Relocating the cache?

This feature was suggested by many users and was reported as being considered for v1.1. So, can we move the cache folder to another drive now, and how?

Was this ever answered? Can we relocate the cache?

Thanks.

Unfortunately, no. I've got 34+ GB free on my system, but I'm stuck with a 50MB cache since the drive with the OS only has a little over 200MB free.

(I can't use a 200MB cache because of another bug: the cache will frequently go somewhat over the limit you set.)

LL needs to just let us specify the damn path. I'm so sick of getting bugged about how I'm almost out of space, when the drive the rest of SL lives on has tens of gigs free.

HEAR HEAR!

i created my OS partition as a 4GB partition - more than enough for even the most bloated installs of windows. then SL comes along and ABSOLUTELY INSISTS on putting it's ENTIRE CACHE on the OS partition. presto. instant annoying "disk space warning" errors. never mind the fact that drives E: and F: both have over 4GB free apiece, that would be an ideal location for a large cache area

lindens, hear our cries! make it so!

I know this has been answered in at least one thread.

Currently the only way to relocate your cache is to relocate your entire Documents and Settings folder.

This Misrosoft article describes it for Windows 2000:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;236621&Product=win2000

But, unless you know what you are doing I would not suggest taking this action as a bad registry can ruin your day.

Coin

I have my SecondLife cache located all by itself on a separate partition - without moving my Documents and Settings folder.

How?!

The following method is my way of doing this under Windows XP (Attempt on NT or 2k at your own risk). The probability of this working in ME, 98, 98SE, 95 or 3.11 is almost non-existent.

You are about to use NT Junctions (symbolic links if you are UNIX-compatible). Do not continue unless you know what you're doing. Junctions can get messy. Make sure you back up your important data, yadda yadda yadda.

1. Make sure SecondLife is not running. Duh.
   
2. Create a partition on your hard drive about 2-5GB in size (I know SecondLife only takes 1GB maximum, but we'll leave room for expansion). This probably involves reformatting your computer, using PartitionMagic or cleaning out a partition you currently have. Remember the drive letter.
   
3. Put nothing on this partition. The junction will use the whole thing. If you know how to do this with just a folder, feel free to reply.
   
4. Open a DOS prompt. Yes, it's all done via the command line (No groaning in the back!).
   
5. Type "mountvol". This will show you the GUID's for your partitions. You should get a list like so:
   

\\?\Volume{e2464851-8089-11d2-8803-806d6172696f}\
C:\ 

\\?\Volume{e2464852-8089-11d2-8803-806d6172696f}\
D:\ 

1. Copy the entire top string of the drive letter you want to be your SecondLife cache. For instance, if I went with my example above, I'd use "\\?\Volume{e2464852-8089-11d2-8803-806d6172696f}\" for the D: drive (To copy, right click in the DOS window, choose "Mark" then select the GUID. Right click to copy it.).
   
2. Go to the application data directory. "cd C:\Documents and Settings\<your user name>\Application Data"
   
3. This wipes out your settings for SecondLife, so back them up if you need to... Delete the contents and subdirectories of the SecondLife folder with "rmdir /s SecondLife".
   
4. Recreate it with "mkdir SecondLife".
   
5. Type the following magic line: "mountvol SecondLife <volume GUID>", where of course <volume GUID> is the volume string you copied earlier (You can right click and choose "Paste" to paste in the GUID from earlier instead of typing it). This is what I would do for my example (Don't type this): "mountvol cache \\?\Volume{e2464852-8089-11d2-8803-806d6172696f}\"
   
6. Verify that the SecondLife cache is now being stored on your partition by checking the partition in Windows Explorer. If you make a test file on the partition, it should show up in the SecondLife cache folder.
   
7. Have an extinguisher handy.
   
8. Run SecondLife.
   

I've been using this method for at least a few months with no ill side effects. Speed improvement? Not noticeable for me, but it seems like things are more consistent now. And it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

More information:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;205524

Edit: Rewrote it to link the entire SecondLife folder, not just the cache folder. My apologies to anyone who already did it, please undo it with the instructions below, then redo it.

Edit: To undo all this, go to the command prompt and type "cd C:\Documents and Settings\<your user name>\Application Data\SecondLife\" then "mountvol cache /d". You should have a normal cache directory again.

that's an ugly fix, and generally speaking, i like where my documents and settings folder is

is there any hope that we might get this changed in the future (i.e. be able to specify cache location)?

i myself can do the symlink fix suggested by Arito Cotton, and probably will. however, this is not a task for the squeamish (many many people are intimidated by the command prompt alone). also, that seems as if it would relocate your cache to the root directory of the partition specified. this can be most undesirable for some people.

Interesting. Straightforward approach that makes sense, assuming you have the partition-management tools and a few spare GB on the ol' hard disk.

One question: Do you need to recreate the link after SL upgrade/reinstall or is it preserved correctly?

=Sinclair

I've had no problems while upgrading SecondLife using this method.

(I did edit the above post to use the main SecondLife data directory instead of just the cache, I think it's better this way.)

*blink*

i know a GUI way to do that.

1. first, move (not copy) everything from within the "Application Data\SecondLife" folder, to the cache partition you set up (as per Arito's instructions)
   
2. start > settings > control panel > administrative tools > computer management
   
3. select "Disk Management"
   
4. right-click on the volume you want your cache to be on, in the top right pane, and choose "Change Drive Letter and Paths..."
   
5. click the "Add..." button, and select "Mount in the following empty NTFS folder"
   
6. click "Browse...", then select the now empty "Application Data\SecondLife" folder and click "OK", then "OK" again.
   
7. if you want to remove the current drive letter association, highlight the drive letter (in the "Change drive letter and paths" dialog) and click "Remove"
   - If you have ANYTHING else stored on this partition, removing the drive letter will quite possibly break any other program associated with data on that partition!
   

NOTE: while these steps may be easier to execute than Arito's method, they are NO LESS DANGEROUS. if you don't know what you're doing, and/or feel uncomfortable screwing with the way windows manages storage, DO NOT DO THIS!!!