Can you move games from a Windows 7 partition to an external harddrive?

[Huddle]

Can you move games from a Windows 7 partition to a formated external harddrive, then delete the partition, create a new one and put the games back? Will they work if I do this? Thanks.

 

[deadwulfe]

Your best bet is just to reinstall the games after you reinstall your partition.

I'm going to go out on a limb and say any recent Windows game from a non-independent maker, maybe published in the last 10 years, is going to have its hooks in the Registry? That's a big assertion, but it's based on my experience.

What that means is that games in Windows aren't self-contained neat little folder packages like they are in OSX. You generally can't drag-and-drop them from one folder to another without breaking some functionality of the game itself or some supporting technology to run the game.

 

[Huntn]

I've seen some Windows programs work after being dragged to another location, but there is the distinct possibility it will break. You could try it to see. If not, figure out where your saved games are located, secure them, then reinstall it to the new location. Depending on where they are, like your documents folder, you might not have to do anything with them and they should still work.

The Registry is one of several reasons I've always disliked Windows...

 

[VI™]

This is one of the great pains of Windows. An installed item usually will not work once it's moved to another location. If you have the original folder or whatever with the program install packages (setup files, DLLs, etc...) then that can be moved and it can be reinstalled as was stated above.

 

[Huddle]

Thanks!

 

[jpeezy]

Yes, as long as the drive letter stays the same.

 

[CylonGlitch]

I've seen some Windows programs work after being dragged to another location, but there is the distinct possibility it will break. You could try it to see. If not, figure out where your saved games are located, secure them, then reinstall it to the new location. Depending on where they are, like your documents folder, you might not have to do anything with them and they should still work.

The Registry is one of several reasons I've always disliked Windows...

All Blizzard games are free of this restriction. You can copy them from place to place without having to reinstall. They intentionally design the games to do this. If they can do it, everyone can do it, but most are too lazy to actually code it right.

 

[Huntn]

All Blizzard games are free of this restriction. You can copy them from place to place without having to reinstall. They intentionally design the games to do this. If they can do it, everyone can do it, but most are too lazy to actually code it right.

Good to know, thanks!