Disabling plugins (perhaps)

[AyersHunt]

Hi...
My PC version 12 of pro tools has stopped operating. It was working fine and then I deleted a number of projects from the hard disk as they were no longer needed, but I wanted to free up disk space. Now pro tools is just slow and hangs.

Can anyone please tell me how to disable plugins?
I have moved plugins from
C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Digidesign\DAE\Plug-Ins
C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Avid\Audio\Plug-Ins
C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Digidesign\DAE\Plug-In Settings
and put them in separate unused folders.

The express intention with all this was to strip resources down which are not used in order to make pro tools run more efficiently.

Now when I create a new project in pro tools, all the plug ins are all still there.

any ideas?

thanks, Jeremy.

[Amack]

My guess would be that you did a bad thing by moving all those folders. PT likely needs some of their contents to run and can't find it. But, if the plugins are supposed to be 64 bit, what are they doing in an x86 Program Folder?

Originally Posted by AyersHunt

Hi...
My PC version 12 of pro tools has stopped operating. It was working fine and then I deleted a number of projects from the hard disk as they were no longer needed, but I wanted to free up disk space. Now pro tools is just slow and hangs.

Can anyone please tell me how to disable plugins?
I have moved plugins from
C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Digidesign\DAE\Plug-Ins
C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Avid\Audio\Plug-Ins
C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Digidesign\DAE\Plug-In Settings
and put them in separate unused folders.

The express intention with all this was to strip resources down which are not used in order to make pro tools run more efficiently.

Now when I create a new project in pro tools, all the plug ins are all still there.

any ideas?

thanks, Jeremy.

[albee1952]

Really need a lot more detail about your system(all I know now is you are running some version of Windows.....I think). Looking at this has me thinking a few things:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Digidesign\DAE\Plug-Ins
C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Avid\Audio\Plug-Ins
C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Digidesign\DAE\Plug-In Settings

The items in bold are left over from an old installation of Pro Tools. PT11 and 12 no longer use DAE as now it is AAE(a complete audio engine re-write). All this "old" data on your C: drive is probably working against you. My best advice here is not going to make you happy, but I would start completely fresh. I would remove your current C: drive and set it aside. Then pop in a fresh drive(preferably a good SSD), install Windows 7(64 bit), do all the required system tweaks, then install PT12. Then I would test, and if all is good, I would save a drive image right away(so you always have a base point that you can recover to in case of disaster). Then I would install the rest of your plugins, making sure you have the latest versions. Once they are all in, I would run the rig for a week or two, and if its running well, I would save another drive image. Remember the old drive you took out? After 3-4 months of smooth sailing, I would think about cloning over it with your current C: drive so you have a spare(and fully configured) system drive(something you might never use, but will absolutely never regret)

[JFreak]

If you moved the plugin in subfolder within the same folder, it will still be loaded. There is a separate uninstalled plugins folder in ../Unused Plug-Ins, a.k.a one folder below the Plugins folder. Moving setting files does nothing.

[Amack]

Are the plugins 32 or 64 bits?

Originally Posted by JFreak

If you moved the plugin in subfolder within the same folder, it will still be loaded. There is a separate uninstalled plugins folder in ../Unused Plug-Ins, a.k.a one folder below the Plugins folder. Moving setting files does nothing.

[Southsidemusic]

Originally Posted by Amack

Are the plugins 32 or 64 bits?

What does that have to do with the OP's question? If he use them in PT12 they would of course be 64bit since thats all that works in PT12/11

[Amack]

I'm just trying to understand the underlying issue to see if there's likely a simple fix. I now see that audio plugins are in the 64 bit "Program Files" folder as well as the 32 bit "Program Files (x86)" folder. I was quite surprised to see those 32 bit plugins since I've never had anything but 64 bit PT11 and PT12 on this desktop PC. It would appear that, unless he also uses PT10 or earlier, he shouldn't have caused a problem by moving/deleting the x86 plugin folder, right? (Though it's likely best to start by renaming it to see if things work properly without it first.)

Originally Posted by Southsidemusic

What does that have to do with the OP's question? If he use them in PT12 they would of course be 64bit since thats all that works in PT12/11

[JFreak]

Okay; maybe the 32/64 has something to do with it.

I have absolutely zero knowledge how to set up PT for Windows systems, but if the Program Files folder point to 32bit plugin folders it would have zero impact doing any maintenance there if you have a 64bit PT11/12 software. Right?

So find the correct folders first, if you need to move plugins to unused folder.

[AyersHunt]

Thank you so, so much guys. I think what I will do is roll back to a previous back up before these issues started happening.
I have no idea how these plugins ended up in X86 folders, but I suspect it was user (ie. me) error. I think I must have installed 32 bit then went over to 64 bit.
Either way, all your efforts are very much appreciated.

[Amack]

They were probably installed in the x86 folder when you installed PT12. That seems to have happened to me too since I never had 10 installed and un-installed 11 before installing 12. By the way, I just ran PT with those after re-naming those Avid and Digidesign x86 program folders and couldn't detect any change in it's performance. So, your moving those folders probably didn't cause the problem. (Unless you put them in a bad place.)

Originally Posted by AyersHunt

Thank you so, so much guys. I think what I will do is roll back to a previous back up before these issues started happening.
I have no idea how these plugins ended up in X86 folders, but I suspect it was user (ie. me) error. I think I must have installed 32 bit then went over to 64 bit.
Either way, all your efforts are very much appreciated.