How to avoid anaconda from installing files/packages in C drive? - python

If you are using anaconda, then you probably noticed that when installing python packages, it took away the disks in C drive even if you installed anaconda in D drive. (I have tried the clean ect. of conda commands, it's not the cashes or other things but rather useful files.)
This was especially obvious when I was trying to install different versions of tensorflow and Keras packages. It took away almost 20 GBs of disks from my laptop.
My question was how to avoid such issue and make sure anaconda was only using the disks in, i.e. D drive?(in windows environment )

try changing the paths of the environment variables

Related

Should I reinstall all Python libraries if I install Anaconda's Python as primary in my system?

I have been using Python on Windows for some time to analyze survey data, usually available in the form of Excel files. For this reason I have installed several libraries, including pywin32, holoview, bokeh, pandas, numpy and so on.
Now I have found that there is a Python distribution called Anaconda which is a prerequisite for some artificial intelligence libraries that I would like to use.
I downloaded it, but when I install it, it recommends me to register the Python included in Anaconda as primary. This would mean that it would be seen as such by all the tools I use, such as PyCharm.
If I understand correctly, it is possible to have several Python installations on a PC, but what happens to the libraries? I mean, if I make Anaconda's Python primary, do I have to reinstall all the libraries I used before to run the programs I have already written?
I can't find an answer in the Anaconda FAQ, so before proceeding with the installation, I would need to better understand what conflicts I might possibly create on my system.
Here are the some answers from my side.
1. Will the libraries & files conflit?
No. - Both local & Anaconda will have separete site packages folders to store installed libraries.No matter how many different versions of python you install there will be separate site-packages folders named with respective versions to store installed libraries.
2. Should I need to re-install packages again that I'm alredy using in older python before I run a program on anaconda?
Yes. Local python will use - cmd -WIndows command prompot
Anoconda will use - Anaconda prompt - Which will be installed along with installation. Both Anconda and local python maintains separate storage locations in order to store & process data which includes libraries, settings, Environments, cache....
3.if we selects Anaconda as primary. This would mean that it would be seen as such by all the tools I use, such as PyCharm?
No. Pycharm will have old configuartion whatever you using currently
even thouh we install anaconda & make its a primary. But, still you
can use anaconda from pycharm by creating a virtual environmnet for it.

Pip installed packages don't show up in Anaconda Navigator

Many Python packages don't have pre-built conda packages, so Anaconda users are frequently forced to use pip to install packages. I have to do this routinely, since so many packages don't have conda packages, not even in the most common alternate channel(s) like conda-forge or bio-conda.
This open issue was already reported in the Anaconda github support repo https://github.com/ContinuumIO/anaconda-issues/issues/10634. However, no answers have been forthcoming in almost 1 year. I am asking here because responses are typically faster and shared more widely than in support forums for individual products.
I hate the productivity loss of re-installing Anaconda, particularly a long-standing installation, because it can take 3-4 hours to backup and export existing environment build files as requirements.txt, remove an existing Anaconda installation, clean out the Windows Registry, search the Windows file system for leftover detritus, and then rebuild all of my environments one at a time.
Does anyone know a trick, or have a Python script or some other workaround(s) to refresh the Package Index within a conda environment or for ALL environments created and managed by the Anaconda Navigator GUI. It would be awesome if there was an updater widget within the Anaconda Navigator GUI to allow users to select for which virtual environment(s) they want the package index to be updated.
What I have tried
In the Anaconda Navigator GUI "Environments" tab, clicking on the "Update Index..." button does not get updated with the list of packages installed "behind the scenes" from a Anaconda Command Prompt.
The result I get
pip-installed packages are NOT included in the Anaconda Package Index update process. It does not find packages in environments installed inside and outside of the Anaconda3 root directory. It doesn't even find all packages underneath the \envs folder. This makes me think packages are not installed into the currently selected environments, so it takes time to verify their location in C:\ProgramData\Anaconda3\envs, C:\Users\username\AppData\Local, or elsewhere.
What else I have tried: after having a corrupted Anaconda and Spyder installation that would not start at all, I posted requests for help on various support forums. I got answers that were not much help, like "Just don't mix pip and conda packages, use one or the other". That is not practical since so many Python packages are not available in the conda package format. I have gotten that impractical advice from Anaconda and Spyder developers in the past.
Severity and impact
This is an important issue, since it is possible to use / misuse conda and pip and inadvertently corrupt Anaconda so badly that it requires a painful and time-consuming removal and re-installation of the entire Anaconda distribution.
A possible solution beyond my current cable-tow... If someone can build an intelligent and transparent converter built into the PyPi, Anaconda Cloud, Conda-forge, and other channels that made this conversion automatic and validated, then this conversation might not be needed.

Best way to do a clean Miniconda install

In the past I have made a mess of my local machine installing various versions of Anaconda and Miniconda and Jupyter Notebooks - when I didn't really know what I was doing (I at least know a little more now).
Now I don't seem to have ipython, but I have python. conda --help gives and error message, but I do have some paths that mention Miniconda.
I mostly use remote machines, and so I don't code much on my laptop, but it's about time I tidied things up - is there a simple way I can wipe the slate clean and just install a new version of Miniconda and forget about everything other partial / failed / old install?

Installing Anaconda on a Secondary Drive (Windows)

I'm running Windows 10 Home, and I recently downloaded Anaconda because I wanted to be able to use Spyder, and wasn't really anticipating how much storage space it would take up, so I had to uninstall it.
However, my computer has two hard drives--a 100gb C:/ drive that windows boots off of and a much larger D:/ drive meant for storage. A lot of anaconda's largest files seem to be saved to C:/Users/[User], which is still on my C drive. And taking up space that I don't really have to spare.
Is there a way to tell Anaconda during installation (or initial run, possibly, it looks like) that it should save those files somewhere else? One of the environment variables, maybe?
If not I guess I'm open to suggestions for other Python IDEs that are smaller or can be put entirely on a secondary drive.
If you only want to work with spyder and not the rest of the software that comes bundled with Anaconda, you can just
pip install PyQt5
pip install spyder
Here is a guide for installing Spyder.

Is there any way to make anaconda smaller?

I'm using Ubuntu 16.04 LTS with Anaconda 2, which takes over 5 gb disk space. Is it normal to take such large space, or I can make it smaller by removing some unnecessary folders?
P.S. Some commands such as "conda clean" have been used, I just wonder if there are some repeated modules installed...
I have seen anaconda accumulate lots of garbage package caches and tarballs. To delete caches, tarballs and lock files which are not used and reduce a little bit the space used, you can try:
conda clean -a
It depends what do you really want to use.
Install miniconda instead of Anaconda and then install required packages 1 by 1 using
conda install
this will definitely reduce the size. :)
Important to note that conda is a package/environment manager, which can build an anaconda environment.
More often than not, they are considered as one and the same which is untrue.
If you want to simply use conda, the package/environment manager and not have the entire anaconda environment packaged with it, you can install miniconda -
https://conda.io/miniconda.html- which gives you the conda application, without the bloat* of the entire scientific stack of anaconda.
miniconda will have a far smaller footprint, and then using conda to create specific (streamline/smaller) environments for usage will also be more storage-efficient.
Make the separation between conda and anaconda in your thinking, and it should make things easier to understand.
*not quite fair, it is not that it is bloat, it is just overkill for 99% of users

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