Is it possible to run and update ESO on a non system drive?

BlackKnight556

So when I first bought ESO I went through the futile process of trying to install and run the game on any other drive than my system drive which is quite small. However, while the launcher would install the game itself never would. Eventually, I learned that you could install the game on the system drive and then copy the installation over to a non-system drive. However, the launcher would never actually download and install updates unless the game was installed on the system drive. So the best I could do was have the game installed on two different drives at the same time which kind of negated the entire point in the first place.

My question is, has anything changed? I haven't tried switching drives for a few years now. Can I actually successfully install the entire game on a non-system drive and have it successfully update and run as normal or am I forever bound to have this game running on my system drive?

SirAndy

I have my game on my G: drive with no problems but it's been there for many years so i can't comment on a new install.

It used to be that you could just copy the game folder to a new drive and start the launcher from within that new location (don't use any previous shortcuts to the launcher) and then use the repair option to make sure that launcher and game are OK to run on the new drive.

Just make sure any shortcuts you have point to the new launcher location on the new drive.

Danikat

It worked for me. I have the game installed on a second hard drive with nothing but games on there, and the process was exactly the same as installing it on the C: drive. It runs the same too, I can use the launcher to update it, everything.

Unless they did change how the game works at some point all I can think is it works because I deleted my original copy and downloaded it directly to that drive. Sometimes moving a program after it's installed can cause problems with files not linking up correctly.

The_Camper

Of course you can install and run the game in any drive you want. I have been, since 2016.

But make sure it's on a SSD for minimal times spent on loading screens. other than that, I see no real performance difference between installing it in SSD or HDD.

zaria

The_Camper wrote: »

Of course you can install and run the game in any drive you want. I have been, since 2016.

But make sure it's on a SSD for minimal times spent on loading screens. other than that, I see no real performance difference between installing it in SSD or HDD.

I moved ESO from an HDD to an M2 SSD and it don't help that much on loading screens for me.
Granted I have 48GB ram so lots of the game would be in cache memory.

redlink1979

I've installed ESO on a non sys HD. Only my addon folder is on sys HD. Launcher updates and runs normally. No issues so far.

JanTanhide

Yes, you can install it anywhere as long as you have the drive space. I have mine installed on a non system SSD for a few years now. Works perfectly.

Biscuit_290

Three days ago I installed the game on a physically different drive and it runs fine. Have not seen any updates since then, so don't know about that.

BlackKnight556

I'm just now trying to install ESO on a different drive and I'm getting the same thing I always got before. The launcher installed fine but then it opens the game's launcher window to download the rest of the game but it just sits there saying Loading... without any change. I wonder if I have to uninstall the game from my system drive first? I'm reluctant to uninstall the version installed to my system drive because if i can't get it to install aon any other drive then I have several hours to spend reinstalling the game to my old dydtem drive, again.

BlackKnight556

*system

BlackKnight556

It never would work so I just uninstalled the launcher from the other HD. The only problem is now I can't seem to uninstall ESO from my system drive. Whenever I try to run the Uninstall program I get a Launch Anywhere error that says 'Windows error 2 occurred while loading the Java VM. I restarted my computer after uninstalling the launcher from the other drive. Guess i have research to do. -_-

Firstmep

Yes you need to uninstalled from the system drive first, as the games registry entry still likely points to it.