data, data and more data

[thunderchero]

Hi Everyone,

after over 15 years it is time to clean up my BOTF files

files (as of 2 weeks ago)
1tb hard drive 50% full
500gb hard drive 100% full
75 dual layer dvds
120 dvds
200 cd's

I burned up 1 dvd burner coping all those discs to a 3tb hard drive.

lost countless dvd/cd due to cylinder errors.

so far I have sorted though most of the files and removed duplicate files (so many duplicates) and am back down to around 225 gigs.

now what to keep? do I upload any of it? just my "master 3ds" folder I used for latest mpr++ models is 2.8 gigs after cleaning it up (old/working folder is 12.5 gigs).
installer files for multi mod creation. (48 different installers 35.5 gigs)
misc botf folder 144 gigs

what a mess

[Axis]

[cleverwise]

So house cleaning.

[Axis]

And I thought I had a lot, my newest 1920 x 1080 project has around 1 gigabyte of data, and I have only scratched the surface, maybe 25-30 percent of Federation and start menus done.

I started modding BotF in the early summer, paused for a few months (had other things to do, like making maps for Civilization V among other things).

Now I'm back.

[cleverwise]

225 GBs isn't much to store these days.

[thunderchero]

225 GBs isn't much to store these days.

True, when it is on a hard drive, when I was storing backups on cd/dvds it was crazy.

But the clean up process is progressing nicely, although I am sure I will notice something missing that was lost or deleted.

I should have done this many years ago

btw I have over 500 gigs of other data to sort though and clean up and store. plus close to 1300 movies to do something with.

[cleverwise]

I agree storing that much data on DVDs and even CDs is a hassle. On a hard drive no biggie.

Good deal and yeah most of us need to do some digital cleaning.

[thunderchero]

Good deal and yeah most of us need to do some digital cleaning.

this is a little more than a digital cleaning.

system was running poorly after 2 years, so time for fresh install of windows and programs.

so I used Microsoft Media Creation Tool to get latest version of the windows iso and did a clean install, and am installing programs now.

so should be up and running better soon.

[cleverwise]

Yeah I would say so if you installed Windows. That is good to do every few years.

[thunderchero]

Yeah I would say so if you installed Windows. That is good to do every few years.

this was the longest stretch I have gone without reinstalling windows. 6 months is about my normal but I am rough on systems.
The main reason it started running poorly was I went ahead and upgraded to 10, I hate upgrade installs. I always seem to have problems, the upgrade process took 12 hours and log was riddled with errors and warnings

[cleverwise]

I am not surprised with Windows 10 upgrade you noticed issues. It is better to do full installs on major releases so good deal.

I used to reinstall Windows a lot, like every three to six months, in the late 90's to the mid 2000's. Then with XP SP2+ things seemed to get a lot more stable and I quit installing so many programs so I usually got two to three years out of the installs. I did have a machine running XP SP3 that was running smoothly after four years on the same install. The machine is still running that same install only it is now in mothballs.

[thunderchero]

I did have a machine running XP SP3 that was running smoothly after four years on the same install. The machine is still running that same install only it is now in mothballs.

that was one of my objectives, retiring my old XP system.

this is the same system I built a couple years ago. but this time I wanted to set up a dual boot with win 10 and win 7. but I never liked having to select what OS to load each time you start up or rebooted. So I bought a couple hot swap bays with power switches, so far they are working very well.

[cleverwise]

That works. If you aren't modern gaming on one there is always VirtualBox too.

[KrazeeXXL]

Hi Everyone,

after over 15 years it is time to clean up my BOTF files

files (as of 2 weeks ago)
1tb hard drive 50% full
500gb hard drive 100% full
75 dual layer dvds
120 dvds
200 cd's

I burned up 1 dvd burner coping all those discs to a 3tb hard drive.

lost countless dvd/cd due to cylinder errors.

so far I have sorted though most of the files and removed duplicate files (so many duplicates) and am back down to around 225 gigs.

now what to keep? do I upload any of it? just my "master 3ds" folder I used for latest mpr++ models is 2.8 gigs after cleaning it up (old/working folder is 12.5 gigs).
installer files for multi mod creation. (48 different installers 35.5 gigs)
misc botf folder 144 gigs

what a mess

wow, 15 years of BotF modding. Really time to clean house. I also wouldn't rely on CD/DVDs anymore. I've tons of bad ones, too. If I'd just spent all that money on HDDs instead...

If I were you I'd make a couple of sections and organize it. (you prolly have already but anyway)

It could look like this: finished projects, unfinished projects, an experimental section, unrelated stuff or stuff you've forgotten about or don't know where to put - if you fear of losing anything which might turn out important later.
Than I'd get a clean HDD and put it on there. Get another one for extra backup and also upload everything you deem important. So it'll be available for those people who want to follow your footsteps by modding the game. It should be easily available and organized, so you won't have to answer any single request by people trying to find something specific.

Perhaps make it work with Flocke's BotF wiki.

A bit of a warning. I wouldn't solely rely on a cloud (f.e. google) as backup. There are cases where people lost rights to their files they heavily relied on and weren't able to work them anymore. So, if you want to go that way, make sure it's safe.


kind regards.