Problems with plugins

1) I'm having trouble getting some plugins to show up after a VST scan. I've entered the path to the .dll under options but it still doesn't appear in the list. Can anyone suggest what I might be doing wrong?
 
2) How can I get unwanted plugs off my system, there doesn't appear to be an uninstall for a lot of them and I'm wary of removing them by other methods in case I defeat something that's working. I have a long list of stuff that I have no idea where it came from, probably from other programs that can handle audio, I see a lot of Microsoft codecs, etc.
 
Thanks - rev

Thanks, I already checked the Manager. I think it has to be something to do with the path. I'll post back if I find the problem. 

Often it's a matter of first finding the plug in, then making sure that folder is included.
I was a little miffed when I fell for one of the Sonar plug in deals the other day. A $10 Hammond organ, the demo sounded great etc.
So I paid my money , downloaded and then installed it, It used a windows installer. Sonar couldn't find it. Took me a long time using the Search function and it turned up in the 32 bit section and in Demention Pro. ?? I thought I was getting a 64 bit stand alone, and then it's 32 bit?? Last time I fall for one of Cakewalk stores "deals"
So moral of the story is these plug ins can get scattered all over the place.
And as scook said, there are generally 2 types
The ones that get installed and the ones that you just drop a dll. into your folder.
Look on your Windows programs list first and remove any using the add or remove programs feature.
The dll. type can be deleted manualy, but as scook say's they do no harm and take up very little space. Just tell the plug in manager to remove them from the list.

>The scan would appear to run normally, but the list would not update.
That could be it. I haven't been running as admin. I'll try it.
 
Ok, that didn't work but I did solve one. MIDI Quest, installs .dlls for whatever instruments you have and it was those .dlls that were giving me multiple errors saying 'Can't set directory' - because the path doesn't exist. Getting rid of MIDI Quest didn't get rid of the instrument dlls. I did that manually and all is well there.
 
The one that won't show up is Waves Maserati Acoustic Guitar. I even put it in its own folder and included that path but still no luck.

>b) you have too many plugins.
I'm on 8.5.3. Do you know what the maximum number of plugs is?
 
I have now removed so many that a max plugins limit could not be the problem. I have also archived a lot more to the Exclude list. 
 
Do you (or does anyone else) know why some plugs have (0) next to them? For example:
Stereo Side Chain
Stereo Side Chain (0) 
 
The (0) seems to suggest that one is a duplicate but reinstalling would surely overwrite the same one? Could the (0) be referring to x86 versions of the plug?

You're right about folders and dupes, I'm working on that now. As for the max number, the scan has never failed to add what I was trying to add but I recently installed a Waves bundle and they include x86 and x64 versions so that's probably what put me over the top. 

ugh.....i JUST learned that "x86" means 32 bit
 
 
what a mess :(

when you say "start again" - you mean uninstall and try to install it again?
i'll have to check when i get home tonight but i believe i put everything in that vstplugins folder so i'm not sure where that leaves me
 
 
 
another random but related quirk....when i pull up "insert soft synth"....why do i see my list of dropdown plugins.....and then in that list is "vstplugins" where there is a dropdown for 3 more synths?  why are they not all together?
 

If you've got a bunch of x86 plugins that you don't need, just drag them into another folder, one that's not under your vstplugins path, then re-scan.
 
The blank window problem could be an installation issue. Soft synths sometimes use separate bitmap files for their graphical elements and expect to find those files in a specific location, usually in the same folder as the DLL or in a subdirectory below it. Re-installing it may fix the problem. If not, I'd email the vendor for advice. (I have seen that same problem with other plugins in the past, and it magically disappeared after a version update.)