# [RESOLVED] How Do I Change The Installation Location Without Uninstalling A Game?



## Vanchatron (Jul 18, 2006)

I was just wondering if there was a way I could change the location of an installed game without actually having to uninstall & reinstall it.

I have a game called Oblivion on one hard drive which I purchased from www.direct2drive.com & I wish to move it to my secondary hard drive to free up space on the primary. I don't want to uninstall it though as I'll have to download it again in order to install it on the secondary hard drive.

I figured that if I was to just drag & drop the game folder into the secondary hard drive, when the time comes to uninstall the game it won't be able to find the location of it therefore an uninstallation will not be possible.

Also, the save games are saved in "My Documents" & if I wanted to play a saved game once I dragged & dropped the game folder, it wouldn't be able to find the save game.

Thanks for any help!


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## Indoril Nerevar (Jan 7, 2006)

*Re: How Do I Change The Installation Location Without Uninstalling A Game?*

Hi,

Unfortunately, moving the install folder of a game is one of those big "no-no's". _Technically_, if you knew where in the registry the game specified its directory, you could simply move the folder and change the registry entry. However, that is definitely not advised, as you can really mess things up.

When you downloaded the game, did it download an installation file or folder? (I haven't used Direct 2 Drive, so forgive my ignorance of how they work.) As far as I know, you should be able to reuse whatever you downloaded to install the game the first time - if you still have it. If you don't still have it, then I don't think there's any other way than downloading it again, or buying it from a store.

Unfortunately, you can't just move the game folder, as this causes various problems (depending on the game in question). Usually, they simply refuse to run. Sometimes you'll get away with it, and it'll work, but like editing the registry, it's not advised.

Basically, the big question is: do you still have the contents you downloaded from Direct 2 Drive?


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## Vanchatron (Jul 18, 2006)

*Re: How Do I Change The Installation Location Without Uninstalling A Game?*

Unfortunately no I don't but I contacted a staff member from Bethesda Softworks & they told me that Oblivion is one of very few games that is actually very versatile & can be moved to other locations without a problem.

He told me that Oblivion only has 1 registry entry that pinpoints it's location and whenever you move Oblivion the registry gets replaced with it's new location as soon as you run the exe.

Thanks for your help though!


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## Indoril Nerevar (Jan 7, 2006)

*Re: How Do I Change The Installation Location Without Uninstalling A Game?*

Interesting. Thanks for letting us know that. I always knew the guys at Bethesda were brilliant. :grin:


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