Installing ESO PTS to a separate HDD

Paske · January 2015

So my main ESO is installed to an SSD

I would like to install PTS to a HDD considering how large the game is.
But launcher does not support this option.

Any sugestions for a workaround ? Since ZOS still can not make this a simple procedure.

Savitar · January 2015

Ok, so here's a really intense and hacky workaround that would make this work.

I'll be using bone stock directory locations, so if your's are different, use them.

If you've already installed the PTS, you'll need to move the C:\Program Files(x86)\Zenimax Online\The Elder Scrolls Online PTS folder somewhere else.. your desktop would be a nice place for it for the time being.

You would need to shrink your current hdd's free space into a separate partitioned drive using MS's built in Disk Manager.
I would imagine that a 50Gb creation would be plenty large enough for the PTS based on what PTS is installed on my drive. (38Gb)
Disk Manager by default will want to shrink your drive by all the available free space you have, we don't want that.. So to make a 50gb drive and since Disk Manager does everything in MB we want this:
1024*50 = 51200

Here come's the trick.

After you create the new drive out of your unused free space, windows will ask you if you want to give it a drive letter or a few other options.
The one we want is to Mount in the following empty NTFS folder
Mount the drive here:
C:\Program Files(x86)\Zenimax Online\The Elder Scrolls Online PTS
(now you know why we moved it before

)
Copy all the files from inside the PTS folder we moved previously into this new directory/drive we just created and you'll be done.

Voila!! You've now got PTS on the HDD and ESO on the SSD.

PunXt3rr0r · January 2015

Can't you simply move the PTS directory to your HDD and launch it from there, not from the launcher?

Gyudan · January 2015

You could install both the PTS and Live on your HDD easily. Copy your current Live version to the HDD, launch the client from there and dowload the PTS through the launcher on the HDD.
Then delete the Live folder when you're done.

Savitar · January 2015

Yes @PunXt3rr0r you could do that... but then you'd be playing the copy paste back and forth dance everytime there was an update.. sometimes on the PTS that can get really tedious. I think my solution is the most elegant, because it retains the update feature to the PTS and launches it from the launcher as intended.

PunXt3rr0r · January 2015

Yes, that's right but why not use the installer and install the PTS only?

Vicodine · January 2015

That's fairly easy. No separate install. Just copy the "Launcher" folder from you SSD to your HDD (Make a folder for it , call it whatever you wish, like Zenimax, ESO PST etc, then copy the "Laucnher" folder to it). Start the launcher on your HDD (Bethesda.net_Launcher.exe) and install PTS. It will install to the same parent directory the "Launcher" folder is in.

I have the same setup and that's how I did it.

sand_man · January 2015

install Link Shell Extension and just create an junction from the HDD to the SSD. From windows point of view it would be like PTS is located on ur SSD.

danno8 · January 2015

Easiest way (I have done this) is just to download the installer from your account page, point it to install on the HDD of your choice (this does NOT install the game...yet).

Now when you start the launcher, you will have the "Install" button. DO NOT click it. Instead use the menu to allow you to show the PTS. Highlight the PTS. Install just the PTS.

Now you will have one client for live (on your SSD) and one client for PTS (on your HDD), with no extra live files or PTS files where you don't want them.

(BTW I did get to a symbolic link to work after installing the PTS but the launcher has issues patching the PTS files from the symbolic link. Quite frankly it provided virtually no extra functionality, other than using only one launcher.)

edit : Like Vicodine said above, same thing but just copying the launcher folder instead of downloading it.

danno8 · January 2015

Savitar wrote: »

I would imagine that a 50Gb creation would be plenty large enough for the PTS based on what PTS is installed on my drive. (38Gb)

You want to go bigger than 50. I have 56 GB left on my SSD and the PTS installer will tell me it is not enough room, since it needs to use the same drive for downloading, expanding and patching. Some patches have been as big as nearly 30 gigs.

65 GB at least or you might find you are one day not able to patch.

AntonTakk · January 2015

Recent versions of windows will allow you to "mount" a disk partition in a directory on the file system. this is done from the disk manager. to the ESO launcher, it will look like everything is there together, even thou the directories for the live and test servers will be on different physical drives

Leeric · January 2015

Vicodine wrote: »

That's fairly easy. No separate install. Just copy the "Launcher" folder from you SSD to your HDD (Make a folder for it , call it whatever you wish, like Zenimax, ESO PST etc, then copy the "Laucnher" folder to it). Start the launcher on your HDD (Bethesda.net_Launcher.exe) and install PTS. It will install to the same parent directory the "Launcher" folder is in.

I have the same setup and that's how I did it.

Thank Talos...

Vicodine · January 2015

BTW if someone is thinking of buying an SSD now it would be better to wait for Q2 or Q3, the price of a 256GB SSD shall drop below 70USD by then, and 128GB below 40USD because of a new manufacturing technology.

Just sayin'.