double-checking consequences of moving files
I need to move my assets onto a new drive (running out of space on the current one). While I've found a couple tutorials on how to do this and am fairly confident I can pull it off, I'm a little twitchy about any unintended consequences.
I have a bunch of scenes, partial scenes, etc. saved. If I move the files, when I open one of these scenes or partials, will it still be able to find the assets even if they're in a different place? (i.e. when I load a character, will it be able to find the hair?)
Also, would it make more sense (or does it work better) to uninstall DAZ and reinstall it where I'm intending to put all my assets? It's an internal SSD if that makes a difference. I'm not tech savvy enough to understand if it needs to be on the same drive as the operating system to work efficiently.
TIA for any reassurance, warning, or advice.
Comments
Where is you content library installed at the moment, which drive?
If the content library is not on C-drive, the best approach would be to copy everything from the current drive to the new one and then change the drive letter of the new drive to one that holds your content library now,
Currently on C-drive. I just went with the default not realizing how much space it'd snarf up.
How do you install your content?
I use the install manager (and whatever default settings it came with when I installed it).
Ok, then the problem with moving is telling DIM that the installation location has changed - I can't give instructions for that as I use only manual installation.
Changing the location of the Content Library in DS is simple, easy and done in a minute.
There are ways to move the Content Library to another drive without DIM, DS or Windows knowing anything has been changed, but if the Content Library is installed to C:\Users\, I would like to move it just for the sake of preventing possible future problems.
My solutions to running out of space;
One can install everything on DAZ store and Rendo combined on a 100GB drive.
1. One can mount new drives to folders on that 100GB drive, for example one can mount a new drive to be the "Runtime" folder of the 100GB drive, and an other new drive to be the "Data" folder of the 100GB drive.
This can be done with the tools included in Windows (Computer Management->Disk Management)
2. One can download SysInternals "Junction" from Microsoft https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/junction
With the Junction, one can move folders from one drive to another without breaking the original folder structure.
I have used both methods for years without one problem. Previously I used to replace drives with bigger ones, but back then 2+TB SSD drives cost a fortune and I needed to find another way to increase the size of my drives.
Both methods leave the drives accessible also by themselves, so no need to worry about similar problems as with RAID or compressed drives.
Oh hey, #2 sounds like that would be the smallest headache available, given the givens. Thank you so much, and for the detailed explanation!