Trying to get DII to work off of a Flash Drive...

I didn't think this would be as hard as it has turned out to be, but apparently DII has some strange things going on when it saves or looks for saved games...I installed DII from the online digital download (uploaded from a CD-key, but I don't think that matters). I decided I wanted to be able to play DII from my flash key, so I could play it wherever I went.

DII works great after I copied the DII folder to the flash drive. On my desktop the characters load correctly, etc. When I put the flash drive in my netbook, everything loaded correctly...but there were no characters. I started one named testing, and then searched the netbook's hard drive for testing.d2s. That returned the following pathname.

CUsers\Kevin\AppData\Local\VirtualStore\Program Files\Diablo II\Save

Being a bit confused, I went back to my desktop, and renamed my save folder (on the hard drive) so DII wouldn't be able to find any saved games. Then the flash drive again couldn't find the save file on the flash drive, and wanted me to create a new character...even though my entire save file was in the correct place in the flash drive.

So I've established that...

1) the shortcut I'm running DII from (I have RWM installed, and want -w) works correctly when it's on my hard drive.

2) the game itself works well when run from a flash drive

3) for some reason, it's looking on the hard drive for saved games, not the flash drive (making having the game portable completely useless)

So possible solutions...

1) I'm just screwing up the shortcut? (image of the shortcut settings below)

2) I need to install from the digital download to the flash drive, so it "knows" it's installed on something besides C:/DiabloII ?

3) I have no clue and I need your help!

If anyone has got this working before, I'd really appreciate it if someone could put me out of my misery. Thanks!

|||It doesn't matter where you run the game from, it will always look to the registry to find where the saves are. The registry entry is created at install or the first time you run Diablo, so you could reinstall onto the flash on both PCs, luckily there's a much easier (or less time consuming) way to do it:

Press window-button+r, type regedit into the box, press OK and use it to navigate to the following entry:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Blizzard Entertainment\Diablo II\Save Path

Change it to point to the flash directory where your saves are stored (i.e. J:\Diablo II\save). The drive letter (D:\ or J:\ or whatever) that's assigned to the flash will probably be different on the PC and laptop so just be aware of that. Also, since the flash isn't permanently connected to a PC the drive letter might change (if you connect another flash before you connect this one, for example), which'll mean you'd have to go into the registry and change it again...

good luck ;)|||It's been a while since I've been using my usb stick for playing d2.

Yes, as Hubb said the problem lies in the registry. Also it got really annoying to keep changing the registry paths, since the usb drive letter usually changes in different machines. So what I did was: right click computer > manage > storage > disk management, right click your usb drive and choose change drive letter and paths. Do this once in each pc and you're set.|||This is an awesome idea. I'd do it myself, but I'd just end up with a shedload of duped items as I mule them off then forget I'd done it.

Also, I'd somehow foul up the backups, and overwrite the wrong char.|||Installing directly onto the flash drive does the trick. I've played D2 on 3 different comps (drive was given a different letter on each comp) and never had a problem with this. The install takes a tad bit longer but still is the easiest and problem-free way, I think.|||Great, I thought there must be a way of doing this. I'll just map the flash drive to M:/ so I don't have to worry about switching between the two.

Thanks much!

EDIT: I just remapped the flash key to M:/ and changed the registry, and it worked like a charm. Thanks, all!|||Quote:








This is an awesome idea. I'd do it myself, but I'd just end up with a shedload of duped items as I mule them off then forget I'd done it.

Also, I'd somehow foul up the backups, and overwrite the wrong char.




That's why you move your atma/gomule + its stashes to the usb stick. So this way you have everything you need in one place.

The only thing I keep seperate are the backups, which is safely stored on my main pc, so if I lose/break my flash drive I don't have to worry about losing my pixels.

Oh, and if you're using Trenshadow's version switcher, make sure to make an iso in your drive. Because without a cd or iso it wont work.|||Quote:








So what I did was: right click computer > manage > storage > disk management, right click your usb drive and choose change drive letter and paths. Do this once in each pc and you're set.




Just to be sure, if you assign the flash with a letter like M (or something else not likely to clash) does it actually keep it permanently? Didn't know that...|||Quote:








Just to be sure, if you assign the flash with a letter like M (or something else not likely to clash) does it actually keep it permanently? Didn't know that...




Yes. For me at least. |||Yep, I can verify that it keeps that particular named flash key on M:/

Also, I've had GoMule on my flash for a bit, so that works also.

As a third note, backups are essential.