Has anyone come up with an easy way to download the full installers for MyPlayCity games? Or at least to not have the installer automatically install the games so the folder can be selected? I like to install my games to the hard drive, leaving my SSD for the operating system. As it stands, I can quickly copy the downloaded installer from the temp folder while it is installing (the installer deletes it after installation), uninstall the game, then reinstall it using the full installer which allows one to choose the installation folder. After reading about SSD failures though after too many write cycles, I would definitely like to avoid needlessly writing to the SSD altogether and just install directly to the hard drive. Anyone?
MyPlayCity game installation
(6 posts) (3 voices)-
If you move fast enough (not always possible), you can MOVE rather than copy from that temp folder between the time it downloads and starts to use it. Then it never installs the first time! I usually start the cut and do the paste (to the desktop -- it's easier) when the timer gets to 2 seconds. It's fun to watch the error messages when it can't install it. :-)
If you can't move fast enough and the install is slow enough, you can use task manager to stop the install and then just delete the folder from the default location. I only use this if it's a big install and the download is just slow enough that the timer isn't accurate enough.
Note, there are up to 27 folders plus 1 file that are totally garbage with MPC games, including 7 or 8 .ico files for other games! I do have to make my own shortcut but I do this cleanup before I test a game. It used to be about 15 files/folders with about 5 MB and now it's up to 8 MB of garbage / game! That's unreal!
If you're comfortable with working with the registry, you can also just move the game to the appropriate folder and then use edit the uninstall registry entries to point to the new location. The last time I did that, I think there were 5 entries.
Posted 7 years ago # -
ChrisS
AdministratorI think you're recalling various SSD drives that had write issues due to firmware problems that have been resolved. You don't need to concern yourself with how much you're writing to the SSD. Based on the data access speed you should put all programs on the SSD and archival material on your mechanical drive, provided you have sufficient room on the SSD.
The below excerpt from this 2011 article, "Investigation: Is Your SSD More Reliable Than A Hard Drive?", gives more detail about why you don't need to worry about the write cycles:
You shouldn’t have to worry about the number of P/E cycles that your SSD can sustain. The previous generation of consumer-oriented SSDs used 3x nm MLC NAND generally rated for 5000 cycles. In other words, you could write to and then erase data 5000 times before the NAND cells started losing their ability to retain data. On an 80 GB drive, that translated into writing 114 TB before conceivably starting to experience the effects of write exhaustion. Considering that the average desktop user writes, at most, 10 GB a day, it would take about 31 years to completely wear the drive out. With 25 nm NAND, this figure drops down to 18 years. Of course, we're oversimplifying a complex calculation. Issues like write amplification, compression, and garbage collection can affect those estimates. But overall, there is no reason you should have to monitor write endurance like some sort of doomsday clock on your desktop.
Posted 7 years ago # -
QunMang
MemberThanks for the replies. My SSD is less than a year old so it sounds like it's easily up to date enough for that article, unless they've gotten worse in the meantime. I was concerned due to a discussion about them at the Mameworld forums:(SSD discussion). I was ready to move more off of the SSD...
I don't think I will change the location of my games though- maybe just the ones I play more perhaps. It still would be nice if I could find the download url in the MPC download stub, or if MPC would just ask us where we wanted to put the games. Even if I put everything on the SSD, I would still use a separate games folder rather than the program files folder.
Edit: I thought I would give the move suggestion a go, for kicks. Unfortunately it looks like you have to get it just right. Too early, get an error and by the time you click "try again" it is already too late because, if you are too late it won't even copy the file, just give the error again every time you click "try again". When choosing to copy at the start, it will work at any time during the installation.
Posted 7 years ago # -
You used to be able to tell MPC games where to put the install. When they started this stub business (and hiding the full install), they changed. I've lost count as to how many times they've changed that install. I still have some OLD install files (saved as zips) that insist on installing a toolbar. When I transition to a new machine, I run all those installs and THEN remove the blasted toolbar. It's easier than doing it after every install!
Yes, you do have to time it JUST RIGHT to get that move in time. With practice, I can get it at least 80% of the time unless it's a really short download (like 30 MB). If it's that short, then yes, it's difficult to grab a copy even during the install. If I miss the move, I cancel and copy to the desktop rather than move. Then, if I don't have enough time to stop the install using Task Manager, I just delete the install from the default location (not uninstall) and then install. It over-writes the registry entries so it's really not necessary to uninstall first.
If you miss the timing of that first move, you have to use copy. You can't move it while it's in use and it disappears when the install finishes.
Posted 7 years ago # -
ChrisS
AdministratorTake a read of this article about Steam Mover "Steam Mover Relocates Applications to Free Up Space on Your Primary Drive".
While it was created for Steam games, it will move most programs from one drive to another and it generally works fine. It creates a junction point causing the system to think that the program is still where it was originally installed so you don't need to make any registry edits.
There's a link to the program in the article if you're interested.
Posted 7 years ago #
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