Transfer Impulse to a new Windows install?

[manic111]

I'm finally going to get round to installing my retail version of Win 7, and in doing so will be wiping my RC install. Is there any way to keep hold of all my games which I've downloaded through Impulse, or will I have to download them again? I know that with Steam you just copy across the Steamapps folder...is there anything similar with Impulse?

Cheers.

 

[iviv]

I posted this in the SupCom for £5 thread, so just a copypaste.

Games will automatically install to the same location as the retail version would install, so that's going to be whatever publisher's folder. Because of this, its harder to backup Impulse games onto new hard drives. Its not just a matter of copying over the Impulse directory, you have to find and copy all the folders manually. And then Install Impulse, hit the blue button in the corner, then Detect Application. Select games, find the game from the huge dropdown list, and then point Impulse to the directory. Then repeat this for every game + expansion you have. Its nowhere near as good as Steam, but thankfully I don't have to copy my impuse games around very often.

Its not as good as Steam's system at all, I guess its the price to pay for essentially getting retail versions of the games, rather than them being locked into Steam.

 

[Sleepery]

I'm pretty sure you can change the install directory somewhere in the settings, cos I remember it filled up my C drive the first time I tried to install supcom and I had to change it

 

[Seft]

Right click on the game -> Archive application

The archive will be saved to ProgramData\Stardock\Impulse\Backup\. When you reinstall,

Blue button -> Restore archive

 

[Briton]

Unless that is what you want, then it is a better system than Steam.

Copied this from the Stardock forum:

You can use the Archive/Restore feature in Impulse, to first archive games, and then Restore them at a later time.

Please follow this procedure to archive a game:

-Launch Impulse, you must have the game already installed for the Archive to be available.
-Once Impulse is loaded, right click on the game in the 'My Games' Tab and from the menu choose
'Archive Application'
-Once you've archived the game and all components you want, copy the archives (located by default in C:\ProgramData\Stardock\Impulse\backup for Vista or C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Stardock\Impulse\backup in XP) and the Impulse installer ( http://www.impulsedriven.com/impulse_setup.exe)to a portable media.

To restore at a later time
-Copy the saved impulse_setup.exe file onto the computer.
-Run the Impulse installer
-Copy the archived files into C:\ProgramData\Stardock\Impulse\backup for Vista or C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Stardock\Impulse\backup in XP
-Click the Blue Stardock logo in the upper left and click 'Restore archive" and select the archive(s) you wish to restore.

 

[chaparral]

Iviv

I just right right clicked on supreme commander in impulse and choose archive Application to back it up...

It seems to of put the game backup in the impulse backup folder

 

[chaparral]

Unless that is what you want, then it is a better system than Steam..

I fail to see how impulse is better then steam

 

[FlukeRogi]

Sorry, deleted - Wondered if you had to do the backup for all games individually, and reading the above again, it sounds like you do.

 

[manic111]

Cheers guys - thankfully I've only got one game on Impulse at the moment. Will back it up and see how it goes!

 

[iviv]

Iviv

I just right right clicked on supreme commander in impulse and choose archive Application to back it up...

It seems to of put the game backup in the impulse backup folder

Beware with this!

At a LAN I went to a while back, I backed up a couple of games using Impulse to distribute them around so we could all play. Installed Impulse on their PCs, tried to restore the archive, but apparently you could only restore an archive on the same OS as you created it with. As in, if you made it with Vista, you couldn't restore it onto XP. Now, this was at the beginning of summer, and I'm not sure if they've changed it since then, but as much as I like Impulse, its an awful flaw.

 

[chaparral]

Beware with this!

At a LAN I went to a while back, I backed up a couple of games using Impulse to distribute them around so we could all play. Installed Impulse on their PCs, tried to restore the archive, but apparently you could only restore an archive on the same OS as you created it with. As in, if you made it with Vista, you couldn't restore it onto XP. Now, this was at the beginning of summer, and I'm not sure if they've changed it since then, but as much as I like Impulse, its an awful flaw.

Thanks....

I just remembered now that you wrote something about this problem in the other thread...

 

[iviv]

Just found this posted by a Stardock support worker on their forum. Not exactly the ideal fix, and it involves deleting the game from your PC so you can redownload it anyway, but if there's time before you format your PC, you could probably download a couple of games each night, or something.

Actually, if you use the "Download and Archive" option in Impulse you can download an archive that can be installed on each machine. This archive is not OS specific like making an archive from a completed install and can be transferred from machine to machine via local storage like a flash drive, external hard drive, or CD/DVD.

 

[Sleepery]

I think they might have fixed this since, but in any case, if you choose 'download and archive' first time you download it, the restore works with any o/s.

The reason it didn't used to work if you just installed it first was that it was archiving the version of the game for whatever o/s it was installed on.

Edit - bah, beaten to it

 

[Fromez]

Beware with this!

At a LAN I went to a while back, I backed up a couple of games using Impulse to distribute them around so we could all play. Installed Impulse on their PCs, tried to restore the archive, but apparently you could only restore an archive on the same OS as you created it with. As in, if you made it with Vista, you couldn't restore it onto XP. Now, this was at the beginning of summer, and I'm not sure if they've changed it since then, but as much as I like Impulse, its an awful flaw.

This is where Impulse is terrible. I get the same problem, even after reinstalling Vista and trying to restore games onto the same OS. The archive feature should work in the way Steam works and allow you to install however you want. I dislike Steam, but the backup feature is one thing it has right.

 

[chaparral]

Just found this posted by a Stardock support worker on their forum. Not exactly the ideal fix, and it involves deleting the game from your PC so you can redownload it anyway, but if there's time before you format your PC, you could probably download a couple of games each night, or something.

But that sounds like you will need space for an installed version and archived version of each game

 

[Sleepery]

Not really, it just gives you the option of saving an install package to your hard drive if you want to. I quite like the idea.

Do you even have impulse installed Chaparral? You sound determined to hate it.

 

[chaparral]

Do you even have impulse installed Chaparral? You sound determined to hate it.

I don't hate it...

Just a little disappointed that it doesn't do the stuff that makes using steam so good..

 

[iviv]

But that sounds like you will need space for an installed version and archived version of each game

Yeah, that's the drawback.

As others have set, its not a very good way of doing things, the one big flaw with Impulse. I'm guessing its some form of anti-piracy attempt, but it would probably be much better if they could just link it to the Impulse account, rather than the OS version.