|
|
| Page 1 of 1 |
Leftos
Posts: 1159
Location: Patras, Greece
|
 Posted: Thu, 10th May 2007 20:45 Post subject: Getting your games to work on a clean Windows install |
|
 |
Full title: "Getting your games to work on a clean Windows install without reinstalling them"
-----------
Although I'm not such an active member on the forums, I thought I should provide a guide for the more advanced of you who feel that their current Windows installation is just too cluttered with unwanted programs, services, garbage and bad driver installations, taking the magic out of your games. Where magic, is good performance.
Installing Windows from scratch, thus having a pure non-cluttered installation to work on, usually helps with lots of problems regarding games, programs, drivers and even Windows itself. How many times you've noticed that the same game plays flawlessly on your other Windows installation or a friends' one, while it won't even start on yours?
But, re-installing Windows comes at a cost. Your registry is gone, which means that most games need to be re-installed. That could prove to be a very lengthy process, and maybe you've even thrown out the disks of some older games that still reside on your hard disk and that you still enjoy using a No-CD or image.
So, how do we avoid having to re-install all our games and programs that just won't work, although they're still on our HDD? No other way but using this guide, of course!
-----------------------------------------------------
Solutions that don't work:
- One solution that many suggest is a full backup of the registry on .REG files, and inserting the old registry back on the new Windows. Well, this should do the trick regarding driver issues, but most probably if you felt your Windows installation was becoming too heavy, the registry was already cluttered too, so injecting the old registry into a clean installation is not recommended.
- Another solution is going through the registry before the re-installation and exporting all the keys needed for our games, thus injecting only the needed ones on the clean installation. Why is this method bad? Because it can be quite time consuming, and if after the installation of Windows we realize that we have forgotten some keys or that the games still won't run, we have no other solution but to reinstall.
-----------------------------------------------------
So, what should I do?
There are actually two solutions. Both should work as planned, and the difference is only on some steps. I'll offer the first one for the time being. When I have more time I'll give you the other one as well.
---
DISCLAIMER: I will accept absolutely NO responsibility for any damage done to your computer, data, or personal health. This is the method I've followed every time I've reinstalled Windows. Any questions you need to ask, do it after fully reading the guide and BEFORE actually putting it to practice, or you may end up unable to recover whatever mistake you did.
---
---
The Hive Solution
---
What many people don't know is that there are two versions of the Registry Editor included with Windows. At least Windows XP. Other versions may have them too. Oh well. The most commonly used, RegEdit, lacks the most useful features. The version we need is RegEdt32. Why? Because this version actually allows you to load the registry from any Windows installation, edit it as you need, and then save the changes. This is quite useful on repairing problems that have rendered your Windows installation unbootable. use it to gain access to the registry of any Windows installation, even a dead one's, or your friend's in case you've copied it over on a USB key or CD. What we're going to do in a few steps is:
- Backup the cluttered Windows installation's registry.
- Delete the old Windows installation.
- Install Windows, clean.
- Install updates and drivers.
- Load the cluttered registry backup on RegEdt32.
- Export the keys we need, inject them in the clean registry.
Step-by-step guide:
1. First of all, I assume you have access to your hard-drive's contents, and can manipulate files and folders. That means a working Windows installation (not the one we will delete and replace), a Linux installation or Live CD with full FAT32 and/or NTFS access, a Bart PE Bootable CD, any other bootable CD that offers disk access. I also assume you have a Windows installation CD, and a good resource for the drivers of all the devices on your system. That last one includes a fast web connection, or a slow web connection and something to keep you occupied while you wait. Last but not least, make a list of all the games you have installed and ready on your hard drive.
2. Load any of the above working methods that offers you access to your hard-disk.
3. Go to the partition that has the cluttered Windows installation. We'll assume from now on that this partition has the letter X: assigned to it.
If you're a Linux user I can only assume you know how to mount the partition already and manipulate it.
4. Browse to X:\Windows\System32.
5. Select the config folder. Copy it.
6. Paste it in any safe folder that won't get deleted any time soon. Remember that folder.
------------------------
UP TO NOW:
We're working on an environment other than our cluttered Windows installation that offers us access to our Hard Disk's contents. We've copied the X:\Windows\System32\config folder to a safe place. Backed it up, in other words.
------------------------
7. Rename your X:\Documents And Settings folder to any other name. OldDocs, for example.
Any garbage deleting on this folder will need to be done by hand. You have all your documents in there, including work/university/school papers, and most importantly, your SAVEGAMES!
8. Delete your X:\Program Files folder ONLY IF your games aren't installed there, but on a separate folder (such as X:\Games). IF your games are installed in your X:\Program Files folder, which by default they are unless you changed it during installation, then you SHOULDN'T delete X:\Program Files.
Unless there are some applications that you really need and don't have handy or can't re-download, so you should back them up before deleting it. Why delete the whole folder? Obviously, a cluttered installation includes many programs that have left stuff behind after uninstallation, spyware, adware, utilities you once installed but never used... Just check out your Program Files folder's size. Do you really need all the stuff that occupy those few GB's of hard disk space? No? Thought so. Again, however, do NOT delete it if your games are installed in their default directories. In that case, they're installed in the Program Files folder, so you need it intact.
9. Delete your X:\Windows folder.
Well, that's quite obvious, isn't it? No, we don't want Windows to install OVER the folder. We want ANY file that cluttered the folder, any driver, any settings file that bogged our installation to be gone, forever. We're installing clean. Not re-installing.
10. Insert your Windows installation CD. See if it auto-runs. If it does, select to Install Windows. If you have access to it and can execute it, then browse to it and start Setup.exe. If nothing of this works, then you'll need to reboot your computer and boot from the CD.
If your system doesn't boot from the CD and you get a System Failure message or similar, then you'll need to reboot and press Del to enter BIOS. Look for "Boot Settings", "Boot Priority", "Boot" or on some older BIOSes, "Advanced CMOS Settings" or "Advanced Settings". Once you find the options regarding Boot Priority, make sure your CD/DVD drive is on the top of the list. BE VERY CAREFUL WITH ANY CHANGES YOU DO! When you're done with that, exit the BIOS, saving changes on your way out. Your computer should re-boot and boot from the CD.
11. Follow the on-screen instructions and install Windows on the same partition you deleted the old installation from.
12. When you're finished with the installation, make sure you get all Windows Updates. These will make sure all known holes are patched up, and will make sure that your system is up-to-date as far as Windows components go. Reboot as needed.
13. Once Windows boots up, grab your driver CDs or fire up the Internet and download all your needed drivers. I recommend doing a base driver installation, that means, only the most required ones. Graphics Card, Chipset, and Sound Card are the ones you mostly need. Also, do NOT forget to download and install the latest DirectX. Your games will not work without it. Here are the websites:
---
Graphics Cards: NVIDIA, ATI
Chipset: NVIDIA, Intel, VIA
Sound Cards:
Creative, Realtek
DirectX: Microsoft
---
14. After getting your system fully up-to-date, we're ready to recover access to your favorite games. Get your list.
15. First of all, open My Computer, and try to run the first game on the list via its No-CD exe. If you used an image, then download and install Daemon Tools and any anti-blacklisting utility you were using, load the image and try to run the game.
---
15a. If the game starts fine and you're able to play it, then you can check it off your list. You're lucky there. Go back to Step 15 and try the next game. If however you get an error such as the game crashing before it even started, or some message saying "The game's installation is corrupt. Please re-install." or anything similar to that, continue to Step 15b.
15b. Click Start > Run. Type regedt32 and press Enter.
15c. Click on HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE.
15d. Click on File > Load Hive...
15e. Browse to the folder you had copied the files to on Step 6.
15f. Select the "software" file and open it. When asked for a name, type any name such as "OldRegistry".
15g. "OldRegistry" or the name you selected will appear as a key under the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE branch now. Click on its + sign to expand it.
15h. A list of all companies that had software on your computer should appear. If you remember the company that made/published your game, then look its name up. Else, you can use the Ctrl-F to find the key. Make sure you stay in the "OldRegistry" main key though, don't make any changes that are not below that key (such as to HKEY_USERS).
15i. Once you've found the publisher, click on its + sign and see if your game's inside that key (folder-like) structure. If it is, right click on the publisher's key (on the folder named "ATARI" or "UbiSoft" or "Electronic Arts") and click on Export. On the Save As... dialog that opens up, type in a relevant name (such as "ElectronicArtsGamesRegistry") and click on Save. Make sure you remember what folder that file was saved in.
If you can't find the publisher, then follow these steps. If you've found it, skip to step 15j.
---
15i1. Click on File > Load Hive...
15i2. Browse to X:\OldDocs\MyUserName.
15i3. Type NTUSER.DAT into the File Name field and click Open.
15i4. When asked for a name, enter "UserRegistry".
15i5. Another list of publishers and software makers should appear. The publisher of your game should be here if it wasn't there on step 15h. Right-click on its folder, select Export.
15i6. On the Save As... dialog that pops up enter any relevant name such as ("ActivisionGamesRegistry") and click on Save. Make sure you remember what folder that file was saved in.
15i7. Click once on the "UserRegistry" folder, then go to File > Unload Hive. Click Yes.
---
15j. Click once on the "OldRegistry" folder, then go to File > Unload Hive. Click Yes.
15j. Open My Computer, browse to the folder you just saved the file in and right-click on the file. Select Edit.
15k. The file should be now open in Notepad. Press Ctrl-H. The replace dialog should appear.
15l. On the first box, enter OldRegistry or whatever name you had chosen in step 15f (or step 15i4). On the second box, enter SOFTWARE. Click Replace All.
15m. Once that finishes, close Notepad, answering Yes when asked if you want to save changes.
15n. Now double-click the file. On the prompt that asks if you want to insert the information into the registry, click Yes.
15o. You're now ready to start the game, which 99% of the time now work. If it still doesn't work, reporting a bad installation, then you'll need to go back to Step 15b and look further in the OldRegistry (using Ctrl-F could help) for any keys regarding your game that you missed. Do the same steps for them. If it reports a missing DLL, however, then you'll need to look it up on Google and see what package it's a part of. Download that package or particular DLL and install it.
15p. Check the game off your list. Next game. Back to Step 15.
---
16. You're done. Your games should be running smooth as silk, and you've 100% got rid of any problems bogging your Windows installation. Games that previously didn't run should now run fine, and most driver or Windows file conflicts are not there anymore. You have a clean installation to work on and play games on.
17. Now try and copy your old Documents from the folder you renamed in step 7 to your new Documents folder. That is, browse to X:\OldDocs\MyUserName\MyUserName's Documents\ and copy all contents. Paste them in X:\Documents And Settings\MyNewUserName\My Documents\.
18. Now your savegames are there too. If you find that some game settings are missing, you may need to do the following:
---
18a. Open My Computer, go to Tools > Folder Options.
18b. Select the View tab.
18c. Select "Show Hidden Files and Folders".
18d. Click OK.
18e. Go to X:\OldDocs\MyUserName\Application Data. If you see any folders with the publisher's name or the game's name, copy-paste them to X:\Documents And Settings\MyNewUserName\Application Data.
18f. Do the same for X:\OldDocs\MyUserName\Local Settings\Application Data and X:\OldDocs\All Users\Application Data.
---
19. Most probably your hard journey ends here. Have fun!
--------------
A final note. In order to avoid such cluttering, I recommend having two separate installations of Windows in separate partitions. One for gaming, and one for everything else, such as Applications, Utilities and stuff. So anything you want to do that's not related to your gaming experience, you shall do to your other Windows installation, thus your gaming Windows will not get cluttered.
I hope I've helped. For any questions, or if you need images to explain some step you don't understand, or for suggestions even, please reply to this thread.
[ i5 2500K (@4.2GHz) / GIGABYTE Z77MX-D3H / 8GB Corsair XMS / GIGABYTE GTX460 1GB OC / 640+750 GB WD Caviar Black ]
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
|
| Posted: Thu, 10th May 2007 21:34 Post subject: |
|
|
OMG! I think its easier and just more reliable to install the games from scratch. Really, how many games can you have installed at once? I have about 15 games. Maybe only 2 or 3 I play at once. Good guide...but i will stick to re-installing everything for a clean slate.
RYZEN 5 2600|RADEON 570| |ASRock X370 Killer|DDR4@2800Mhz||Corsair SPEC-05 Case|AOC G2590FX 24.5''144hz 1ms|
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Leftos
Posts: 1159
Location: Patras, Greece
|
| Posted: Thu, 10th May 2007 21:37 Post subject: |
|
|
Most images I download, after I seed them back as necessary, I delete them from my HDD. Thus, many games I have installed I'm not able to re-install without re-downloading the image.
I know most just burn them to DVDs for re-installation, but since this works perfectly for me, I decided to post it for those interested.
It's really much easier than it seems at first. Don't judge by its size.
[ i5 2500K (@4.2GHz) / GIGABYTE Z77MX-D3H / 8GB Corsair XMS / GIGABYTE GTX460 1GB OC / 640+750 GB WD Caviar Black ]
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
|
| Posted: Fri, 11th May 2007 19:43 Post subject: |
|
|
for some games like flashpoint or il2 or enemy engaged, where there's addon upon addon and a bazillion of mods on top of that, simply reinstalling it all is not really an option
it would take hours
i've found that just going through the registry for all game related stuff just after installing and patching the game up to date, and extract it to the game's folder, usually does the trick for resumed playing
there are software like altiris SVS that work like a 'software condom' on chosen applications
it makes a virtualization layer between the system and the application, so the actual system is never really changed - the application only thinks it is
with this, games would never need to be reinstalled or complex unreliable registry stuff to be done
in theory atleast
never tried it as of yet though
most trouble i have with previous windows games on a reinstalled one is that shitty game version update programs won't find the game, while the game itself runs fine
sometimes you can fix this by seeing what the updater is looking for with software like regmon and creating that registry key for the updater
http://www.altiris.com/Products/SoftwareVirtualizationSolution.aspx
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/SystemInformation/Regmon.mspx
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
|
| Posted: Tue, 22nd May 2007 20:57 Post subject: |
|
|
Why not use Acronis True Image or similar software,much easier
and installing a game doesnt really take that long really
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
| Page 1 of 1 |
All times are GMT + 1 Hour |
|
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
|
Powered by phpBB 2.0.8 © 2001, 2002 phpBB Group
|
|
 |
|
!
