Windows 7: ArmA2 profile Location?

[Thirdup 0]

In XP there were two locations that you had to delete if you wanted to get rid of all the ArmA2 setting for a fresh install. One was in the ArmA2 folder C:\Documents and Settings\WindowsUserName\My Documents\ArmA2. The other was in C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\ArmA2\

(I think)

Anyway, something is messed up in my settings and I want to do a fresh install of ArmA2 on Win7 but when I delete the folder for my player name, I can re-start the game and it re-creates it. So there is obvioulsy a second location. But I can't seem to locate it.

I remember discussing the different locations between XP and Vista (and I assume Win7) with someone once, but I can't find the thread.

[W0lle 1050]

Should be in C:\users\<username>\documents\arma2

[Bobisback 10]

Keep in mind that when you install the game it creates a profile that is the name of hte user running hte game. so if your user name is hte smae name as your old profile it might be it. But if you have already thought of this then sorry i cannot think of anything else.

[Thirdup 0]

Keep in mind that when you install the game it creates a profile that is the name of hte user running hte game. so if your user name is hte smae name as your old profile it might be it. But if you have already thought of this then sorry i cannot think of anything else.

No, not the default profile (I'm talking about an additionally created "Player profile")

Should be in C:\users\<username>\documents\arma2

Yes, that's one location but there must be another (maybe a hidden applications data). I can delete the C:\users\<username>\documents\arma2\Thirdup folder and it's re-created when i restart the game. So there must be another location where the info is stored (just like it was in two locations in XP).

What's happening is I have some hosed joystick settings. Deleting the player profile doesn't seem to work (when I re-create it, it still contains all the hosed settings). I want to un-install ArmA2 and do a fresh install, but I have to find these files and remove them maunally or they will simple re-appear in the fresh install.

[W0lle 1050]

There is another place, yes.

c:\users\<username>\AppData\Local\ArmA 2

but afaik only the arm2.rpt is stored there, eventually the downloaded missions as well.

Can't really tell as I have everything in my ArmA2 installation folder

[Thirdup 0]

OK, thanks. I can't find this location on Win7. Does anyone know if it's a hidden file or just stashed somewhere else?

In any event, the profile data must be stored somewhere. When I delete the "C:\users\<username>\documents\arma2\Thirdup" folder and it's re-created when i restart the game.

Edited October 31, 2009 by Thirdup

[Deadfast 43]

Well, of course it is recreated.

The game cannot run with no profile. When it doesn't detect one present, it creates a new one with some default settings.

[Thirdup 0]

Well, of course it is recreated.

The game cannot run with no profile. When it doesn't detect one present, it creates a new one with some default settings.

Yes, that could be true for the default profile. But if I launch the game and create a new user profile for "JoeSmoe". Exit the game and delete the "C:\users\<username>\documents\arma2\JoeSmoe". Re-start the game and it re-creates "JoeSmoe" as a profile.

Again, I'm not talking about the Admin profile. I'm talking about created user profiles. I can't find where it's storing the settings for users (even after the user folders are completely deleted).

[oktane 0]

Yes, that could be true for the default profile. But if I launch the game and create a new user profile for "JoeSmoe". Exit the game and delete the "C:\users\<username>\documents\arma2\JoeSmoe". Re-start the game and it re-creates "JoeSmoe" as a profile.

Again, I'm not talking about the Admin profile. I'm talking about created user profiles. I can't find where it's storing the settings for users (even after the user folders are completely deleted).

I think you are confused because there is a 2nd element here, stored in the registry..

When you first start the game (on a virgin OS), a user profile named after your windows user name is created in Documents\Arma 2\ This could be 'Administrator' or whatever your user name is.

The game also sets a registy key that says "this is the user NAME that I want to use by default when starting the game". It is stored in HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Bohemia Interactive Studio\ArmA 2

Now you are in the game and you create a new profile called 'Captain Beefheart' This profile, since it isn't based on the windows user name goes into Documents\Arma 2 Other Profiles\ and the registry is also updated to point to 'Captain Beefheart' When the game starts up the next time, it will see the registry key and then look for that profile in Other Profiles.

Now if you delete the profile in either case, the game will still read the reg key and if that profile doesn't exist, it gets recreated with the default values. So even if you deleted the profile 'Captain Beefheart', you might be misled into thinking it was stored somewhere else the next time you started the game and saw that it was still there. (it wasn't, the game recreated it) If you look closely, the settings will all be at default though.

This 'last user/default user' registry key stays even after you uninstall the game. It doesn't hurt anything though, and you are indeed getting a 'reset' profile if you delete your existing one. Also, if you delete the reg key, the game will behave the same as it did the first time you ever installed it, it will use the windows username and make a profile based on that name.

Edited October 31, 2009 by oktane

[Thirdup 0]

OK, that makes sense. Thanks for the response.