Can i install games onto external HDD and just launch it from there if i don't have enough space in my HDD?

I always thought that the game has to be "Installed" onto the computer to launch it. Can i just install the game onto external HDD and then just play it from there?

 

You can in theory. But things could get a little hairy if you try to launch the game without the drive attached. And it depends on how your external is connected... it'll be limited to USB2 speeds, so about half or less the speed of a proper internal or eSATA drive.

 

I have done it before. It is not much of a fuss if the game is not constantly loading from the drive (say like Oblivion which loads every few minutes or so).

 

Absolutely...the majority of my games are installed on an external 750GB drive and all my Steam games run off the same external HDD...

Even with the games installed on the external HDD, you can only play them on the computer with the OS under which they were installed (eg, you can't install the game to an external HDD using your desktop and then use the external HDD to play that game on your laptop)...most (if not all) Windows games install keys to the Windows registry that are needed to play the game and typically the save game files are located under the documents folder for the user who installed the game...

I copy/extract the shortcut icons from the games on my external HDD so even when the HDD isn't plugged in, all the shortcuts still look purty...

And I've never had a problem with loading times where they have distracted me from the gameplay experience...but I grew up on a C64 with a 5 1/4 floppy so a loading delay of a few seconds wouldn't even be noticed by me...

 

Wait y can't i use it for my desktop and my laptop. They are both Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit.

 

You can use the external HDD to store files (including games) for both computers (you could even use it to store files from your iMac, your XP machine and your XBox 360), but if you want to use the external HDD to play the same games on both computers, then you will have to ensure your external HDD maps to the same letter (E:, F:, etc) on both computers and install the game to the same directory on the external HDD on both computers.

You can't install the game to the external HDD using your laptop, and then plug the external HDD into your desktop and expect the game to work. You have to let the installation routine make the registry edits on both computers.

 

yes you can play on laptop and desktop. i do that because i multi boot os's.
install the game on your laptop to the external hdd.
go to you desktop and reinistall it (maybe have to activate it again though).
do a search for the 'saved games' directory. maybe it will be on the external hdd then no problems. but some games like to use the users 'home/games' directory on your c: drive.
maybe theres an option to change it in the game.
otherwise, make a note where they are and remember to copy the latest one to the older.
also there should be a 'config' file with your keyboard/mouse setup etc so copy that also.
i am sure that a kind soul here will let you know the locations if you tell us which game you are playing.
i keep a spare copy of saved games from time to time anyway. just in case the hdd gets wiped or something.

 

I do this with many games, but only those with loading screens, and not open world games (GTAIV, Fallout3), and it works ok.

 

yes u can but u might get lagg issues with USB2.0.. if u get e-SATA or USB3.0 , should have no problems.