CCC on C drive PLEASE MAKE IT STOP

Another update, another uncontrolled dump into the C drive; as I watched it, now there are new places for crap that I don't want on the C drive.     This update, platinum alone, supposedly, which goes to a different drive, 3300+ new blocks on C drive used up.    3300!!!!    
 

I have everything set in CCC settings that is possible to set.   Yet stuff still keeps being put on C drive, and this time in new places under "users", including, I believe, under "Public" by some crapletmaker called Overloud.

Perhaps, at this point, it is not actually the CCC which is to blame: it downloaded as I requested, into a different drive, and it updated Sonar as I requested, on a different drive.   It is all the other stuff that is incredibly annoying, and silent, and clogging up the C drive.    

"Because you told it to" ... no.   I'm reviewing  my account.   I don't use any of the extra stuff except melodyne, and I don't even see "REmatrix" as an option, so it must be bundled into Platinum itself. 

I let everything go to the default location but 4 months ago I set up mklink for the Cakewalk Content folder to another drive. Everything apart from programs and plugins goes to other drives.

I have an enormous amount of software on a 256 GIG SSD with about 100GIG left. All the space taking data goes to other drives simply by making a few links, and I mean a few. Easy peasy once I learned how. Now I just let each Sonar program go to its default location and it doesn't even know that things have been moved to another drive.

Sounds like a good idea.   Can you give a bit more info on how to use mklink?  
 
It would seem that you delete the actual windows directory (folder), and replace it with a symbolic link?  
 
So for example, Overloud made something called c:\ProgramData\Overloud and put stuff about REmatrix, BREVERB, TH2 in it.   I should move whatever is there to another drive, then make a link:   mklink /j C:\ProgramData\Overloud D:\mybigdrive\Overloud_crap  ? 
 
And down in C:\users\myname\appdata\roaming\Cakewalk, move all that stuff to a big drive and then
 
mklink /j C:\users\myname\appdata\roaming\Cakewalk  D:\mybigdrive\Cakewalk_crap  ?
 
edited to correct mklink option according to following comment ... so if others see it, it will be right.
 

I don't have access to some files at the moment but I keep a text file with the various scripts that make the links I want. All I need to do is copy them and paste them in the Command Prompt when necessary. Eg if I was to accidentally delete one or have to amend a location or reinstall etc.

KPerry
I'm going to tout this again http://schinagl.priv.at/nt/hardlinkshellext/linkshellextension.html which allows you to do the mklink (and more) from within Explorer.

You say tout it again so I must have missed it the first time. Must check it out. Thanks Kevin.

First edit:
Checked it out and it looks daunting with all the pics and documentation compared to just a few lines in the command line to use mklink. More reading required.
Second edit:
I've now read quite a bit of the documentation that comes with LSE. It's seems worth creating a thread espousing its value to Sonar users and providing the link back to the original website.

What do others think?
I didn't mean to hijack your thread WilliamCooper but it's pretty much where you're heading I think. Let me know.

I haven't used this tool at all, but I have been using mklink not just for bulky data but for VST/I plugins for better organisation and smoother updating. No issue during Sonar's operation nor during new installations which seem to have no difficulty reading the data from it's symbolic location.
Mklink is a Windows command so I can't see a problem with it. I don't think you'll get "permission" from Cakewalk, they often remain silent on these matters. As for the LSE (link she'll extension) program that I think you're talking about (mentioned above by KPerry) I guess it will be up to enough of us to use it and convince others to do so also. Again I can't see anyone from Cakewalk authorising it and if they did it would limited in their not carrying any responsibility if the wheels fell off. For the kinds of files/folders we want to push around, I can't see anything worse than an incorrect link being made generating an immediate error or an improper link making some plugin or sample unavailable. I can't think of anything worse. There is the possibility of deleting data inappropriately but that's the case with anyone who has access to a delete key.

The last issue I have with mklink (cmdline or shell extension) is that it again spreads data around (though by choice this time). I change storage HW/SW and drives pretty much every year or so. Even worse is the effort required to 'backup' a CW/Sonar installation across multiple drives which has stuff scattered all over anyway. Now, if I had a dedicated PC just for Sonar maybe it isn't so bad. But even that gets tedious. BU'ing a TB data partition (being used by other programs (with their own special needs) in addition to myself for a bunch of data) along with my UEFI (which doesn't help at all) C: drive every month just to keep SPro current is not how my BU schedule is arranged and won't be. And I'm becoming a lot less tolerant of C3 DL issues like this F...Boro release with a dozen individual DL's being required to 'get updated' and no 'Down Them All' option.  A complete BU involves 2SSD and over 6TB's and happens every 4 to 6 months. 
 
I waited 3 years to go from X1(d?) to SPro, and I'm having a lot more than doubts. CW has another 6 months to work things out, but I'm perfectly prepared to go another 3 years with other DAWS if that's how long it will take to get an installation that will be stable for at least one year.

This would be a lot easier if CW wasn't so dependent on the registry and provided log files of installation locations. The whole registry thing (as it works today) precludes separate 32b and 64b Sonar installations since they share the same preferences rather than using their own log files. I mention this because even if I used mklink for both all the CW program and support dir's to get them someplace convenient, I'd still need to do a C: drv backup to ensure the registry and file systems include the Sonar updates. For instance, this FB DL currently in progress to help C3 cache installations is very likely keeping that cache in the registry and on a different drive than any other CW data after using mklink. I tend to sort things out eventually, but I'm not as patient as I used to be and this is way more hoops than any other tool I use. 
 
Just my comments with an intent to help make things better.
 
I clearly am "comfortable with their computer management and maintenance methods." It's just that the current Sonar path isn't helping at all.

Not raining on anyone's parade here, but I'm not afraid to make comparisons. Sonar and my assorted CW VSTs (and only CW VSTs) still seem to use the registry in ways that my other DAWs/video,etc don't have problems with. I'm a long time user and have 'crafted' (shall we say) structures, libraries, and indexes for RaP,Z3,DP,Z2,etc. Near as I can tell Sonar uses these links along with their CLSID's when locating them. I believe I've got everything 64b, but ...
 
And I do not want to hijack this thread. There are a lot of things going on in the registry for CW relative to other programs for keeping routine data specific to a certain program (which then attempts to go obsolete asap, say Project5). I haven't seen anything resembling a description, and definitely do NOT want to see such a thing of magical registry. The reg is not localized or relocatable from the C: drv. I worry about re-storing a 3 month old BU to a failed C: SSD and potential conflicts with CW's current records, etc. 
 
Per the OP: Please make it stop. Pretty please?
 

mudgel

KPerry
I'm going to tout this again http://schinagl.priv.at/nt/hardlinkshellext/linkshellextension.html which allows you to do the mklink (and more) from within Explorer.

You say tout it again so I must have missed it the first time. Must check it out. Thanks Kevin.

First edit:
Checked it out and it looks daunting with all the pics and documentation compared to just a few lines in the command line to use mklink. More reading required.
Second edit:
I've now read quite a bit of the documentation that comes with LSE. It's seems worth creating a thread espousing its value to Sonar users and providing the link back to the original website.

What do others think?
I didn't mean to hijack your thread WilliamCooper but it's pretty much where you're heading I think. Let me know.

LSE seems way cool...
gonna have to DL this one.
 
Mel

Another associated problem I have is my SSD does not appreciate massive read/writes period, so the unpacking/installing (i.e. temp folder usage) makes it highly irate - unpacking these massive installers to the SSD will cause a BSOD before the installation can complete (e.g., X2, Dim Pro, et. al.) ... and researching this seems to point at a simple heating issue (one site recommended an auxiliary fan just to blow on the SSD for such things).
 
As I just rebuilt this machine and knew this was coming, during the SONAR installs (only) I reassigned the temp directories to a folder on my HDD (and switched them back when done). It would also be beneficial to allow the user to assign an alternate temp directory in the installers themselves because of this. I checked the directory I used after reinstalling Platinum (all piece parts) and 3GB of "residual material" had been left in that folder.
 
[To reassign temp directories - Win7]

1. Right click computer, select "Properties"
2. In the pop up, select "Advanced System Settings" on the left.
3. In the next pop up, on the "Advanced" tab, click "Environmental Variables"
4. There you can edit both the "TEMP" and "TMP" directories to a new folder (default is "%USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Temp" for each).
5. This is not something to leave re-assigned, as other installers (especially Windows) assume that is the primary drive and will begin to write protected files on it that shouldn't be there).

Quick and easy instructions...you only need to use one function of it.
 
1 - Browse to the folder you want to link to
2 - Right click on it and select Pick Link Source
3 - Browse to the folder where you want to paste the link
4 - Choose Drop As, then Symbolic Link in the submenu
 
Done!
 
You might be prompted for admin privileges depending on where you're creating the link.  You can also rename the link you've created after the event if you'd like to.