Transfer.

lathbury · 17th March 2014, 09:46

Hello, I want to backup two games from my pc to a memory stick, when I tried it and tried to test the memory stick to see if it had worked the message was "Unable to open files", where am I going wrong please?. I am using Windows 7, I am a complete novice at this transfer/storage lark so any help is much appreciated. John.

bigbaldbloke · 17th March 2014, 10:53

It depends on the file format of the back-ups John. Windows looks to the file extension (the three or four characters after the full stop) to decide what programme to open it with, so .txt is a text file to be opened with MS Notepad, Word; .html is a webpage that gets opened by your browswer, etc.

I'd guess that your game backups can only be opened by the game itself, but if Windows doesn't associate their extension to the game it won't know what software to use to open them.

The "best" way to try them out is to re-name the actual game files to something else, then copy your back-ups to the game's folder on your hard drive. If the game loads fine, the back-up's all good.

Kev

lathbury · 17th March 2014, 22:48

Hi Kev, Many thanks for the quick reply, unfortunately I don't know enough about computers to change anything. I thought backing programmes was meant to be easy, a problem with getting old I suppose

. I will try again to find which programmmes I have. Thanks again, John.

bigbaldbloke · 18th March 2014, 04:53

What game is it John?

lathbury · 18th March 2014, 10:12

Hi Kev, The games are "Pinball Arcade and Pinball FX2" from Steam. John.

bigbaldbloke · 18th March 2014, 16:29

And how did you back them up John, using the Steam backup utility or manually copying the files?

lathbury · 18th March 2014, 21:09

Kev, I was told to use a memory stick, when I tried to use Steam file backup it got to ninety percent and stopped and said a backup file already existed, I know nothing about this file. John.

tareim · 18th March 2014, 21:22

if they are on steam they can be downloaded again

lathbury · 18th March 2014, 21:32

The problem was in late December my old pc packed up, it used Vista, and my new pc , using Windows 7 couldn't find the games so I had to buy them again. Since then about twenty new games have been bought and I am worried about losing everything again if my new pc has the hiccups. John.

Alan_G · 18th March 2014, 21:39

You should still be able to access you game library through your steam account. You shouldnt have to buy them again unless you have created a new steam account. I know as I play a lot oft games on my desktop, laptop and the desktop at my mum and dads house. Perhaps you should contact steam support and they can look into it for you?

17th March 2014, 09:46	#1
lathbury Posted a thing or two 75 Conn S.E. Cdt. Join Date: May 2007 Location: Merseyside Posts: 1,803 Thanks: 1,873 Thanked 52 Times in 49 Posts	Transfer. Hello, I want to backup two games from my pc to a memory stick, when I tried it and tried to test the memory stick to see if it had worked the message was "Unable to open files", where am I going wrong please?. I am using Windows 7, I am a complete novice at this transfer/storage lark so any help is much appreciated. John.

17th March 2014, 22:48	#3
lathbury Posted a thing or two 75 Conn S.E. Cdt. Join Date: May 2007 Location: Merseyside Posts: 1,803 Thanks: 1,873 Thanked 52 Times in 49 Posts	Hi Kev, Many thanks for the quick reply, unfortunately I don't know enough about computers to change anything. I thought backing programmes was meant to be easy, a problem with getting old I suppose. I will try again to find which programmmes I have. Thanks again, John.

18th March 2014, 21:22	#8
tareim I really should get out more....... MG ZT+ 160 v6 Join Date: Jun 2013 Location: Bridgwater Posts: 2,272 Thanks: 73 Thanked 233 Times in 210 Posts	if they are on steam they can be downloaded again __________________ https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-x...h96-no/Sig.png My Project Thread

18th March 2014, 21:39	#10
Alan_G Posted a thing or two MG3 Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Falkirk Posts: 1,507 Thanks: 242 Thanked 153 Times in 123 Posts	You should still be able to access you game library through your steam account. You shouldnt have to buy them again unless you have created a new steam account. I know as I play a lot oft games on my desktop, laptop and the desktop at my mum and dads house. Perhaps you should contact steam support and they can look into it for you? __________________ http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s...5signature.jpg

17th March 2014, 10:53	#2
bigbaldbloke Gets stuck in Rover 75 CDT Connie SE Auto Join Date: Feb 2014 Location: Welwyn Garden City Posts: 531 Thanks: 118 Thanked 81 Times in 78 Posts	It depends on the file format of the back-ups John. Windows looks to the file extension (the three or four characters after the full stop) to decide what programme to open it with, so .txt is a text file to be opened with MS Notepad, Word; .html is a webpage that gets opened by your browswer, etc. I'd guess that your game backups can only be opened by the game itself, but if Windows doesn't associate their extension to the game it won't know what software to use to open them. The "best" way to try them out is to re-name the actual game files to something else, then copy your back-ups to the game's folder on your hard drive. If the game loads fine, the back-up's all good. Kev

18th March 2014, 04:53	#4
bigbaldbloke Gets stuck in Rover 75 CDT Connie SE Auto Join Date: Feb 2014 Location: Welwyn Garden City Posts: 531 Thanks: 118 Thanked 81 Times in 78 Posts	What game is it John?

18th March 2014, 10:12	#5
lathbury Posted a thing or two 75 Conn S.E. Cdt. Join Date: May 2007 Location: Merseyside Posts: 1,803 Thanks: 1,873 Thanked 52 Times in 49 Posts	Hi Kev, The games are "Pinball Arcade and Pinball FX2" from Steam. John.

18th March 2014, 16:29	#6
bigbaldbloke Gets stuck in Rover 75 CDT Connie SE Auto Join Date: Feb 2014 Location: Welwyn Garden City Posts: 531 Thanks: 118 Thanked 81 Times in 78 Posts	And how did you back them up John, using the Steam backup utility or manually copying the files?

18th March 2014, 21:09	#7
lathbury Posted a thing or two 75 Conn S.E. Cdt. Join Date: May 2007 Location: Merseyside Posts: 1,803 Thanks: 1,873 Thanked 52 Times in 49 Posts	Kev, I was told to use a memory stick, when I tried to use Steam file backup it got to ninety percent and stopped and said a backup file already existed, I know nothing about this file. John.

18th March 2014, 21:32	#9
lathbury Posted a thing or two 75 Conn S.E. Cdt. Join Date: May 2007 Location: Merseyside Posts: 1,803 Thanks: 1,873 Thanked 52 Times in 49 Posts	The problem was in late December my old pc packed up, it used Vista, and my new pc , using Windows 7 couldn't find the games so I had to buy them again. Since then about twenty new games have been bought and I am worried about losing everything again if my new pc has the hiccups. John.