reinstalling this game is hell

[Tumibumi]

Hi there. Long time lurker, long time player. Doubt few people that frequent the forums these days know me. I Quit last September only to feel the urge to play again, but I now can't help and laugh at myself for being one of those "I quit... oh hai i'm back now" people. Just curious if anyone playing these days has gone through a similar experience, being a player that started slightly after na ps2 launch I'd have to say this has always been my favorite game, nothing really has matched the fun I had. At any rate just wanted to see if anyone else has a story like mine and what discussion aside from the typical lolwhatever responses could arise.

Nice to be back,

tumibumi of bahamut

[Vyrr]

I quit back in mid-July but came back early November (right after my RL friend got our chars hacked). Of course I had to deal with a week or two of the restoration process, but it was worth it because I have something to occupy myself with.

For the record, game is a bitch to install, as stated in title.

[bungiefan]

Reinstalling isn't much of a problem when you keep a copy of the install folder on an external drive and update it every time you patch... All that needs to be done is a file check and a patch from when your version was saved. Any friends I have that start fresh, I give them my copy of the installed game, so they don't have to patch. None have had to do more than 2 hours of patching, and only that if I give them a version just as a patch is released.

[fishstix]

Yeah I did something similar to above, except I burned all the files to 2 DVDs. There's some registry trickery and .dll registration before it can work though. After that, a file check and update to the latest patch will get you set.

[bungiefan]

I still run the install off a disc to set up the registry data, in case they want the game in a location different from where I keep mine.

[shepardG]

Hey fishstix, do you have a link or some advice on those registery tricks and .dll mumbo jumbo? I'm gonna be home from afghan in a couple of weeks and I wanna back it up in a manner such as you've spoken about, or with an external hard drive etc. thanks!

[bungiefan]

Open regedit with your run command. Right-click the PlayOnlineUS entry that appears in the list (path is HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\PlayOnlineUS on XP) and choose Export. It will create a reg file for you. Save that somewhere where you can find it on the external drive. Now copy the entire install folder for the game, usually a folder called SquareEnix to the external drive. When you get to the other computer you want the game on, copy the SquareEnxi folder back where it belongs in Program Files, or whatever location you had it on the first computer. The open the reg file and it will ask if you want to import those registry keys. Now you can run the game (you won't have any shortcuts yet, so you may want to make them yourself) and it will only need to check the version of the files, and will skip the download and install steps of the update process.

[fishstix]

Yeah, like bungiefan said, from your previous computer, export the registry file from HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\PlayOnlineUS. I can send you my registry file if you don't have a system that you can export from if you want. Next, copy the files over to the same folder tree. Run the registry file you previously exported. The last thing you need to do that bungiefan didnt mention, is you need to run regsrv32 on the dll files to be able to play.

create a new text file named something like pol.bat (not pol.bat.txt, make sure the extension is .bat) and inside, have this code:

FOR /R %%G IN (*.dll) DO regsvr32 %%G

Stick this in your POL folder and run it, it'll scan the folder and subfolders for .dll files and register them. If you're using vista, it's a bit more difficult, but still possible to use this or a similar method. It's also possible to transfer files from an xp system to vista, but also yeah, requires more work and is probably more hassle than it's worth. If you don't register the dll files, I get an error saying something like POL isnt installed.

Also note that doing it this way can cause bugs. On my vista system, it won't allow me to sign on as a guest anymore. For some reason, logging on as a guest won't connect to POL.

[dannyl]

hey Tumibumi,
well, I quit the game 4 years ago. I left behind a lvl 45 White Mage and only took my subjob to lvl 19. I quit because I was "done" with MMORPG. I did not throw away my key codes or login's cause I had a feeling I was going to return. After 4 years, I somehow came across the Return to Val' campaign and thought it was a great opportunity to return. Thankfully my WHM is still live and kicking, and after a 4 year absence, i returned.
Sadly, I haven't found a linkshell for me. I'm online very limited hours and every linkshell I come across isn't very active when I get on, so I've been a loner since my return. I rolled a Bard and i've been kept busy trying to fund it cause he is expensive! Now that I got Mage's Ballad, I feel compelled to use my BRD till lvl 75
Anyway, its a great game and I'm with you on that. I've also been drawn to this game even though I know it is crack and meaningless in real life. Once FFXIII is released, I'll probably quit for good.

[Destrac]

I played since release and then quit for 3 years, but recently returned. One of the things I found beneficial was an old LS friend uploaded an image of the 2008 edition of FFXi which I could download. Its a much much smaller file than instaling from all the CD's again, and takes a fair amount less time to update.

[ringthree]

I quit back in mid-July but came back early November (right after my RL friend got our chars hacked). Of course I had to deal with a week or two of the restoration process, but it was worth it because I have something to occupy myself with.

For the record, game is a bitch to install, as stated in title.

Really? I installed it on my netbook and it easy as pie.

[Aikar]

Index of /patches

install 2008 dvd
download 200~ mb patch in like 5-10 minutes from windower.net
patch in 5 minutes or less
login, check files for 5-10 mins, dl those 5-10 files they updated after the 8th
win

[tonystigma]

I'm used to this game's awful patching. I'll just install all the cds/dvds and wait until I'm about to go to bed, then patch overnight.

[Kincard]

What would we do without you, Aikar. =P