can you transfer games to external HD?

[i nEeD HeLp]

k so i recently got a external hard drive and put a bunch of stuff on it <- not really important.
i installed battlefield 2 on it and everything was fine i could even run it off of it. my problem was that im not able to patch it to 1.5 (i think thats it) so with out that patch i would have to use a no-cd crack or carry the disc around.:shadedshu

can i install and patch on my main harddrive and then transer to external?

p.s. haven't tried yet but will copy/cut and paste work?

 

[TheLaughingMan]

The patches are all designed to install into the default BF2 directory. Since you changed that, the patch can't find the game. If it is the standard style BF2 patch, you should be able to unzip to a directory, then alter the install script file with the right location, but that could cause problems.

This should be easier and safer. Install the game on another computer as normal. Update with patch. copy and past the entire directory into your directory on the external. Then try running the game on your primary system. If you don't have another computer, I don't know.

 

[i nEeD HeLp]

i was just wondering because some games add things to the registry. im going to try the copy paste thing now.

 

[i nEeD HeLp]

how would you unzip the patch?

 

[TheLaughingMan]

Usually the first setup it does is to unzip itself. If this one doesn't prompt you for that, then you may be able to open it with WinRar, 7-Zip, or whatever archive software you use. Or just find it in the temp file area.

 

[JATownes]

No one has asked this question, and I am really curious, because I have never tried it, so I will ask it. How are your load times running off the external? Is the external USB 2.0, 3.0 or eSATA?

 

[TheLaughingMan]

Actually my question was why did it get installed there in the first place. I figured his load times were just garbage and ignored it.

 

[JATownes]

Actually my question was why did it get installed there in the first place. I figured his load times were just garbage and ignored it.

+1 to this.

 

[n-ster]

esata isnt that bad compared to older laptops old ps3 etc

 

[TheLaughingMan]

esata isnt that bad compared to older laptops old ps3 etc

True. ESATA is just SATA outside the case, but most purchased Externals use 5400 RPM drives, or drives with really small caches to save money as people expect them to be slow by nature.

Even if it is ESATA with a nice 7200 RPM HDD, why on the External? It will not work on other peoples computers cause the required registry values will be missing, and punkbuster will not be able to work.

 

[slyfox2151]

punkbuster would be one of the only things that dosnt work....

most games dont even need registery settings.... as long as all the Direct X files are installed and the reqierd .net framework... and visual something somthing. the games will run just fine on other PC's

chances are the files that are needed will be in the Support directory of the game anyway...


i know from expiriance.

 

[i nEeD HeLp]

well the load times are OK, 20-30 seconds longer, it also depends on the pc's specs. I have a esata Hard drive, the online doesn't work on a computer that doesn't already have the punkbuster files. in my opinion i think there is no point of playing of of external hard drives, to much of a hassle.

 

[n-ster]

nice for portability and going to a friends house etc, there are alot of pros

 

[i nEeD HeLp]

for the newer games you would need a fast transfer rate, i dont know if any USB's would be good enough, i know that L4D 1 can be played from a thimb drive though. <- fun lan game

 

[n-ster]

for newer games, you could invest into usb 3 or esata, but having a fun lan party with old strategy games can be fun! (ie: kohan, CoH etc)

else newer will just take a long time to load.. so what?

dont run your games of an external for your main rig though

 

[TheLaughingMan]

I just bring my HTPC with me. It is overpowered for what I use it for anyway. I have access to my steam and thus, 85% of my games, 100% of the multiplayer ones. But that is me.

Interesting notion to create a portable version of BF2. I know I can do this with some games like Warzone 2100 and AssaultCube, but that is different.

I hope you get it working.

 

[n-ster]

you can always temporarily install punkbuster on the comp you play on