Guide for Moving CoH or Installing Test

Hi, folks.

I've been seeing a lot of unecessary info/steps being given when folks ask about backing up and moving their CoH/V installation directory and/or installing the Test Server client.

Here's how I do it and I haven't had an issue yet.

Backing up/Moving CoH/V:

To backup CoH/V, burn the entire installation directory to a DVD or copy it to an external/separate drive.


Reinstalling CoH/V:

*Once you have installed CoH/V once, you will NEVER need the CD/DVD again.*

Copy the installation directory from your DVD/other drive to the location that you want it to go. I prefer using d:\games\coh

Stick it wherever you like, but keep note of where you copied it to.

Open said directory and make a COPY, not a shortcut, of the cohupdater.exe file to your desktop.

Run the copy. You will be prompted to reinstall CoH. Choose NO to the default installation path and browse to the location where you copied your CoH directory.

For example, if you used my path above, you would be changing from the default of c:\program files\city of heroes to d:\games\coh
*Be sure to highlight the main directory and NOT one of the subdirectories of your CoH directory. Example: coh should be highlighted and NOT coh\screenshots.*

The updater should take seconds to complete, leaving you at the coh/v startup screen where you click the Next button.

Close this screen. You will now see on your desktop Two coh icons. The copy of the cohupdater you created and a new coh shortcut. DELETE the cohupdater copy that you created.
*If you have a dual core or hyperthreaded processor, add the -renderthread to the shortcut's target line for the shortcut that the updater created. Example: My shortcut's target line looks like d:\games\coh\cohupdater.exe -renderthread 1
To get to the target line, right click the shortcut and choose properties, then click on the Shortcut tab.


Create a Test Server Install:

Make a copy of your coh install directory and rename it to cohtest. Example: In my games directory I have d:\games\coh and d:\games\cohtest

Make a COPY of the cohupdater.exe from cohtest to your desktop. Now make a shortcut of that copied cohupdater also on the desktop. Change the target line of THAT shortcut, adding the -test flag. Example: c:\documents and settings\<loginname>\desktop\cohupdater.exe -test

Run the shortcut. When prompted, as above, direct the installer to install the test server to your test server directory. Again: d:\games\cohtest and not a subdirectory of that directory.

Again, seconds later (unless there's a new version on the test server) you will find yourself at the coh screen with the Next button. Close this. Delete the COPY of the cohupdater and shortcut that YOU created.

Locate the new shortcut that the updater create, and edit its target line to add the -test flag. Example: d:\games\cohtest\cohupdater.exe -test

If you are on a dual core or hyperthreaded processor you can have multiple flags. Example: d:\games\cohtest\cohupdater.exe -test -renderthread 1


Questions you may be asking:

"Bill, why must I make a copy of the cohupdater to my desktop prior to running it?"

Because often times, the cohupdater attempts to update itself and cannot because it is in use. You will probably see an error about disk space and unable to write to the cohupdater.exe file.

"Bill, why, when creating my test server client, must I create a shortcut to the cohupdater I copied out of my cohtest directory?"

Because you can't add the necessary -test flag to the updater itself.

"Bill, what is the meaning of life?"

42
Possibly beer.
Probably 42 beers.

Moving CoH/V and creating Test Server Installation

Officially jumped to Nvidia. 8800GTS-G92-512 installed.