setting up multibox: same computer, 2 wow folders, only ever runs from one folder?

[tph88]

I just signed up for a second account and decided to give multiboxing a try today.
I read a lot of articles on how to set it up. Originally I tried running 2 instances from the same wow install folder (on C: drive) but the new account/character wouldn't load. I finally narrowed it down to some add-ons causing conflict (haven''t narrow down to which on yet).

In some of the articles I read it said that running wow from 2 folders on 2 separate drives improves performance, so I decided to do that. Aloso the plan was to limit the addons for the 2nd account (so the game would actually load). and since I have 2 monitors, so I want to use different video settings for the second account (so it can run on the second monitor)

So, I copied the warcraft folders from c: onto my g: drive (which is also a different physical disk).
I did not copy the /interface or /wtf folders.
However, when I ran wow from the g: drive, it loaded all the addons from the c: drive.
???
I read this post: http://eu.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/5208453977 with a suggestion on how to 'fix' this issue - I followed the steps and when I ran from the g: drive, it didn't load any addons.

Then I went back and tried to run wow from the c: drive, now it finds no addons, so guessing it is running from the g: folder now.

How can I get it when I run the launcher from the c: drive to load all the settings/addons from the c: drive, and then the same for the g: drive?
Many of the articles I read suggested running from 2 wow folders, but I can't seem to figure out how to get that to work? Is it still possible?

[Bettysue]

Running the wow.exe or wow-64.exe will force the loading of the local add-in folder. Using the launcher will load the first installation of wow on a particular computer, there is a registry key that points to which instance of the executable to be loaded.
Hope that helps,
Bettysue

[tph88]

so instead of running the launcher, can I run the wow.exe ?
(but actually I have it running ok now from the same folder, 2 instances)

[Ughmahedhurtz]

Just run the launcher to update things, then run wow.exe when running the game normally.

[MiRai]

It would help to know what software you're running, or what software you plan on running, because you're going to have a helluva time trying to multibox without any in this day and age. If you are planning to just run two copies of the game and put yourself on follow or something like that, I'll ask that you not join LFD and LFR and do that because it only makes the other "multiboxers" look like asshats -- That's not multiboxing, that's just running two clients and being lazy.

With that being said, again, in order to get a better answer you're going to need to provide more information.

Using the launcher will load the first installation of wow on a particular computer, there is a registry key that points to which instance of the executable to be loaded.

To add to this, if anyone is using the new BNet Launcher, there's an option to adjust the path right inside of the program itself.

[tph88]

Bettysue / Ughmahedhurtz: Thanks for all the help! I will try running just the .exe instead of the launcher and see how it works running from 2 folders. Right now by limiting which add-ons load, I was able to run 2 instances from the same folder and play 2 toons successfully. (feeling silly that I didn't even think of running the .exe directly!)

MiRai - well I think before getting into software/setups/etc, the first step is to have multiple accounts and multiple instances of the game running successfully. If you can't even get that far, then worrying about the following steps is pretty pointless.

Thanks for all the responses and help!

[RSM72]

MiRai - well I think before getting into software/setups/etc, the first step is to have multiple accounts and multiple instances of the game running successfully. If you can't even get that far, then worrying about the following steps is pretty pointless.

In some cases the software used will help you run the required number of instances...

[tph88]

ah ok - well not running any special software to help me run wow.

Anyway, pointing to the .exe works, remembers my 2 separate account names and graphics settings etc.
Would have posted this update earlier but got distracted making macros. I can see this becoming an addiction...

[luxlunae]

ah ok - well not running any special software to help me run wow.

Although it is certainly possible to run as many instances as you like without software, you do need software to duplicate keystrokes to multiple clients at once. That is what multiboxing is. It is not tabbing between two instances (which will get exhausting and be very inefficient). There are both paid (isboxer is amazing) and free (hotkeynet is very powerful but requires a lot of programming) software for duplicating keystrokes.

[tph88]

Although it is certainly possible to run as many instances as you like without software, you do need software to duplicate keystrokes to multiple clients at once. That is what multiboxing is. It is not tabbing between two instances (which will get exhausting and be very inefficient). There are both paid (isboxer is amazing) and free (hotkeynet is very powerful but requires a lot of programming) software for duplicating keystrokes.

Hi Luxlunae, thanks for the reply!
Yes I understand that. My point just was you don't need to have one of those other softwares running in order to run 2 instances of wow.
So my steps in getting my multiboxing up and running were:
1) buy another account
2) get 2 instances of wow running on my computer at the same time.
3) run softare to duplicate keystrokes, add addons etc
4) create scripts/macros etc as needed.

If I couldn't get step 2 to work, then it doesn't really matter if I have anything else running yet.

I am using AutoHotKey since I already had it installed for work, am familiar with it and have written some scripts. Since I"m just checking it out (and because I'm also cheap) I don't want to pay for IsBoxer. Wow is my least expensive hobby and would like to keep it that way!

I've got my 2 instances running, from 2 different folders. Authotkey passing keystrokes. Jamba addon. Macros created on both accounts to deal with follow/attacks. Am tweaking macros as I get more experience with this to make them more efficient. Haven't figured out yet how to get the Jamba taxi part working (but will research and post another question on that if I need to).

Thank you all for helping me! It is much appreciated!