Do games write to the registry?

[Tuork]

Say I wanted to format my main harddrive, and I have games installed on a separate HDD.

After a fresh instal of windows, would I be able to play said games?

[jAkUp]

You may have to reinstall some of the games. Most games do use the registry.

[einstein_314]

Yeah, I think pretty much all programs use the registry...whether they are games or not...I would reinstall them anyways just to be safe. Although it might be worth a try to see if they work...

[rewt]

A little trick I made.

Back up the keys in the registry after you install a game.

For example, after you install Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion;

Start > Run > regedit.exe > Export and save the key

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Bethesda Softworks

somewhere safe (by that I mean save it on a partition other than Windows).

You will end up with reg file like so..


Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Bethesda Softworks]

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Bethesda Softworks\Oblivion]
"Installed Path"="i:\\games\\Oblivion\\"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Bethesda Softworks\Oblivion\1.00.0000]

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Bethesda Softworks\Oblivion - Construction Set]

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Bethesda Softworks\Oblivion - Construction Set\1.00.0000]


Now next time you reinstall Windows you won't have to reinstall the game to play it. Just double-click the registry file.

Another great thing is you shouldn't have any problems installing new patches for the game, because the proper info is in the registry now.

This works for every game I have tried so far. Including CoD2, TRL, NFS, Hitman, Splinter Cell, etc.

Of course every game will be in a different key in the registry but it is very simple to find 99% of the time.

Most likely under

HKEY_Local_Machine\Software\

and sometimes

HKEY_Current_User\Software\

*Note: Sometimes you will need to install the latest version of DirectX as well (if the game requires it, and if you haven't already slipstreamed it into your Windows installation disk).

[einstein_314]

Sweet!! That's pretty awesome...I might have to try this. That would save me lots of time when reinstalling windows. Although now that i'm using Acronic True Image it's really fast. But for games, which I regularly change which ones are installed...I like it.

[rewt]

Another thing I should mention. If you use this method I would recommend updating your registry backup file after you patch the game. I have seen situations where patching a game updates a build number in the registry. Future patches may indeed look for that information and base decisions on it (such as whether or not to update), so it's probably a good idea to keep it up to date.

Since I started doing this it really has saved me lots of time! :)

[Tuork]

Thanks rewt...
that'll be pretty useful :D

[retsam]

Another thing I should mention. If you use this method I would recommend updating your registry backup file after you patch the game. I have seen situations where patching a game updates a build number in the registry. Future patches may indeed look for that information and base decisions on it (such as whether or not to update), so it's probably a good idea to keep it up to date.

Since I started doing this it really has saved me lots of time! :)damain tools comes to mind!:D

[Son Goku]

Yes they do. There is of course also the startup icons, of course...

Normally, I would just reinstall it (in fact I always have, except in one notable case where a game would play under winNT 4.0 many moons ago, but not install. Had to install it under win95, and then manually enter all the registry keys, then it worked under NT)...

If you really want to avoid an install, then the main places to look are

H_Key_Local_Machine / software / [company name] / [game name]

replacing the game name with whatever the name is for the thing, and company name with whatever the name is for the software company that makes it. There is also the same hive structure, but under

H_Key_Current_User / / software / [company name] / [game name]

In the case of Blizzard games, I've also seen a battle.net entry in the registry, and some other gaming networks might have their own.

Theoretically, backing up and then restoring those hives on the new install should be able to recover it, along with re-creating the program groups. That is of course assuming no files are left in the Windows directory. Reinstalling it, might be easier, or at the very least contain fewer steps however...