abacab Posted June 29, 2019 Share Posted June 29, 2019 (edited) I was doing a disk space checkup today, and I found that I had over 1GB of AAX plugins that I never use hiding in here: "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Avid\Audio\Plug-Ins". With sub-folders put there by various installers, including Cakewalk, AAS, XLN, AIR, Arturia, SONiVOX, NI, etc. I don't use any Avid products and generally uncheck any plugin types other than VST and VST3 in their setup dialogues if offered. So this was a surprise to me. Anybody else run across this? I'll probably just rename the path and see what happens, as I can't imagine there are any dependencies. This appears to be just another plugin installation annoyance, to be added to the several companies that assume I want my plugins installed in a "Steinberg" folder! Edited June 30, 2019 by abacab 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Variorum Posted June 29, 2019 Share Posted June 29, 2019 I occasionally delete anything that gets installed in that folder and I've never had any issues. If you don't use ProTools, you're fine getting rid of them. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
msmcleod Posted June 29, 2019 Share Posted June 29, 2019 There's a possibility that one of the uninstaller's gets unhappy that it can't find a file... most should be ok (if they were written properly), but you never know. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marcL Posted June 30, 2019 Share Posted June 30, 2019 This is exactly one of the reasons that I began to extract plugin installer content to a folder (most time with innounp.exe), delete what I don't need and create then a zip file to install the plugins by hand on my PCs. Runs perfect for most plugins (without garbage: Avid, menus, uninstallers, ...). This way I had also the possibility to have one central docu folder (with provider subfolders) where I really find the plugin documentations (because in one place). Of course, I have to uninstall by hand, but I have found out that this is the much cleaner way!!! ? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
balinas Posted June 30, 2019 Share Posted June 30, 2019 10 hours ago, abacab said: I was doing a disk space checkup today, and I found that I had over 1GB of AAX plugins that I never use hiding in here: "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Avid\Audio\Plug-Ins". With sub-folders put there by various installers, including Cakewalk, AAS, XLN, AIR, Arturia, SONiVOX, NI, etc. I don't use any Avid products and generally uncheck any plugin types other than VST and VST2 in their setup dialogues if offered. So this was a surprise to me. Anybody else run across this? I'll probably just rename the path and see what happens, as I can't imagine there are any dependencies. This appears to be just another plugin installation annoyance, to be added to the several companies that assume I want my plugins installed in a "Steinberg" folder! Wow, abacab, you read my mind with this question! I was going to inquire about this very subject. I think my folder had over 2 gigs of data. So far, no issues with deleting all that never to be used stuff. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abacab Posted June 30, 2019 Author Share Posted June 30, 2019 7 hours ago, balinas said: Wow, abacab, you read my mind with this question! I was going to inquire about this very subject. I think my folder had over 2 gigs of data. So far, no issues with deleting all that never to be used stuff. I renamed the folder, then ran all of my plugin scanners, and none of them complained. So I assume it is only needed if I am running Pro Tools, which I am not. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
husker Posted June 30, 2019 Share Posted June 30, 2019 Thanks for the tip. I had 2.5 GB of worthless files there. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Maar Posted June 30, 2019 Share Posted June 30, 2019 I had been in the habit of clearing this directory from time to time...and then forgot all about it. What a mess! Now? Mess be gone! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Roseberry Posted July 2, 2019 Share Posted July 2, 2019 That's the ProTools equivalent of your "VST Plugins" folder. You'll be fine without it... as long as you're not wanting to run ProTools. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starship Krupa Posted July 7, 2019 Share Posted July 7, 2019 Thanks for bringing it up, abacab. Gee, since I always tell installers not to install AAX plug-ins, I naively thought that I didn't have any installed! Turns out that's not any more reasonable than expecting not to find any newly-installed 32-bit plug-ins on my system. I clean those out about monthly. My haul of freed-up SSD space was 1.5G 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZincT Posted July 8, 2019 Share Posted July 8, 2019 (edited) Good find abacab! ? Like others, I always deselect everything except 64bit VST on installers but I also had 2.5Gb of worthless content there cluttering up my SSD. Not any more! Edited July 8, 2019 by ZincT 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starship Krupa Posted July 8, 2019 Share Posted July 8, 2019 For those doing this kind of spelunking, there's also the C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\VST3 folder to take a peek in to be surprised at what you might find if you think that you haven't been installing 32-bit versions of your plug-ins. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
user 905133 Posted July 29, 2019 Share Posted July 29, 2019 (edited) You have my curiosity--why do I have these? Hmmmmmm. Edited July 29, 2019 by MusicMan11712 (aka Dr. Steve) trying to delete image since its too small to read 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abacab Posted July 29, 2019 Author Share Posted July 29, 2019 (edited) Your best bet is to use a 3rd party image hosting service such as https://www.imgur.com and post the direct link here. The forum software shrinks images to very tiny proportions if you upload them directly. Edited July 29, 2019 by abacab Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
user 905133 Posted July 30, 2019 Share Posted July 30, 2019 6 hours ago, abacab said: Your best bet is to use a 3rd party image hosting service such as https://www.imgur.com and post the direct link here. The forum software shrinks images to very tiny proportions if you upload them directly. Thanks for the suggestion. I will try linking to an uploaded image on a hosted site, but at least I figured out that cutting and pasting in-line images results in duplicates--the in-line image and an uploaded image--with no way to delete the non-in-line image or to replace it (so far as I can see). I had better luck earlier today saving very small images (cropped to the essentials) and linking to the file on my PC. Steve 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
user 905133 Posted July 30, 2019 Share Posted July 30, 2019 BTW, in one Avid folder, 5 of the 9 aaxplugins were put there automatically by NI on 6-9-2019 when I opted to download and install a new basic/free set of tools rather than update versions I hadn't updated in like 3 or 4 (or more) years. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starship Krupa Posted July 30, 2019 Share Posted July 30, 2019 Yeah, MusicMan, I can't read your screen cap, but I assume from context that it's a folder with AAX plug-ins? I go further and hunt around for possible extra content that the installers may have left around, like convolution files, samples and whatnot. Meldaproduction, much as I love their products, is one for shoveling unnecessary content in with installs. And if you've installed the Native Instruments Komplete Kontrol stuff, be aware that you now have at least 3 software drivers running on your system that are useless if you don't also own one of Native Instruments' hardware controllers. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abacab Posted July 30, 2019 Author Share Posted July 30, 2019 14 hours ago, MusicMan11712 (aka Dr. Steve) said: BTW, in one Avid folder, 5 of the 9 aaxplugins were put there automatically by NI on 6-9-2019 when I opted to download and install a new basic/free set of tools rather than update versions I hadn't updated in like 3 or 4 (or more) years. You only need AAX if you are running Pro Tools. Unfortunately some plugin installers don't give you a choice. I also find that some installers will drop VSTs in a Steinberg folder for some reason, without asking. I don't typically have Steinberg in my VST scan paths, so those plugins will remain lost until I move them into my main VST folder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abacab Posted July 30, 2019 Author Share Posted July 30, 2019 14 hours ago, MusicMan11712 (aka Dr. Steve) said: I figured out that cutting and pasting in-line images results in duplicates--the in-line image and an uploaded image--with no way to delete the non-in-line image or to replace it (so far as I can see). You can go into your forum user settings and click on "My Attachments" and manage them there. The trash can icon should take care of your issue for any items you wish to remove. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
user 905133 Posted July 30, 2019 Share Posted July 30, 2019 16 hours ago, Starship Krupa said: And if you've installed the Native Instruments Komplete Kontrol stuff, be aware that you now have at least 3 software drivers running on your system that are useless if you don't also own one of Native Instruments' hardware controllers. Thanks for the heads-up. I will double check to see what was in the package. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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