My main drive on my PC has reached saturation (read -"full" ) Would it be safe for me to move the libraries for kontakt to one of my auxiliary drives? How should I do it to ensure I don't loose any data? c drive has 2 TB and I have another 9 TB total on other drives combined with maybe a TB available on any one drive. I believe that I could free up about 800 Mb on C.
(I do a lot of graphic art on this computer as well as writing assignments and novels (I am also a author) in addition to the composing and recording work.)

 

As a sort of general rule you don't really want your kontakt libraries stored on your main drive anyway. Can affect performance in a negative way.
Yes it is safe to move your libraries to an external drive. SSD is in the main the best option as Kontakt needs so much disc access for transfer and conversion on the fly
Basically you can do it several ways - One simple way is simply move the library manually, then you need to locate the NKR & NKC or nicnt depending on the type of the library.
For player simply locate nicnt and add library. Kontakt will then search the samples and may ask for locating the resources.
Library will then be linked and details of the library etc will be stored in the registry so Kontakt knows where the samples and resources are located. Sometimes there can be a few problems with linking the samples when kontakt is looking in the wrong place etc.
All unprotected libraries can be stored in various ways and you can load them in various ways.
Can transfer the libraries in bulk but would probably add then one by one and then perform a batch resave to speed up loading of samples. Samples always better in compressed NCW format wherever possible.
So would look at conversion from WAV to NCW in order as to save you significant disk space.
Some people claim compression affects the sound
In reality compression doesn't affect the sound as NCW files stored using lossless compression.
This means there is NO affect on sound quality and there are various options to convert back to WAV if desired.
Where possible libraries are best of normally stored in a folder of choice.
12TB is a hell of a lot of files to move and your disc options i guess are going to be strictly limited and say SSD etc will be real expensive. Drive speed or access will affect the performance so that's always something to consider.
There are sometimes a few problems with doing what you intend but nothing serious that cannot be sorted

 

Thanks Kloud. I wasn't thinking when I installed it a year ago. It's only over the last few months that I have experienced some sluggishness. 12 TB? I think you miss understood me. In all I have about 9 TB in total. My C disc is 2 TB. I have three external 2 TB drives and one 1 TB drive. Among the three 2 TB drives I have approx 1 TB each that is free. Anyway it sounds like I may have a lot of work ahead of me. I think I understand you to say that every time I start a library up in Kontakt after I have moved these files, Kontakt will have to search for all of the samples again. Am I right? Thanks for your help.

 

Ok cool I get you now Three external drives etc yeah will be a lot of transferring data etc for sure but relatively simple.
Yes your correct in that any library added to the library tab or details in registry etc when you open kontakt etc it will ask for location of samples as they are missing etc. Then as you say just search new location and kontakt will do the rest. Think there also programs and other methods for mass migration of samples etc but this will work easily enough Perform a batch re-save if after you have moved the libraries.
As I said look into converting any WAV files to NCW using batch compression as that will save you significant Disc space and also help with performance. Lossless compression works pretty well to save space. Should be relatively straight forward even if it is a labour intensive effort and all that. What sort of sluggishness are you experiencing. Just general or specific to a certain drive etc?

 

Mostly in loading libraries and instrument response at times. Nothing major. I think that this should clear it up. In the process of moving files right now. 9 hours! And during that time I can't use Kontakt at all. I didn't realize just how much I have grown to depend on that one program. NI sure had a winner with this one!

 

Put the libraries wherever you like. Kontakt is good at finding the samples/folders. If it can't find them it asks you where they are. Just point to the folder. And resave with a new name. (choose "just the preset" or whatever, ie not including samples). That makes a local reference, not a global one, if you get what I mean.

The instrument directories can be moved without hassle. Like webpages, keep all the file references local so you can move entire folders.

 

Did the whole operation yesterday and it went with out a hitch. Just pointed to the right folder once and it did the rest. The libraries showed up in the right places with the right sounds as if i never moved anything at all! Thanks for the help!