If you are using my method, No. The folder actually exists on the other drive. It looks like it is on your C:\ drive but when stuff is added to it it is located in the other location. Your system just treats it like normal. If you use the method in the original post yes. Just be aware you’ll have to redo it every time there’s an update, & go in & delete the folder again each time
Every update removes the registry entry?
No, the update will overwrite the value with the default value. You might get a workaround by installing the update on a different profile than you run the server on, but that’s a thing you always have to deal with when you use registry workarounds in windows. That’s 1 of the reasons why I personally prefer the shadow folder method, because the system treats everything like default, so you avoid all those issues.
Now I haven’t tested it, so there’s a chance the other method could survive an update, but that usually only happens with poorly made programs that don’t check values on an update. I doubt Plex would be in that category
- Have verified that SOME updates will overwrite this registry value, while most updates don’t
Absolutely and utterly untrue.
No update will change this registry key.
Not even uninstalling and reinstalling the server will change it.
This can only happen, if you use some kind of “uninstaller” or “registry cleaner” software, which removes all associated registry keys when this software is uninstalled.
Hence why I always discourage ppl from using such tools.
Part of the installation is creating those registry keys in the 1st place. When editing a registry for an installation the installation does not go into the registry editor & change or add things, it literally has a registry file that contains only the items being added, it runs that .reg file & those entries are added to the registry. If nothing was there they are created, if something was there they are replaced with the new values. There is no way to make that a “if there’s something there then do this” the only way to kinda do that is to have an option in the installation program that you check or uncheck usually with something like “Keep old settings”. It is possible that an update won’t change it. Normally that’s a sign of a poorly made program, but with Plex, since Plex does cater to more computer literate users & allows for unique tweakings of the how the app works, could be an intentional thing. Either way an Uninstall & reinstall I GUARANTEE will change that key to it’s default value. Because it has to. If it didn’t then the registry key would have to be created not changed because it wouldn’t exist in the 1st place
That is pure assumption on your part.
The registry keys are generated when you start Plex server for the first time, unless they already exist.
And no, uninstalling Plex server won’t remove them.
Otherwise I’d have to re-claim the server every time I install an alpha version on my server to test. I’m, running it as a system service, and I have made a habit of uninstalling the server (using only the Windows “Apps” control panel) before installing the new version.
During the many years, during which I must’ve been testing close to a hundred versions, I had never to re-claim my server.
I never lost the registry keys, I never lost the Plex data folder.
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A post was split to a new topic: New Server Setup
Of course it’s assumption, I didn’t write the program. That does make sense. A RunOnce command. Still, telling people to not use an Uninstaller program is bad, if you are uninstalling a program you WANT it to remove all traces. Every time programs leave stuff behind it has at least a small negative effect on your system. Now it’s silly to use one if you are uninstalling to reinstall, but otherwise they should always be used. But every Uninstaller I know of asks if you want to remove leftover registry entries & leftover files. Multiple times I’ve had programs leave over 100MB of leftover files behind, useless waste of space to NEVER use one
Hello all,
We have set up a few lab servers running plex in both Windows 10 and Server 2012 and verified this registry entry method is no longer viable as each time the service is restarted it no longer looks for the corresponding registry path for LocalAppDataPath pointing to a writable NTFS partitioned drive D:\MetaData\ and no longer writes scan changes to specified paths.
It seems to now ignore the path and key in the registry entirely and continues to point to its host install location on the OS drive.
We would rather not take the mklink approach to this, and would like to see if there is a more advantageous way to change this to use a larger drive location going forward.
Thank you.
I’d be very surprised if that were the case.
[edit: I just verified that this is still working with the latest server version.]
Please show me the value you have set in the registry.
Also make sure that you are writing to the right registry user branch. e.g. If you are running the server as a system service under a different Windows user account, you’ll have to determine the correct user branch for this user account.
Which Windows user account did you assign to your Plex service?
Is there a reason you don’t want to?
How do I verify that I’m using the new location. before i delete the old?
You can have a look at the logs subfolder… if you’ve successfully switched to the new directory and Plex is running on that, the logs should show a newer date.
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I discovered an even faster way… I can hear the HD spinning and working, as opposed to the SSD where those files were before. 
thanks though
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LOL.
Don’t forget to verify that newly added items get proper metadata etc.
To help speed up copying of data (Windows), after some googling, I performed the following.
Add folder exceptions within your AV product to exclude both the source and destination directories. (I’m running Symantec EndPoint Protection on this server and I noticed that it started consuming CPU whilst the copy was running so I initially disabled it and then added the exclusions and re-enabled. This enable the copy to run without any on access scans running).
Open an administrative command prompt and enter the following (change paths).
robocopy “C:\Users\Administrator\AppData\Local\Plex Media Server” “P:\Plex\Plex Media Server” /E /COPYALL /NP /V /MT:128 /LOG:C:\temp\robocopy.txt
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Thanks for the guide 
Otto… Great “How To” … really appreciate all you do for Plex users! One quick question… when I move to a new computer after I have successfully moved my metadata to a new drive… anything special or extra I need to do when transferring to the new server? I download the Plex app and all the original settings and metadata in C drive will be there… I appreciate any advise. Steve
See the support article on how to move a server to a new system.
Just make sure to provide the correct path to the Plex data directory (as described in Otto’s how-to) when you get to the point of transferring your configuration (as described in the linked support article).
Thank You for your reply! Question… will that not occur when I merge the regedit file?
