Deleting Games with the Delete Key

[murve33]

Another Question,

When I use the delete key in GameEx, it removes the game from the GameEx Menu but not from Explorer. As a result, whenever I run GameEx the next time, the games I previously removed are back.

Is there a way to send games to the recycle bin, or just plain remove them, within GameEx?

[nullPointer]

What system are you trying to remove games for? Typically when you hit the delete key GameEx will remove the game from your list, and cache the list of removed games to a file. Games removed in this fashion shouldn't re-appear in your list even after restarting GameEx (although I have noticed that Steam seems to be a notable exception to this rule).

AFAIK GameEx will not remove games from the file system. In order to fully remove games from the file system it would probably be better to use Windows Explorer, or some other file search / management tool.

[murve33]

I think I was removing MAME games when I last tried. Is there any way to access the cache and look at what game I've deleted so I can later delete them in explorer?

[nullPointer]

I believe MAME games removed via the delete key actually get added to the Excluded ROMs list in your config. As a result they should actually show up directly in your GameEx.ini. Feel free to post that if you'd like.

Just out of curiosity, you're not running the Setup Wizard at the same time you have GameEx running are you? That might cause the same type of behavior you describe here. Likewise you'll want to be sure that your GameEx.ini is able to be written to (i.e. make sure it's not set as read-only at either the file or the directory level). This last bit might be a stretch though being that I assume you are able to modify other GameEx settings successfully.

You're not running multiple versions of GameEx are you?

I think I was removing MAME games when I last tried. Is there any way to access the cache and look at what game I've deleted so I can later delete them in explorer?

Actually I would make a special exception to my previous statement in the case of MAME. The only way you could do this successfully was if you were running a fully split set (meaning every ROM zip is a fully self contained unit). If you're running a merged set you will wind up deleting a lot more games than you intend to if you delete them via Windows Explorer, and if you are running a split merged set you will screw up every single clone if you inadvertently delete the parent ROM for a given set in this fashion. Generally speaking it's a bad idea.

Basically you would want to do this using a specialized ROM management tool (i.e. ClrMamePro or ROM Center), and even then it will likely require that you rebuild your set. Long story short ... let's try to get that delete key working before we get carried away.

[murve33]

Huh, it's working now. Maybe I did have the Wizard open before. I'll test on my girlfriend's computer (which is where I was having the most problems).

[Riffman81]

I have a question that releates to this topic so I didn't see the point in starting a new thread. Let's say I delete a game with the delete key in GE. Is it possible to later restore said game?

[Adultery]

Yes, the list is in the emulators advanced setup.

[Riffman81]

Yes, the list is in the emulators advanced setup.

Ah, ok. Thanks Adultery