEVER\AppData\Roaming\DAZ 3D\InstallManager\UserAccounts
This line shows in mine as:
DownloadPath=E:/Documents/Daz 3D/InstallManager/Downloads
... Obviously this would not work if I moved everything to the F drive, until I change all required.
I'd open the relevant file(s) in somethink like Notepad ++ and do a search and replace (I monitor what it is changing, which is slightly longer, but worth it imo.) of E:/ and replace it what was required. As long as the rest of the install path was the same, there would be no issues.
When I thought to do this, this was the only file that was causing me issues. I don't know if there are any more, as I'd partially started from scratch. :)
Thanks for all the feedback.
nicsst if you have the opportunity to list which files need texrt editing that would be appreciated.
That way I coud use the DIM Library on my laptop and my pc using the same source I created for my old pc.
That title scared me...
Well, more like "deeply concerned" me... Zombie werewolves "scare" me... Usually if they are hiding in the cereal cupboard and I'm not expecting them... Then I'm all like "Aaaahhh!! What the hell!!", because realistically nobody expects a zombie werewolf in their cereal cupboard... Not that that has ever really happened, but I once had a dream about that and sometimes you can't tell if a dream is just a dream or a premonition... like the time I dreamed I found a pickle in some French fries and then the next day I found a pickle in my French fries at Burger King... It was fried, and the dream pickle wasn't.. Actually, the dream pickle was one of those nice crisp deli pickles, not all shriveled up and grossly fried and looking like a diseased sliced pancreas that was deep fried... But anyway, I thought there was some bug or problem and I got very concerned, and I got all ready to board up the windows and doors and start backing up DS because something terrible was about to happen, so I grabbed the fire axe that I keep next to the toilet (I grew up in NYC and between the sewer alligators and CHUDs, it's just an old habit)... Admittedly, I should have at least read beyond the title and not sprung into action... Actually, I should have at least put on some pants, because... Actually, I should explain that I don't normally run around with no pants on... Realistically it makes no sense to go around half naked and if you are gonna run around with no pants on, just go for broke... Unless it's with wild hogs, then I recommend not being naked at all because they tend to bite... Where was I?... Oh yeah, see I was sewing my pants because the angry raccoon bit a hole in them when I pulled him out of the barrel in the yard, and I really like those pants because they are one of the few jeans that I have that actually fit me... I hate that most jeans my size have to have weird torso lengths... What's with the knee height crotch? How are you supposed climb a ladder or fight a kangaroo if you can't raise your leg up with a stupidly low crotch height? But anyway, as I was running through the kitchen with the axe, the axe head flew off and hit the pot of pork fat that I was rendering (I was trying to make old flashed soap) on the stove, and spilled most of it... Is anyone still reading this?... No matter... So I opened up the pantry to get out the pork fat mop, but then the angry raccoon got out and I remembered that was where I threw him... If you are gonna pick up an angry raccoon, I recommend that you are wearing raccoon grade gloves, pick them up by the scruff of the neck and have a plan on what you are going to do with that raccoon after you apprehend them... And most importantly don't go inside the house to answer the phone while holding said angry raccoon and don't toss them in the pork fat mop cabinet and forget about them... Because raccoons get exponentially angry with each passing day they are incarcerated in a pork fat mop closet... Thats probably the best description... It's more of a closet then a cabinet... It only smells a little like pork fat too, more like a combination of oak and wine... Sorta like a really old bar or pub from the 1800s... Except there is a pork fat mop in there... The bar... The closet just smells that way because I spilled wine on the oak floorboards and the house is over a hundred years old... I suspect nobody is reading this anymore so I'm just gonna continue... Anyway, the raccoon jumped out at me and I slipped in the pork fat and as I fell down I grabbed the dishwasher door and found out that our dishwasher doesn't always shut off if you open the door while it's on, so now the room was filling up with soapy pork fat water and the angry raccoon was circling me and I was getting ready to whack him with a trout shaped frying pan... For a moment I felt like I was in one of those old Star Trek episodes, the ones where Kirk is getting ready to fight with some angry alien and he has some improvised weapon like a pipe or a space wrench and that dramatic hand to hand combat music is playing... Then I realized I was holding a trout shaped frying pan and Kirk was hardly ever in hand to hand combat without pants on, except for that episode with the Gorn and they ended up making out, so it was understandable... That kinda killed the mood, but seeing that I was momentarily distracted, the raccoon lunged for a carving knife and I smacked him with the skillet... Yeah, it was more of a skillet, then a frying pan... But anyway, it knocked him out like a light... So I grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and realized my wife and her cousin had just come home and there I am half naked, standing in the flooded kitchen, holding a greased up unconscious raccoon with a small fire going on the stove and an axe head sticking out of the wall next to it... I almost got a chance to explain but I realized she was screaming something at me about something possibly have to with what had just happened... To be honest, this isn't the worst thing I've done... Today... So far... So that could have been about any number of things... But anyway, so now I'm out here in the yard writing this and being pestered by those big metallic blue spider hunter wasps... It's annoying because I'm not even infested with spiders today... and just now having read the rest of this thread I realized the title was more about backing up DS before doing an OS upgrade then about a zombie werewolf apocalypse...
I don't know if any of that was worth it... I don't know if this is just a time out or this is were I'm living from now on... I also don't know what happened to that raccoon because I dropped him when she screamed at me and last I looked he was not laying on the floor where he should have been... There is a good chance he is waiting for me inside... I'm probably going to sleep in my workshop tonight... Or forever... I really should pause and read a thread before I react from now on and not react based on my interpretation of the tread title... Well lesson learned I guess.
Probably not.
I have all my DAZ Studio original files, including DIM files on a 3TB hard drive. I have another 3TB hard drive that is a carbon copy clone of the "originals" drive. I also have a 2TB hard drive for my "Runtimes." And, yes, I have another 2TB hard drive for a cloned backup.
Wait, that's not all! I have DAZ Studio installed on my 1TB Macintosh main drive. And, yes, I have another 1TB hard drive with a cloned backup of the Macintosh drive! In addition, all my originals are stored on Dropbox!
The above post sums up the need for backups more than any other explanation possibly could. :-)
hahaha McGuyver, your posts are always a laugh riot!
If you have the time/money, make sure you also have multiple backups and keep one offsite. A backup is no good if it's in the same flooded/burnt house as the other backup, nor is it any good if it's damaged in the process of making or restoring from the backup. I knew someplace years ago where every day (or week, forget which) they put in the backup tape and ran the script to copy from the computer onto the tape. Years later their computer got messed up, so they grabbed the backup tape, popped it in, and ran the backup script like they always do...
Ooops.
Well, that didn't work out as planned did it? Now you have two copies of the corrupted files, and zero copies of the backup. Unless, of course, you have more than one copy of the backup. No guarantees of course, but at least avoiding one-off errors is handy. I periodically delete the wrong file, copy the wrong direction, whack the mouse and have no idea what just happened with the files, or find a file I KNOW I didn't need and deleted after years of disuse suddenly turned out to be needed afterall. Multiple generations of backups help, and really aren't that much extra money or work.
Even the best backup strategy can't overcome Stupidity of the User. I had most of my stuff backed up to DVDs. I decided to get rid of the DVDs. Later, I discovered I'd lost some of the characters and work I've created over the past 15+ years. I still haven't looked at a couple 1TB hard drives that I'd "put on the shelf," in favor of the 2TB & 3TB drives. I need to find my hard drive docks so I can see if the treasured stuff is on them!
It wouldn't be a tremendous loss. I've decided recently to concentrate on the various Genesis generations and phase out the older characters.
PS: MyGyver, I saw your long post, and didn't read it. Blame it on my advanced age, and short attention span!
Aw... Well... To be honest I didn't read my post either... Actually I didn't even read your post... I'm guessing at this... Is it close to relevant? Did it have anything to do with Boris Karloff or Lon Chaney?... Dick Cheney? Boris Yeltsin? Broccoli-cheddar panini? I'm a bad guesser...
Its okay... I recommend not reading stuff I've written, to anyone reading stuff I've written... It's bad for one's health and mental well being... I'm pretty sure one can get cerebral cavities from it... Or brain mites... One of those... I forget.
I stopped being relevant at least a decade ago! Boris who?!
Do not think your data is saved for eternity with DVDs. You can buy "archive DVDs",which are are better.
Best, to make backups of backups at least every year or two.
I think a tape backup would probably preserve data better than CD or DVD media.
I have some very old casette tapes that are still viable.
I've been using DVDs for years. None of them has failed me, However, some of my DVD driives have died. I'm going with multiple hard drive backups for now,
You've been lucky. Some DVD brands/batches are reliable, and may be OK after 10 years or more. Others fail after just a couple of years, or less, of storage. And you won't know which ones are the bad ones before it's too late. M-discs though are claimed to last up to 1000 years, stored under correct conditions, but only time will tell if that holds. They appear to be more reliable than common DVDs though.
For the same reason, when I used DVDs for backup, I always made 3 copies of each on 3 different brands of DVDs. This way there is a good chance that at least one one will be OK after some years. I recall a box of Hyundai DVDs, where every single one was bad after a few years, while the other 2 brands in the 3-DVD sets almost all were OK.
Another thing is compatibility between burner and DVD, which can affect the quality of the burn and how long it lasts or how readable it is. Readability may again differ depending on which drive you use to read it. I've had bad DVDs that failed in a certain drive while being readable in another. Especially newer BluRay drives seem to be good at reading DVDs that fail in DVD drives, at least that's my experience.
I usually ended up redoing the DVDs, for various reasons. Sometimes I got double layer DVDs. I don't recall looking for any special brand of DVD. I just got bulk quantities.
On the note of archiving. DVDs, Hard Drives, Stone Tablets, whatever.
Please remember that all technology has a limited life span.
FOR DATA STORAGE/ARCHIVE:
Date the storage medium on the first day you recorded to it. Also if it was manufactured more than 18 months before you used it, make sure it is still good and maybe back date for the first use date.
Atleast every 5 years or sooner from first use date transfer the data to a new storage medium and keep an old copy just in case.
Do not put your faith in the longevity of technology if the data is priceless to you. All storage mediums and electronics will chemically breakdown over time. Temperature and humdity control can lessen the effect but over time all things fail it could mean significant loss or an enormous cost to recover the data.
Also remember that the newer technology which is able to stack more data in a smaller space is also more prone to major data loss. It works great until it doesn't.
The only exceptions I know of to my caviats are industrial archival technology which national archives around the world are starting to implement and cost tens of thoudands of dollars. Even they are only talking about lifespans of 100 to 200 years.