# Where Should I Store My Plugins? On C or D ?



## sonicscape (Dec 23, 2019)

Where should i store my plugins, VST's and sound banks for highest speed? My C (System) Disk is 512 GB SSD and D is 2 TB Hard Disk.


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## Henu (Dec 23, 2019)

If you're working on PC:

For consistency's sake, leave the VstPlugins- folder as is, so keep that in C. You'll be begging for trouble later if you choose something else.

For what it comes to the (Kontakt, etc) libraries, I suggest you keep the most used ones in C and the non-regularly used (or more lightweight stuff) in D. Leave some room for C though, because Windows usually need some 10-20 GB extra to play nicely with updates, etc.

If you're working on Mac:

Get a PC! *grin*


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## Zero&One (Dec 23, 2019)

Vst's keep on C: drive
Big sample library folders to D: But the bottleneck will be the HDD speed.

Edit: Down the line it would be better to invest in an extra SSD, make this F:\Samples for example. Use the old D:\ for backups etc.


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## sonicscape (Dec 23, 2019)

Thank you Henu and Zero&One. I'll install Omnisphere and Symphopnic Orchestra. They are about 150 gigabytes and i have 420 Gb free place on C. So in this case if i use C, i will have a better result?


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## sonicscape (Dec 23, 2019)

Henu said:


> If you're working on PC:
> 
> For consistency's sake, leave the VstPlugins- folder as is, so keep that in C. You'll be begging for trouble later if you choose something else.
> 
> ...



I use a PC  

lenovo a540


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## Zero&One (Dec 23, 2019)

Yes, as the drive is SSD.
Having an extra SSD is the ideal setup, mainly because you end up with TB's of samples libraries. Also, in the event of a system restore, you just have to install the OS again (and music DAW) and re-point your vst's to the sample folder D:\Omnisphere\Samples for example. So less downloading/installing time.

Also, reduces your weekly C: drive backup size and time.


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## benatural (Dec 23, 2019)

Absolutely do not install your libraries on your OS drive (C: ). Disk streaming and disk i/o will have to compete with OS operations which are frequent. For maximum performance, use another drive.


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## Zero&One (Dec 23, 2019)

Th other drive is an HDD in this case though. So I'm not convinced the I/O will improve opposed to the root SSD?


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## benatural (Dec 23, 2019)

Zero&One said:


> Th other drive is an HDD in this case though. So I'm not convinced the I/O will improve opposed to the root SSD?


Oh I see. I missed this detail. Hmmm, that I don't know. Maybe it will be better? I'd do some tests using both methods, measure loading times, perfornance, use latency mon etc


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## Zero&One (Dec 23, 2019)

benatural said:


> Oh I see. I missed this detail. Hmmm, that I don't know. Maybe it will be better? I'd do some tests using both methods, measure loading times, perfornance, use latency mon etc



Yeah good call, be interesting to hear the results. As you say, I wouldn't recommend using the system drive either. So OP would benefit grabbing a new "Samples" SSD in the new year sales


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## AB3 (Dec 28, 2021)

Trying to revive an old thread. Does having a plugin on the C drive (not a library), create a problem. Or does the DAW load the plugin information to RAM, so there is no accessing of the C drive for the plugin while playing back audio in a DAW???


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## JordanD (Oct 14, 2022)

sonicscape said:


> Where should i store my plugins, VST's and sound banks for highest speed? My C (System) Disk is 512 GB SSD and D is 2 TB Hard Disk.


C: Drive is to be used to place the .dll files only in C: Drive Program files, Common files, vst3 files. Any Sample Libraries should be installed on D: Drive or other preferably an internal SSD hard drive buy the fastest hard drive your computer can use, that you can afford. So install all of your Sample Libraries on your D: Drive as you install the Library you will be asked where you want to install the .dll files, send them to C: drive Program files, Common files, VST 2 or VST3 .dll files


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