Curse

Undivine · Feb 02, 2008, 02:13 AM // 02:13

I have to reinstall Guild Wars. Nevermind why. As I write this I am currently running -image to download everything. It has been running for 5 hours now and it's still only 67% done... I don't recall ever taking 5 hours to install a game, or any software for that matter. It took me about 45 minutes to install Windows, including formatting the drive and downloading the 86 security updates. Something like that; I wasn't keeping time.

To speed up the process of installing the game, I first installed every disc I have, which includes Prophecies, Factions, and Nightfall. I bought GWEN through the online store, so that must be downloaded entirely. Yet after all the updates they've come out with, not to mention GWEN itself, my game discs are so hopelessly out of date that I have to leave my computer running for a whole day, straining my bandwidth. I hope my cable company doesn't bother me about this.

My solution: Let us burn the game to disc! It shouldn't be too difficult. Already one can download the Guild Wars client from your website and use that to download and install every chapter and expansion. Just make a small program that can piece together the entire Guild Wars package already downloaded and installed on our computers into an .iso. Then when we need to reinstall the entire game, all we do is use the updater, but instead of it downloading everything from the internet, it downloads if from our disc!

So, here's how it works. Let's say I have Guild Wars installed; all 3 chapters + the GWEN expansion + Sorrow's Furnace. Not only that, but I've been playing regularly, so I have all the latest downloads and updates. I go into the Guild Wars folder and find a little program in there called "Guild Wars Disc Maker" or something like that. I use that program and it takes all those chapters, the expansion, and all the updates currently installed on my machine and it packages them into an ISO. It also puts the Guild Wars Client on the ISO. I burn the ISO to a DVD.

Now later I have to do an erase & install of my operating system for whatever reason. Or perhaps I'll be staying at a friend's place for a week. Whatever. I bring my burned disc with me and pop it into the machine to install Guild Wars. I run the client and it installs itself on the computer, then begins to install Guild Wars (i.e. it "downloads" it from the disc). Finally, it does one last check online to download any remaining updates. The whole installation would take, maybe, 20 minutes.

I hope this is done for Guild Wars 2, if not for Guild Wars. I mean, this streaming technology is great and all, but this is a serious drawback. Imagine those poor souls still using 56K. They simply could not install it. I understand that it is probably possible for an advanced user to do this now, but it wouldn't exactly be user-friendly. My suggestion is for a user-friendly solution produced by ArenaNet.

hurdlebeast · Feb 02, 2008, 02:16 AM // 02:16

or just burn the .dat file to disk. or even better, put it on a flash drive, like i did. works wonders.

DarkGanni · Feb 02, 2008, 02:19 AM // 02:19

Sorry to say but you lack some common sense my fellow guru friend, You can burn the game to disc, when it doesn't fit on 1 DVD I usually split it in 2 small Parts and back it up like that. Here some free good software for you to use next time

http://cdburnerxp.se/ = Free CD Burning software.
http://www.7-zip.org/ = Free Compression Software.

- Ganni

Eroth · Feb 02, 2008, 03:02 AM // 03:02

dude, the -image does take forever. i usually start it at 3 in the afternoon and it finishes the next day. or sometime in the night, since i get rid of the -image the next day.

bilateralrope · Feb 02, 2008, 03:34 AM // 03:34

For people who downloaded the entire client, burning the .dat to disk is a good option. But what about the people who installed off a disk ?

As DarkGanni said it doesn't fit on a single DVD. But there is data you will have on your install disks that you won't need to put onto the disk, which may get you down to a single DVD if you don't put it on there. Maybe even a CD if you have the GW:EN disks.

So instead of a program that simply creates an install CD, I'd like to see the following:
When you create the disk it will ask you which install disk you want to create it for so it can leave out data that is on that disk. If you did a full web install then it will produce a full install disk. Once you tell it what media you are creating the disk on it will handle splitting (if needed) as well as filling the final disk with as much extra data as it can fit in case you try an install of an earlier install disk that you specified.

When you use the disk on a machine that has guild wars loaded it will update that install of GW with what is on the disk. If you have a mismatch it (for instance a disk created for a Factions install, while the actual install was Prophesies only) then there will be missing data.

If you use the disk on a machine that doesn't have GW installed then you will have an installed client that has to download more data.

Then again, I don't really care about this.

tehshadowninjar · Feb 02, 2008, 03:37 AM // 03:37

I downloaded everything in about 15 minutes, if not less o.O

DarkGanni · Feb 02, 2008, 04:42 AM // 04:42

Quote:

Originally Posted by tehshadowninjar

I downloaded everything in about 15 minutes, if not less o.O

Some connections are faster than others

MithranArkanere · Feb 02, 2008, 04:46 AM // 04:46

I just backup the gw.dat.

When needed, I copy it again, run a gw.exe /image, and backup again if there where any changes.

Works perfectly for me.

Biostem · Feb 02, 2008, 04:50 AM // 04:50

Just copy the entire GW directory to a DVD-R. I did a full -image and it only came to 4.2GB. If you have a bunch of saved screenshots, then move them out of the /screens directory first, if it exceeds the 4.5GB a DVD-R can hold...

Stupid Shizno · Feb 02, 2008, 04:55 AM // 04:55

Quote:

Originally Posted by tehshadowninjar

I downloaded everything in about 15 minutes, if not less o.O

you downlaoded 4.2gb in 15 mins? lies.

Undivine · Feb 02, 2008, 05:24 AM // 05:24

I see... I didn't realize Guild Wars was so self-contained.

Coloneh · Feb 02, 2008, 05:30 AM // 05:30

my -image took 4 hours the other day. on a new hard drive, after just downloading the basic client. and if you want to put it on a CD the programs Ganni cited should work. its an online game. you need an internet connection, just be happy they update it regularly.

redant751 · Feb 02, 2008, 06:10 AM // 06:10

Just did the -image on my new drive (old one shit the bed) took 3+ hours.
Had a back up but just thought what the hey might as well do a fresh install on the new drive.

redant751 · Feb 02, 2008, 06:35 AM // 06:35

The easiest way to install Guild Wars on a new drive is:

1)Copy the Guild Wars folder from a previous working drive (from your old drive or friends drive).

2)Burn this Folder to a DVD (as data file).

3)Install Guild Wars into your new drive and just before it starts to do the 1st update stop it. Now copy the Guild Wars folder form you’re Data DVD and use it to replace the folder from your recent install (this will insure that Guild Wars is in your registry).

4)Now just log on Guild Wars with your account and password, Guild Wars will do a small up date and you are done.

You can do this if you don’t feel like doing the –image up date thing.

Onarik Amrak · Feb 02, 2008, 08:06 AM // 08:06

If you regularly backup the .dat file onto a USB drive you won't have a big problem.

Div · Feb 02, 2008, 08:12 AM // 08:12

Use dual layer DVDs or try to zip up the .dat file. That should allow you to fit it on a single DVD.

credit · Feb 02, 2008, 07:27 PM // 19:27

Leave -image going overnight, it's your best option.

Unlucky Slayer · Feb 02, 2008, 07:40 PM // 19:40

Unless your .dat is highly bloated, it'll fit on one DVD+R.

Right now a non bloated .dat (fully -imaged) should run under 4 gig. (Mine is currently at 3.61 gig.)

I dont remember how to unbloat it, but there are guides somewhere around here.

Kale Ironfist · Feb 02, 2008, 09:16 PM // 21:16

Quote:

Originally Posted by Unlucky Slayer

Unless your .dat is highly bloated, it'll fit on one DVD+R.

Right now a non bloated .dat (fully -imaged) should run under 4 gig. (Mine is currently at 3.61 gig.)

I dont remember how to unbloat it, but there are guides somewhere around here.

Copy the entire contents of any one of the install CDs/DVDs to a folder on your computer. Edit one of the text files so that it looks for that folder and without the additional CDs. Overwrite the .dat file in that location with your bloated .dat file. Install locally from your computer.

That's a rough summary of what to do to 'unbloat' the .dat file. My .dat file is 3.60 GB, and I'm fairly sure it's bloated.

TaCktiX · Feb 02, 2008, 10:45 PM // 22:45

I backup the .DAT like everyone else onto DVD. Thing is, the DAT file is over 3GB in size, making the individual file too big to put on a DVD (2GB per file limit). I split it, then burn it on with the merge application included. If you hand GW a complete DAT file, it'll boot up just fine.

And I don't uncompress my DAT file, hence its size.