Reformatting: Erase all or only OS?

[genbrien]

As I'm about to have a new MB, I think I'll reformat to avoid as much as possible conflicts with drivers.

My question is:

If my games are installed on my ''D'' and the OS on my ''C'', can I only format the ''C''?

or the games(or everything that is installed on ''D'') wont work ?

 

**cause I have over 500gb of games.....:music_whistling::cry:

[Mud]

That mainly depends on the game(s). I fear you'll have issues with most games at least on a Windows registry level.

Games like World Of Warcraft will be fine, but for instance, I'm doubting very much that DCS A-10C would be.

 

That is quite an amount of gamespace you have occupied there by the way. Very impressive :)

[genbrien]

That mainly depends on the game(s). I fear you'll have issues with most games at least on a Windows registry level.

Games like World Of Warcraft will be fine, but for instance, I'm doubting very much that DCS A-10C would be.

 

That is quite an amount of gamespace you have occupied there by the way. Very impressive :)

yeah thx. I have 64 STEAM games :music_whistling: +60-70gb FSX's folder + other flight sims + normal DVD games..... I would have for a couple of days to reinstall that.

But maybe your right about the Win registry....

DCS is on my ''C'' drive wich is my SSD, so anyway I was gong to reinstall it :D

[KillaALF]

Formatting just "C" is all that is necessary, but as Bonso said you will have to try out which games work without having to re-install them. Steam games for instance all work, the only thing you have to do is delete/rename the "ClientRegistry.blob" file in the steam folder and you are good to go.

 

Additionally I would suggest making a copy of your c:/user/xxx folder - most games will have their settings and savegames residing there.

[RSharpe]

I probably reinstalled my OS about a 20 times in the last 6 months. I always keep a copy of my Steam directory, but I delete all other programs from my D drive. I always wipe out C entirely and start again. When I reinstall Steam, the client just updates the games and reinstalls the MS redist packages. Non-Steam games usually have to be reinstalled however.

[EtherealN]

Re Steam: copy-pasting them is fine. I did that when I built this machine:

 

1: Copy C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapss\Common\*, move this to a drive that will be accessible to the new OS. If the drive will be (say, through it being installed outside of the system drive), move this folder anyway.

2: Reformat, reinstall Steam

3: Copy the contents of your backuped folder to the equivalent on the new install

4: Start steam - it will now believe that it had interrupted downloads of those games, and will perform a check of the files.

 

A-10C should be fine as well - it should create new entries in the registry if there are none. Note that you should deactivate first, however.

[RSharpe]

A-10C should be fine as well - it should create new entries in the registry if there are none. Note that you should deactivate first, however.

 

THis is what I hate most about Starforce games. Who really remembers and has to the time to go around each StarForce game, find the buried deactivation application, and go deactivate the game? I've lost so many activations because of this.

 

At least I hear ED is good about refilling activations, but I just know I will run out because of the number of times that I change hardware.

[EtherealN]

RSharpe - that is exactly why the system is made such (as of A-10C) that it automatically gives you a new activation after using your last. ;)

[RSharpe]

RSharpe - that is exactly why the system is made such (as of A-10C) that it automatically gives you a new activation after using your last. ;)

 

Oh it's automatic? Well that's great then. I think I'm out of activations with games like Wings of Prey, and I have to go out of my way to contact technical support, to convince someone that I'm not a criminal, or a piece of software that I paid for.

[EtherealN]

Oh it's automatic? Well that's great then. I think I'm out of activations with games like Wings of Prey, and I have to go out of my way to contact technical support, to convince someone that I'm not a criminal, or a piece of software that I paid for.

 

DCS A-10C FAQ:

 

Q: Does DCS: A-10C use copy protection?

A: Yes, it uses the new user-friendly ProActive AAA Technology.

You will no longer have a fixed number of activations, but in an effort to prevent piracy the system does limit the number of activations per month. Your DCS A-10C serial number is initially set to 8 activations and when they all are spent, 1 activation is added automatically once per 31 days (effectively "refilling" your serial number).

ProActive AAA Technology does not install any drivers on your PC. It works as an integrated part of the DCS files but has no special privileges in your system.

For more information, please refer to this forum thread: http://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=59002

[emenance]

genbrien

 

 

Since you have so many games and a huge configuration task. You life would be made simple with Symantec back up exec desktop edition 10 . You can buy the software on ebay. It will come with a year of support. With this software you can back up a drive or partition and restore it to dissimilar hardware. Maybe you installed new drives or board. Back up exec will allow you to restore your OS in ten minutes. Not 10 days. ( in any case )

[genbrien]

thx all.

I think I'll keep my steam games and do a file check as you suggested, but I'll reinstall other games with DVDs. Wish me luck :music_whistling::lol: