[WinXP 32&64] BG2 on SSD?

Boaster

I've recently installed a solid state drive into my computer. It wasn't until recently that I installed Baldur's Gate 1 and 2, and BG Tutu, to play them. However, I ran into a bit of a problem.

With BG1, the game works like a charm. No problems, just the low res-graphics issue.

However, when I try to play BG2 or BG Tutu, my whole computer locks up at the first screen.

Anyone know why this may be? Every other game loads and plays fine, including BG1.

BelegCuthalion

it is very unlikely this is caused by the SSD. for an application/game, this is just an ordinary storage device (a fast one, but non different like any other that can hold a FAT/NTFS file system).

it's much more likely that your graphics card driver isn't quite working as bg2 engine expects - have you checked the configuration program of bg2 and tested/disabled 3d mode?
bg2 (and tutu, being bg2 technically speaking) is different from plain bg1 concerning using 3d mode of your graphics card for certain effects. disabling it might help, at least to find out what's the problem.
it's also a bit different than many other games nowadays - most of them use directx to adress the graphics cards 3d features. bg2 does so via openGL. this might explain that other games run and BG2 does not.

Boaster

I have used the same drivers on my computer with a different set of hard drives. I was running a raid0 X4 array. Same drivers for graphics.

Doom972

Weird, BG1 is usually known to have problems (mainly graphical) on new systems, while BG2 works as intended.
Can you give your full system specs?

Boaster

I've isolated the problem.

Apparently, the drivers for the video which I was using were working for the most part, but were causing issues. Drivers were updated for video card.

I was quite certain I had the right drivers to, especially since I had downloaded them for my last OS setup.

Excalibur_2102

@Boaster If i can go a little off topic here id like your opinion on SSDs.. are they worth it? Ive been looking into getting one, seeing as upgrading my graphics card is pointless atm because no games I want in the near future are graphically demanding..

Also, did you put your OS on the SSD? How do you go about doing this? My copy of windows is obviously installed on my current HDD, but I dont wanna go and buy another copy of win7. Can it be uninstalled from my current drive and installed onto the SSD?

Again sorry for going off topic, but ive been thinking about this for a while now

Boaster

I've got both XP and XP64 installed onto the first partition. Used nLite to configure source folders. For example, XP32/OS is the directory structure for XP 32-bit's files. And XP64/OS for XP 64-bit's files.

Anyway, this guide was very helpful:
http://www.ocztechnologyforum.com/forum/showthread.php?43460-Making-XP-pro-SSD-friendly

I'd recommend a fresh install rather than cloning a drive. Keep your old stuff for at least two weeks before wiping them, in case you need to retrieve old files.

Excalibur_2102 said:

@Boaster If i can go a little off topic here id like your opinion on SSDs.. are they worth it?

Yes. I was previously using a 4X RAID0 and it was dwarfed with the Samsung 256 SSD.

I installed the OS, programs/apps, and games onto the SSD and store all larger files, video and audio, on a 2 TB drive.

I probably should've got the 512 GB drive instead.

Excalibur_2102

The price difference between a 256GB and 512GB SSD is pretty substantial though from what ive seen. Unfortunately, while ive upgraded/built the whole of my current PC, the one thing I havent done is baught a new HD (or in this case SSD) without purchasing a new copy of windows.

I just wondered if uninstalling off one drive then installing onto another is actually possible, lol.

Boaster

Clone the OS partition to another drive as a backup, and clone back if it doesn't work as you expect.

Excalibur_2102

Actually, could I just clone the entire drive? I have less than 240gb of data on my current HD

Boaster

Clone your drive to a backup before cloning it to the SSD.

Gilgalahad

when i built this new computer, i was still not fully versed with SSD's myself and this ssd i thought was rather small(120GB), so i used the ssd labelled C: to install windows and the core programs, but named my HDD E: to install everything else like all my old games. So i boot up super fast do surfing, movie watching etc with ssd then play games on the E: drive. If i ever build a new computer again i may do it differently, but for now this works for me.

Insert_Boo

@Excalibur You don't need a new copy of windows to install (at least for win7) on a new drive. You will need your cd key of course. Only if you change your motherboard will you need a new copy. And as to your question if they are worth it- it was a great performance boost in regards to load times (for modern games) and windows start-up and shutdown.

But then since the launch of the original BG series, the load times have been pretty fast with just the improvements (over a decade) of your standard, run of the mill, spinning HDs. So I don't know if it would be worth it for just BGEE. Depending on your system ram might be a better way to go. When I bought mine 6 months ago if was about a dollar a gig for the sweet spot of a 256gig ssd. Might be an even better ratio now.