Back Ups and Reinstalling

[frdracaufeu 0]

I'd like to know if I reformat my hard-drive and re-install SC4, can I just use backed up copies of my regions and plug-ins or will I have to start the region over from scratch?

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Depends on how you do your backups.  If you simply copy them to CD or DVD (RW), there is no reason why you cannot restore them after your convulsion.

You would be wise, if you don't already have them, to download all the necessary patches from Simcity.com and include them in your backup.

[frdracaufeu 0]

Actually, the plan was to back them up to my external hard drive and a CD-RW. Thanks for reminding me about the updates and patches for SC4...

[SC4Noobie 5]

External hard drive works. Just anything that will not be erased, basically in this case your HDD.

[ky72x 13]

I just copy my regions and plugins to a standard 700MB CD.  Just in case the computer has an internal crash like last summer, where I didn't have anything to back it up...

[TinySim 4]

Yes, I had that problem too. I have an external HDD, but before my PC crashed (twice) this spring, I did not take backups. To add to my misery, the STEX was rebuilt at the same time, so I couldn't download all the plugins and lots I had . Oh, well, life is a learning experience, right?

[SC4Noobie 5]

For all my stuff, though, 700 nb isn't enough. I use DVDs.

[bhounsome 1]

I'm not sure if this is the place to ask, and I'm sure there's a very obvious answer, but here goes. Where do I find my cities / regions in order for me to back them up? I intend to reformat one of my Hds but don't want to lose my work.

[greyveil 37]

bhounsome, in your "my documents" folder you will find a simcity4 directory, cities/regions are located in the regions folder listed by region, the region folder in the programs files folder (maxis/simcity.... ) is just a backup of the default regions at the time the game was installed

hope this helps

[Tuesday 0]

If 700mb is too small for you, I suggest getting a program called PartitionMagic to split your HDD. http://www.powerquest.com/partitionmagic/ I did that to mine last week. I split my HDD into 40GB (D: ) and left the rest (80GB) as my C: and just formatted that. It's very easy to use too.

Edited for content! G.V.

[bhounsome 1]

Thanks for the quick response greyveil, and France have just won. Not a bad night, now on with the format....