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Use a seperate HDD for games??

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antipesto93

antipesto93

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Joined
Jan 26, 2008
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is it possible to use my spare hdd for all of my games?
so that every time i reinstall windows, i dont have to reinstall all my games?

i tried it but there is a problem - for example if i move C:\ program files\ EA games over to my spare hard drive, the game wont run anymore, is this because not 100% of game files are in the program files folders?

Any input would be much appriciated- thanks
 
If the game/application you use does not write in the registry it should work. However, most everything writes to the registry so this will not work without an install of the game/app in question to re-write the registry entry.
 
i see- is there anyway to create a registry on the spare hdd? or create a windows installation on the second hdd, just for games?...but run the games without booting into the hdd?
 
how about loading windows and then all your games and making an image of it .. that way when you want to install windows everything will be fresh .. you'd have to remember to keep saved game data and such ... how often do you find your self installing ? every 30 days :D
 
Xtreme Barton said:
how about loading windows and then all your games and making an image of it .. that way when you want to install windows everything will be fresh .. you'd have to remember to keep saved game data and such ... how often do you find your self installing ? every 30 days :D
Click to expand...

hmm good idea, any specific software that is recomended for imaginh?
and every 30days is allmost right:)
 
Good lord son, why are you doing reinstall so frequently?

Acronis is a great piece of software. If you dont want to pay for it, I would search this site as that question has been asked about as much as "How do I overclock...?". :)
 
acronis it is:)
iok mabye every 60 days because i keep messing up windows and it ends up with currupt files/virus/generally running slow :)
 
antipesto93 said:
acronis it is:)
iok mabye every 60 days because i keep messing up windows and it ends up with currupt files/virus/generally running slow :)
Click to expand...

Install windows on the new drive.

Don't let the drives see eachother (device manager)

ONLY run games off of the GAMES OS.

Run your porn in your non games OS.

No more viruses in your game OS.
 
It just reminds me of a friend of my Dad's. My Dad used to go fix his mates Pc like every two week. Then he got sick of it then passed the job onto me. The guy used to pay good for anyone to get his PC fixed. But the guy took no advice and his PC was in a right mess due to the XXX sites he used to visit. I got fed up quick. I'm not saying the OP does this, just had a flash back while I was reading, lol. :)
 
I install games to a separate disk (just to keep things orderly), and like others have mentioned, if you have to reinstall your O/S, you almost always have to reinstall the games due to files that will get installed to your system and / or registry entries that get created. As Earthdog mentions, not many games stick to the folder you install the game to. They almost always want to copy files all over the place.
 
yeah i was thinking of doing that
i was also reading about som app mover programs, where you direct the program to the games exe, and it then creates a folder with all its file and registry key...juts cant remember what it was called.
 
antipesto93 said:
yeah i was thinking of doing that
i was also reading about som app mover programs, where you direct the program to the games exe, and it then creates a folder with all its file and registry key...juts cant remember what it was called.
Click to expand...

If you remember the name, please post back here because I would be quite interested in that as well. The only "similar" program that I have found and I use for "suspect" programs is called Sandboxie. Sanboxie will create and run a suspect program in a "separate area" on your HDD thus, not allowing the program to write crap all over the place. And when you close out of the program, the "sandbox" get's destroyed hence, your system is the same exact way that it was before you ran the program. I have used the program to add another level of defense when I surf a suspect site, or if I need to open a smaller program and not used for "full bore games."

If I see anything as well, I'll let you know.
 
Well, interesting thread XD

I'm not sure what I've done but on my sisters lappy I've set up 3 partitions. An OS Partition, an app and data partition and a backup partition (so she can backup VERY important files like homework, favourite pics ect.)
According to EarthDog (I can't believe he's wrong, this has to be something I've done) what I've done shouldn't work... and yet every application works. Photoshop (CS3), Sony Vegas Pro, Sims 2, Sims 3, Steam (HL2 + episodes, TF2), HD writer software for camera, Firefox, Opera, Chrome and more (can't remember any others atm)

As far as I can tell there's never been a problem and I've never done anything special, just installed the program onto the data partition and it's ready to run.
 
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