Elfstone
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1285
Registered: 03-01-2006
IP: Logged

No I haven't switched sides - nor am I going to!!

Can anyone tell me: if DROD (on a PC) has become corrupted by some kind of computer virus, would the simplest thing be to delete it and re-download it, or is there another way this should be approached. I'm asking on behalf of Neather2 who has exactly this problem. At the moment he cannot export at all (or edit) and I assume that means that if he has to delete DROD completely he will lose all his progress? (been there, done that,)

Is it possible, if he and his uncle manage to clean the virus out of the computer, that DROD will recover anyway?

Elfstone.

____________________________
Winner of: Novice Architect Excellence 2006.
FAPCA - Technical Design Excellence in Layout and Aesthetics

Watcher
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 902
Registered: 02-04-2003
IP: Logged

If the installation has been corrupted, yes, the simplest solution is the redownload and reinstall. However, before reinstalling, Neather2 should make a backup of four files called data.dat, drod2_0.dat, player.dat, and text.dat, all found in the /Data subdirectory of the main DROD directory. These four files store all players and their progress. If these files are unharmed by the virus, Neather2 can maintain his progress by reinstalling DROD and replacing the newly created versions of these files with his backup. (And the easiest way to determine whether they are unharmed is to do this replacement and attempt to run DROD afterwards.)

I'm not in any way an expert on computer viruses, but I know that viruses generally spread themselves by messing with executable files. Any harm to data files is generally a side effect, and plenty of viruses do no such damage at all. It's possible that Neather2's problem is only a result of the virus ruining DROD's executable, in which case his progress should be fine.

Even if the data files have been harmed, Neather2 shouldn't delete them outright. If the damage is only light, it might be possible to fix them.

____________________________
Today the refrigerator, tomorrow the world!

Elfstone
Level: Smitemaster

Rank Points: 1285
Registered: 03-01-2006
IP: Logged

Many thanks Watcher! I will try to get that into reasonable Italian for him.

Elfstone.

____________________________
Winner of: Novice Architect Excellence 2006.
FAPCA - Technical Design Excellence in Layout and Aesthetics