PowerShell script to create symbolically linked (mklink) copies of WoW

[Sun]

ok...i am reading this as well...can somebody point me to the proper areas on my laptop that I need to address. This will save me tons of hair pulling. I have the powershell downloaded but I am having problems getting the script to work. ex...controlpanel/something/something/something....that kind of help would be appreciated. thx

[Chorizotarian]

Sun once you have downloaded and installed PowerShell you should be able to run it as follows:
1) Start Menu | All Programs | Windows PowerShell
2) Right-click on the PowerShell icon and select "Run as Administrator"

That will bring up a PowerShell console, which will look a lot like a cmd.exe console. In that window, type the following:

Set-ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned

That tells PowerShell that you only want to require digitial signatures for scripts not stored on your local machine.

Now go up to the post at the top of the thread and copy all of the script code. Start notepad and save it to a file called "New-Wow.ps1" located somewhere in your path.

If you don't have a directory where you put cmdline executables and scripts save it to a new dir called "c:\bin" and add that to your path using "Control Panel\System and Maintenance\System" | Advanced System Settings | Environment Variables | PATH. Then restart PowerShell as before (running as administrator).

Now type this:

New-Wow c:\wow1

You should get a new symbolically linked copy of WoW at the indicated location. Obviously change it to whatever location you prefer.

Finally, be sure to read my note about possible glitches when deleteing or renaming directories containing child symbolic links through Windows explorer. If you want to delete c:\wow1, be sure to first go in and delete the symbolically linked child folders (c:\wow1\cache, etc.) directly. If you do it that way you shouldn't have any problems.

Let me know if any of this still isn't clear.

[Sun]

lol....this is crazy. it seems New-Wow.ps1 is a "text" file...I dont know how to make a .ps1...which Im pretty sure you want this to be.////C:\New-Wow.ps1.txt( is the actuall path) I realize I cant have .txt in there.

[Chorizotarian]

With Notepad you have to change the Save As Type to "All Files". Otherwise it will save the file as New-Wow.ps1.txt. Not the friendliest behavior...

You can also change the type in Windows Explorer if you enable the show file extensions for known types option. (Control Panel | Folder Options | View -> Uncheck "Hide file extensions for known types")

[Dinkydau]

Double click My Computer, go to Tools / Folder Options

Click on the View Tab

Check Show Hidden Files and Folders

Uncheck Hide Extensions for known file types

Uncheck Hide Protected operating system files

When you save the file, put in the name with the extenstion.

Just under the name, under file type, choose All Files.

That should do the trick for you and enable you to find the file later should you need.

[Sun]

got the .txt changed to .ps1....thx...forgot how to do that part.

still cant get the script to run. pretty sure its something to do with the way you have typed in the commands versus my names of my wow folders. But im thru for the day on this. I will try again at a later time to figure this out. I just wish I had more knowledge on programming features. My knowledge is limited back to my college days with Fortran and Basic. Everything else is new to me.

[Chorizotarian]

If the script won't run it's probably not in your path. You can either create a bin directory in your path like I described above or type the full path on the PowerShell command line. For example to run a hello world script hello.ps1 in the non-path directory d:\xfers:

D:\> D:\xfers\hello.ps1
hello world

Note that to call a script in the current working directory you need to supply a leading ".\". In other words, PowerShell doesn't automatically add the current working directory to your path.

D:\> cd d:\xfers

xfers> .\hello.ps1
hello world

[Dinkydau]

What's a good simple text editor that shows line numbers? I used to use one at a previous job, but can't remember the name of the dang thing. Something freeware if possible.

Johnny

[Sun]

you say....If the script is not in your path:.....then.....

please give me an example of what the script in path should look like. would it be like this....C:\users\myfolders\games\New-Wow.pst\WOW1....????

[Chorizotarian]

I have a directory c:\bin where I put scripts and executables that I want to automatically run from the command line. To add that directory to your path use "Control Panel\System and Maintenance\System" | Advanced System Settings | Environment Variables | PATH. Then restart PowerShell as before (running as administrator).