[kckrug1994]

Can you install a program to run on an external hard drive? Such as WOW as long as the drive is hooked up to the PC.

[AuroraDizon]

Someone asked the question a few weeks ago and they put the wow folder onto the external drive and it worked. I have read cases where it doesn't, however the person tried it here said it worked. Try moving your instillation folder to your external drive (the wow folder) and see if it starts from there.

[Tunz]

Generally speaking, there is no reason that you cannot do that (by choosing a custom install at setup): just don't expect it to run when you plug the drive into a different computer, because all your settings and pointers will be in the registry on the system drive. Also, unless it is an eSATA drive, it will run noticeably slower from that location.

[LincolnSpector]

I'd imagine that it would work in most cases, but it would be problematic. Obviously the app wouldn't be there if you boot without that drive, but depending on the app, its absense could give you grief even if you don't load it. Also, USB is slower than EISA and SATA, so it will slow that app's performance--possibly considerably.

I'm not really familar with World of Warcraft (which I assume is what you mean by WOW), so I don't know how it would behave.

May I ask why you want to install it on an external hard drive? If it's so you can run it on more than one computer, that won't work unless it's a portable program intended for that purpose. You can easily put a portable program on an external drive, but strictly speaking, you don't actually install them.

If you're running out of hard drive space, consider buying a new internal hard drive. They're cheaper than the external ones, anyway.



Lincoln

[smax013]

kckrug1994 said:

Can you install a program to run on an external hard drive? Such as WOW as long as the drive is hooked up to the PC.

It largely depends on the program. Most Windoze programs will run from any where you install them...assuming you install them there using the install program (you might have to use the Custom install option). Some will NOT run any where but from the C: drive (and they usually will not give you an option to install elsewhere). Some HAVE to be install at the root level of the C: drive (rather than in the Program Files directory).



Moving programs that have been installed in one location to another location is a completely different matter. While a program might run just fine if installed initially to an external drive, if you MOVE the program directory from where it was installed on the C: drive to another drive, then many programs will NOT work. Typically such programs have stuff in the Registry that points to that location on the C: drive and thus moving the program directory to another location (this could even be another location on the C: drive) will screw things up. Thus, if you want to install a program on an external drive, install it from scratch using the install disks/file.