new computers suck

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bostonlefty
Posts: 36
Joined: January 19th, 2020, 3:55 am

Re: new computers suck

Post by bostonlefty »

Bear with me / this stuff is over my head but....

I was not designing courses - way over my head

Originally I had installed 6 courses with .crz file names
I was able to play those, although only in "Quick start" or "Practice" mode

I had added these 6 courses by using the "Course Browser" within the Links Course Manager and then scanning through the directory. At his point these courses did not show in the COURSES File Folder - but they did show within Links on the Course List



To correct my inability to play from "New Round" I installed NVidia and 1.07 - which after a restart fixed my problem.

This is when the "unnamed courses" appeared.
The "unnamed courses" do not appear in the COURSES File Folder - only on the Links Course menu within Links

Courses ID in Course Manager does list the "unnamed course" by Course name, but as .txt files?

Per Dan's message I have now put these courses into the Links COURSES File Folder - although they were accessible to play prior to that
bostonlefty
Posts: 36
Joined: January 19th, 2020, 3:55 am

Re: new computers suck

Post by bostonlefty »

Success on deleting the unnamed courses

I deleted (attempted?) the first course on my Course list "Bethpage" - Hit "yes" to delete from Hard drive

Bethpage was still on the Course List but.....
that allowed me to delete the "unnamed course" with the Bethpage....txt. Course ID
( I did not get the "insert CD" message that had been thwarting my effort)

Better yet, I was now able to delete all 5 other "unnamed courses" with Course ID's ending in .txt
- without having to delete the 5 actual courses

At that point attempted to load "Bethpage" but got the 'insert CD" again - so deleted Bethpage a second time.

Bethpage is now gone, but all 5 other courses are loading/ playing properly
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Danny D
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Joined: August 27th, 2019, 1:09 am
Location: SE Missouri

Re: new computers suck

Post by Danny D »

bostonlefty wrote: February 24th, 2020, 4:38 pm Per Dan's message I have now put these courses into the Links COURSES File Folder - although they were accessible to play prior to that
That tells me what I suspected. Your courses were placed in the "Virtual Store". If they don't show in your Links 2003\COURSES folder, but yet still show up in the Course Manager, then they were hidden by Windows 10. I am not a Win10 user, so I have no idea where to locate the Virtual Store files. :dunno:

Glad you figured it out. :cheers1:
Completed Courses
Real Courses: The National Golf Club of Kansas City - Wakonda Club - Coeur d'Alene Resort Course
Fictitious Courses: Northern Lakes - Golfcom Tees
Southern Oaks - Hometown 9 hole real course with a fictitious back 9 added
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Still Linksing
Posts: 583
Joined: August 27th, 2019, 2:43 am

Re: new computers suck

Post by Still Linksing »

Danny D wrote: February 25th, 2020, 2:53 am I am not a Win10 user, so I have no idea where to locate the Virtual Store files. :dunno:

Glad you figured it out. :cheers1:
I'm a Win 10 user and have no idea either! lol

Never had to deal with it. On this note though, bostonlefty, do you have Links installed to the default location?
This is what likely allows soemething like the Virtual Store to swallow things up.
Best to not install any old software to the default location.
For all the old golf games visit:
Golf Sim Clubhouse
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Adelade
Posts: 1346
Joined: August 27th, 2019, 10:24 am

Re: new computers suck

Post by Adelade »

C:\Users\[username]\AppData\Local\VirtualStore\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Games\Links 2003

(AppData is a hidden folder, can google how to make hidden folders visible if needed, or ask here.)
Finished Courses - Main: Amedal (fictional), Nine Bridges (real)
Other: Austin, Sheshan, Kauri Cliffs, Le Golf Nat. Updates: Whirlpool, Royal Lytham, Royal St George's, Chicago, Chambers Bay, Munchen Nord E
Working on: 2 fictional courses + a couple things...
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Still Linksing
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Joined: August 27th, 2019, 2:43 am

Re: new computers suck

Post by Still Linksing »

Adelade wrote: February 25th, 2020, 8:36 am C:\Users\[username]\AppData\Local\VirtualStore\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Games\Links 2003

(AppData is a hidden folder, can google how to make hidden folders visible if needed, or ask here.)
I just checked the folder. I have Links 2003 mops showing there. That's about all there is for Links or any other program. It's quite empty.
For all the old golf games visit:
Golf Sim Clubhouse
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Adelade
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Joined: August 27th, 2019, 10:24 am

Re: new computers suck

Post by Adelade »

I actually run Links without admin, simply because when I first started playing Links 1.5 year ago thats what I did, and then some month later when I realized that was "bad" I had already familiarized with the VirtualStore and learned to navigate things without noticeable inconvenience, and didnt want to change things up yet again. My shadow files for courses end up in VirtualStore, along with screenshots (I prefer using the screenshots ending up in the clipboard anyway). Also a handful insignificant files, GraphicSettings.txt, and some stuff in the CAREERMODE folder. Links seems to recognize most if not all files regardless of whether they are in the VirtualStore or the normal place, but probably take priority of the ones in VirtualStore if both places have a file of the same filename (as long as running without admin). APCD run with or without admin also puts files in the 2 different places and can be a bit of a trap to look out for.
Finished Courses - Main: Amedal (fictional), Nine Bridges (real)
Other: Austin, Sheshan, Kauri Cliffs, Le Golf Nat. Updates: Whirlpool, Royal Lytham, Royal St George's, Chicago, Chambers Bay, Munchen Nord E
Working on: 2 fictional courses + a couple things...
gator
Posts: 178
Joined: August 26th, 2019, 9:30 pm

Re: new computers suck

Post by gator »

File Locations:

About five years ago, Armand (after considerable research) posted a Google doc spreadsheet called "Links 2003 - File Locations v1.1". You tell the worksheet what version of Windows you are using, whether that Windows version is 32-bit or 64-bit, whether you installed Links from a CD or the download version, and whether or not you run Links as an Administrator. After entering these variables, the workbook will show you where you should be able to find up to 31 different files extensions associated with Links. Armand's description of this can be found here - https://linkscorner.org/phpBB/viewtopic ... 8&start=10.

Armand's link for the Google Doc spreadsheet is still active at - https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... edit#gid=0.

VirtualStore:

Back in the days of DOS, everything to do with an installed program was contained within the program directory or a subordinate directory (within the directory tree). With the advent of Windows, files associated with installed programs became seemingly scattered all over our harddisk. Part of this was the realization that many programs share dll's or programs like DirectX (for example) and we didn't need to have multiple versions of these associated programs saved in numerous locations. Save it in one spot and have each program reference them. With the release of Windows Vista, Microsoft took it one step further and introduced its virtualization technology. This gave us User Account Control (UAC) and the virtualstore. Part of the reason for this was to prevent "legacy" programs from constantly writing back to a "Program Files" directory (now called a folder), a protected location. The UAC will intercept these write attempts and send them to the virtualstore. Windows Vista and newer versions of Windows wants a program to write once (during its install) to its "Program Files" folder and after that only read from that location. Links along with many other programs just weren't written that way. Our beloved Links has numerous subordinate locations (sub-folders) where we can add/change/delete files like animations, courses, clubs, mops, skys, etc. and UAC doesn't like that. So, what triggers the virtualstore? There are three conditions that will cause the virtualstore to initialize: 1) installing a 32-bit program to a "Program Files" location; 2) installing that program without administrative rights; and 3) the program you are installing was not compiled with a manifest file indicating it was written for Windows Vista or newer. If all three of these conditions are met - virtualstore. We cannot change the fact that Links is a 32-bit program or item three from that list, so there are two ways to install Links without having the virtualstore getting involved. First, install it with administrative rights; or second, direct the install to a location outside of any "Program Files" folder. If you choose the second method (as I always do), you MUST remember to direct the installation of any patches (e.g. 1.07, Nvidia) to that same location or they will report that they have been installed but won't work because they are sitting in a "Program Files" folder and Links isn't.

There is a detailed (and I do mean detailed) description of Windows virtualization/UAC/virtualstore here - https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/previo ... dfrom=MSDN.

Note: running Links with administrative rights should not be confused with installing Links with administrative rights.
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Adelade
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Joined: August 27th, 2019, 10:24 am

Re: new computers suck

Post by Adelade »

I suppose Im being a nerd, but I found that very interesting gator (at least I didnt bother checking out the windows detailed description link :laugh:) and quite possibly useful info for future installations of various stuff :thumbup:
Finished Courses - Main: Amedal (fictional), Nine Bridges (real)
Other: Austin, Sheshan, Kauri Cliffs, Le Golf Nat. Updates: Whirlpool, Royal Lytham, Royal St George's, Chicago, Chambers Bay, Munchen Nord E
Working on: 2 fictional courses + a couple things...
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Captain Nemo
Posts: 148
Joined: September 21st, 2019, 10:29 pm
Location: Ontario Canada

Re: new computers suck

Post by Captain Nemo »

New computers are fantastic. Windows 10 sucks! :wallbash:
I always wanted to write something intelligent in my signature. Now that I think about it, I guess I just did! :clapping: :smile:
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