Well, I certainly emphathize with your frustration, but frankly, we have no more idea than a goat of what you may have done. A dozen questions come to mind, like how was the other hard drive connected?
Full C Drive? That’s an issue in and of itself that moving cache files won’t help (you have a Windows Page file that grows and shrinks with available resources).
By what rationale did you think moving bridge cache files would help?
So, take a breath, and tell us details. Bridge didn’t do it, per se. Your number one issue, that you must get resolved is to free up space on your C drive, and the cache is the least of your worries.
If you have not added keywords and rankings to files via Bridge, you might have been better off just purging the cache, then setting it to a different drive.
If you’re that tight on HD space though, you are going to have a problem regarless of bridge/photoshop.
I have no clue how an application could have trashed a HD partition; you may have a hardware problem with the disk you are transferring stuff to.
If you are running out of space on C:, then the Bridge cache is a good candidate for moving elsewhere, as it takes a lot of space. Consider using a distributed cache — it puts the cache in the same directory as the images being cached. This can be selected in Bridge preferences.
If you are storing your photos in the deafult "My Pictures" subdirectory of "My Documents", you can save a lot of C drive space by moving your pix to another drive. For safety’s sake, COPY the image directory structure to another drive and then delete it from C:\Documents and Settings\[username]\My Documents\My Pictures.
Another big C drive space consumer is iTunes music files (probably other music applications, too); you can move all of this to another location and then tell iTunes where it is.
Also clear out temp files that are more than a few weeks or months old. A lot of cruft builds up in the temp directory. And also delete Windows Update uninstall files that you won’t need. They are in the c:\Windows directory in directories with names beginning "$NTUninstall" (you may need to have hidden and system files visible to see these). Reduce your browser cache size to something reasonable and clear the existing cache. Etc., etc., etc.
the Bridge cache is a good candidate for moving elsewhere, as it takes a lot of space.
Strongly disagree with that Michael, as evidenced by the exact opposite opinion expressed in the previous post.
Consider using a distributed cache — it puts the cache in the same directory as the images being cached.
The only value to a distributed cache is that when you delete a folder, the cache goes with it, and when you put a folder onto removable media, the cache goes with it. But the rationale behind the suggestion that it is somehow better for disk space reasons eludes me.
The big problem here is NOT the cache. If you’re running out of disk space on the C drive, you have a boat filling with water. Moving the Bridge cache is like plugging the hole with toilet paper.
You are certainly entitled to your opinion, Tony. We agree that pruning down the dreck on the C drive is necessary. If someone has a 40 or 60 GB C drive (often the case with laptops and older computers), however, it can be very hard to keep 10 GB free, with the My Documents folder, and all that’s under it, in that drive, as well as all the other Documents and Settings stuff, including the Bridge cache. In my opinion, if the Bridge cache is taking up several GB, which is very likely, then it’s a prime candidate for moving to another drive — after pruning as much unnecessary bloat as possible from the C drive.
The "only value" to the distributed cache isn’t merely that that when a folder is deleted, so is the cache. There’s the additional value that when you copy the folder to a CD, or move it elsewhere, the cache is moved or copied with it. Another value to it is that it doesn’t require that the entire cache be on the C drive, taking up valuable room; it can be on whatever drive(s) you use for your images, including an external drive.
Someone whose C drive is getting full needs to clear the deck. One possibility is moving applications, but that means uninstalling and reinstalling. Another possibility is moving the word-processing documents, spreadsheets, etc. from the My Documents folder to another location — or even relocating the default documents folder to another drive. That, too, has disadvantages. If one uses iTunes, there are many gigabytes of music files in the My Documents\My Music folder that could be moved. Setting Bridge to use a different location for the cache, or using a distributed cache, is another, because it allows the user to delete the existing cache files on C.
The "only value" to the distributed cache isn’t merely that that when a folder is deleted
I suspect you did not read my post thoroughly. In fact, you parroted my point.
The point is, if you have a full hard drive, you have a bigger problem than worrying about moving the cache files, and, as a strategy for reducing disk space, it is ineffective, if for no other reason, than it is temporary.
If a person is in the situation you describe, with a laptop with very little disk space, which there is no indication that this is the case and would be radical to assume that it was, then exactly what drive are you imagining that he moved his cache files to so that he could free up space?
No, the notion that moving your bridge files is an effective strategy to conserve disk space is fundamentally flawwed. In rare circumstances, it may provide temporary relief, but it is asinine to use it as a strategy to save disk space.
In the OPs situation, unless one has (foolishly) used Bridges keywords and rankings, you are far better off simply deleting the cache as a temporary measure.
You’re a very, very smart man Michael, but I find it unconscionable that I have to explain this. These are things you surely know or have reasoned out yourself. It seems to me that you suggest this route, almost as a point of disagreeing with me. And I don’t like it.
Cool down, Tony. Let’s try to help the OP. I’m certainly not trying to disagree with you. In fact, we agree on almost every point.
I’m not saying that moving the cache off the C drive is necessarily the right strategy for anyone, much less everyone. It is one thing to consider, along with all the other things I suggested to free up space — and only after doing things that will free up a lot more space.
My advice came from someone with a lot of experience in dealing with cramped space on the C drive. My old computer had a 38 GB C partition, and I had to do things all the time to keep 20% or so of that free. Almost all my apps were installed on the D or E drive, and my pix had to be spread across the C, D, E, and F drives (all of which were partitions or drives with 40 GB or less). In my situation, keeping a single GB of cache off the C drive was essential, along with constant pruning of temp files, keeping the various browser caches small and clear, emptying the recycler, etc. With a larger C drive and some other drives, it would be much easier to keep adequate free space on the C drive.
If the OP has a 320 GB C drive that’s filling up, he has very serious issues that need to resolved about disk space strategy, and saving a single GB here or there is not the way to go about it. But if the OP has a small drive or a small partition, every GB that can be cleared off the C drive is important. (I didn’t assume the OP had a laptop; I said that this was an issue for anyone with a laptop or older computer with limited space on the C drive. In the case of a laptop, one can add drive space on many units by swapping a second HD for the CD drive, and one can always plug in an external USB drive.)
I appreciate your point, thanks. I got a little tweaked, but I’m better now <grin>.
From my perspective, it goes like this. We don’t know what this second hard drive is. The OP is saying that he changed the cache drive to the new drive and then let the cache build. When he came back, the second drive had crashed.
To cut through all of the crap, the drive has a problem, most likely. But it is important to find out what the second drive was – was it a USB drive? A SCSI? An IDE/SATA?
If it was a USB drive, then the recommendation would be to not use a removable drive – but we don’t know.
Moving the cache files off the main drive to free up space is a band aid on a bleeding wound, as you’ve indicated by your own experience.
Even though it may be a decent stop gap measure, I am compelled to question the logic. Look, unless you’re using kewords and rankings (and god bless you if you do), deleting the cache is the quickest way to that route. Sure they will rebuild over time, but the guy has to free up HD space and desperately. You don’t need the cache files – at all – again, unless you’re ranking and using keywords.
So the problem for the OP is the appearance that Bridge trashed the drive – of course it didn’t, it’s more likely that the drive was unreliable to begin with, AND he had a full C drive.
IMO, the best course of action is to find out more about the second drive, and simply trash the cache files.
Regardless, this appears to have become a conversation between you and I, rather than between us and the poster. Since we both know how to resolve an issue such as this, even though they may be different, I think the utility in clarifying the points has worn thin <grin>.
Peace,
Tony
Of course moving or distributing the cache was a bandaid on my old system, it was 5 years old and I was keeping it on life support! In my case, deleting the cache was not an option, because rebuilding the cache on a 733 MHz Pentium 3 was way tedious, making the computer unusable for a long time each time a folder was opened. Distributed caching was the answer to that. It would be much less important on a modern computer like my replacement box — but I still prefer a distributed cache. My C drive is a 78 GB Raptor, and I’d rather not crowd it up with anything that could be on my 320 GB D or E drives.
but I still prefer a distributed cache
See, I can’t have a distributed cache. I burn CDs from the HD for distribution and would have to manually remove them all of the time.
The cache system in Bridge needs an entire re-working. There are not any well designed management strategies at present so hopefully they will implement that with CS3 (2007?)
Why not burn the cache onto the CD? It would be available to anyone browsing the disk with Bridge, and can be ignored by anyone who isn’t using Bridge. The cache for a single directory isn’t huge. My quick estimate is that it takes up about 5% as much space as the files it caches (based on a mix of RAW, JPEG, and layered PSD). The cache files for a CD would use about 35 MB.
Why not burn the cache onto the CD?
Because I make a product that is sold and those files would have nothing to do with the finished product. They wouldn’t be useful for anyone who didn’t have bridge, or anyone who did. They just wouldn’t be relevant and therefore, frankly, don’t belong.
A distributed cache does have its advantages, but for my workflow they don’t outweigh the drawbacks. <shrug>.
Alain: I forget exactly how to do it, but it appears that you have to re-write a new ‘signature’ to the HD through the admin panel (which you seem to have been in), after you have done do so and re-booted, the partition should re-appear and the information should be intact.
I have had this happen when I have re-installed the OS to the C-drive and it does not recognize the other partitions.
Despite the Bickersons, I am sure this is the answer you are looking for.
