What did I just download? - Guild Wars Forums

Dirty Savage · Jun 24, 2007, 07:42 PM // 19:42

So a couple of weeks ago my computer caught a nasty, nasty virus and had to be completely wiped. Last week I reinstalled GW and played for about an hour before the lag monster reared it's ugly head and I got the ol' error 7.

So this morning I booted up GW and noticed the little lightning bolt in the corner which said "background Download . . ." I let it run and do it's thing as I busied myself cleaning the bathroom and such, and it finally quit at 1.033 GB.

1.03 GB?????!!!!!! What the hell is that?

Shaq_gw · Jun 24, 2007, 07:47 PM // 19:47

GW content is "streamed to you when needed" meaning you do not have to download EVERYTHING at startup. It could be you crashed when a download tryed to start entering a certain area or you just timed out because the download took so long.

When you get back and try to get in you have to finish the download before you can enter the zone. That is probably the reason why it worked that time.

Dirty Savage · Jun 24, 2007, 08:23 PM // 20:23

Yes, I know that GW content is streamed silently in the background while you play and that when you enter a new area for the first time you have to download the map and everything in it, but downloading 1.03 GIGABYTES of information? That's a huge amount of information as far as i'm concerned. I knew that, after having reinstalled the game, I would have to download all map areas as I entered them again but I was not expecting such a huge amount of stuff to be downloaded all at once.

Malice Black · Jun 24, 2007, 08:35 PM // 20:35

Well if you reinstalled then that means you had to reinstall all the past updates etc I had to go through the same thing when I reinstalled.

bilateralrope · Jun 24, 2007, 10:48 PM // 22:48

Which disk did you reinstall from ?

The prophesies and factions disks don't have any nightfall content (maps, textures, models, etc. the stuff that takes up a lot of space), so you need to download that. The prophesies disk also doesn't have the factions content. And the installer from guildwars.com doesn't even come with the prophesies content, so you need to download everything.

How big is your GW.dat file currently ?
Mine is about 3.2GB, so until yours reaches that size you probably still have stuff to download. Even if your account doesn't have all chapters, GW will want to download everything.

Ma3x666 · Jun 25, 2007, 01:39 AM // 01:39

Before you clear your disk is good to copy the .dat file to another disk (if u have 2 or more partitions) or on a DVD... then after reinstalling just copy the .dat file back in the GW folder... and voila... no downloads, quick play.

If you have all 3 campaigns and you have been to every possible map (PvE + PvP), it should be even more than 3.2GB but you will download that content when you need it.

AlienFromBeyond · Jun 25, 2007, 02:26 AM // 02:26

Your .dat file should be about 2.7 gb large if you do a clean install and use -image.

Jun 24, 2007, 07:42 PM // 19:42	#1
Dirty Savage Academy Page Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Saskatchewan	What did I just download? So a couple of weeks ago my computer caught a nasty, nasty virus and had to be completely wiped. Last week I reinstalled GW and played for about an hour before the lag monster reared it's ugly head and I got the ol' error 7. So this morning I booted up GW and noticed the little lightning bolt in the corner which said "background Download . . ." I let it run and do it's thing as I busied myself cleaning the bathroom and such, and it finally quit at 1.033 GB. 1.03 GB?????!!!!!! What the hell is that?

Jun 24, 2007, 08:35 PM // 20:35	#4
Malice Black Site Legend Join Date: Oct 2005	Well if you reinstalled then that means you had to reinstall all the past updates etc I had to go through the same thing when I reinstalled. __________________ Old Skool '05

Jun 25, 2007, 01:39 AM // 01:39	#6
Ma3x666 Academy Page Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Slovenia, Europe Profession: Mo/	Before you clear your disk is good to copy the .dat file to another disk (if u have 2 or more partitions) or on a DVD... then after reinstalling just copy the .dat file back in the GW folder... and voila... no downloads, quick play. If you have all 3 campaigns and you have been to every possible map (PvE + PvP), it should be even more than 3.2GB but you will download that content when you need it. Last edited by Ma3x666; Jun 25, 2007 at 01:43 AM // 01:43..

Jun 24, 2007, 07:47 PM // 19:47	#2
Shaq_gw Academy Page Join Date: Oct 2006 Guild: Lowlands Strike Force Profession: Mo/Me	GW content is "streamed to you when needed" meaning you do not have to download EVERYTHING at startup. It could be you crashed when a download tryed to start entering a certain area or you just timed out because the download took so long. When you get back and try to get in you have to finish the download before you can enter the zone. That is probably the reason why it worked that time.

Jun 24, 2007, 08:23 PM // 20:23	#3
Dirty Savage Academy Page Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Saskatchewan	Yes, I know that GW content is streamed silently in the background while you play and that when you enter a new area for the first time you have to download the map and everything in it, but downloading 1.03 GIGABYTES of information? That's a huge amount of information as far as i'm concerned. I knew that, after having reinstalled the game, I would have to download all map areas as I entered them again but I was not expecting such a huge amount of stuff to be downloaded all at once.

Jun 24, 2007, 10:48 PM // 22:48	#5
bilateralrope Desert Nomad Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: New Zealand Guild: Xen Of Onslaught (Xen of the Pacific division)	Which disk did you reinstall from ? The prophesies and factions disks don't have any nightfall content (maps, textures, models, etc. the stuff that takes up a lot of space), so you need to download that. The prophesies disk also doesn't have the factions content. And the installer from guildwars.com doesn't even come with the prophesies content, so you need to download everything. How big is your GW.dat file currently ? Mine is about 3.2GB, so until yours reaches that size you probably still have stuff to download. Even if your account doesn't have all chapters, GW will want to download everything.

Jun 25, 2007, 02:26 AM // 02:26	#7
AlienFromBeyond Jungle Guide Join Date: Dec 2005 Guild: Heros of Titans Realm [HotR] Profession: W/	Your .dat file should be about 2.7 gb large if you do a clean install and use -image.