Hello All....Long story short my rig was built by my buddy with zero input from me as I had zero experience at the time.
Now that my feet are wet I see that he did a poor job of setting up the DAW and associated data.  I apologize for the laundry list of questions...They are all somewhat related and I wanted to just put it all out here instead of creating a million threads :)  Please help answer/comment as many as you can.  Truly appreciate you taking the time to read my issue!
 
The Issues:
-Doesn't appear that my DAW/Programs are running on the faster HDD (my C drive) and other data on the slower (E) drive.  In fact it looks like DAW data/vst data etc. is all mixed up between the drives
-32 bit and 64 bit is totally mixed up.  64bit VSTs are sitting in 32 bit folders and vice versa.
 
The questions:
1) I seem to run well enough given my older PC with 4 gigs of RAM.  Is there any harm or major disadvantage to a) not having the proper separation between programs/data between my 2 Hard Drives  b)Can this be fixed in any reasonable way?  Should it be fixed or is it not worth the trouble?
2) Same questions as above concerning the mixing up of 32/64 bit VSTs/apps.  Is there a real harm to having them mixed up as they are?  Why is there a real need to separate in the first place?
3) Where does the data go when setting up a new VST?  I know the .dll file goes in the VSTplugin folder but does all of the data go there too?  If an app is only a .dll file - Can I put that into it's own folder before dropping into the VST directory (to keep things neat i would prefer every VST have it's own folder if possible)
4) If a new VST plugin comes in both 32 and 64bit - Should I install both versions?  If so, it's just a matter of the .dll going to each folder and then the program data sits somewhere else where both .dll's can see it?
5) When I select "insert soft synth" - What is the line that separates the list?  Is that supposed to mean 32/64 bit? Why in this list do I see all of my plugins.....and then a line that says "vstplugins" that expands to a few more in my arsenal?  Why do some VSTs expand to select x64 or x86 when others are just listed more than once (example - I have Rapture "above the line", Rapture "below the line" and also Rapture LE below the line with the expanded selection for 32/64)?
 
Last, it appears my buddy didn't install the Rapture expansion correctly.  I can see that I have the downloads but Rapture does not see them.  When I click the programs field it looks in "C>Program Data>Cakewalk Rapture (in there I have EG, MIDI, Programs, SG, Sample Pool folders).  The expansion pack data however is sitting in E>Program Files>Cakewalk>Rapture (in there I have LFO waveforms, Multisamples, Programs, Resources, Tunings, a .dll and .exe file).  How can I get these expansion packs to the right place?
 
if you wish to see an ugly rough map of all of my folders you can see it here:
http://forum.cakewalk.com/My-noob-threadwhere-do-I-begin-m2938786.aspx#2980549
 
Again....very sorry for the overload of confusion.  I've been reading everywhere but still scratching my head and frankly just worried that my setup is doomed in some way.
Thanks so much for reading!
 
 
 
 
 

Two words:
 
Clean install.

haha would be nice but sadly this is not an option for me  :(

Some programs will install on the drive with the most space available, although I've mainly seen that with older programs.
 
You may be able to uninstall your plug-ins and instruments and then re-install them, making sure during the installation process that they get installed where you want them.

Yea, uninstall SONAR, de-frag and reinstall it.  Your simplest bet is to go w/ the standard installation and let SONAR handle the where's of installs.  In my C: drive I have Cake folders and Steinberg (for some 3rd party VSTs).  All the Cake vsts go in Cake subfolders, as well as some other vsts (I'm not sure the logic behind those placements, but it works).
 
Your C: drive should be for programs (and large libraries).  It doesn't have to be the fastest, although 7200 rpms is nice.
Your E: drive should be for Projects and should be fast.  this is where SONAR streams off audio (and video files should go here, too).  7200 rpm is standard for this drive.  You can also put streaming sampler samples here.
 
@

thanks all please keep the thoughts flowing
 
as stated a re-install is just not possible.  my buddy built and put the software on my PC and sadly we are no longer in contact with each other.  what i have now is pretty much the cards i've been dealt so i was just checking to see if there was any wiggle room.
 
i have plenty of plugins i can try uninstall/reinstalling though
 
 
-so when i'm asked where to put the data...where does it go?  can i put everything in the same folder under the VSTplugin folder - or does it have to be separated?
 
-how can i get the rapture expansion packs as mentioned above moved to the correct place?

seed
thanks all please keep the thoughts flowing
 
as stated a re-install is just not possible.  my buddy built and put the software on my PC and sadly we are no longer in contact with each other.  what i have now is pretty much the cards i've been dealt so i was just checking to see if there was any wiggle room.
 
i have plenty of plugins i can try uninstall/reinstalling though

 
I wasn't suggesting that you re-install Sonar - just your plug-ins. 
 
 

seed 
-so when i'm asked where to put the data...where does it go?  can i put everything in the same folder under the VSTplugin folder - or does it have to be separated?

 
Yes, you can put everything in one folder - you can even create your own folder and put all VSTs in there. For example, I have two folders on my C drive, VST32 and VST64, and that's where I put my plugins.
 
If the plug-in is just a .dll file, you simply can move it to the folder you want to use. If the plug-in uses a Windows installer you will need to pay attention to the installer's dialog windows - one of them with ask you where the VST should be located. At this point you can change it to the folder you want to use.
 
When you have your plug-ins where you want them, open the Plug-In Manager in Sonar and point it to your plug-in folder, then re-scan your plug-ins. That's how Sonar will know where they are.
 
 

seed 
-how can i get the rapture expansion packs as mentioned above moved to the correct place?

Again, I would re-install the expansion packs. If you cannot do that, there is an advanced way to do it but unless you consider yourself an advanced Windows user I would recommend that you just leave them where they are to make sure things don't get screwed up.

thanks ruben a few followups:
 
-to be clear - we can put *everything* in the vst folder?  so if a plugin comes with sample data/program data/anything else besides the .dll - i can still put all of that under the VSTPlugin folder?  but what if i were to install something like omnisphere that is 50 gigs large.  would it still make sense to dump all of that into the VSTplugin folder - or should those samples etc. be located elsewhere?  if the latter - how do i know when this determination is made?
 
-say my plugin is ONLY a .dll file....can i still create a folder for it and put that into the same VSTplugin folder - or will sonar no longer be able to find it that way? (i don't want to create a billion scan locations obvs).  i just don't like seeing the "loose" files in my vst folder and would prefer them packaged for each plugin
 
-for the rapture - i never installed this originally.  but knowing what i know about my usable programs being in C>program data>cakewalk>rapture......is this where i would direct the program data to go if asked?  just in that "rapture" folder and sonar will know to add the new programs to the existing list etc?
as it stands these expansion packs are doing me no good sitting in a place were rapture can't see them.....so i figure almost anything is worth a shot?!?!
 
 
all the best thanks so much for your help!

Seems your in a bit of a pickle with all of this.
 
I agree with a consensus that a clean install is the best solution - can you explain why it's not an option?
 
If it's because your one time partner has the disks and he has installed it on another machine, then I'm afraid this is against Cakewalk's TOS - you are in efffect running an illegal copy - just something to be aware of.
 
If you've got the disks (or the download) then a clean reinstall is not only possible but highly desirable.
 
Please don't take this the wrong way = I'm not accusing you of anything, I'm just curious why a reinstall is not possible

seed
thanks ruben a few followups:
 
-to be clear - we can put *everything* in the vst folder?  so if a plugin comes with sample data/program data/anything else besides the .dll - i can still put all of that under the VSTPlugin folder?

 
Technically, you could put everything in a VST folder. But that would go against typical Windows setup protocol and could quite possibly create problems down the road. It's best to put the application files in the default locations in "Program Files" (or "Program Files x86") and just change the location of the VST to your custom VST folder. As I mentioned earlier, when a plug-in uses an installation procedure it will generally allow the user to change the VST folder location. And when a plug-in is just a .dll file that can easily be moved to any folder you want to use.
 
 

seed but what if i were to install something like omnisphere that is 50 gigs large.  would it still make sense to dump all of that into the VSTplugin folder - or should those samples etc. be located elsewhere?  if the latter - how do i know when this determination is made?

 
DAW users have different opinions about this, but I prefer to keep sample libraries in a location separate from my plug-ins. For me, I have a third drive that holds my samples. I wouldn't want a huge library in my VST folder, partly because I can easily back up my VST folders and large libraries would make it more difficult.
 
 

seed-say my plugin is ONLY a .dll file....can i still create a folder for it and put that into the same VSTplugin folder - or will sonar no longer be able to find it that way? (i don't want to create a billion scan locations obvs).  i just don't like seeing the "loose" files in my vst folder and would prefer them packaged for each plugin

 
It is pretty easy to use Sonar's plug-in manager to keep track of your plug-ins. You only have to add a folder location once and Sonar will load any plug-ins in the folder, and of course you can add multiple folders. And once you have your plug-ins set, you can configure Sonar so that it doesn't scan your plug-ins every time you open it, if that concerns you. You can then just manually scan your plug-in folders when you add/subtract plug-ins.
 
 

seed 
-for the rapture - i never installed this originally.  but knowing what i know about my usable programs being in C>program data>cakewalk>rapture......is this where i would direct the program data to go if asked?  just in that "rapture" folder and sonar will know to add the new programs to the existing list etc?
as it stands these expansion packs are doing me no good sitting in a place were rapture can't see them.....so i figure almost anything is worth a shot?!?!

 
First of all, if Rapture was installed with Sonar using the default settings, Sonar already knows where Rapture is located. I'm not familiar with Rapture but I believe that you select the samples from within Rapture (true?) so the samples/expansion packs can be located anywhere. If Rapture doesn't work that way, there should be a way to tell Rapture where the samples are, but again, it doesn't matter where the samples are located if you cannot move/re-install them.
 
 

seed
all the best thanks so much for your help!

Good luck! This stuff can be daunting and frustrating until you get your brain wrapped around it.