HELP!!! Can't get all my plug-ins back!

HELP!!! Can't get all my plug-ins back! 

Hi all! Having done a complete computerectomy on my studio machine, I'm having a time getting things back to normal. I basically had to re-install Windows 7, and reinstalled Reaper at the same time. Taking advantage of this new beginning, I re-sorted my plug-ins into one tidy file, sub-folders and everything. A few things were hard to find on the old drives (4 prior computers, files all over the place). It had trouble with a few plug-ins, so I reinstalled a few. Here's the issue. I have 4 or so that I can clearly see the existing .dll files in my new directory (Kontact, an old Cakewalk flanger, TAL-Bitcrusher), but Reaper won't read them. I've 'added' the folder (C:\VST Storage), and rescanned, but it keeps missing these. Any idea why? Thanks in advance!

Every time I download a new plugin installer, it gets saved in a Dropbox folder called "plugin installers". Backup the installers, not the plugins.

A bit of a random guess... is your Reaper 32 bit and the plugins 64 bit?

Sorry, I'll try to clear these up. I've rounded up all of the plugins I wanted to keep using, from the various folders they used to be in (5th generation of recording computer - most of the older ones died catastrophically, so things got moved haphazardly over the years. Add to that a number of different OSes, several generations of Sonar, Cubasis, and a few other things, and you end up with a fair number of VST folders. When i first jumped to Reaper, i tagged a bunch of those folders, but i ended up with quite a few very old VST effects that were old, or that i no longer wanted to use. Since i was updating processer, MB, RAM, etc., i decided i should clean these up, and try to weed out the ones i no longer wanted, including a number of them that were licensed for Sonar only, like some Nomad Factory items that came with Sonar X3. The biggest issue is that i use Abbey Road Modern Drummer, from NI that must play through Kontact. I installed a new instance of Kontact Player, which then played successfully a number of times. As i was searching through the machine for a last few plugins, it apparently stopped seeing Kontact, and says it can't find it, even though i can still see it in a subfolder of my effects folder. Folder architecture is - C: \VST Storage Delays Dynamics EQ Native Instruments... and so on... I'm pretty frustrated because i had Kontact working, then it stopped, and at least TAL-Bitcrusher is visible in the folder, but also does not appear in Reaper. I'm using 64-bit Reaper, and as many 64-bit plugins as i can. Hopefully this info is helpful. Thanks!

Updating my own thread, I reinstalled Kontakt, and the computer sees the 32-bit version, but not the 64-bit. Any hints would be appreciated.

In the prefs where you enter your folders where your VST's sit, you need to have the x64 kontakt folder AFTER the Kontakt x86, so it read it last. or if you have all your plugs installed in VST 64 and VST 86 folders, enter the 86 folder first and 64 folder last.

Thanks for that Barksy, but I've taken the 32-bit version out of there altogether, and then it doesn't see the 64-bit version at all. I will try sticking a dummy folder with the x86 up front, though. Okay, I tried doing this. I can see Reaper scan the .dll files, but it must be seeing the 32-bit drivers. If the 64-bit drivers are in the folder (different subfolder), it suddenly cannot find the plug-in. If I move the 64-bit version out of the big folder, I can load the 32-bit version. What a headache!

Just double check, are your kontakt, and whatever NI stuff you have in your x64 folder you are linking to? Did you Clear and re-scan after updating?

If you have your 32 bit and 64 bit plugins mixed in the same folders, you really should separate them. I would suggest something like "C:\VST 32" and "C:\VST 64". You can have sub folders in each of these if you want to sort the .dll files (I do mine by manufacturer or you can sort by type). You don't have to necessarily use the "C:\" drive, this will work on other drives also. Then if you are using 64 bit Reaper... in the preferences list the 32 bit folder first, then the 64 bit folder, separated by a semi-colon. For example "C:\VST 32;C:\VST 64" (without the quotes!). Then clear cache and rescan. One more thing some of the plugins can't just be moved, they need to be reinstalled (plugins that originally used installers). Hope this helped, good luck. :cool: