Asian-text folders in root Guildwars install dir - Guild Wars Guru archive powered by Guild Wars Legacy

BlueNovember

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Sep 2005

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Mo/

09 Sep 2008 at 16:00 - 1

Screenshot of the problem;

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...asian_text.png
That's my root gw installation directory. As you can see, it's full of random folders created by guildwars.

By default Guildwars on Windows Vista and above insists on placing templates in your Mydocs folder, for some reason. I can't find a way of changing this. The asian-text problem started shortly after I moved my mydocs location. I think it's probably related.

After moving mydocs (to another drive entirely) Guildwars is now placing the templates in "\Guild Wars\ͣᱤ泟\Guild Wars\Templates"
Guildwars runs fine, and templates made in game appear in the above directory and will work. However my old templates do not even show in the list, even if I place them where guilwars places the newly created templates. This essentially makes guildwars unplayable :\.

Os is server 2008, but it's vista for all intents and purposes.
Latest version of GW.
Have my cut-scene language set to Korean, but other than that all guildwars settings are in English. Changing the cut-scene language does not fix the problem.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Snograt

rattus rattus

Join Date: Jan 2006

London, UK GMT??0 ??1hr DST

[GURU]GW [wiki]GW2

R/

09 Sep 2008 at 16:22 - 2

That's totally bizarre.

Do all those folders actually contain anything, or are they just empty folders?

You're absolutely right - Vista stores templates and screenshots in C:\Users\username\documents\Guild Wars\ - I've never had reason to change this behaviour, so I don't know if that's what is causing this.

Incidentally, it confused me when Vista did this to me - then I realised it's a good idea. If game data is stored in a user folder, each user can have their own, individual game saves, configurations and, in the case of GW, templates and screenies.

BlueNovember

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Sep 2005

WTS GW2 items for Zkey

Mo/

09 Sep 2008 at 18:48 - 3

Quote:

Originally Posted by Snograt

That's totally bizarre.

Do all those folders actually contain anything, or are they just empty folders?

You're absolutely right - Vista stores templates and screenshots in C:\Users\username\documents\Guild Wars\ - I've never had reason to change this behaviour, so I don't know if that's what is causing this.

Incidentally, it confused me when Vista did this to me - then I realised it's a good idea. If game data is stored in a user folder, each user can have their own, individual game saves, configurations and, in the case of GW, templates and screenies.

Aye, I agree on the principle. It's something linux apps have been doing for years. I would prefer an option to change it though.
As for the folders, yes, they're empty.

Thanks for the reply.

TheDragonmaster

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: May 2008

R/

09 Sep 2008 at 19:02 - 4

The maps are quite bizarre, but the place Vista places them is godsent. I find most of my program resource files are being placed in C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\VirtualStore\Program Files\program folder by my Vista. For example: Firefox, Adobe, DC++, GameCam, VentriloMIX, GWFreaks, etc...

AppData is "hidden" (not sure what it's called in english), and I usually don't have the option to see such files marked, since the system files (like thumbs) just clutter everything up if I have it that way.

Quaker

Hell's Protector

Join Date: Aug 2005

Canada

Brothers Disgruntled

09 Sep 2008 at 21:37 - 5

Personally, I don't like the way Vista stores your screens and templates. I like to put my games and data on a separate drive so that if disaster happens and I have to reformat the OS drive/partition, I don't have to worry about trying to recover any data.
That, in fact, for me, is the one big strike against Vista - it assumes too many things (incorrectly) for me, and makes the things I'd like to change either impossible or very difficult. I'd like to have the option to save my data wherever I want.

P.s. For example - did you know that you can change the "shut down" button so that it actually shuts down instead of just hibernating/saving your session? Try to find out how without searching the net....
Or
I recently installed Lineage2 which (is the only app that) always comes up asking me if I trust this app and want to continue. Try to turn that off without disabling UAC. (Even with a net search)

Snograt

rattus rattus

Join Date: Jan 2006

London, UK GMT??0 ??1hr DST

[GURU]GW [wiki]GW2

R/

09 Sep 2008 at 22:32 - 6

Quote:

Originally Posted by Quaker

- did you know that you can change the "shut down" button so that it actually shuts down instead of just hibernating/saving your session? Try to find out how without searching the net....

Yep, I found that one. Standby by default? Idiots.

It's even better on a laptop - I've set my wife's up so that it shuts down when you close the lid

BlueNovember

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Sep 2005

WTS GW2 items for Zkey

Mo/

31 Oct 2008 at 17:23 - 7

*Bump*
Still happens. Folder names are not consistent, but are always comprised of mostly asian characters. :S

(Even on a fresh install of vista without mydocs moved)

Quaker

Hell's Protector

Join Date: Aug 2005

Canada

Brothers Disgruntled

31 Oct 2008 at 19:14 - 8

My best guess would be to copy your gw.dat to some other drive or folder. Then delete gw and re-install it.

Btw, I didn`t have any problems copying my templates to the Vista Documents folder - they all worked afterwards.

The Way Out

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Aug 2007

In my peanut brain

Zomg Zombies [OMG]

Mo/E

31 Oct 2008 at 19:39 - 9

LOL... Quaker... Snograt... what's up?

Since I don't play GW anymore, I stopped coming on here. How are things in the forum?

Anyway...

OP, my suggestion is the same as what Quaker suggested. Also... I had this happen on a clients system after they had done two things. They were annoyed every time they ran Windows update on Vista Ultimate and got all those Language support updates. Their folder structure got set to Cantonese. hahahaha

Also, double check your language and keyboard settings. Although I doubt you changed anything, I can see an errant update pushing crap around on your system.

Lastly, was this an upgraded install from XP to Vista?

Quaker

Hell's Protector

Join Date: Aug 2005

Canada

Brothers Disgruntled

01 Nov 2008 at 15:11 - 10

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Way Out

Since I don't play GW anymore, I stopped coming on here. How are things in the forum?

I don't play GW that much any more either, but I still cruise through here (until I start some new game and get on new forums

). Things in the forums are the same as always. People still asking silly stuff like "What's the best class/weapon?" and blaming ANet every time they have connection problems.

dilan155

Desert Nomad

Join Date: May 2007

living room

N/

01 Nov 2008 at 16:21 - 11

hmm ive never had this problems, the thing with username and templates is more useful than useless.

Snograt

rattus rattus

Join Date: Jan 2006

London, UK GMT??0 ??1hr DST

[GURU]GW [wiki]GW2

R/

02 Nov 2008 at 06:46 - 12

I'm itching to see the outcome of this - it really intrigues me!

You presumably speak Korean, BlueNovember - is that the language these rougue folders are in, or something different? If the latter, maybe someone who can speak that language can tell us what the folders actually are, and we can go from there.

[OT]WB TheWayOut - don't think many of us still play much at all

I tend to just log on now and again to grind a bit of title; killed it for me, tbh.[/OT]

The Way Out

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Aug 2007

In my peanut brain

Zomg Zombies [OMG]

Mo/E

05 Nov 2008 at 15:33 - 13

I see... I see...

All my time has been spent playing Warhammer and trying to troubleshoot this friggin SLI problem I started having after reimaging my system with Ultimate 64.

Any resolution on this Asian character issue?

Snograt

rattus rattus

Join Date: Jan 2006

London, UK GMT??0 ??1hr DST

[GURU]GW [wiki]GW2

R/

05 Nov 2008 at 19:00 - 14

Naw, we're still waiting for comeback from BlueNovember.

BlueNovember

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Sep 2005

WTS GW2 items for Zkey

Mo/

15 Nov 2008 at 16:57 - 15

Quote:

Originally Posted by Snograt

Naw, we're still waiting for comeback from BlueNovember.

Sorry, I was checking thread periodically, honest! Got caught up. (Took me friggin ages to find the thread...)

No, no idea what the language is.

I'm using a vLite'd version of Vista, which could be to blame.
Even on the fresh install of Vista and GW (when GW all set to English) the asian thing happens.

Plus in a recent development when I try to take screenshots I get the message "Your screenshot folder is full", and no screenshot is written.

Any builds I save save correctly (in a weird folder) but will not appear in the load list.

Edit:
> Using a new gw.dat doesn't solve the problem.
> The folder names keep changing. If I delete them, they can come back named something totally different. I currently have one named "㷀ᰙ" and one named "ġ т"

OT: Snograt, quid quid latine dictum sit, altum videter

.

Snograt

rattus rattus

Join Date: Jan 2006

London, UK GMT??0 ??1hr DST

[GURU]GW [wiki]GW2

R/

15 Nov 2008 at 19:45 - 16

Hmm, is your screenshot folder actually full? There's a limit of 999 images...

[OT]"Anything in Latin sounds profound?" - I'm just quoting Alan Moore

BlueNovember

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Sep 2005

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Mo/

16 Nov 2008 at 02:05 - 17

Quote:

Originally Posted by Snograt

Hmm, is your screenshot folder actually full? There's a limit of 999 images...

Hard to answer. I don't appear to have a screenshot folder.
Asside from folders I've put there myself, I have;

ġ т\Guild Wars (empty)
\㷀ᰙ\Guild Wars\Templates\Skills (one template I've saved but won't load)

No screenshot folder.
(and are you serious about that limit? o0. Who coded that, and where can I trout slap them)

Quote:

[OT]"Anything in Latin sounds profound?" - I'm just quoting Alan Moore

Haha. For a moment there I was confused with Patrick Moore. Had to check wikipedia to restore my sanity. Thankfully Alan's personal life entry begins "After being expelled from school for dealing LSD, ...", which certainly settles the matter :P.

Snograt

rattus rattus

Join Date: Jan 2006

London, UK GMT??0 ??1hr DST

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R/

16 Nov 2008 at 20:21 - 18

Your screenies should be in the same (annoying) place that your templates are - C:\Users\(username)\Documents\Guild Wars\Screens

And yes: I'm serious about the hard-coded 999 limit.

(The Alan Moore quote is due to the impending and exciting moviefication of his seminal graphic novel "Watchmen." Ask a sheep - they know everything)

BlueNovember

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Sep 2005

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Mo/

17 Nov 2008 at 01:47 - 19

Quote:

Originally Posted by Snograt

Your screenies should be in the same (annoying) place that your templates are - C:\Users\(username)\Documents\Guild Wars\Screens

No dice.
Documents folder is empty.

I've reset the docs path to E:\. There's no folders anywhere in that with "guild" in the name.

GW used to save it in its install directory until I deleted the folder it was saving to, repeatedly. For a while it just recreated new ones of random names.
Perhaps GW gave up and is now just mad at me for abusing it so.

Snograt

rattus rattus

Join Date: Jan 2006

London, UK GMT??0 ??1hr DST

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R/

17 Nov 2008 at 12:02 - 20

It may have got to the stage when you have to just give up and try again.

Uninstall Guild wars. Make sure to move gw.dat to somewhere safe first - and your templates, ofc.

Run CCleaner to remove all traces of Guild Wars.

Re-install and put the saved gw.dat back into place.

Get used to the default folder locations!

Quaker

Hell's Protector

Join Date: Aug 2005

Canada

Brothers Disgruntled

17 Nov 2008 at 16:24 - 21

Since you are using Vista, you should probably do as Snograt says - just learn to live with the default folder locations (including NOT moving Documents). If you want to make things more crash-proof (which I assume is why you moved Docs to E:\) it's best, in the long run, to just manually copy thing to E: occasionally, or uninstall Vista and go back to XP.

(I've been around the block on the moving folders thing and gave up.)

The Way Out

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Aug 2007

In my peanut brain

Zomg Zombies [OMG]

Mo/E

17 Nov 2008 at 19:02 - 22

Quote:

Originally Posted by Quaker

Since you are using Vista, you should probably do as Snograt says - just learn to live with the default folder locations (including NOT moving Documents). If you want to make things more crash-proof (which I assume is why you moved Docs to E:\) it's best, in the long run, to just manually copy thing to E: occasionally, or uninstall Vista and go back to XP.

(I've been around the block on the moving folders thing and gave up.)

I always find it necessary to "xcopy" everything when I move things in Vista. Permission tend to funk things up a bit.

BlueNovember

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Sep 2005

WTS GW2 items for Zkey

Mo/

18 Nov 2008 at 20:04 - 23

Quote:

Originally Posted by Quaker

Since you are using Vista, you should probably do as Snograt says - just learn to live with the default folder locations (including NOT moving Documents). If you want to make things more crash-proof (which I assume is why you moved Docs to E:\) it's best, in the long run, to just manually copy thing to E: occasionally, or uninstall Vista and go back to XP.

(I've been around the block on the moving folders thing and gave up.)

"learn to live with"?
Yes, I should just tolerate annoyances. How silly of me ^_^.
I have a documents partition as it's just... sensible. For a start, allows me to format C without risk of data loss. If it wasn't so much trouble to relocate the whole Documents and Settings tree I would do that also.

I'm sorry, but manually copying things that appear in the default docs location to your desired location is a bad idea.Apps that actually use %USERPROFILE%\Documents will just keep looking for (and placing) files in C:, so moving their files would just break the app or cause duplication.
I do like the "go back to XP" idea though =(. Perhaps just skip vista and move to windows7... /sigh.

I think using ubuntu has spoiled my ability to use windows =(

My thanks to all who have offered advice. Think switching back may be the way to go.

BlueNovember

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Sep 2005

WTS GW2 items for Zkey

Mo/

08 Dec 2008 at 17:36 - 24

http://www.vistax64.com/gaming/18941...e-folders.html

Someone else with a very similar problem.
...with no replies. qq.

BlueNovember

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Sep 2005

WTS GW2 items for Zkey

Mo/

07 Jan 2009 at 16:08 - 25

*optimistic bump*
Using Guildwars portable doesn't help the issue.
Think I'm going to open a support ticket. Ugh.

Snograt

rattus rattus

Join Date: Jan 2006

London, UK GMT??0 ??1hr DST

[GURU]GW [wiki]GW2

R/

07 Jan 2009 at 19:33 - 26

Do that - it's such a bizarre problem I'm fascinated in the outcome!

I hope they have an insight - I'd have kittens if my drive started filling up with foreign folders

aniajadie

Pre-Searing Cadet

Join Date: Jun 2006

Lords of the Sacred Flame

N/Me

10 Feb 2009 at 20:27 - 27

Hi,

I can confirm the same problem and have also mailed support...

The really annoying thing is I have 14 characters and over 300 skills templates, I can't even copy my old templates to the new locations cuz it changes all the time

Will post a response if I get one from support!

TTFN

aniajadie

Pre-Searing Cadet

Join Date: Jun 2006

Lords of the Sacred Flame

N/Me

13 Feb 2009 at 17:34 - 28

I have had a response from support... They confirm its a Vista issue...

The fix (for me) was to delete all the "asian" directories and set the GW.exe to WinXP compatibility mode.

This should fix the templates issue as well.

TTFN

Snograt

rattus rattus

Join Date: Jan 2006

London, UK GMT??0 ??1hr DST

[GURU]GW [wiki]GW2

R/

13 Feb 2009 at 17:54 - 29

Thanks for the feedback aniajadie.

Slightly anti-climactic, but hey

aniajadie

Pre-Searing Cadet

Join Date: Jun 2006

Lords of the Sacred Flame

N/Me

13 Feb 2009 at 18:12 - 30

Yes, sorry, this wasnt some asian bot that had infected Vista clients and was doing gold trades whilst you were logged off...

Just another "feature" of Vista interacting with an executable