Media Files Gone after Clean Install?

[chuckebaby]

17 hours ago, abacab said:

I just get a "did not complete" error for Loopmasters, etc. when I try to install them.

Yup, same thing I saw as well.

[Michael Fogarty]

thanks everyone for going to all that trouble. I doubt that I will need them again but weird when things disappear.

[abacab]

A good plan for downloaded content is to create a folder on a secondary drive for it.

That way when you reinstall Windows on your system drive it is a simple matter of pointing your freshly installed apps to those content folders. And it doesn't hurt to back up that secondary drive occasionally. I have content on my secondary drive that goes back a couple of decades, and through several clean installs of various versions of Windows on the system drive, and even a few PC hardware upgrades.

[Michael Fogarty]

41 minutes ago, abacab said:

A good plan for downloaded content is to create a folder on a secondary drive for it.

That way when you reinstall Windows on your system drive it is a simple matter of pointing your freshly installed apps to those content folders. And it doesn't hurt to back up that secondary drive occasionally. I have content on my secondary drive that goes back a couple of decades, and through several clean installs of various versions of Windows on the system drive, and even a few PC hardware upgrades.

interesting. I have LP’s that I played on that go back decades,  but the world of computers is one that I have only dabbled in. I of course have external drives I keep all my apps/libraries like Omnisphere/Play Composers/Synthogy/Waves, etc. but I don’t (yet) have the knowledge to do what you are suggesting.  A link would be greatly appreciated. I don’t know what it means to “back up your system.” I was a budgeted session player until recent years so know a lot about gear and charts but only recently changed the hardware and installed Windows 10 on my own - I know lots of musicians who can’t even figure out how to get around in a DAW. We are all different. I thank God for this knowledgeable friendly helpful forum.

Also, I lost my studio and house in a fire years back - the fire starting in the studio and spreading to the house where I kept my backups. So all older versions of Cakewalk through Sonar 8.5 are bye bye. Lots of questions and information here, but the old versions of Sonar aren’t available online are they? Lets say for example I wanted V-vocal (which I don’t.)

Lots of information here but have wanted to touch on this subject for awhile.

One question is, in our present world,  many of the apps we use, for example Sonar Platinum, Cakelab and their 3rd party libraries are tied into Command Centers, etc. To my knowledge, you can’t download the installers/programs and keep them on drives. In the case of Melodyne, I already owned it so the inclusion of Essential in Sonar was not a perk to me, nor do I have to worry about it disappearing as I own the program and it is on 3 backup drives with legacy drivers.

 

So back to the original thread what could I have done to be able to still have these libraries and their .dll/installation paths after doing a clean install? A URL to point me to the steps.

Thanks everyone.

Edited February 15, 2019 by Michael Fogarty
spelling

[abacab]

44 minutes ago, Michael Fogarty said:

 I don’t know what it means to “back up your system.”

Basically, it means to copy your critical stuff, and store it safely. Today, that probably means making disk image backups of your PC hard drives and storing them in at least two locations.  Keep one copy offline locally, and a store a second copy offsite at the office, or a friend or family members home, or even at a safe deposit box.

A few  free backup disk image solutions are available, so the only investment needed is  external USB drives. My choice is Macrium Reflect Free.

https://www.macrium.com/reflectfree

Quote

So back to the original thread what could I have done to be able to still have these libraries and their .dll/installation paths after doing a clean install? A URL to point me to the steps.

For Cakewalk, if you open "Preferences > Folder Locations" you will see where your stuff is located.  You can set up paths to an alternate secondary hard drive, so that your stuff is not disturbed if you wipe and reinstall Windows on your primary system drive.

I also archive all downloaded installer files onto a separate drive, in case the company servers ever go away.  The media file content, once installed, will be in folders of wav files typically. So if you have those folders backed up you will not need those installers again. But for plugins (and their DLL files and preset folders), the original installers will be handy.

 

Edited February 15, 2019 by abacab