Over the years I've clogged up my Poser 5 content to the point I can't keep track of everything.  I've installed a lot of content and I end up wasting a lot of time searching for items because they get scattered in other files, i.e, some props are in poses, some figures are in props, some morphs are here some there, I can't keep track of figures from Daz or otherwise ... etc etc.

And, would I be helping myself out by completely wiping everything out before I upgrade to Poser6? I'm assuming if I just installed Poser 6 I'd still have my clogged/mixed up content problem ...

I want a clean uninstall so I can wipe out everything and start completely over so I can pay attention to where content gets installed.  In addition to uninstalling from the Control Panel/Uninstall route do I need to manually delete files elsewhere including registry files etc?

Will this affect my content I have for Daz/Studio (I have V4 there in addition to Poser) ... will I need to uninstall and reinstall DS?  And what about

Thanks ...

HG Guy

Poser 5 and 6 using the same runtime structure.  You can either just incorporate your content into Poser 6's runtime, or do external runtimes, or even leave the poser 5 runtime and just link it in your poser 6 library.

So far as organization goes, you might want to have a look at this post:

http://www.renderosity.com/mod/forumpro/showthread.php?thread_id=2735068&page=1#message_3201632

Thanks Acadia!  What exactly is a "runtime" ... I know this is probably so very basic to understanding what goes on under the hood of Poser and I see the term everywhere in threads and Poser books etc. but I've never grasped what it is so I've never paid much attention to it.  Is it a filing system? A procedural thing? A noun? A verb? Is it how Poser oraganizes stuff? 

Can I have two instances of Poser on my computer (i.e. 5 and 6),  and can they be rnning at the same time (I know people who have multiple versions of Corel Painter on their machines and jump back and forth between them .. can I do the same with Poser)?

Thanks for the help!

HG Guy  

You can have multiple versions of Poser installed side-by-side, but you can only run one Poser at a time.

A Poser runtime is a folder structure containing Poser content. It's organized in a rigid way: the "root" of the runtime is a folder called Runtime.
Here's an example of one of my runtimes - I'm doing a long running fantasy story with over 150 images, and I've collected the main figures and some settings in a separate runtime, so I don't have to add all clothes, morphs, hair and other equipment to one of my heroes when I'm making a new scene.
The folder structure:

The Stand
    Runtime
        Libraries
            Cameras (empty)
            Character
                Heroes
                Karmian
                Dorath
                Academy
            Face (empty)
            Hair (empty)
            Hand
                Hold Weapons
            Light (empty)
            Pose
                Don
                Cassy
            Props
                Weapons

.cr2 files (figures) go in a subfolder of Character,
.pz2 files (poses) go in a subfolder of Pose
.pp2 files (props) go in a subfolder of Props

This so-called "external runtime" can be linked to Poser: go "up" in the library palette (doesn't matter whether you're in "FIgure", "Props" or another library type) until you can't go any further: now you see a red dot appearing indicating the active runtime.
The + button at the bottom of the library palette will allow you to add a new external runtime. Click it and browse for the folder above your new runtime ("The Stand" in the example above).

This is a good way to organize related stuff. Some users have created a separate Victoria 3 runtime, a separate Environment runtime, etcetera, while others have an entire runtime dedicated to hair, props, or lights.

You can also use this feature to add the existing Poser 4 or Poser 5 runtime to Poser 6.
This functionality was introduced in Poser 5. You can even link the Poser 6 runtime to Poser 5 in this way. The Poser 6 items work in Poser 5 too, provided that you have turned off external binary morph targets and that you have uncompressed the entire Poser 6 library, including the .OBJ files.

Thanks svdl, I think I'm getting it.  It's becoming more and more clear (not crystal yet, but at least it's not mud)!

HG Guy

  So, if I still do want to uninstall Poser 5 how do I do that?  I've tried thru the Control Panel Add Remove, clicked on Poser 5 to uninstall, took all of 1/2 a second (I thought that was mighty fast for such a big program with all that data), window told me uninstall succesful, but I can still open Poser5 from the shortcut and the folder is still there with all the files. I tried uninstalling again but I get an error message "following files don't exist or is not a valid uninstallation log file"

And, what's the difference between an internal and external runtime?

And, I just noted the thing about compressed library files. Why are they compressed and how do I uncompress them?

HG Guy

Quote -   So, if I still do want to uninstall Poser 5 how do I do that?  I've tried thru the Control Panel Add Remove, clicked on Poser 5 to uninstall, took all of 1/2 a second (I thought that was mighty fast for such a big program with all that data), window told me uninstall succesful, but I can still open Poser5 from the shortcut and the folder is still there with all the files. I tried uninstalling again but I get an error message "following files don't exist or is not a valid uninstallation log file"

When you uninstall Poser, it only removes it's own installed files, not anything you have added in IE: textures, props, characters, materials etc.  It doesn't delete your own installed content, so the Curious Labs folder will still be there.  If you want to delete everything after you have uninstalled using "Control Panel", then just go and delete the Curious Lab's folder.  But if you do that you are deleting everything that you installed too.  And fair warning....the runtime is often too big to fit into your trash bin, so it will be perma deleted. So think carefully :)

Quote - And, what's the difference between an internal and external runtime?

None.  A runtime, is a runtime, is a runtime no matter where on your hard drive or external hard drive it sits. 

All an external runtime is, is a runtime that is not inside the Poser folder.

All "multiple external runtimes" mean is that you have more than one runtime sitting outside the Poser folder. They all have the same folder structure as the main runtime in your Poser folder.

Quote - And, I just noted the thing about compressed library files. Why are they compressed and how do I uncompress them?

HG Guy

Compressed files are sort of like "zipped" files.  Poser has the ability to compress files down to a smaller size in order to conserve space. It can also uncompress them too.

Standard uncompressed files have the extensions

.cr2
.pp2
.pz2
.obj
.cm2
.fc2
.hr2
.lt2

When these files are compressed, the extensions become:

.crz
.ppz
.p2z
.pbz
.cmz
.fcz
.hrz
.ltz

Check out this thread. I've explained how to compress files.  Scroll down to see images.
http://www.renderosity.com/mod/forumpro/showthread.php?message_id=3169372&ebot_calc_page#message_3169372

Also, check out this thread on file organization:
http://www.renderosity.com/mod/forumpro/showthread.php?thread_id=2735068&page=1#message_3201632

Also, there might be information in this thread that you aren't aware of.
http://www.renderosity.com/mod/forumpro/showthread.php?thread_id=2735068&page=1#message_3201624

  Very helpful! Thanks, Acadia

HG Guy