Can I transfer a game from one HD to another?

[firemedic]

First a little information for the question.

Monday I will be building my new PC. This PC will have a 128 gig. SSD that I plan to use for my OS and w/e current game that I am playing. However, I just moved to a new place that does not allow outside ISP providers so I am bottle necked @ a max 5 mbs ~ and have only seen a max of 500ish kbs download speed at non peak hours. Early access to the new SWTOR begins on Tuesday and I am wanting to have everything ready to roll @ midnight Monday. SOOOOO ... now to my question.

Is it possible to download a game to one HD, then transfer it to another storage device? I essentially want to download the game, put it on my portable HD then transfer it to my SSD after the build is complete. Is this even possible?


Thank you to any who offer an answer.

 

[rolli59]

Yes by downloading it you are not installing it! It has to be installed on the drive you will use it from!

 

[firemedic]

Come to think of it ... most MMO's make you download the exe / launcher, then it just self patches / downloads all the missing files. Would I just cut / post the entire folder to the new HD then run the setup again?

 

[rolli59]

It is pointless to copy and paste an installed program. Since you would have to install it again, to install it it will not use the previously installed files but different unpacked cab files. Pretty much going to go through the whole download again.

 

[JackNaylorPE]

As in most cases, the answers are "It depends".

1. As was said above, the d/l is the game installation file....the game is not installed.

2. Some game / programs are "self contained"..... That is you can grab the game folder, copy it to a CD and then copy it to 10 different machines and it will run just fine.

3. Many game devs however are overly anal about piracy and require that you install and set various registry settings and even some install various hidden files that will let the game run ON:LY on the specific hardware.

4. Finally, w/ your SSD you undoubtedly will wanan run your favorite game off the SSD, especially if its a "laggy loadie" game like Skyrim. In these types of instances ya install the game to your SSD......now later when ya not planning to play very often and want room on that SSD for something else....Then ya cut / paste the game folder from the SSD to the HD.....later when ya wanna play again, ya cut / paste it back to the SSD and it will run just fine.

 

[larkspur]

firemedic - The answer to your question it depends on the game. I've been playing the SW:TOR beta but haven't tried what you want to do. Ignore the comments that say "don't copy and paste a game". They are oldschool and haven't tried it since the DOS days.

Many modern games don't care about being "installed" via an installer. Games like WoW and SC2 can simply be copied and pasted from one HDD to another. WoW and SC2 can even be copied over a network from one computer to another. This has the advantage of saving tons of GBs in downloads if you want to install the game on another computer and you already have an up-to-date patched copy.

As far as SW:TOR goes, first check their forums, your question may have been answered already. But if you want to try it just download/install (there is no noticeable difference) the game to your portable HDD. Make sure it finishes patching (it'll make you login). Then build your PC, install your OS and copy the entire folder on over to your new volume. Then run "launcher.exe". Like I said, check the SW:TOR forums first since it certainly doesn't work for every game.

 

[larkspur]

1. As was said above, the d/l is the game installation file....the game is not installed.

No, in this case the launcher is downloaded and immediately run to acquire and install the game assets. Once complete the user has the final release client (though it'll still be patched a 'few' more times!) Remember this is an MMO, access is controlled by the login server so having a fully-functional client gets you nothing until they grant access on an account-specific basis.

 

[firemedic]

No, in this case the launcher is downloaded and immediately run to acquire and install the game assets. Once complete the user has the final release client (though it'll still be patched a 'few' more times!) Remember this is an MMO, access is controlled by the login server so having a fully-functional client gets you nothing until they grant access on an account-specific basis.

I have full access to download so that would not be an issue.

 

[firemedic]

I am downloading it and giving it a shot. Will update tomorrow and let everyone know how it turns out.