Just wondering if anyone else has ever had this problem...

When I installed Poser 8, I selected one of the folder path options it suggested.  It seems that the DAZ product installer does not like the one I picked.  For some reason,  DAZ's installer has a bad habit of creating a duplicate "Public Documents" folder in the tree: C:userspublicpublic documentsPoser8 ContentsDAZ

Normally, Windows will not allow two folders with the same name to be in the same folder.  If you attempt to do this, a dialog box will appear that asks if you want to merge the two folders or cancel.  Somehow, the DAZ installer does it anyway.  This has happened on about six occasions with different DAZ products such as V4, M4 ,etc.

 
To fix things, you have to go in and manually copy and paste the contents from this duplicate folder to the correct folder and then delete the new duplicate.  Otherwise the path to the newly installed DAZ content will not be usable.

I sent a report to DAZ, but they said they never heard of this.  When I install products I purchased from other places, the files are zipped, and there is no problem.  I mentioned to DAZ that perhaps they should give customers a choice of using their automated installer or simply get their files zipped.

Thanks for your feedback.

I installed Poser 8 in a location of my own choosing, and instruct the daz installers to install in a location which I specify.  Don't have installation problems such as yours.  

(However, I did get a hiccough when the silly executables look for files I don't have, such as the Genesis figure, but that's not your case.)

In the DAZ forums, I read that they are not going to offer the "zipped" option because they do not feel that creates a strong enough acknowledgement of the EULA and other agreements they might include in the installer.

For my own installs, I use specific runtimes depending on content.  I try to avoid having the incredibly long file/folder names that others seem to enjoy.

I also don't have the installer create shortcuts to the uninstaller because it just clutters things up.  I know where the uninstall file is if I need it 

Thanks to everyone who offered advice regarding the DAZ Installer problem.  It appears the only practical solution is to reorganize my Poser installation.  I guess I'll tackle that project when the new version of Poser becomes available later this month.

It seems installing Poser files in the My Documents folder is popular.  Is that the best place?  What configuration do you use that you have been happy with?
Thanks, --- cjw     

If that happens again can you get a listing of the folder showing the duplicate ?  It should not be possible to have two folders of the same name, however windows may be treating upper and lower case as seperate filenames.

OS X usrs unfamiliar with install protocol may wish to use kaveman's ditto or philc's unzip util.

Thanks for your suggestions re content files formatting.

Yes, you are correct.  Windows does not permit two folders with the identical name to be inside the same folder... and these folders WERE identical.  This includes the same upper and lower case characters.  Yep, I was just as surprised as you were.  In fact, I once had three identically named folders together.  I don't know how the DAZ installer circumvented this Windows OS prohibition, but it did.  I was able to manually fix things, but it was a hassle.