Transferring FFXI from one PC to another?

[Aysha]

Not sure where to actually post this, as I know the official Tech Support forum probably won't cover this (as it is most likely "unsupported"), but basically I have a situation:

I have an 8-year old computer with like 4GB of RAM, AthlonXP Dual-Core 2.5Ghz or some such and it runs rather slow. FFXI is pretty much the only thing I use this computer for (I play with a family member, and I have this computer in the gaming room for playing this game exclusively).

I get FPS drops while just walking around in town, it takes forever to load up, etc.

So basically what I want to do, is I want to get a cheap upgrade (new mobo/RAM/CPU) which means I will have to reinstall Win7 (which I can easily do).

However, if I do that, that also means reinstalling FFXI which is... a very annoying process. I wish SE would update their downloadable installation, but sadly it appears to be a year+ out of date, and still requires the download of some 15,000 files (I had to do this about 7 months ago). It takes 30-40 minutes to install the game from the installation files, it takes an hour+ to check all 45,000+ files, and then it takes at least 2 maybe 3 hours to download the 15,000 files it needs to update.

Has anybody found a reliable method to just copy an installation of the game from another PC? I have two other PCs in the house that have FFXI installed and up-to-date, but I know that POL and FFXI dumps a bunch of registry keys, etc and that's why you can't just copy the POL folder and call it a day.

[Nyarlko]

Due to the registry keys, I don't think there's any way to shortcut the installation process safely. You could try doing the install, then copying your current install on top of the new one before checking maybe? If it fails though, you'd have to reinstall it from scratch again, so not sure it's worth the risk/hassle.

[Urmom]

There are some sort of shortcuts that can lower the time a bit but will still have to do the updates to an extent and isn't really worth the trouble. But honestly the 2-4 hours from nothing to full install isn't that bad especially since you can be doing other things in the process (like playing on that old comp). Back in my day just normal updates could take 8+ hours.

[Dragoy]

Yeah, it's completely fine to transfer them files over from the old install, which will allow for skipping the download part of a fresh install.

Indeed, copying the registry settings, even though possible, is something I probably wouldn't recommend. So, I'd do a fresh install, then copy over the files and then do the file-check (it will do it when launching the game).

(Well what I actually do, is I copy the Wine prefix which kind of means like copying a whole Windows install, and it will just work, but that's for Linux and such. :])

[Justuas]

If you don't want to hassle with the update that takes several hours, you should do the copy-paste method.
Install the Playonline do the base installation of Final Fantasy XI, then copy your current Final Fantasy XI folder over. That worked for me when I got a new computer. Had to use external hard drive for storing and transferring the ffxi folder tho (I recommend using zip-file that speeds up the transrferring).
Source for the method: https://www.reddit.com/r/ffxi/comments/43uh6p/can_i_just_transfer_the_game_files_from_my_pc_to/

[Kishr]

Copy + paste all rom folders from installed playonline folder to same directory on new pc, do a file check which is mandatory, takes 20min to check if that and I will bypass the download