Importing and using .gig files in X2

I am very happy with the instrument libraries that came with X2 Producer. However, I would like to fool around with my old GigaStudio sounds. The 6 disk-set for GS3 is full of files that make no sense to me. I DO NOT intend to use GigaStudio at all, rather a VST sampler like Kontakt or something else within Sonar that will play .gig files. Am I correct in thinking I should do a complete install of GS3 Orchestra anyway to make sense of the files, or
1. Would/could that be detrimental in some way?
2. Is there a better/easier way to make these .gig files available in Sonar?
Any advise would be appreciated.

Dan, thanks for your response, but I know there is nothing in Sonar that will play gig files and I'll need a sample player. My question is about how to get the gig files on my computer. The disks I have are full of files in different folders with the same names but different extensions. Does a .gig file contain all the different samples necessary, including where they map on a keyboard, and where they go in the computer? IDK. Sonar stores wav files in a different folder than the project. That's why I asked if GS3 needs to be installed first to put things where they go before I try to load them into a sampler and have them converted. Or is it as simple as copying a gig file from the disk and pasting it in a folder on one of the computer's drives? Some of the gig files on the disks have names that don't make sense, so I don't know what they are and I wonder if they will after a GS3 install. And if that's the case, could that be a problem when I try to run Sonar. Sorry to be so far behind in knowing these things, but I can't find the answers to my concerns and Tascam support is a bust.

OK Dan, cool. I suppose I can make sure my system is backed up first in case I need to revert back to before the GS3 install.
 
I hope an uninstall will leave the .gig files alone if they are in a different location.
 
Gplayer, VSampler and Samplelord have demos I can try before I invest. Kontakt has a demo version, but it will not play .gig files. You have to invest $399.99 to get the version that will play .gig files.

[<font]SuperG, Once again you live up to your name, Ha! I'm glad Maz-sound bellied up on Vsampler before I bought it. I would prefer Kontakt if I could catch the special, if nothing else for NI support. I suspect they'll be around for a while. Then again, who would have thought a company like Tascam would have bailed out on GigaStudio, right after I bought the big daddy Orchestra and Larry Sayer Drums and the Scarbee R.S.P. '73 vintage Fender Rhodes. Then again, I spent my vote for Herman Cain right before he bailed, McCain in '08, Romney in 2012, and Rubio right before he bailed out too. I seam to have a batting average of picking losers. Perhaps buying Kontakt would be the kiss of death for Native Instruments.
 
[<font]Since recovering from cancer and an auto accident, I'm living on SSDI and have 5 granddaughters to think about. So, Pappy G will probably have to wait for the $99 special. Do you know if that price is for registered users of other NI products, or is it available for schmoes like me that have been MIA and are wanting to get back in the studio? I wonder if they give a veteran's discount. Either way, thanks for the tip.
 
[<font]As an aside, do you know if all the samples needed for an instrument, i.e. the GigaPiano, are contained in a single .gig file along with the keyboard mapping and velocity cross-switching information? Or does a gig file require other files and folders to link to for it to be usable for a sampler? I can't find that info anywhere. I've asked in this post and Googled it to death with, “What's in a gig file? What makes up a gig file?, How to create a gig file? Everything you wanted to know about gig files, but where afraid to ask, ect.” Of course it could be easily answered with a sampler and a gig file, but I don't have one yet. So, just asking.
 
[<font]Thanks for taking the time to help.

Another great tip. I didn't know of the Deals section in the forum but I found it. Thanks much. 

Brother Dan, The link you posted to the other thread ([<font]http://forum.cakewalk.com/Kontakt-4-importing-Gigastudio-help-m2044421.aspx) is a very good read and it may have saved me money, time and frustration. While everyone cast favorable reviews on Kontakt, I'm reading more and more about how it has difficulty converting some of the gig files and sample libs that are important to me. Mainly the 7'4” Kawai Gigapiano and some of the Vienna Orchestral sounds don't convert well with Kontakt. Apparently Tascam put several things in the gig files that don't translate in Kontakt. So right now the G-Player and Samplelord are ahead in the race because they don't convert, they just play the file like GS3 did, and for considerably less money. Someone even had trouble with some sounds in the Garritan library. I know NI put a lot of time into their programs too, and some may even sound better, but I've already paid for these samples and money is an issue, and they sound plenty good to me. So thanks for that. Regards

James, FWIW, I ended up ditching all of my Giga stuff and went straight to NI's Komplete (8 at the time, 5 or 6 years ago). That gave me a pretty good start on replacing what I tossed. Gigapiano was replaced by Ivory II. That was actually the one Giga library I loved the most. Since then, there have been even better piano libraries for Kontakt.
 
If I was going to try and keep using them, I'd seriously consider G-Player, but I decided at the time that since the Giga format was pretty much dead, it was time to divest myself of the headache of trying to keep using those old libraries.
 
It wasn't an easy decision, but it is one I'm glad I made.
 
Regards,
Dan