Member Avatar for Gdircks64

ok, i have a laptop and i wanted to run a game off of my external hard drive. I know it is possible but i was wondering what the best way to go about it is. My computer has USB 2.0 and an HDMI slots. I know you can run it off of a USB 2.0 but i guess that it will be slow, thats what ive read at lease. I dont think that a converter to firewire will work either because it is still going through the USB port which wont increase speed, at least that is what i think i dont know if it is actually true or not. But can you run it off of a HDMI slot, and if so will it be any faster? Also if i were to buy a firewire card would it use its full capibilities or will it still be slow because i dont want to but a card but it not be fast enough.

thanks
gaston

  • 3 Contributors
  • 2 Replies
  • 116 Views
  • 2 Days Discussion Span
  • Latest Post Latest Post by loki_

Dani AI

Generated

Short practical guide that builds on ’s question and the replies from and . Running games from an external drive is possible, but to avoid long load times, crashes, or DRM problems you need to match the right hardware, filesystem setup and installation method. The steps below show reliable options, how to move installs safely, and what to test.

Pick the right interface and drive. Modern external SSDs or a true host-level interface (eSATA / USB 3.x / Thunderbolt) give much better random I/O and lower latency than older consumer ports; those metrics matter more for game loading and texture streaming than raw sequential throughput (USB 3.0, eSATA/external SATA, disk performance basics for why random I/O matters: HDD performance). If the laptop lacks fast ports, an ExpressCard adapter (where supported) can add a faster host connection (ExpressCard).

If an installer refuses to put files on the external drive, move the finished game folder and leave a junction at the original path. On Windows use a directory junction so the game and any registry keys still point to the correct location. Example:

mklink /J "C:\Program Files\GameName" "E:\Games\GameName"

(Windows mklink docs: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/administration/windows-commands/mklink). Keep critical files that expect local drives (some DRM, save locations or system services) on the internal drive when needed.

Test and protect the install. Benchmark the external drive (example tool: CrystalDiskMark) and run the game to check load times and texture streaming. Never unplug while the game or launcher is running; enable safe ejection/write-caching policies only if you always use “Safely Remove.” Watch for DRM that requires a physical disc or system services—those can break on removable media.

Recommended Answers

All 2 Replies

Member Avatar for hughv

Why do you want to do this?
Some games should be fine, but others will be slow.

Member Avatar for loki_

i dont think that you can do this from HDMI as this is a media format, as for the usb 2.0 it should be fine seeing as you should get about 20mb/s atleast from a external drive. i guest it the only way for you to know if it will work is to actually try it! but i can rally c why it wont work.

Be a part of the DaniWeb community

We're a friendly, industry-focused community of developers, IT pros, digital marketers, and technology enthusiasts meeting, networking, learning, and sharing knowledge.