Deleting Unused/Unwanted plug-ins

[ThatSoundGuy5]

Okay, quick back-story. A couple years ago, I had Pro Tools 8 Le. At that time, I was by no means professional, or carried any aspirations of making a career out of audio, I was just a musician who wanted to loosely record some of my bands projects. I acquired many pirated plug-ins from different friends (bear with me) which I didn't know how to use, and seldom touched. I've wanted to get rid of them for a long time now. Pirating plug-ins isn't cool, and as my appreciation and aspirations toward audio are getting higher, and my persona is becoming more professional, I've realized stealing isn't the way to make a name for yourself.

NOW, I just purchased Pro Tools 10. I saw this as an opportunity to delete every remnant of pro tools off my computer, and get a new start. So that's what I did. I uninstalled Pro Tools 8, deleted the digidesign folder and every other folder I could find. (I'm on mac.) I then installed pro tools 10, and configured the ilok. After doing this, I ran in to a ton of problems, that I really hope someone out there can help me with.

Problem 1: Now whenever I open Pro Tools. As it loads, a window pops up which reads: Select Waves 7.0 Plug-in Folder. I can hit cancel, and it will continue to load, but I would really like to get rid of that, for I no longer have any waves plug ins.

Problem 2: They're all still THERE. All the pirated plug-ins I tried to delete still appear in Pro Tools, and are still usable. How do I get rid of them, so that they're completely gone forever?

Problem 3: I've read many forums pertaining to my first two problems, and they all end up tracing back to the digidesign folder. As I read these forums and try to apply them to my own situation.. GASP. There is no digidesign folder! When I installed Pro Tools 10, a digidesign didn't appear, which has been a MAJOR roadblock for me. Can someone explain to me why one didn't appear with Pro Tools 10?

AND FINALLY, Problem 4: For some stupid reason, a lot of the DEFAULT instrument plug-ins, such as Mini-Grand, and BOOM are no longer working. When I click on them, I get a message saying: Factory content was not found: /Application/Digidesign/...etc. I understand this means that they were located in the digidesign folder, which brings us back to Problem 3. Why didn't Pro Tools 10 create one?!

I know this is a lot. But if ANYONE out there could help with any of these problems. I would really appreciate it. Thanks so much for your time, Cheers.

[gravol]

Should be as simple as deleting your Macintosh HD>Library>Application support>Digidesign folder. You would need to reinstall PT10 afterwards to regain your stock plugins.

[C]

Waves Plugins - Look in the Applications Folder (for Waves), perform a spotlight search for WaveShell and delete anything you find.

Digidesign Folder wasn't created because it's now an Avid folder, try running the Virtual Instruments installer again.

[gravol]

Originally Posted by C

Waves Plugins - Look in the Applications Folder (for Waves), perform a spotlight search for WaveShell and delete anything you find.

Digidesign Folder wasn't created because it's now an Avid folder, try running the Virtual Instruments installer again.

The Digidesign folder is still created and where your plug-ins get installed. The Waves Waveshell file is in that folder and the reason why PT is asking for the path for the plugins folder which is located in Applications>Waves>"Waves Plug-Ins"

[C]

Ahh yes, so it does. Been a while since I installed.

C

[ThatSoundGuy5]

UPDATE!

The default plug-in issue has been solved. It was just a matter of uninstalling and reinstalling the Virtual Instruments. Also, thanks for the advice on the digidesign folder. It makes a lot more sense now.

However, I've searched finder far and wide, and I can't find ANY waves folders. Also, I still have all the plug ins I didn't want on Pro Tools. Any more help would be greatly appreciated!

[ThatSoundGuy5]

Also, if I've already deleted the waves folder, how do I get rid of the message?

[gravol]

Check in your Macintosh HD>Library>Application support>Digidesign>Plug-Ins folder and just delete the unwanted plug-ins. They are usually named in a understandable way. I though would just delete the whole folder and start from scratch with a reinstall.

[ThatSoundGuy5]

I did delete the whole folder! But it didn't come back when I re-installed!

[gravol]

Hmm something's really weird then.
Use the PT uninstaller in /Applications/Avid/Pro Tools/Pro Tools Utilities and do a full uninstall. Then check that the Macintosh HD>Library>Application support>Digidesign folder is deleted. If not then do so and empty your trash. Reinstall PT10 and Virtual instruments and you will be all set.