Several games installed on PC.... a bad thing?

[Daniel E.]

Got myself a new computer not too long ago and now I want to go back and try many games my old computer could not run. I already installed Neverwinter Nights, Divinity 2, Torchlight and with a bit of luck, my copy of Dragon Age: Origins UE will arrive tomorrow and also be installed.

And thus my question...

Is it ok to have several games installed all at the same time on your computer? I personally don't feel this bunch together could be a problem (first three games work just fine), but I wonder if one could reach a point were to many becomes to many.

If it helps, here are some stats from my comp:

Windows 7 Pro (service pack 1)
AMD Phenom(tm)II X4 955 Processor 3.20 GHz
RAM memory 8.00 GB
64 bits Operating system
Hard drive: 465 GB

[sa547]

Being someone who'd seen a dozen games or more (both stand-alone and MMOGs) installed in every computer at an internet cafe I once used to work at, there's no problem having many games (and applications) as long as the hard disk is subjected to regular periodic maintenance (i.e. scanning, cleaning and defragging).

[Irenicus]

That should never be a problem, except in a few extraordinary circumstances. Install away -- though I'd highly suggest installing games outside of the Program Files folder, because the Program Files (x86) folder is an administrative privilege nightmare. Games stop working, mods and patch can't install, etc., etc. when people install in that damnable folder.

What might become a problem is if your HDD's too full and starts to slow down (the at least 15% free space rule, though I prefer much higher). New games take lots of space; Dragon Age in particularly is like 20GB or something if you install everything.

P.S. Except for the HDD your specs are exactly like mine.

[MeoTwister5]

Yeh. If you're fond of un/re/installing games and programs, make sure to defrag and error scan every so often as leaving the HD fragmented will slow down your PC.

[Irenicus]

Well, unless he specifically turned it off Win7 will handle the defragment on its own, so he should be fine on that department.

Error scan once in a while isn't a bad idea though.

[Vexx]

I probably have over a hundred games on my win7 computer (including EQ2, Rift, asian MMOs, many Steam games including Torchlight, Dragon Age, etc).

No problems outside the occasional game that has inherent bugs on its own. Now what I DO that may be different is that I have two or more physical drives and I install all games on the 2nd/3rd disk (not on the system disk). That's just to keep the operating system disk as free as possible to handle only operating system duties. My music, my image files, my video files... all on secondary disks. Just a habit developed since winNT.

I also tend to keep MMOs off on their own partition - those games tend to have lots of thrash and patching and keeping them on a smaller partition makes defragging quicker. All my Steam games are on another disk.

None of this stuff is absolutely necessary. Its just my preference for reducing risks and making it easier to do backups and whatnot.
Daniel has a similar rig to mine as well (I love the 8GB, so much elbow room!) but I'm even more conservative than Irenicus - I try to keep 25% freespace on any disk.

Since win7 automatically schedules defragging and patching, just make sure its set to run when the computer might be on (e.g. silly to set it for 3am if you turn your computer off every night).

[Daniel E.]

Thanks for the quick replies everyone!

Originally Posted by MeoTwister5

Yeh. If you're fond of un/re/installing games and programs, make sure to defrag and error scan every so often as leaving the HD fragmented will slow down your PC.

As a console gamer at heart, I am not very fond of many of the hassles that come along with PC gaming, and un/re/installing games just happens to be one them.

In that sense, I ask because I want to leave them there until I finish playing them.

Originally Posted by Irenicus

That should never be a problem, except in a few extraordinary circumstances. Install away -- though I'd highly suggest installing games outside of the Program Files folder, because the Program Files (x86) folder is an administrative privilege nightmare. Games stop working, mods and patch can't install, etc., etc. when people install in that damnable folder.

I honestly never move the default settings regarding this, but after reading your comment I went and checked and both Torchlight and Divinity 2 are there. I do plan to use mods on Dragon Age so I'll take this to heart and install the game elsewhere.

Originally Posted by Irenicus

P.S. Except for the HDD your specs are exactly like mine.

I am in heaven right now (being able to play tons of new and old games), my old PC was so bad handling games, that I would even run into problems with staff like RPG Maker.

EDIT:

Originally Posted by Irenicus

Well, unless he specifically turned it off Win7 will handle the defragment on its own, so he should be fine on that department.

No, I haven't touched a thing, if windows 7 can take care of this on it's own then all the better.

Originally Posted by Vexx

You've got a similar rig to mine as well (I love the 8GB, so much elbow room!) I'm even more conservative than Irenicus - I try to keep 25% freespace on any disk.

I'll make an effort to stay around those limits.

[Dist]

Originally Posted by Irenicus

That should never be a problem, except in a few extraordinary circumstances. Install away -- though I'd highly suggest installing games outside of the Program Files folder, because the Program Files (x86) folder is an administrative privilege nightmare. Games stop working, mods and patch can't install, etc., etc. when people install in that damnable folder.

What might become a problem is if your HDD's too full and starts to slow down (the at least 15% free space rule, though I prefer much higher). New games take lots of space; Dragon Age in particularly is like 20GB or something if you install everything.

P.S. Except for the HDD your specs are exactly like mine.

What are you talking about? I've modded my Oblivion to extraordinary lengths as well as few other games (including Dragon Age) and I've never had any problems with x86. The folder is there precisely because you'd install your programs on it.

[Irenicus]

Originally Posted by Dist

What are you talking about? I've modded my Oblivion to extraordinary lengths as well as few other games (including Dragon Age) and I've never had any problems with x86. The folder is there precisely because you'd install your programs on it.

Newer games are better at this (obviously, because they're designed after Vista and Win7 are out and 64-bit OSes become more common), but trust me I've had my share of hair-pulling especially with the older games. They don't play very nicely with administrative privileges and x86 vs. x64 transition.

Dragon Age modding shouldn't be problem anyway because it does it through My Documents.

[Dist]

Then I don't see why you suggested to not install anything to x86. Daniel said he was going to play many games his old computer would not be able to play, implying that these games will be somewhat newer. Surely games that have been around since the release of Vista, I'm sure.

[Daniel E.]

Originally Posted by Dist

Then I don't see why you suggested to not install anything to x86. Daniel said he was going to play many games his old computer would not be able to play, implying that these games will be somewhat newer. Surely games that have been around since the release of Vista, I'm sure.

I actually meant both old and new games. Like Irenicus, I am also a fan of old games like Baldur's Gate, so his suggestion is something worth considering.

[creb]

Originally Posted by Daniel E.

I actually meant both old and new games. Like Irenicus, I am also a fan of old games like Baldur's Gate, so his suggestion is something worth considering.

I know the modding/gaming community (especially the modding) always harps on how evil Microsoft is and how bad they are and how horrible it is to put things in the Program Files folder, but as a long time PC gamer from the old dos shareware games days, I have never, ever, ever had a problem with games and their mods in the Program Files folder. This includes Baldur's Gate and all its spinoffs (Baldur's Gate Tutu). I've also probably tried every mod ever made for games like Baldur's Gate, etc, so this isn't just the experience of someone who simply "dabbled" into gaming and modding here.

Not that I'm trying to denigrate the many modders/people who keep imploring us not to use the Program Files folder, but I think whatever the issues are must be a lot more complicated than simply the Program Files folder restricts permissions. Unless these people, for some reason, are not using an Administrator account?

[Daniel E.]

Originally Posted by creb

Not that I'm trying to denigrate the many modders/people who keep imploring us not to use the Program Files folder, but I think whatever the issues are must be a lot more complicated than simply the Program Files folder restricts permissions. Unless these people, for some reason, are not using an Administrator account?

Something I'll need to test then. Besides the games listed above, I have yet to install most of the old stuff I have.

Thanks for the reply!

[blaze0041]

Does anyone know if games used to save their data alongside the program (i.e. save files in the same folder as the game itself)? That could be an issue if you install those older games in the Program Files folder (you would need to run them with admin rights). Said save files could also be affected by a System Restore.
(Not 100% sure)