Robin55 Posted June 28, 2017 Posted June 28, 2017 (edited) Just thought I would give people a little tutorial here on how to use "mklink" to create a Symbolic Link for the Launchbox Cache. Some people say it improves performance (I certainly noticed it) and some say they don't notice much of a difference, I guess it depends on your set up. This method worked for me very well when I moved the Cache to my SSD, I found that I could now use images set to there highest quality without any impact on performance and the images look great on a 4k TV. So here is what worked for me: 1. First download and install LINK SHELL EXTENSION found here http://schinagl.priv.at/nt/hardlinkshellext/linkshellextension.html (be sure to install the dependency's first)You should now have the option when you right click on a file to "Pick Link Source". 2. On your SSD where you want your CACHE to be located create a folder called "CACHE" (I find that creating a Folder named something like "Launchbox Cache" and then placing the new Cache folder inside it works best). 3. Go to your Launchbox folder and find the original CACHE folder in the IMAGES folder and copy everything in the CACHE folder to your new CACHE folder on your SSD. (this may take a while, alternatively you could just delete everything in the original cache folder if you wish but you will have to repopulate it later after the folder is linked, not a big deal really I just leave launchbox in "attract mode" so the Cache gets filled up). 4. Once you have copied everything (or deleted everything) from the original CACHE folder also delete the actual ORIGINAL CACHE folder itself as well (this part is important). 5. now go to your SSD and right click your new CACHE folder (or the folder it's in) you created earlier and select "Pick Link Source" 6. now go to your IMAGES folder in launchbox right click it and select "Drop as Junction" This will automatically create a new CACHE folder (where you deleted the original) INSIDE the IMAGES folder with a little chain icon attached to it indicating that it is now linked to your SSD CACHE folder! That's it simple but took me a while to get my head around so I just thought I would post this. A way to test if this is working correctly is to do the same with your platform videos folder, if after following the instructions above your videos display properly, everything is working fine! or of course you could just watch the space left on your SSD as the cache fills up. Edited March 28, 2018 by Robin55 8 2 1 2 Quote
Thatman84 Posted June 28, 2017 Posted June 28, 2017 Clear guide thanks for sharing It's this what a symbolic link is? Seen it mentioned many times by the experienced people but it's all foreign to me! Quote
Robin55 Posted June 28, 2017 Author Posted June 28, 2017 1 minute ago, Thatman84 said: Clear guide thanks for sharing It's this what a symbolic link is? Seen it mentioned many times by the experienced people but it's all foreign to me! Yes Thatman84 This tutorial is one of the ways or an "easier" way of creating a Symbolic Link. 1 Quote
Lordmonkus Posted June 28, 2017 Posted June 28, 2017 Nice guide. Added it to the Guides & Tutorials sticky. Quote
Mute64 Posted June 28, 2017 Posted June 28, 2017 Thanks levo, a handy tool indeed. Im glad someone did a write up on it, it can be used in so many ways too. 1 Quote
fromlostdays Posted June 28, 2017 Posted June 28, 2017 Because lb is portable, no reason to do this if the main install is already on an ssd, right?Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using Tapatalk Quote
DOS76 Posted June 28, 2017 Posted June 28, 2017 (edited) 2 hours ago, fromlostdays said: Because lb is portable, no reason to do this if the main install is already on an ssd, right? Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using Tapatalk Yeah if on the same drive it wouldn't make sense Edited June 28, 2017 by DOS76 1 Quote
eatkinola Posted June 29, 2017 Posted June 29, 2017 Fyi you could also create a directory junction via the command line using the built-in windows tool "mklink /J". You'd replace most of steps 5 and 6 with the mklink command. 2 Quote
shinra358 Posted July 23, 2017 Posted July 23, 2017 Adding caches to ssds is asking for trouble. The way every gamer should play their games is having their windows installation on the ssd but install everything else to separate hdds. This way, you can extend your ssds life cycle, have the performance you want, not spend your whole wallet on storage, and not have the extra heat coming from the ssd because of things working from it. They have an option in ssd software to remove caching of startup in windows because of this very thing. Quote
ckp Posted September 27, 2017 Posted September 27, 2017 I don't think the amount of cache files changing is much (it's mostly just a one time hit) and so it won't hurt the SSD at all. It's mostly going to be used to read the files and the is what SSD does best without shortening its life. The thing that may be "worse" for SSD is constant writes, although SSDs nowadays last quite some time even with constant writes. And you can't stop the OS itself from constant writes as it's always doing that. 2 Quote
eatkinola Posted September 27, 2017 Posted September 27, 2017 Yeah, I think at this point the whole idea of tiptoeing around your ssd is overblown. I say use'em if you got'em. Just don't keep critical data on an SSD (or hdd) without a proper backup. Anything will crap out eventually. Quote
eatkinola Posted September 27, 2017 Posted September 27, 2017 By the same token, if you want your ssd to last forever, just keep it in a shoebox in the back of your closet. Quote
Robin55 Posted October 4, 2017 Author Posted October 4, 2017 (edited) Well the only problem I have run into is the size of my library and the image quality settings. I find that if you have a very large library as I do (12TB) the quality of the images you have selected may cause the cache to become very large. For example setting the image quality to the highest settings means my cache is 150GB in size which is too big for my SSD. While setting the image quality to medium will make the cache size only 40GB. Right now I am repopulating the cache with the image settings set to just high and I imagine that should leave me with enough space on my SSD to be useable.Other than that I get great performance after moving the cache to my SSD. Edited October 4, 2017 by Levo_Stone 1 Quote
shinra358 Posted October 10, 2017 Posted October 10, 2017 ahk can also create links like this. so if you don't feel like using multiple programs, have at ahk Quote
ALIE Posted October 13, 2017 Posted October 13, 2017 Isn't it only writing that effects a SSD. When Cache is that read organic write on the ssd? Quote
FakedPotato Posted March 27, 2018 Posted March 27, 2018 Sorry if this is a silly question. I just wanna make sure im doing this right. Since I dont see " Create junction " do I hit "Junction" in Drop As? Quote
Robin55 Posted March 28, 2018 Author Posted March 28, 2018 (edited) 8 hours ago, FakedPotato said: Sorry if this is a silly question. I just wanna make sure im doing this right. Since I dont see " Create junction " do I hit "Junction" in Drop As? Yes, you will know if it is working if there is now a "Cache" folder in the "Images" folder with a little chain icon next to it Edited March 28, 2018 by Robin55 Quote
reaper71129 Posted March 28, 2018 Posted March 28, 2018 I'm going to have to try this... i have a 240GB ssd with only windows setting on it... thanks. 1 Quote
reaper71129 Posted March 28, 2018 Posted March 28, 2018 is there any other things that could be on a SSD that would speed up launchbox? 2 Quote
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