How install to drive other than C

[geswho22]

I have a small SSD drive for C (250GB?) where the Windows OS is installed and a few other programs. I have a 1TB hard drive where I'd like to install Cakewalk. During install I can only select where to install the VST file folder. How do I install Cakewalk to the 1TB F: drive?

[Toddskins]

I do not have the answer to that question, but just to let you know my entire install with programs of every sort and kind  only took up about 90+ GB.   I never store data on the C-drive.   You can point CbB to store projects on a different drive, and the same thing could be done for the numerous presets of your plugins.

If you follow the same good practice, your 250 SSD is more than sufficient.  Add another SSD if you obtain piano and guitar samples that can run into the 10s of GB.  Just store the samples on another SSD drive added to your system.

Edited December 12, 2019 by Toddskins

[Tez]

This is only a suggestion if there is no better way, that knowledgeable individuals such as @Noel Borthwick or @scook could suggest!

Assuming the following:

1.       You install bandlab-assistant-windows-latest.exe this will install to the folder

%userprofile%\AppData\Local\Programs\bandlab-assistant.

2.       Use BandLab Assistant to install “Cakewalk by Bandlab” this will install to the folder

C:\Program Files\Cakewalk.

If you move the folders “bandlab-assistant” and “Cakewalk” from their locations to a location on your data drive as an Administrator you could create softlinks as an Administrator with  “mklink” as follows:

1.   A softlink to the relocated bandlab-assistant in “%userprofile%\AppData\Local\Programs”, and

2.   A softlink to the relocated Cakewalk in C:\Program Files.

The BandLab Assistant is about 210 MB, maybe you’d want to leave that where it is...

In my "C:\Cakewalk Projects" I use softlinks for "Audio Data" & "Picture Cache" the later can be 0.5 GB or more.

So the above should work, assuming you know how to use “mklink”  in a .bat file run as an Administrator.

Other CbB folder locations such as for "Cakewalk Content" can be set via "Preferences>Folder Locations"...

 

Edited December 12, 2019 by Tez

[scook]

I have never installed CbB on a machine with no prior version of SONAR.

My understanding is there is an option to override the default location if there is no other Cakewalk DAW on the machine.

If there is another Cakewalk DAW on the machine, CbB must be installed on the same drive. This is because there are shared registry entries containing folder locations. As mentioned above using directory junctions after the install should work OK.

 

[Jim Fogle]

I am in the process of setting up a new computer with 64 bit Windows 10 build 1909 installed on a M2 256GB primary drive.  I added a 4 TB hard disk that I partitioned into two 2 TB secondary drives.   My hope is to install as little as possible on the primary drive.  However I'm not comfortable using soft links.  Are there alternative ways to install CbB that minimize the amount of space used on the primary drive?

[Tez]

Creating a softlink with mklink is fairly straight forward e.g for Cakewalk on C-drive,  linking to the relocated Cakewalk, say D:\Cakewalk it would be:

   mklink /D "C:\Program Files\Cakewalk" " D:\Cakewalk"

and if no longer required simply delete the link, for other actions, “copy”, “cut” & “paste” requires more understanding as to the effects.

As Mr.  @scook said & I quote:

16 hours ago, scook said:

My understanding is there is an option to override the default location if there is no other Cakewalk DAW on the machine.

On a new machine you should have no issue... However the BandLab Assistant locates in AppData\Local\Programs so I'm guessing it's not optional...

In my case I've got prior Sonars installed on 224 GB ssd C-drive so that's where CbB also must live, but on reaching a storage crunch which is hardly imminent using the softlink mechanism outlined above I'd save about 5 GB. On a fresh install , "Cakewalk Projects",  "Cakewalk Content" & other folders can be located where you want without worrying that other installations might need the reference to a C-drive location...

Edited December 12, 2019 by Tez

[John Vere]

Generally it is not recommended to install software to data drives. There's no real reason to do this. I have 240 GB SSD drives on all of my computers and none of them are much over 1/2 full because I use data drives. Even my Laptop which only has one 240 GB drive is around 2/3 full and it's got a heck of a lot of software running. I just store stuff to external drives and the cloud. 

[scook]

On 12/12/2019 at 4:32 PM, Jim Fogle said:

I am in the process of setting up a new computer with 64 bit Windows 10 build 1909 installed on a M2 256GB primary drive.  I added a 4 TB hard disk that I partitioned into two 2 TB secondary drives.   My hope is to install as little as possible on the primary drive.  However I'm not comfortable using soft links.  Are there alternative ways to install CbB that minimize the amount of space used on the primary drive?

A full install of CbB is less than .5% of a 256GB drive. I strongly suggest using the CbB default settings. 

I also encourage everyone to experiment with directory junctions. They are very easy to use, safe and an effective way to move directories from one drive to another.

I will be happy to help, providing step-by-step instruction using the folders and drive letters of your choosing to assist in getting you up to speed on using mklink to create junctions.

[smoketoe]

i would be interested in moving my cakewalk to me D drive !TB SSD

[lapasoa]

It's a very old and very usual story.

[King Burton]

I use Sonar x3. Everywhere I looked people stated Cakewalk Platinum would NOT affect that install. So I decided to dl to evaluate. Installed separate drive for that process. DLed Assistant and Cakewalk with all features. Turns out that yes, you can install the main prog to wherever you want. HOWEVER

Stuff went everywhere!!!!! VSTs and other stuff were sent to my Sonar locations on another drive (the option to change this was greyed out) and a huge amount of stuff sent to C:. This install takes up three drives!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That's OK because  

Install Errors

GroovePlayer.dll

CW130Auto.dll

MackieControl.dll

Arpeggiator.dll

ChordAnalyzer.dll

EchoDelay.dll

EventFilter.dll

Quantize.dll

Transpose.dll

Velocity.dll

All state - Unable to register the DLL/OCX: RegSvr32 failed exit code 0x3

Also

Code execution cannot proceed because VCRUNTIME140.dll was not found.

Code execution cannot proceed because MSVCP140.dll was not found.

Code execution cannot proceed because CONCRT140.dll was not found.

Re-installing may fix this problem – three times DID NOT FIX

CP will not boot.

Sonar boots but missing half functions

 

Work now at a complete stop.

[André]

Hi,
Hope somebody here can help me with a similar issue. I don't need advice as to best practices etc - My options are limited to just one.
 Having used Bandlab on my phone for a while I wanted to try and use Cakewalk. My problem is the laptop I have has a very small C: drive (28gb) so installing the software on another drive is my only option. However I can't seem to find any way of selecting the 1tb D: drive I purchased for this exact purpose, as the install location. Does anybody have any ideas? Please, help!
Thank you in advance to anyone reading this. Bless.

[Tez]

1 hour ago, André said:

Hi,
Hope somebody here can help me with a similar issue. I don't need advice as to best practices etc - My options are limited to just one.
 Having used Bandlab on my phone for a while I wanted to try and use Cakewalk. My problem is the laptop I have has a very small C drive (28gb) so installing the software on another drive is my only option. However I can't seem to find any way of selecting the 1tb D drive I purchased for this exact purpose, as the install location. Does anybody have any ideas? Please, help!
Thank you in advance to anyone reading this. Bless.

This is what I would try:

1. Create 2 folders on your D drive:

    D:\Cakewalk Projects

    D:\Cakewalk

 

2. In a new batch file (.bat) on your C  drive place these 2 softlink lines:

    mklink /D "C:\Cakewalk Projects" "D:\Cakewalk Projects"

    mklink /D "C:\Program Files\Cakewalk" "D:\Cakewalk"

 

3. Run the batch file as an administrator on your C drive.

 

After you’ve done that, then just install CbB as normal, since the folders for CbB exist as represented by the softlinks, they will be the target for the install but the data will be on your D drive.

Edited April 19, 2020 by Tez

[André]

This sounds promising, I'll let you know if it works. Thanks so much for the swift reply. Cheers! 

[André]

Thank you Tez I got it working.

Edited April 20, 2020 by André

[Tez]

Great! That's what the forum's all about, and Cakewalk Content , VST and Audio folder locations can be set via preferences...  Happy music making!

[Irena]

On 4/19/2020 at 4:23 AM, Tez said:

This is what I would try:

1. Create 2 folders on your D drive:

    D:\Cakewalk Projects

    D:\Cakewalk

 

2. In a new batch file (.bat) on your C  drive place these 2 softlink lines:

    mklink /D "C:\Cakewalk Projects" "D:\Cakewalk Projects"

    mklink /D "C:\Program Files\Cakewalk" "D:\Cakewalk"

 

3. Run the batch file as an administrator on your C drive.

 

After you’ve done that, then just install CbB as normal, since the folders for CbB exist as represented by the softlinks, they will be the target for the install but the data will be on your D drive.

Tez, could you please explain a bit more? I've just created a batch file, but don't know how I should name it and where exactly to save. Or should I replace with the existing .bat file which I can't find anyway? Does it make a difference where it is saved? Also, should I uninstall Cakewalk Assistant first or is can I proceed from here?

I've just installed a second SSD drive and would like to have my software and projects there. Just as I was installing Cakewalk, I've noticed that I can't select the desired drive, so thought a softlink approach would be a good solution, however I know nothing about it. 

Any help would be much appreciated.

[slartabartfast]

The batch file issue may be adding an unnecessary complication. It just executes the two commands and the file can be named anything.bat and placed anywhere so long as you can find it and right  click it and choose run as administrator to execute. It might be simpler just to open an elevated command prompt and type the two commands one at a time followed by enter to get the same result.

https://appuals.com/how-to-open-an-elevated-command-prompt-on-windows-10/

 

[Tez]

Hi @Irena,  It's not complicated, name it what you like e.g. "Mybat.bat" ,  the example targets the "D" drive

On 4/18/2020 at 11:23 PM, Tez said:

mklink /D "C:\Cakewalk Projects" "D:\Cakewalk Projects"

    mklink /D "C:\Program Files\Cakewalk" "D:\Cakewalk"

If your SSD is named "X" then substitute X for D e.g. "X:\Cakewalk Projects", etc.  Keep it simple save your .bat file on C  and run it on C as stated in 2. and 3. but it can be run from any drive where it was saved.

The reason to use a batch file is to avoid typo's and for simplicity.

On 4/18/2020 at 11:23 PM, Tez said:

After you’ve done that, then just install CbB as normal,

That means use the bandlab assistant which you downloaded and installed, and use it to install CbB as if it was going to the C drive, but having run the batch file first, and as previously mentioned:

On 4/18/2020 at 11:23 PM, Tez said:

since the folders for CbB exist as represented by the softlinks, they will be the target for the install but the data will be on your D drive.

Or if not "D", whatever SSD drive you chose as the target for the data in your batch file... And that's all there is to it!

Just don't forget to run the batch file as an administrator then go ahead and use bandlab assistant to install CbB as normal ?

Last, this assumes you don't have CbB already installed ?...

If you do, then instead, move the folders "C:\Cakewalk Projects" and  "Cakewalk" in "C:\Program Files"  to the target locations specified in the batch file, then run the batch file...

Edited May 12, 2020 by Tez

[John Schlegel]

tried all these methods...although there are some minor differences to get into admin command...... The command for cakewalk projects worked, but, the second one program files \cakewalk  to D:\cakewalk does not. it keeps saying it cannot create the file because the file already exists ????