Talk:List of DRM-free games on Microsoft Store

Its not possible to move everything manually on a for example extern hard drive. The exe files cant be transferd

The executable can't be transferred, but they can be copied to anywhere. From my testing though, you'd first have to move the exe file to anywhere outside the installation folder, to the main C: drive as an example, and then you can copy.

That’s what i did. I tried to copy the exe file outside to a external hard drive and i was getting an error message. It’s only possible from the app to install or move everything to somewhere else. In the past you could do that i think but not right now. I tried it with oblivion btw but it’s the same with stardew valley etc

Alright I'll try my own testing later today and see if this is the case

I just confirmed and the method still works. You have to MOVE then COPY the executable. When moving the executable, it must still be to somewhere on the main drive.

Okay im testing that later

So i can confirm it doesn’t work. When i try to move (meaning drag and drop) the launcher.exe manually it says i don’t have the rights to do that.

Okay you are right. To clarify

1: Drag and drop the whole game on the same drive you have installed the game

2: copy it on another drive

Some things need to be updated. Quake 2 is not drm free for example and als stardew valley asks for a xbox login. You need to logout from your xbox account to test if games are drm free. Stardew valley can be started when you click the login away but quake 2 doesnt start without a login

Yes Quake 2 is no longer DRM-free because the original version got replaced by the remastered, Enhanced version. Stardew Valley can still be run DRM-free though, by exiting the Xbox login

I am trying to check if Quake 4 is DRM protected and I'm getting an error

https://i.imgur.com/n80Z9mR.jpg

I couldn't move Quake4.exe to another location until I turned on Safe Mode, and after I rebooted I am receiving that error message. Can someone tell me if I'm doing something wrong or if there is another way to verify DRM and run the game?

Before you moved the game from its installed location, did you run the game for its initial start-up? Microsoft Store games require you to run the game inside its installed folder to finalize the installation. After the initial start-up, then you can safely move the files outside their installed location.

More information is listed at the bottom of the page.

I just redid the process and I made sure to run the game one time before I copied it to a different location and I still got the same message. It would be great if you or someone else could try this technique and see if it works. If you have Game Pass, Quake 4 is included with it.

I have tried this technique with Quake 4 specifically and it still works. After you run the game, you have to move it out of its installation folder and to a separate folder (for example, I moved the files to a spare folder in Downloads). Afterward, I copied those files to ANOTHER folder (this time, it was a folder in Documents). After the copying, the game ran as expected after opening the .exe.

You have to install, then move, and then COPY. This method will open Quake 4 without DRM.