Questions about upgrading to a new computer

markbluegrass

Hello,

I've been using DAZ Studio for about 2 years now, but this is my first time posting on the forums.  I realize the subject of a PC transfer has been covered previously in other posts, but every one that I can find here on the site, or on the web in general, is written in a way that, unfortunately, is over my head when it comes to computer terminology, so I'll appologize up front for my lack of knowledge in this area...

I'm currently using DAZ 4.6 on a PC that's close to 8 years old (Running Windows 7) and is really not set up for such programs, in turn making it very slow.  I also believe the old computer is on its last legs by some error messages I've received in the past few days, so I decided to upgrade to a new machine that's more suited to my needs. I realize I could simply download the most recent version of DAZ on the new computer and re-download my purchases, but if I can avoid that (time wise) it would great, but my main concern is some custom characters and other items that I created on the old machine, that took a lot of work and I would really hate to lose them!

It looks like all of the DAZ materials, runtime, etc., is under C drive on the old computer (The way they defaulted upon the original download, I assume) and I could simply copy those to an external hard drive and attempt to move to the new PC, but I have a feeling it's not quite that simple and I don't want to make a mistake that ends up causing this transition to be even more difficult, so if someone could please walk me through the process, step by step, using regular English, it would be GREATLY appreciated!!

Also, if it makes a difference, the new computer is Windows 10.

Thanks in Advance,

Mark

 

Richard Haseltine

Before installing Daz Studio, or Install Manager, if you want to use a different drive for your content (and for other documents):

1. Open the Users folder on the C: drive
2. Open the folder for your user name
3. Right-click on the Documents folder, select Properties
4. Go to the Location tab in the dialgoue that opens
5. Click the Move button and seelct teh folder you want to use

You can do the same for the other special folders - Pictures, Videos etc. You can also move the Public Documents folder, but that seems (in Windows 10) to require manually typing a new location.

 

fixmypcmike

To transfer your custom categories or tags or metadata, on the old computer, from the Content Library options menu (rectasngle with horizontal lines in the upper corner of the pane) > Content DB Maintenance > Export User Data.

That will create a file named UserData_1.dsx (or multiple files if necessary) in the Runtime\Support folder of your first Daz Studio Format content folder.

Then move your whole content to the new computer (it doesn't have to be the same disk letter or path, since everything is relative to the base folder location).

Launch DS on the new computer and go to Content Library options menu > Content Directory Manager to set your content locations (don't forget to add the same path to Poser Formats as you do to Daz Studio Formats).

Then from the options menu Content DB Maintenance > Re-Import Metadata to add everything back to the database -- DS will look in the locations you set in Content Directory Manager to find the content's new location.

Limba

If you are using DIM then recommend to backup DIM data from public user.

I just also updated my computer and needed to reinstall win10 because new system disk (SSD in M.2). Mapping DAZ database disk to same letter as before and after installing DIM then I just copied old DIM data to new public user and I didn't have to reinstall all products.

Edit:

Minor fixes

markbluegrass

Thanks to everyone for the responses!  That seems pretty straight forward.  I'll give it a try later today and hopefully be able to transfer everything.  I may have a few more questions afterward, so please bare with me, but I'll let you know how it goes.

Thanks again,

Mark

 

markbluegrass

Well, I'm not sure if I was doing something wrong, but I tried following the instructions given and both methods seem to only register what's under the "content library" tab, such as the basic Victoria/Michael characters, various props, and the presents provided for them or purchased from DAZ.  The items I was mainly concerned about are not showing up, unless I'm missing something...

To Clarify my earlier post, the things I'm mainly worried about transferring are some custom shaping morphs and material settings I had done and saved for the above base characters.  In verzion 4.6, they are the ones that show up under "unassigned" in the "shaping" and/or "surface color" tabs.   

These were/are saved on the old computer as a "shaping preset" or "material preset", respectively.  Should I have saved them in some other way, or are these things something that I'm just not going to be able to move from machine to machine?  Sorry if I'm not grasping something obvious, but once again, all help is appreciated!  Some of these custom shaping presets took quite some time to tweak to my satisfaction and I'd really hate to have to try and re-create them, if I ever could...

Thanks again,

Mark

fixmypcmike

If you saved them to your content library they should have all come across along with everything else.  If they were unassigned before, then doing a "Scan Known Directories For Files" should put them back there.

Richard Haseltine

They will have Auto generated asset files in the Data folder, if you hadn't explicitly saved them as morph assets. Did you bring over the \Data folders from all of your old content directories?

markbluegrass

Fixmypcmike,

Just to make sure I'm understanding you correctly, once I do the export and create the UserData_1.dsx file in the Support folder of Runtime on the old PC, the next step is to Copy the "Content Library" folder onto the external hard drive, then connect it to the new PC and Copy/Paste the entire thing into the DAZ3DLibrary Folder on the new machine, or do I need to go deeper into that folder before I Paste?  The path to the DAZ3D Library on the new computer is:  (C:) > Users  > Public > Public Documents.  From that location, it shows three folders:  1. Cyberlink, 2. DAZ3D, 3. DAZ3DLibrary (this third one is where you see data, people, props, runtime, etc.)

Thanks,

Mark

fixmypcmike

Just make sure that you don't end up with a Daz3DLibrary folder inside another one.

You'll also want to copy the DIM folders (IIRC the default is C:\Users\Public\Documents\Daz 3D\InstallManager)

markbluegrass

Fixmypcmike,

So, are you saying I should copy and paste the individual catagories (ie:  data, props, runtime, etc.) from the old computer into the corresponing ones on the new PC under the DAZ3DLibary file?  Or delete and replace what downloaded with the newer version of Studio and just paste the old libray to that same location?

Also, I have already downloaded DIM on the new machine.  If this was a mistake, I can uninstall and delete and copy the older version over if that's the better practice.  Sorry to be troublesome about this, I'm just a little confused.

Thanks,

Mark

 

fixmypcmike

Did you install some content along with the DS software?

No, you don't need to uninstall DIM, I'm referring to the data files, in particular the ManifestFiles folder that tells DIM what's already been installed/

markbluegrass

I downloaded Studio 4.9 and DIM on the new PC.  And I did re-download one set, along with Genesis/V5 (both of which I already owned) just to experiment a bit with the new version, but that's all...

So once I copy the DAZ Library folder from the old computer, into which file do I copy/drop it into on the new one?  I think that's what's confusing me.  Also, should I not have installed anything before trying to transfer the old content?

Mark

 

fixmypcmike

You want to take the "My Daz 3D Library" from the old computer and merge it with the one on the new computer -- Windows will ask if you want to overwrite any files which are in both (if you aren't sure whether the versions from the old computer are up-to-date, you can choose "let me decide for each file" and it will give a checkbox at the bottom to skip any files with ther same size and time, so you can see if any of them are different).  Then you're good to go.  If it doesn't ask you about overwriting files, then you may have dropped the old My Daz 3D Library inside the new one, and need to move it up a level so they merge.

The ManifestFiles folder is where DIM records what's been installed, so you want to copy that over so that DIM won't think you need to reinstall everything.  When it asks if you want to overwrite the manifests for the things that you already installed on the new computer, you can skip them.

markbluegrass

Success!! Thanks to Fixmypcmike and everyone else who provided help with this! 

I was able to move all of my saved shaping, posing files, etc., over to the new PC after following the above steps.  The only issue I've seen is that some of the files appear to be altered just a tiny bit, but that's much easier to tweak than having to re-create them altogether.  The new machine also doesn't seem to recognize the DIM that I copied over, as it's still showing all of my purchased items in black and white in the Smart Content pane and saying I need to download them...  When I brought the DIM over from the external hard drive, I simply "right clicked" on the new computer's DIM and hit paste.  Should I have put them somewhere else?

Even still, if I do have to re-download those things, it's not a big deal.  I'm just thankful that I was able to save the custom content.  Thanks again!!

Mark

fixmypcmike

Are they still showing in black and white after re-importing metadata for all the products?

markbluegrass

Yes.  The purchased/DAZ material is, except for the couple things that I re-downloaded to test the new computer prior to doing the transfer.  My personally created files are showing up now though, if you look under the content pane under shapes or materials.  The only problem I noticed with them are some minor changes to facial features and slight variations to the saved poses, such as a figure's expression.

Richard Haseltine

markbluegrass said:

Yes.  The purchased/DAZ material is, except for the couple things that I re-downloaded to test the new computer prior to doing the transfer.  My personally created files are showing up now though, if you look under the content pane under shapes or materials.  The only problem I noticed with them are some minor changes to facial features and slight variations to the saved poses, such as a figure's expression.

That sounds as if some morphs are not being found.

stitlown

Hi guys, looks like a relevant thread.

Setting up all my DAZ3D stuff on a new computer. Starting as clean as I can. Following the suggestions above, I exported my userdata. I then loaded DIM.  DIM does not seem to find the Studio and Carrara programs themselves, just stuff that hangs off them, so I went to my account and manually downloaded and installed.  Jumped into Studio and re-imported all the metadata, including the user data.

But now I have DIM telling me there is nothing installed and there are several shed loads of stuff to be downloaded and installed.  What am I missing that I can't get DIM to see the existing installations.

While  I'm asking - is there any way to export the GUI configuration settings of my old Studio so I don't have to rebuild it on the new machine.  I like the way my workflow works.

Thanks. Lx

Richard Haseltine

On DIM not showing applications, click the Download Filters button on the Ready to Download tab and make sure it is set to show applications (and plug-ins).

On DIM not showing installed content, di you copy across the Manifests folder (in the Install Manager folder in your Public Documents folder by default)? That's what tells DIM what it has installed, and what it uses to check for updates.

stitlown

Sorry for the multiple asks on this - for some reason I could not find them.  The answer was indeed the mainfests in the Public Documents folder which I had not previously copied across.  Happy New Year Richard