INTRODUCTION:
It is possible to have many versions of RTW playable on your system, e.g., run multiple versions and/or multiple mods of RTW on one operating system, one hard drive. The main downside to this is hard drive space: you need almost 3 GB per install, for each version/mod you want to run. Another downside is that you cannot do a further CA patch on a cloned (copied) directory. A big upside is that changes (including dreaded editing errors) made in one install directory do not affect the other ones!

Get RTW/BI patches here.

SCOPE
This will show how to install 3 copies of RTW: 1.2, 1.2+Mundus Magnus, and 1.3. The chosen directory structure for this HOWTO example will look like this, but you can modify it however you want (be sure to alter the steps in the Procedure accordingly, though):

C:\RTW\1.2 -- This is a 'plain vanilla' Patch 1.2 install
C:\RTW\1.2MM -- This is a Patch 1.2 with Mundus Magnus 2.0 installed to it
C:\RTW\1.5 -- This is a Patch 1.5 install.
C:\RTW\SOURCE -- This is the actual location the system is installing & patching RTW.

NOTE 01: Read all the assumptions. If you do not meet them, then there is a greater chance of problems installing or running RTW. The assumptions are a guide to start from a known good state; you can skip/modify some of them, as long as you know why you are doing it and what its impact on RTW will be.

ASSUMPTIONS:
1. No overclocking.
2. System has a known stable power supply.
3. Motherboard BIOS and Video Card BIOS is up to date, and properly configured.
4. System is clean & relatively free of dust inside (e.g., no heating/fan problems).
5. No viruses (strongly recommend NOD32 over all other AV programs).
6. No spyware or adware (suggest freeware Spybot - Search & Destroy)
7. No rootkits. Since early 2005, that your have never had any Sony music CD in your computer (specifically, that the stealth Sony rootkit has ever been installed on your machine).
8. Disable Anti-virus protection & close all background programs and unnecessary processes (CTRL-ALT-DEL).
9: Before beginning, back up any RTW files you want to keep, like savegames, preferences.txt, etc.; I use:
WinRAR.
10. No device conflicts in Settings - Control Panel - System - Hardware - Device Manager.
11. Sound & Video drivers are properly updated (generally, latest stable release) and installed correctly.
12. WMP10 properly installed; download the WMP10 standalone installer (13 MB) for free from MS here .
13. DirectX 9.0c working (run DXDiag tests); download it for free here.
14. Ensure all background programs are closed (check with CTRL-ALT-DEL and look in Tray).

PROCEDURE:

1. If you have RTW installed on your system, then do the rest of this step; else skip to Step 2.
   - 1.a. You can copy an existing install like Step 6, except copy your currently installed RTW directory instead of C:\RTW\SOURCE .
   - 1.b. Then you need to uninstall RTW (double check you backed up your saves).
   - 1.c. If the normal uninstall method fails, then do a full manual uninstall.

2. Choose a location in which to place your multiple installs of RTW (C:\RTW\1.2 in this example).
   - 2.a. You need approx. 3GB x Number of installs.
   - 2.b. Example: you want to run 3 variations + SOURCE of RTW, then 3x4=12GB of space is needed.

3. Create a new directory (folder) to contain your RTW installs (C:\RTW\SOURCE ).

4. Install RTW fresh (normal or desktop install) to the location C:\RTW\SOURCE
   - 4.a. Patch it to 1.2.
   - 4.b. Do not install 1.3 or 1.5 or BI... yet.

5. Optional: Backup this "base install" (the C:\RTW\SOURCE directory).
   - 5.a. Archive this entire newly installed C:\RTW\SOURCE directory to a safe place.
   - 5.b. I personally use RAR to compress & archive it with 3% recovery record for safety.

6. Copy the entire newly installed SOURCE (right click, copy)
   - 6.a. Paste to your multi-install location, C:\RTW (right click, paste to the RTW directory).
   - 6.b. Since SOURCE already exists, you will get a "Copy of SOURCE" directory.
   - 6.c. Rename "Copy of SOURCE" to "1.2MM".
   - 6.d. Note: if you wanted more source installs based on 1.2, make them now (you need ~3GB apiece).

7. Install Mundus Magnus 2.0 to the 1.2MM directory (its just an unzip).

8. Install Patch 1.3.

9. Install Patch 1.5.
   - 9.a. The install will be to the C:\RTW\SOURCE directory.
   - 9.b. The other 'installs' (C:\RTW\1.2 and C:\RTW\1.2MM) will *NOT* be aware of this upgrade!!

10. Copy the entire Patch 1.5 newly-installed SOURCE folder (right click, copy).
    - 10.a. Paste to your multi-install location, C:\RTW (right click, paste to the RTW directory).
    - 10.b. Since SOURCE already exists (like last time), you will get a "Copy of SOURCE" directory.
    - 10.c. Rename "Copy of SOURCE" to "1.5".
    - 10.d. If you want more RTW installs based on 1.5, make them now (you need ~3GB apiece).

11. Make shortcuts.
    - 11.a. Make a shortcut to each respective RomeTW.exe file.
    - 11.b. Add arguments like -nm -show_err and/or -enable_editor
    - 11.c. Example: C:\RTW\1.5\RomeTW.exe -nm -show_err -enable_editor

12. Put your savegames, if any, in the respective "saves" directory.

13. Play the various RTW mods and versions.
    

HOWTO: Full Manual Uninstall
HOWTO: Desktop Install

NOTE 02: RTW installs/upgrades are not "aware" of the other copied directories; hence you cannot use any future CA patch upgrade on that install. The system only "sees" the C:\RTW\SOURCE install.

NOTE 03: YOU MUST HAVE A GOOD, RETAIL CD#1 TO PLAY RTW!!

Rev 1.03, 21Dec2005
- Fixed format that spilled text off the right margin.
- Added bullets for readability

Rev 1.02, 14Dec2005
- Updated procedure for Patch 1.5
- Removed step for creating Patch 1.3 playable install

Rev 1.01, 14Dec2005
- added Patch 1.5/1.6 info[/whisper]

[This message has been edited by Wartrain (edited 12-21-2005 @ 04:19 PM).]