I have a Plex Media server on an external drive G:, which I installed a few years ago, and I don’t remember all the details of the installation. Both the files and the Plex Media Server are installed on that drive.
The drive wasn’t big enough, so I bought a larger external drive F: and moved the media files over but not the Plex Media Server folder. I remapped the media files, and everything is working fine, except my server disappears if I disconnect my old drive. I figure it’s due to the Plex Media Server folder being on that old drive G:, so I researched how to move that folder.
The first weird thing is that every post says this folder is supposed to be in my Users folder. When I check the Users folder, there is indeed a Plex Media Server folder with similar contents to the one on G:
I found this post which says to use the registry editor to move the Plex Media Server from the Users folder to another location. I’m sure I never did this originally, so I have no idea how I installed that folder on my G: drive. Anyway, I followed the instructions in that post and tried to point it to my new drive F:. Now, when I checked my server, it sees the computer but no files. So I undid that by following the instructions in that post, and it works again… but I still can’t disconnect my old G: drive without my server disappearing.
How can I get that Plex Media Server folder moved off that old drive? I don’t care if it’s on my new drive F: or in my Users folder.
Bumping this post for visibility. Anyone have any solutions?
Several years ago, there was a menu item, directly in Plex Web where you could do this.
Still, using this would make the same change in the Windows Registry which is being described in here: [HowTo] An extended guide on how to move the Plex data folder on Windows
If you take a look at your Registry, I assume you will find the key LocalAppDataPath being present, and pointing to a folder on your drive G:
The most straightforward method would be to:
- stop plex server using the task tray icon ← very important!
- copy the whole folder that appears in
LocalAppDataPath from drive G: to drive F:
Do this however you like, but the safest method would be to use robocopy.exe on the command line. Utilizing the switch /MIR. The advantage of this method over the regular copy via the file explorer is that you can resume it, should you need to abort it. Because it will take quite a long time (could be hours, actually).
- edit the registry to point at drive F: instead
- start Plex server
Thanks very much, OttoKerner. I appreciate your reply.
But actually, I do not have a LocalAppDataPath entry in my Registry. The only Registry entry for this program that has a filepath is the InstallFolder entry, and it does point to my folder on drive G:. Can you advise what to do?
There has to be one, if you are certain that your Plex server is using a Plex data folder that is not at the default location on drive C:
Do you use more than one Windows user account on this computer?
Are you running Plex server as a Windows service?
OttoKerner - again, really appreciate your assistance here.
Let me just say that I am not adept at computers, so I have a weak confidence in my answers here.
I would be happy to share a screenshot of my reg edit if helpful, but there is definitely not a LocalAppDataPath entry. As I mentioned in my original post, there is a Plex Media Server folder in my Users folder, but I don’t think it’s being used. The reason I think that is because when I tried unplugging my G: drive (the old one), Plex stopped working. When I plugged it back in, everything was fine.
There is more than one Windows user account but I only use the one.
Regarding your last question - I’m sorry, I don’t know the answer (or understand the question!).
Sorry that this is turning out to be more complicated, but I really appreciate your help. At this point, would it be easier to just reinstall everything?
