Looking for advice for (re)installing my NI/Kontakt environment on a new Win11 PC

Mark Paxton
Mark Paxton Member Posts: 3 Member
edited October 22 in Native Access

Hi all. I seek advice as I have to rebuild my DAW on a new machine (Win11), which means re-installing all of my VSTs, Native Instruments, other Kontakt-related content, etc. I have TBs of material on my old (dead) PC. Given the time and effort required, I only want to do this once, which is why this post. 

I have used Native Instruments for a few years and started with a hard disk install of KOMPLETE 12 with subsequent upgrades to KOMPLETE 13, KOMPLETE 13 ULT UPGRADE, KOMPLETE 13 COLLECTOR’s EDITION, and over a month ago, I acquired KOMPLETE 14 COLLECTOR’s EDITION. My former DAW was a Dell XPS 8900 Windows 10 with 32 GB RAM and an 8 TB HDD that was nearly full of digital audio content, synths, and so forth. I ran into two (2) issues with installing KOMPLETE 14 COLLECTOR’s EDITION. I upgraded to NATIVE ACCESS 2 (NA2) to install 14, only to find that NA2 would hang my machine. After talking with support, I back-leveled NATIVE ACCESS 2 to NATIVE ACCESS 1 (NA1) and installed everything but OZONE STANDARD 10, which is apparently incompatible with the NA1 installation process. I spent about four (4) weeks with support, attempting the usual workarounds for just this one product (disable/remove anti-virus software, safe boots, manually installing OZONE 10 STANDARD only to find no one could provide me with a license number to authorize it, and so forth). I seldom turned that machine off/on, knowing that this is typically harder on the hardware than just leaving it turned on. However, after four (4) weeks of ignoring my rule, I was never able to install OZONE 10 STANDARD, and now the machine no longer turns on. (I suspect the power supply, and once I build my new DAW, I’ll probably try to resurrect that old machine as a Linux server.) I reached the point where I decided to purchase a new machine with Win11 Pro 64GB RAM i9 Intel, which I am hoping will not have same issues. Therefore, I have a new machine on its way, and I am now planning the steps to reinstall numerous software packages and content for the DAW. Not that it matters, but I have been a Cakewalk user since the MSDOS days, stayed with it, and now use the latest version of Sonar. (From that, you might surmise I have a large amount of material in the Cakewalk/Sonar format. BTW, all of that is backed up on multiple servers.) 

Okay, so that is the backstory. I do not want to make any false assumptions about what might happen during the upcoming NA2 installation process or end up missing a key component or two where I find that previous work/recordings can no longer load the appropriate content or that I end up missing some NI component I have used in the past. That is the reason for the post. I am hoping to hear from someone who has had a similar experience that I can learn/benefit from. I can pull the HDD from the dead machine and pop it into a USB HDD container, as I suspect there could be ways of short-cutting the download time, but, to minimize problems and ensure a successful build, I am content to download and install. I do have sufficient bandwidth capacity to make this reasonable. I have migrated from one machine to a new one multiple times over the years, but this latest dead machine has (by far) the most complex array of software, synths, VSTs, etc.

Now to my basic question: Do I restart the Native Instruments install steps using the KOMPLETE 12 hard disk install and mimic what happened in the past, or do I simply let NA2 run (and will everything just magically install)?

Any lessons learned from someone who has had a similar challenge?

Thanks in advance!

Mark

Comments

  • Uwe303
    Uwe303 Moderator Posts: 3,884 mod

    I would use NA2 first with your komplete HDD, if you miss something you can install NA1. Of course set all the folders for the libraries first but you already know that

  • Mark Paxton
    Mark Paxton Member Posts: 3 Member

    Roger,

    Thank you for the speedy reply.

    Your comments seem to reinforce what I suspected, that beginning with the original HDD from a few years back will ensure that <everything> gets installed properly.

    Very appreciative,

    Mark

  • Kubrak
    Kubrak Member Posts: 3,013 Expert

    I would try NA2 and harddisc with K13U CE installation files. You might save lots of downloads....

    Or copy all Konrakt Libraries and Expansions to a new disc and use relocate in AM1 or AM2. That would be the fastest way.

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