program organization

[paresh]

I just got a new computer & the transfer of information was very laborious.
The computer tech said it has to do w my not understanding how & where best
to install & store music applications. I tried to keep everything in My
Music which I understand now isn't correct. It has been confusing to me bec
some applications will store part of their files in Documents & Settings &
part in Program Files. I know now not to create further problems but not
sure what to do w what I already have except leave it alone. Anyone else
encountered this or have ideas on how to organize better & maintain files?
Thanks.

 

[Promythia]

I don't know about other forms of media, but with recording music it's a good idea to have files that are being written constantly (like music projects) on a different drive. I'm not sure if saving your projects saved in the "My xxxx" really effects anything. It's possible it could, I think Microsoft might have something in the registry to update information in those files when ever connected to the internet, media player, etc.

My suggestion would be to keep files that are constantly being accessed and written to on a seperate drive (physical, not a partition). Also, getting a tool to clean out your registry wouldn't be a bad idea if you've been installing and uninstalling a lot of stuff. Also, run the disk defragmentor regularly. Or just make C:\Music folder and keep all your stuff there.

There are various websites out there too that gave you tips to optomize your music XP PC.

 

[minofifa]

this might be a spupid question but:
you aren't tryin to copy programs from your old computer to your new by dragging/copying/pasting them are you?

 

[paresh]

no drag & drop - a tech did it for me. In my attempt to be more organized I think I've moved folders from Program Files to My Documents (or vice versa) and that put a strain on the computer & the registry after a time.

 

[minofifa]

oh, ya that is what i was going to suggest might have happened. Personally, i have one hard drive in my laptop where i install my OS and all of my program files AND sample files. Then i have another external USB drive that i store my audio projects on. I make a new folder for each project adn store all of its audio files and project files in it. Sonar does this very well automatically. You can do it in n-track as well, but its a bit more manual labour.

doing it this way is a good idea, becasue once you ahve your OS installed adn patched with SP2 (windows) and have the programs installed you want, you can make a ghost copy of your harddrive and keep it offline somewhere. Then if something happends where your computer gets messed up again, you can restore it from your offline backup.

 

[Minion]

It is pretty Hard to Transfer Installed Programs from one PC to another because when you install a Program Files get installed in Many Locations (Programs Files, Common Files, Windows, System32, Drivers ect) and there really is no way of Knowing were all of these Files are on your PC Pluss there are Many registry entries that are created when Installing a Program and These Can Not be Transfered or Coppied like regular Files.....

So if the Tech said that he Transfered Programs from one PC to another He Probably isn"t a Very Good Tech as every tech knows that it is MUCH better to re-install a Program then it is to try to Copy a Program from one PC to another....

As For Project Files they can usually easilly be Transfered without problems as they are usually in one Filder in one Location which makes it each to Copy from one Place to another.....

Programs should be Installed in "Program Files" and Projects should be Stored on a seperate Drive in a Custom Directory so you know were they are and on a seperate Drive you will have less Read/Write Time and Latency while the PC searches for the correct Files and Directories and Programs Should be "RE-Installed" and Not Coppied from PC to PC.....

Cheers