# Updating Ruby on Windows & Installed Gems **URL:** \ **Category:** Ruby\ **Created:** [August 6, 2008, 3:14pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/updating-ruby-on-windows-installed-gems/145151 "2008-08-06T15:14:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![johnt519](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/cab0a1/32.png) [@johnt519](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/johnt519)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2008, 3:14pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/updating-ruby-on-windows-installed-gems/145151/1 "2008-08-06T15:14:33Z")
Hello, I’d like to update the version of Ruby I have on this Windows box (installed using the One Click installer), which is currently at 1.8.6 (2007-03-13 patchlevel 0). I’ll use either the p111 version of the One Click installer, or the patched version offered by Mike Hodgson at [http://www.mikehodgson.com/ruby186-27-mkh.exe](http://www.mikehodgson.com/ruby186-27-mkh.exe) However, the first step to installing the update is to uninstall the current version. Will that nuke all of the installed gems I currently have? How can I preserve my gems (currently 80!) Thanks! John ---
**Author:** ![johnt519](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/cab0a1/32.png) [@johnt519](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/johnt519)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2008, 10:12pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/updating-ruby-on-windows-installed-gems/145151/2 "2008-08-06T22:12:34Z")
On Aug 6, 3:13 pm, “John T.” [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote: > Thanks! Inside your installation of One-Click Installer, there is a gems folder: Example for ruby installed in C:/Ruby C:/Ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8 1. Use Explorer to browse to that folder and copy it’s contents into a safe place. 2. Uninstall current One-Click Installer 3. Installer newer version (you pick one, I suggest stick to 1.8.6 with patches). 4. Copy back your contents in the same folder. 5. Done. It should work, verify it for your self 😃 HTH, ---
**Author:** ![johnt519](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/cab0a1/32.png) [@johnt519](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/johnt519)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2008, 10:39pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/updating-ruby-on-windows-installed-gems/145151/3 "2008-08-06T22:39:42Z")
Luis L. wrote: > On Aug 6, 3:13�pm, “John T.” [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote: > > > Thanks! > It should work, verify it for your self 😃 > > HTH, I’ll give it a try. One thing I realized/noticed, the individual commands for some of the gems (‘rails’, ‘capify’, ‘autotest’, etc’) live in c:\ruby\bin. I’ll make a backup of that too! (and keep a list of my installed gems… just in case!) Thanks ---
**Author:** ![johnt519](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/cab0a1/32.png) [@johnt519](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/johnt519)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2008, 10:47pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/updating-ruby-on-windows-installed-gems/145151/4 "2008-08-07T22:47:11Z")
John T. wrote: > I’ll give it a try. One thing I realized/noticed, the individual > commands for some of the gems (‘rails’, ‘capify’, ‘autotest’, etc’) live > in c:\ruby\bin. I’ll make a backup of that too! (and keep a list of my > installed gems… just in case!) > > Thanks Just for future reference. I did save a copy of the c:\ruby\bin and the C:/Ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8 directories. Good thing I saved the bin directory! After uninstalling, the whole c:\ruby directory was gone. After reinstalling, I hand copied the missing files from my back up of c:\ruby\bin to the newly created one, and just replaces the whole C:/Ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8 with the backup. Everything seems to be working fine! Thanks!