Firstly, I understand that Cubase is not intended to be installed anywhere other than the C-drive. However, I don’t have that option because my C-drive is a 100gb SSD drive containing the OS and it is nearly full already. Cubase will simply not fit there.
My question is: How can I install EVERYTHING on the D-drive? All the VSTs, all the plugins, all the content. Literally everything. I don’t want folders here and there. I want it all in one place where I can understand how it works. Because right now, there are .dll files and .vst3 files all over the place, in C/Program Files/Common Files, in C/Program Files/Steinberg, in D/Steinberg/Content/, etc. I was never given an option not to install certain things on the C-drive. It’s a mess. I don’t know what’s going on with all these files. Can a VST or a plugin be put in one folder? Or do the .dll and /vst3 files need to be in a separate folder?
Basically I want to do a complete reinstall so that everything is one place. Is it possible???
The Halion Sonic SE will only work if I place the .dll file NOT in the main VST folder. My main VST folder is in D/Steinberg/Content/VST but it wont work if I leave it there. If I move it to C/Program Files/Common Files/Shared Components, then it works.
Why do certain files need to be in different places?
Why do certain files need to be in different places?
Still a very valid question (and yet unaswered). Looking into the various locations (Windows System) for preferences, XMLs, DLLs, content and EXEs I get mad to see where things a stored!
I wish Cubase yould just be in one folder, period!
Now I’ve messed it up completely. Groove Agent SE has disappeared and Cubase can’t load it. I’ve tried adding all the pathways where there are Groove Agent files but it’s no good. I really am considering a full reinstall. I will have to archive all the audio recordings and make sure all the projects are backed up.
Does anyone know where the Groove Agent files need to be for Cubase to recognize them?
That’s why it is much much easier just to clone the drive to a bigger one, and replace it with that drive. I would recommend minimum a 1Tb SSD, they are not that expensive anymore.
With a system drive that small you are going to spend about half your life messing around trying to make space on it. And the other half trying to sort out problems caused by not letting installations use their defaults.
Firstly, I’m not sure that’s an option since it’s a laptop I use, not a desktop with dedicated drive slots. But I will investigate that. The other issue is that I am not confident in my ability to clone my drive, as my technical skills are fairly basic. How easy is it to do that? I can’t risk data loss or days lost due to messing up my system.
Can you recommend a specific piece of hardware and cloning software which you found to be good?
But I agree that in principle it is a good solution, if I can do it.
When cloning a small SSD drive to a larger one, I assume both have to be connected to my laptop at the same time. That requires two slots - I think there is only one in my laptop. But I will check.
Assuming I successfully did that, I would still have to uninstall Cubase and reinstall on the C-drive. But I suppose it would be worth it in the long run.
** Update **
My laptop’s relevant internal port specs:
One M.2 slot for 2230/2280 solid-state drive or 2280 Intel Optane
currently occupied with:
One M.2 2230/2280 solid-state drive (PCIe Gen3.0x4 NVMe, up to 32 Gbps), Capacity up to 512 GB.
Is it still possible to clone the small drive with no extra port available?
Yes you can clone it with a USB adapter.
There are even get a kit that includes software and the USB adapter, and the relevant description how to.
You will have to find out how easy or not, it is to open up your laptop and swap the drive (if it isn’t soldered to the board, then forget it)
There are Youtube videos showing how it’s done and what not to do. I would suggest watching a few before you make up your mind.
just do a search for M.2 cloning
The D-drive is internal but it’s not SSD, it’s a regular 2.5 inch SATA drive, with 1 TB storage. I wish I had known about this before I bought the laptop - 100gb as a main OS drive is ridiculous.
So you do have two slots. There are lots of good ideas above and you can get kits to clone. You could even remove the D drive while you clone the C drive. Installing programs on other than the c drive just doesn’t work well.
I think your optimal end state would be to have both of your internal drives SSD while increasing the size of the C: drive. Depending on your specific usage that could mean moving the current C: to become D: while adding a new larger C:. Or replacing both with larger drives.
Getting there would likely require using an external HDD to jockey data around. But that could be repurposed later for backups - which is a good idea under any circumstances.
But the consensus here is to avoid installing programs (not content though) anywhere except the C: drive.
The slots house different types of drives, ie with different connectors. I don’t think you can take out the regular 2.5 SATA drive and fit an M.2 NVme drive in there.
I know this is an old thread but I will be going ahead with this upgrade next month. I’m waiting on parts but I will be cloning my SSD onto a larger SSD and then probably reinstalling everything to keep it all on one drive. I’ll probably use Acronis to clone the drive as that has been recommended to me.
Is there any point in moving the content back onto the C drive? Halion, Groove Agent, etc.
Its been awhile and hopefully you’ve resolved the questions regarding where to download cubase STUFF. cubase. Halion, should be on C drive. The librarys, audio files and the instruments like groove agent, bass player can be on the D drive. I use an external drive for these things cuz songs can get big quick and has negative effect on computer performance like lag, program freeze. Its good to plan ahead
