With some help,I just installed a 1TB SSD (Samsung 850 Pro)—and another 1TB spinning drive while the box was open, just for project space.
 
I had previously uninstalled Hollywood Strings from my old spinning drive because I was out of space, and performance sucked anyway.  Vienna Special Edition+ and Vienna Dimension Strings are still on the old spinning drive.
 
1. HOLLYWOOD.  I still have Play installed for other East-West products.  Do I just copy the Hollywood libraries from the original disc it was shipped on to the new SSD and repoint Play?  Or is there something else needed?  I am hoping I won't have to reauthorize or any such crap.
2. VIENNA.  Do I just drag-copy the libraries to the SSD (and clean off the old drive later)?  If so, how do I redirect Vienna Instruments and Vienna Instruments Pro to the SSD? I won't clean off the old drive until this is working because life has no meaning without Vienna.
 
You may be laughing at the questions, but I have had worlds of trouble getting virtual instruments set up.  There always seems to be a catch or two.
 
THANKS! --Your pal, The Mighty Konrad

1. Yes, you should be able to just repoint PLAY to the new location.
 
2. Same here, but you need to use the Directory Manager and add the new library location(s).
 
Since both EastWest and Vienna products use dongles, you should never need to reauthorize since the authorization is on the dongle. So, basically, you can install the libraries anywhere you want and as many times as you'd like. You just can't use them unless you plug in the dongle. That's the one nice thing about dongles.
 
Scott

--
Scott R. Garrigus - http://garrigus.com - SONAR X3 Power! - http://garrigus.com/?SonarX3Power
* Author of the Cakewalk Sonar and Sony Sound Forge Power book series: http://garrigus.com/?PowerBooks
* Author of the Cakewalk Sonar ProAudioTutor video tutorial series: http://garrigus.com/?ProAudioTutor
* Publisher of the DigiFreq free music technology newsletter: http://www.digifreq.com/
* Publisher of the NewTechReview free consumer technology newsletter: http://www.newtechreview.com/

Thanks, Scott!  I have an iLok and an eLicenser and I know one is for Vienna and one is for Ivory II.  I did not recall that Hollywood also authorized used on of them.  I agree a dongle is a good thing, although eLicenser used to be confusing to update.  I understand they have been working hard to make the product better.
 
You have put my mind at ease.  Hollywood is churning away now, copying to the SSD. (I bought Hollywood on a hard drive and I bought a cradle that connects to USB.  I did not realize that my PC has a SATA connector in the back!  I wish I had bought a cradle with that connection, but the copying is almost done now.)
 
Tip to other users: If you bought the Diamond collection, you do NOT need to install the Gold folder--there is nothing unique in it.  That is not clear in the documentation.  To make matters more confusing, the Diamond folder is not called Diamond: it's just called Hollywood Strings.  So, you need the Hollywood Strings folder but not the Gold folder. Keep in mind, though, the naming conventions may have changed since I bought this a year or so ago.

No problem, Konrad. I hope the library move goes smoothly. SSD will definitely give you much better performance. Yeah, I have one of those hard drive docks too and they definitely come in handy.
 
Happy Holidays!
 
Scott

--
Scott R. Garrigus - http://garrigus.com - SONAR X3 Power! - http://garrigus.com/?SonarX3Power
* Author of the Cakewalk Sonar and Sony Sound Forge Power book series: http://garrigus.com/?PowerBooks
* Author of the Cakewalk Sonar ProAudioTutor video tutorial series: http://garrigus.com/?ProAudioTutor
* Publisher of the DigiFreq free music technology newsletter: http://www.digifreq.com/
* Publisher of the NewTechReview free consumer technology newsletter: http://www.newtechreview.com/

Hmmm.  Current status:  I have Vienna libraries installed on both the old drive and the new SSD.  I would like to get the SSD libraries activated before deleting the old ones on the spinning drive.
 
Where, exactly, is that Directory Manager thing?
 
Thanks!

It's not that you're activating them, just telling VSL where they are. Directory Manager is in the Start Menu under Vienna Instruments.

OK, thanks.  So it is not in the application (e.g., Vienna Insturments or Vienna Instruments Pro).  Thank you!  The manual is very unclear and just says it will happen automatically when you installed.  Tanks much for helping out, guys.

Oh my gosh.  Just repointed Vienna Instruments Pro to the SSD and loaded a full matrix of Dimension Strings in 3 seconds.  I used to be able to cook breakfast while it was loading.
 
I played some stuff from a MIDI keyboard and, for the first time, got the kind of response I had been expecting for a long time.
 
By the way, with no disrespect to East-West, I find Vienna much easier to understand and use and easier on CPU and memory.  I needed the SSD for both, but it was possible to use VSL from the rotational drive; Hollywood was unusable.
 
Also, Vienna is better in tune: Hollywood has some "human" things a lot of people like but that sound like mistakes to me.  I will continue to use both, but if I could only have one, I would definitely choose VSL.

I agree. Vienna Instruments Pro (and even the free version) is a far better application than EastWest PLAY. And you can do much more with Vienna. The software provides a lot of features and flexibility. It's more complicated and takes a bit more time to learn, but it's worth the extra learning curve.
 
Scott

--
Scott R. Garrigus - http://garrigus.com - SONAR X3 Power! - http://garrigus.com/?SonarX3Power
* Author of the Cakewalk Sonar and Sony Sound Forge Power book series: http://garrigus.com/?PowerBooks
* Author of the Cakewalk Sonar ProAudioTutor video tutorial series: http://garrigus.com/?ProAudioTutor
* Publisher of the DigiFreq free music technology newsletter: http://www.digifreq.com/
* Publisher of the NewTechReview free consumer technology newsletter: http://www.newtechreview.com/

First of all, with Vienna, I can load one matrix and then, via keywsitches, do any conceivable articulation.  With Hollywood, I have to load all the separate articulations I think I might need and change MIDI channels for each one.  (There is one keyswitch patch in Hollyood that has a few articulations.)
 
You need to have a book open to use Hollywood because some patches have vibrato, some use the mod wheel for vibrato, some are velocity sensitive, some use the mod wheel for volume, some use the mod wheel for volume AND vibrato, etc.  The patch organization is also odd.  Again, it is a good product that many people love, but I wish I had spent the money on Vienna Appassionata instead.