VST Sound - Move to external HDD

Hello folks,

I just got the Absolute 3 library and installed it. The VST sound folder is huge now and my HDD is dangerously full now.

Can I move VST Sound to an external drive? and if so… how do I do it without breaking Cubase?

Thanks!

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This must be one of the most asked questions around here - just use the search.

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Tried that before creating this post. Searched for “VST sound moving” the forum’s search engine says "ignored: “VST sound”. None of the results are relevant.

Went to google, and only got one result:

Which says I have to modify the registry or some nonsense that the OP says doesnt work anyway.

Has anyone successfully moved VST sound content to an external drive?, and if so, Can you provide a list of steps on how to do it?

I hope its not rocket science. Registry modification is a pain in the neck and its waaay easy to mess up something.

Best way to do it would be to use the installer and choose the desired location for the content. By default it goes to AppData/Steinberg/…
If you change it from default it will create shortcuts in the default location pointing to wherever you installed the content.
It can be a different drive.

You can also check this thread: Installing HALion 5 across two drives - Virtual instruments - Steinberg Forums

I tried this, but the installer for Halion 6 would not offer an option to locate the vst sound files on an external hdd.

Did you try to load up Halion in standalone mode first?

The easiest way to relocate libraries, under Windows at least, is to copy the library folder to another drive, then make the original folder a junction link pointing to the new folder. This allows you to easily span drives without having to change installation paths.

I’m going to create a video and post it to YouTube that shows the basics of moving your library if you forgot or couldn’t move it using the installers and link it back here so people have it.
I’ll be using Windows 10 but if anyone needs a Mac version let me know as I also have a MacBook Pro I can use to show how you move the files on there.

If you are using Halion 6 why not use the Halion Library Manager?

That is what I did and it moved it. Even found some duplicates and deleted them. All neat and tidy now (much to my surprise!).

Wow thanks! yes please post it back to here once its done!!!

Thanks so much!

I will try this also. Thanks!

I relocated my ‘C:\ProgramData\Steinberg\Content’ folder to another drive some time ago, and replaced it with a hard symbolic link.
But when I run Halion Library Manager it lists the files as duplicates in both the old and new locations. Is there anyway to correct this?
I stupidly clicked “remove duplicates” once and it deleted the lot, of course! Fortunately I had a backup…

Better create a junction point. It perfectly works for me.

There is a very useful and simple free application called Junction Link Magic to easily do it.

But a “junction point” is a symbolic link.

My problem stems from Halion Library Manager searching all my drives. So it finds the link AND where it points to and assumes they are two separate instances. So it flags them as duplicates. Is there any way to restrict where it looks? I have all content on me E: drive. I don’t want Halion looking at content on my C: drive because it’s not really there!

Any ideas?

Remove the files from the original location.
That’s what I did and it’s working. My process was a nightmare of trial and error though :astonished:. It would have been way easier if I had the info in this post then.

The files are not in the original location (C-drive). I moved them to the E-drive and replaced them with a symbolic link (or hard junction) on C: pointing to E:. But it appears the HLM can’t tell whether it’s looking at a file directly or via a link…

Junction points are transparent to programs. If you check the Properties of the original folder (in your case ‘C:\ProgramData\Steinberg\Content’) it will appear that its files or folders remain in the original location, but they aren’t, as in fact they are in the Destination target folder (in your case in another drive). The contents of a junction use almost no disk space as they simply point to the target (your second drive) but as I said before in a complete transparent way.

I understand junction points. My problem, as originally stated, remains:
“When I run Halion Library Manager it lists the files in both the old (‘C:\ProgramData\Steinberg\Content’) and new (in another drive) locations as duplicates. Is there anyway to correct this?”

Try this : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JB_coW-1hoA

Yes the newly renamed Steinberg Library Manager now offers to remove the duplicates when it detects them.