Switching games between drives

**Beirut** · 10-06-2007, 17:03

I've got FS2004 on my D: drive all by its lonesome and FSX on my C: drive with all the clutter. I'd like to switch them around and put FSX onto the D: drive by itself.

Can I just Drag & Drop or will that kerfunkle-ize all the registry paths and what-have-yous that the game requires to run?

I should mention these are enormous programs running about 30 to 40 GB each. (I should also mention that doing a clean install of these sims takes a long, long, looooong time. A fresh install of FS2004 can easily take 3+ hours.)

**Mikeus Caesar** · 10-06-2007, 17:59

Iirc, it screws up the registry files or something. I think.

Apart from that, it should be fine. Just a case of changing file paths for shortcuts and stuff.

**Bootsiuv** · 10-06-2007, 18:18

Switching it between folders has caused me problems. You want to switch it between two drives? Without a fresh install?

Ouch. I'm not sure if that's the best idea. Someone more knowledgeable will no more, but I wouldn't feel confident about doing something like that (which is probably why you posted here, I know).

Good luck to you, and I hope you don't have to do those really looooonng installs. :)

**DukeofSerbia** · 10-06-2007, 18:34

I am not sure, but I know that some games won't work if are not proper installed. Most of them work [I mean after you instal it and move in another folder/partition], but I remember that I had problems with few ones...

Beirut
Copy/paste FS2004 and see those it work. Do NOT cut/paste because if doesn't work you'll be in the problem with registry and similar stupidity which every Win doesn't like.

**caravel** · 10-06-2007, 23:07

You can often do this but it will usually involve going through the registry changing all the paths to the new path that you've moved the game to and then changing the shortcuts (which is the easy part), that way it should completely "move" to the new location.

Games such as MTW don't need to be installed from the disc. I have shunted my MTW install around quite a few times. I usually just create a shortcut to it and run it just works. This isn't always the case and some games fail to run unless they're installed correctly.

**Beirut** · 10-07-2007, 13:14

Originally Posted by Bootsiuv

(which is probably why you posted here, I know).

I posted here because everyone else is smarter than me.

Thanks for the responses. I think I may just have to bite that fresh install bullet after all. Oh well, I'll wait until I have a day off, put on a pot of coffee, and point-click-wait myself into oblivion.

**KukriKhan** · 10-07-2007, 14:04

I usually originally install new games on C:, then move them after awhile to E: (external HD). Change the shortcuts, and voila! It does take a little time, but USB 2.0 is pretty quick.

This has worked with all my TW games, all the Call of Duty games, and all my Steam-generated games (10 or 12). I thought I might lose my saved-games, but no, everything moved over, and I could pick up where I'd left off in-game(s).

I've done this twice, in anticipation of reformatting C:... so far, so good.

But I admit, I've never tried to move such a monster as a 30 gig flight-sim.

**Beirut** · 10-07-2007, 14:12

Hey Kukri,

When you say "change the shortcuts", do you mean to just alter the path of the desktop shortcut? My problem is that each of these sims has lots (and brother I mean lots) of add ons. Just the terrain elevation add-ons run to about fifty separate installations. I don't know if all of these require pathway changes.

Then there are ten or twenty other add-on installations for planes, environmental textures and so on, and many, if not all of these have "program managers" that can be used to customize the in-game aspects of the add-on. That means, I think, that all would require re-direction.

I think I'm pooched.

**KukriKhan** · 10-07-2007, 14:45

Yeah, I just meant changing the shotcut path from C: to E: (in my case; D: in your's).

Your separately-installed add-ons might be a problem, I understand, but I really don't think so. Ultimately, an add-on is like a patch, yes? It modifies a single program from its original. But a program it still is. I'd take the chance; the worst that can happen is I've blown a few hours moving a program that no longer works, and I hafta do a fresh install to D:.

But at least, then I'd know.

**Husar** · 10-07-2007, 15:09

Beirut, if it's just the registry stuff etc, how about you make a copy of you whole game folder with all addons etc installed, then uninstall it, install it on the other partition(but just the program) then copy the whole gamefolder you saved elsewhere over the new installation.

Another option would be to install it twice and then copy the old folder over the new one, then delete the old folder, I just wouldn't do it because you may not be able to properly uninstall your first version this way.

**Bootsiuv** · 10-08-2007, 05:10

Hell....with a game that big, how do you know it won't take three hours to copy it over?

R:TW takes like 20 minutes to copy on my system, and that game is comparably much smaller.

**Beirut** · 10-08-2007, 11:27

Originally Posted by Bootsiuv

Hell....with a game that big, how do you know it won't take three hours to copy it over?

It could very well take longer. But at least I wouldn't have to sit there and nurse it.

By the by, I just checked, my FS2004 folder is 46GB and FSX is 50GB. I could try what Husar and Kukri said, but I think with something that big with so many add-ons and pathways it's sure to get pooched somewhere. Oh well, I think I'll have the time today so maybe I'll kill both and just re-install FSX where I want it.

Oh well...