Can you run a game from an external hard drive

Some of these factors may include:. For a clear video on how to move games onto another computer or external hard drive, check out this helpful video from TroubleChute:. These cables come in a 3-pack and are 18 inches in length approximately 46 cm. Using an external SSD is a great option for running games , as this storage device offers many advantages to gamers and non-gamers alike. A little bit of research may be required before purchasing an SSD to determine if your gaming needs are met.

However, there are many makes and models available at a variety of price points. By all accounts, running games on an SSD is a great option and offers many benefits. Setup a Stateful Firewall with Iptables Iptables is an open source application that is used for network packet filtering and can be configured to act as a stateful firewall.

By default, iptables AWS bastion hosts provide secure remote access to Skip to content. Active Oldest Votes. Now there are three important cons of this approach. You need administrator rights. Virtual Machine programs require to install drivers and others, there's no way around this, however, in the case of Portable Virtual box, those drivers are uninstalled when you are done with the virtual machine, that is if you properly exit virtual box, before disconnecting the external device.

As virtual machines are fully virtual, the graphing capabilities are limited, and so you cannot run high demanding games. Improve this answer. Zerjack Zerjack 2, 14 14 silver badges 29 29 bronze badges.

You might want to note, in your paragraph about splitting the network connection, that: a some networks are configured with static IPs such that this will not work, b some work policies forbid foreign equipment on their networks and some are Serious Bisnis about it enough that it can be grounds for immediate termination of employment.

Advising them to clear it with IT would be responsible. As stated above my shift is more about having a presence in the office. Rarely anything ever happens. I also am a full time student and run a small business during the same 12 hour shift.

There is a very strange internet setup in the office. Somehow it runs internet to the computers through the phones with the router on the other end of the phones. I've messed with it countless times and tried sourcing internet from the router directly and it just doesn't work. Oh no, don't take it the wrong way, I wasn't judging. Now about the network, yeah it looks like a strange setup. Show 1 more comment. This would depend on the game, but the answer would usually be no.

This is a fairly accurate answer. There are a couple potential work arounds for this. You could create an export of your registry keys and import them when you want to run the game. Another alternative is to RemoteDesktop into your home computer and run it that way if you can deal with some lag. Ouch yea not so sure about the lag. Guess maybe i'll just have to stick to browser based or up my data plan.

Add a comment. Answering your question, based on its previous edits: If I install a game on an external hard drive, can I run it on a computer without leaving a footprint, and without internet access? My answer one of the many correct ones : If you're using Steam, then Steam itself is a very portable application. The reasons for it being that: Client credentials, settings, content, etc. All components of Steam do not need to be installed as it runs straight from the contents of the folder itself.

Once you have your credentials loaded, you can play offline without an internet connection. Provided you installed the games while online The gist of installing games and playing it that way is very simple: Install Steam to your Hard Drive and give it its own folder. You do not need to define another SteamLibrary folder Login for the first time on a computer with an internet connection.

If not, I'll walk you through how to do so Don't forget to copy any save files that the game may create varies from game to game. Run from Steam Don't forget to close Steam and the game before you unplug. Select your game you want to play from your library. Wait for the download to complete. Press 'Play'. Instead, once your download is complete do: Note: This step requires some technical knowledge, in particular, the way installers are packaged. Go to the folder that the game is saved into.

Delete any installscript. Using any archive program such as 7-Zip, open your installer's cabinet files. DLLs that the game uses. Instead of installing them to your system32 folder which most installers default to doing, and cannot be changed , Copy the.

In this window, you should see a list of your Steam games. Find the game that you want to move and click on it. Click that button and select the folder of your choice listed above you can still create a new folder here if you want to. Once you do that, Steam will handle the rest. There is an important note here. The methods for moving a game depend on how the game launches, but in the vast majority of cases, you cannot simply drag a game folder from one hard drive to the other.

While that will move most of the game information, it will not build pathways that the launcher needs to find the file locations. You cannot use any drive for this purpose. Instead, you want to find the right external hard drive.

The good news is that there is only one hard limitation. In order to install a game on an external drive, you need to have enough space for the game. That sounds obvious, but plenty of new games can be well over GB in size.

They can eat up hard drive space faster than you might think, so your external drive might not be up to the task. Other than that, you have freedom here. With all of that said, there are types of drives and connections that are better than others. Most external drives connect via USB. USB is very common, but it comes in a few different speeds. Older USB 2.

Connecting a USB 2. If you upgrade to USB 3. You can go even further and use USB-C. Flash drives, SD or micro SD cards, and any other storage media can work. They just need enough space. You can even use a hard drive enclosure with a traditional internal drive in it that connects to the computer externally.

Another method that is a little outside the scope of the original question is that you can install multiple internal hard drives in your computer and pick from any of them. None of this will prevent the game from working.

There are two main reasons to install games on an external drive.