Mamba
03-01-2009, 01:35 PM
I cooked this up for our clan...figured I'd post this as others might be in a similar boat. It has been tested with COD:WW by myself and one other clan member.
In a nutshell, since COD:WW now stores all it's dynamic data (including map files) on the C: drive this could cause a space crunch as we keep get'n new maps. The below procedure is a rather elegant way to redirect the "usermaps" folder and contents to keep this from becoming a problem. This assumes that you do have another drive or partition; if you ONLY have a C: drive and it's full, well time to clean and/or upgrade. ;-p
I got to think'n and realized what we need is a symlink (symbolic link). These are a *nix standard file-system function, sorta like Windows shortcuts but on steroids. It's a little known fact that Windows has supported these (called junction or reparse points) since NTFS 5 debuted in Windows 2000. They are heavily used by Windows Home Server but that's another story.
So I looked around for an easy way to create symlinks, tested it, and wrote up a procedure. In testing, the symlink'd folder space does NOT count against your total space. I tested this using a folder on a small partition that had only 390MB free. I copied several movies to that folder, the total of which was about 1GB. Disk space still showed 390MB free....which it should, as the files actually landed on another partition via the symlink.
As long as the drives being used in this exercise are NTFS, this should work no problemo with XP. I don't recommend USB (slower and not static like internals) but it does work. Vista MAY work but the Vista JLM program is beta and I've not done any Vista testing.
The usual disclaimers apply: Use at your own risk. I am in no way responsible for any data loss that might result. Void where prohibited. Some assembly required. Batteries not included. Contents may settle during shipment. Use only as directed. No other warranty expressed or implied. Do not use while operating a motor vehicle or heavy equipment. Apply only to affected area. May be too intense for some viewers. For recreational use only. And so on...
;-)
-------------------------------------
1) Download/install "Junction Link Magic" (http://www.rekenwonder.com/linkmagic.htm)
2) Verify that you can see Hidden files and folders (Explorer->Tools->Folder Options->View)
3) OPTIONAL - Make a backup of your COD:WW game profile structure by copying it to another drive or location:
default path is C:\Documents and Settings\YourAcctName\Local Settings\Application Data\Activison
...so copy the whole Activision structure to someplace safe
4) Navigate down the above default path to the "usermaps" folder
5) Copy the "usermaps" folder and all it's contents to a drive or partition other than C:,
for example your D: drive if you have one...we'll assume it's D: for now
6) Delete the contents of the "usermaps" folder within the default path:
C:\Documents and Settings\YourAcctName\Local Settings\Application Data\Activison\CoDWaW\usermaps
Do NOT delete the "usermaps" folder itself, just all the map folders and files there-in
7) You now have an empty "usermaps" folder on C: and a full "usermaps" folder on D:
8) Run "Junction Link Magic" (JLM)
9) Within JLM, wait until it's Search is done (or hit Cancel).
Caution: Do NOT Edit or Remove any Junction points that might be found by the Search!!
10) Within JLM choose "Create"
11) In the "Junction point (host folder)" side, navigate to your default (now empty) "usermaps" folder:
C:\Documents and Settings\YourAcctName\Local Settings\Application Data\Activison\CoDWaW\usermaps
12) Click on "usermaps" and the red NTFS 5 symbol should toggle into a green checkmark,
as should the red Empty symbol, since "usermaps" SHOULD be empty, right?
13) In the "Destination (target folder)" side, navigate to the full "usermaps" folder on D:
14) Click on that folder and then "Create"
15) In the "Confirmation" dialog click "Yes"
16) You should now see your symlink in the list, so click "Close"
17) Done!
NOTES:
Do NOT directly delete/rename/etc files in the D:\usermaps folder. Do so via the symlink host folder in the default path on C: (C:\Documents and Settings\YourAcctName\Local Settings\Application Data\Activison\CoDWaW\usermaps)
If your D: drive or partition blows up or fills up down the road, this would impact the functionality of course.
Cheers, M
In a nutshell, since COD:WW now stores all it's dynamic data (including map files) on the C: drive this could cause a space crunch as we keep get'n new maps. The below procedure is a rather elegant way to redirect the "usermaps" folder and contents to keep this from becoming a problem. This assumes that you do have another drive or partition; if you ONLY have a C: drive and it's full, well time to clean and/or upgrade. ;-p
I got to think'n and realized what we need is a symlink (symbolic link). These are a *nix standard file-system function, sorta like Windows shortcuts but on steroids. It's a little known fact that Windows has supported these (called junction or reparse points) since NTFS 5 debuted in Windows 2000. They are heavily used by Windows Home Server but that's another story.
So I looked around for an easy way to create symlinks, tested it, and wrote up a procedure. In testing, the symlink'd folder space does NOT count against your total space. I tested this using a folder on a small partition that had only 390MB free. I copied several movies to that folder, the total of which was about 1GB. Disk space still showed 390MB free....which it should, as the files actually landed on another partition via the symlink.
As long as the drives being used in this exercise are NTFS, this should work no problemo with XP. I don't recommend USB (slower and not static like internals) but it does work. Vista MAY work but the Vista JLM program is beta and I've not done any Vista testing.
The usual disclaimers apply: Use at your own risk. I am in no way responsible for any data loss that might result. Void where prohibited. Some assembly required. Batteries not included. Contents may settle during shipment. Use only as directed. No other warranty expressed or implied. Do not use while operating a motor vehicle or heavy equipment. Apply only to affected area. May be too intense for some viewers. For recreational use only. And so on...
;-)
-------------------------------------
1) Download/install "Junction Link Magic" (http://www.rekenwonder.com/linkmagic.htm)
2) Verify that you can see Hidden files and folders (Explorer->Tools->Folder Options->View)
3) OPTIONAL - Make a backup of your COD:WW game profile structure by copying it to another drive or location:
default path is C:\Documents and Settings\YourAcctName\Local Settings\Application Data\Activison
...so copy the whole Activision structure to someplace safe
4) Navigate down the above default path to the "usermaps" folder
5) Copy the "usermaps" folder and all it's contents to a drive or partition other than C:,
for example your D: drive if you have one...we'll assume it's D: for now
6) Delete the contents of the "usermaps" folder within the default path:
C:\Documents and Settings\YourAcctName\Local Settings\Application Data\Activison\CoDWaW\usermaps
Do NOT delete the "usermaps" folder itself, just all the map folders and files there-in
7) You now have an empty "usermaps" folder on C: and a full "usermaps" folder on D:
8) Run "Junction Link Magic" (JLM)
9) Within JLM, wait until it's Search is done (or hit Cancel).
Caution: Do NOT Edit or Remove any Junction points that might be found by the Search!!
10) Within JLM choose "Create"
11) In the "Junction point (host folder)" side, navigate to your default (now empty) "usermaps" folder:
C:\Documents and Settings\YourAcctName\Local Settings\Application Data\Activison\CoDWaW\usermaps
12) Click on "usermaps" and the red NTFS 5 symbol should toggle into a green checkmark,
as should the red Empty symbol, since "usermaps" SHOULD be empty, right?
13) In the "Destination (target folder)" side, navigate to the full "usermaps" folder on D:
14) Click on that folder and then "Create"
15) In the "Confirmation" dialog click "Yes"
16) You should now see your symlink in the list, so click "Close"
17) Done!
NOTES:
Do NOT directly delete/rename/etc files in the D:\usermaps folder. Do so via the symlink host folder in the default path on C: (C:\Documents and Settings\YourAcctName\Local Settings\Application Data\Activison\CoDWaW\usermaps)
If your D: drive or partition blows up or fills up down the road, this would impact the functionality of course.
Cheers, M