New drive/synth content/can I just change new drive name?

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Treefight
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2016/11/26 09:34:49 (permalink)

New drive/synth content/can I just change new drive name?

Hey all, I'm moving all my synth content from a "normal" internal drive to a soon-to-be installed SSD drive.  It will be an in-place copy/transfer, i.e., both drives will remain in the PC, at least for now.  To avoid having to redirect the software synth's drive path's to the new drives, is it possible to just rename the new drive - after moving all of the content, but before opening the synth to which it is linked - to the same drive letter as the old drive, so that the synth just looks for the drive letter and finds the content as if nothing's changed?
 
For example, a synth is now directed to drive E for it's content.  I install a new drive, move all of the content to that new drive - which windows named G, for example, by default - and rename the new drive (the G drive) to "E."  I then - and only then - open up the synth.  Will it look for its usual/old path to E, find it - and its content - on the (new, formerly G) E drive as if nothing's changed?  Or will the name change alone not be enough?  I hope that question is somewhat clear!
 
Thanks!

Stuff.
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    slartabartfast
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    Re: New drive/synth content/can I just change new drive name? 2016/11/26 16:52:31 (permalink)
    Yes. The drive letter is what Windows will look for, and so long as you change the drive letter in Windows it will work. Be careful of conflicts or misadventures from automatic drive letter assignments by Windows, I assume G is a later letter than anything you have now which should do the job.
     
    Incidentally, you do not actually have to move anything except the synth. Using Windows disk management, you can name any drive that is not already assigned a letter to any available letter. So you could assign your old drive E: to be letter M:, then install your new drive and go into Disk Management and, if Windows assigned it letter F: or whatever, just reassign it to E: and install your synth there. You should probably always leave your boot drive to C: however as too many things, including Windows expect that. 
     
    You could also use symbolic links to make Windows think that a location on one drive is actually on another drive, but that may be more complicated than you want.
    http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/16226/complete-guide-to-symbolic-links-symlinks-on-windows-or-linux/
     
    #2
    Treefight
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    Re: New drive/synth content/can I just change new drive name? 2016/11/29 13:37:33 (permalink)
    Perfect, thank you. Just to be clear, by "synth," I assume you're referring to content, since the synth itself - the VST, I guess - is already installed in the C drive?

    Anyhow, thanks again, and you also answered/confirmed the proper way of re-naming a drive letter, so I should be all set.

    Stuff.
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    Treefight
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    Re: New drive/synth content/can I just change new drive name? 2016/11/29 13:47:13 (permalink)
    Oh, and is there any advantage to using symbolic links versus changing the names? For my limited purposes, it would seem like an additional unnecessary step for Windows, though it must have useful applications in other contexts.

    I'm just paranoid about overtaxing poor ole Windows because I recently had to reset W10 after many hour, days, weeks of troubleshooting freezes, crashes, and many BSODs.

    The error logs pointed many different directions, and after chasing that rabbit hole far too long - you know, Freakonomics, can't stop after investing so much - a third party finally held an intervention and the reset did away with all of that, narrowly avoiding man-on-computer violence.

    Stuff.
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    slartabartfast
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    Re: New drive/synth content/can I just change new drive name? 2016/11/29 13:56:01 (permalink)
    The main use for most people of a symlink is that some software only installs to the C: drive. If you are using a small C: drive then tricking it into installing to a symlink masquerading as a folder on that drive can move the actual code and data to the link target. Linking is fast and very low demand, but you will only get the performance of the drive that the link points to. So a symlink on a fast SSD will result in things actually running from a slower drive if that is where the link points. That should be obvious, but sometimes is overlooked.  
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