In Windows 7, I currently run two different 'stand-alone' versions of POV-Ray
(although not at the same time): v3.7.0, and v3.7.1 beta 9. I like to switch
between these versions at will-- to experiment, to compare renders, etc.  (I
also run various 3.8 alpha versions, but they run from 'within' v3.7.0. )

I originally installed the two main versions the 'standard' way-- which placed
two main folders in 'Documents', one named '3.7' and one named '3.7-beta' (plus
their two associated and separate folders in C:\Program Files\POV-ray\ , of
course.)

EACH of these stand-alone versions has its own exclusive(?) set of the four
necessary sub-folders in its repective 'Documents' folder, each with its own set
of files--
include
ini
Insert Menu
scenes

But if I want to edit one of those files in, say, v3.7.0, I then have to
duplicate the changes in the 3.7-beta folder to retain consistency across
versions...which seems redundant. For editing purposes and ease of use, it would
be nice to have ONE 'master' set of at least the following files:
povray.inc
quickres.ini
include
Insert Menu

Is there any way to place a SINGLE set of these files somewhere, that can be
used by *multiple* versions of POV-ray? I've tried various ways of doing it,
with no success.

For example, I moved only the 'Insert Menu' folder out of '3.7' and into an
outer folder within 'Documents\POV-Ray' called 'common_files_experiment'. I
then edited 3.7.0's 'povray.ini' file with a new library path...

Library_Path=C:\Users\Computer\Documents\POV-Ray\common_files_experiment\

I thought this would be the appropriate way to do the trick-- but launching
v3.7.0 results in no 'Insert Menu' contents showing up. I tried re-writing the
path in different ways, but still no luck...

Library_Path=C:\Users\Computer\Documents\POV-Ray\common_files_experiment\"Insert
Menu"\
and...
Library_Path="C:\Users\Computer\Documents\POV-Ray\common_files_experiment\Insert
menu\"

It seems obvious that I'm going about this the wrong way. I suspect that POV-ray
tries to load these special(?) kinds of files/folders *before* looking in
povray.ini for any further library paths-- and consequently does not find what
it is looking for. (BTW, the standard Windows installation procedure produces
povray.ini files that do not have any library paths listed *at all*, except what
I choose to add later; the default 'automatic' paths are probably written
*somewhere*, but I haven't been able to find them. I also looked in the Windows
registry, in the various 'POV-ray' folders there. )

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