Arma 2 Program Migration (vs installation)

[dlnorthc 10]

Installed a brand spanking new Hitachi Deskstar 500gb SATA hard drive today, replacing my old Hitachi Deskstar 80gb ide drive (I've been a Deskstar fanatic since IBM originally manufactured them). I had Arma 2 on the 80gb and decided to just move the Arma 2 files themselves over to the new drive rather than re-download the installation files (I bought the game through Direct2Drive on its US release date). At a whopping 8.5gb with my feeble downstream, it would've taken me a day and a half just to finish the download!

This process was not as easy as I first assumed, but through much trial and error I have successfully migrated an ArmA 2 1.0.3 installation from one Windows installation to another without the actual installation files!

Since I could not find a method for doing this on these forums, I decided to post this thread. There ARE reasons that legitimate owners of the game might need to migrate the installation rather than re-installing. I know this is a niche situation, but this is a niche guide for said situation. :)

Step 1: Move the ArmA 2 files wherever you'd like to on your new hard drive.

I personally re-connected my IDE drive through an external bay I had and simply copied them from their location at "C:\Program Files\Bohemia Interactive\ArmA 2\" to a new folder I designated for this install:

"C:\ArmA 2\"

When I tried to run the arma2 executable I received an error telling me I was missing a DirectX library it needed to run (an xaudio 1.6 dll). Since I knew this was a DirectX file, step 2 was easy to figure out.

Step 2 (Skip this step if you do not receive a missing dll error): Update and install the latest version of DirectX 10 (or 9 where applicable)

This should fix any "missing dll" errors you receive when trying to run the game. Many users will be able to skip this step if they have already installed the latest DirectX prior to the migration process.

My next error upon trying to run the game was "Bad serial key given in setup." I immediately knew that this was due to missing registry keys -- my new copy of Windows would have no idea what the CD key was supposed to be and ArmA 2 doesn't rebuild its own registry settings, so this was the biggest hangup for me.

Step 3: Import the neccessary registry settings from your old registy, or alternatively create new keys.

ArmA 2 uses literally TWO registry keys. That's it.

On 32 bit systems these keys will be located in [HKLM\Software\Bohemia Interactive Studio]

On 64 bit systems such as my own the same two keys will instead be found in [HKLM\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Bohemia Interactive Studio\ArmA 2]

Regardless of where the registry keys must be placed, the two neccessary keys for ArmA 2 to both run AND *PATCH* properly are as follows:

"MAIN"="C:\\ArmA 2" as a STRING value (C:\\Arma 2 might be different depending on where you placed the files)

"KEY"= YOUR_CD_KEY_CONVERTED_TO_HEXADECIMAL_FORMAT as a DWORD HEX value.

If you do not know how to convert your cd key to hexadecimal format you can find it in your old registry's SOFTWARE hive (located in WINDOWS\system32\config\SOFTWARE [no file extension]), which can be imported or edited using regedit.exe, or you can search google for one of many hexadecimal conversion tutorials.

If you DO know the hex value for your cd key and do not wish to bother importing your old registry hive you can write a simple registry script (examples follow).

--- BEGIN 32 BIT REGISTRY SCRIPT, COPY/PASTE AFTER THIS LINE ---

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Bohemia Interactive Studio\ArmA 2]

"MAIN"="C:\\ArmA 2"

"KEY"=hex:00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00

--- END 32 BIT SCRIPT, DO NOT COPY THIS LINE ---

--- BEGIN 64 BIT REGISTRY SCRIPT, COPY/PASTE AFTER THIS LINE ---

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Bohemia Interactive Studio\ArmA 2]

"MAIN"="C:\\ArmA 2"

"KEY"=hex:00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00,00

--- END 64 BIT SCRIPT, DO NOT COPY THIS LINE ---

Copy/paste your applicable script into notepad and save it to your desktop as "ArmA2.reg" (or whatever filename you'd like as long as it ends in .reg). Double click the file, and the settings will be imported.

Please note that you MUST replace the 00's with your true cd key in hex format, all 00's is not a valid ArmA 2 cd key. :) Please do not ask me for a working cd key, I will not provide you with one, I love this game and will not be a patron to the support of its piracy. Please do not ask me to convert your cd key to hexadecimal, you should NEVER EVER EVER send your cd key to anybody PERIOD. You never know when it might bite you in the ass, right?

That wraps it up. Full working ArmA 2 migration, playable and patchable in 3 easy steps.

Hope it helps! Let me know if you have any questions.

[mlenser 10]

This is the main reason I waited a bit longer and got the DVD version. Also here in Australia we have pretty small data limits per month on our internet accounts and 8.5gb would have exceeded the average Australians account and taken more than 2 days to download as well !!!

[USA Supporter 10]

Good day to All!

"KEY"= YOUR_CD_KEY_CONVERTED_TO_HEXADECIMAL_FORMAT as a DWORD HEX value.

Can You describe this algorithm? Or give some kind of references?

The reason - I have a LEGAL key, but I can't install my ArmA2 in regular way, so I must insert my cd-key in win registry manually... This make me crazy for about one week :eek:.

It would be great if You can help.

Edited January 4, 2010 by USA Supporter

[SqnLdr 10]

I'm having issues adding my registry key - I don't have access to the old registry - I only have a key. Simply converting it to hex isn't enough - what am I missing?

Thanks

[svo 10]

I got copies for me and my brother-in-law through steam. We both recently bought new computer HD's. I just reinstalled through steam, but with his machine we just followed some directions that I found through Steam and we had it going shortly after copying over files. We were both very pleased it worked because at the time we were not on a fast connection at his parents house.

[bullet purveyor 85]

Thats the great thing about Steam. You can move the steam folder to a diffrent partion or hardrive and it works like a charm. So for steam users it can be a good idea to backup your entire steam folder to a backup HD for easy access and installation after a system crash or reformat.

[dmos 10]

"KEY"= YOUR_CD_KEY_CONVERTED_TO_HEXADECIMAL_FORMAT as a DWORD HEX value.

Wrong :/ cd-key is encrypted. Text to hex conversion won't work. Seems like only the installation process can produce a valid "KEY" value. Manual entry won't work.