Games Explorer Folder - Add Games To

How to Add Games to Games Explorer Folder in Vista, Windows 7, and Windows 8 ​

"So you add a game into Games Explorer Folder and realize that the game has no
cover, no rating, no info... Well, this tutorial will show you
how to add all that missing information."​

First things First.

• Adding a shortcut into Game Explorer Folder (GEF):

• Copy the main executable, then right click and select paste shortcut.

• Or Just Drag n Drop a shortcut of the game.

Use a shortcut, never use the main executable.

• Using the Registry Editor (REd):

• Hit the Start Orb and type regedit in the search box, an UAC prompt will ask you to authorize access by clicking Continue.

• The Files you will need:

Download

• Inside is the GameUXLegacyGDFs.txt file, Just save it for later use.

• Use Winrar or 7zip to extract the file.

The Tutorial:

This tutorial subdivides in Semi-Automatic for games already in the database which the GEF doesn't recognize automatically and manual for the ones not included in the database.​

   Note

Always remember to close GEF every time you need to edit the values in the REd, otherwise the game shortcut will be deleted.

Let's Begin...

• Semi-Automatic

Microsoft has added various old games to be recognized automatically by the GEF using a file called GameUXLegacyGDFs.dll but some of them need a little extra work to show-up.

Step 1: Add a shortcut into the GEF and then close it.

Step 2: Extract and then open the file GameUXLegacyGDFs.txt from the downloadable file.​

• Hit Ctrl+F to bring the search option in Notepad.

• Type just a part of the game's name.

It is very important to search only a part of the name otherwise you will cannot find any game. (e.g. if i want to find Hidden & Dangerous 2, i just type hidden in the search box).

• Hit "Find Next" button 'till you find the game your looking for.

If you cannot find the game please refer to Manual part of this tutorial.
Step 3: Open the REd and navigate to this location.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\GameUX

The KEY name might be different from yours.​

Step 4: Once you find the KEY that belongs to your game, edit as follow:

• In AppExePath put the location of your game executable.

(e.g. C:\Program Files\Illusion Softworks\Hidden & Dangerous 2\hd2.exe).

• In ApplicationId put the xxx value you found in *GameDefinitiongameID="xxx", on the GameUXLegacyGDFs.txt file.

Add just the value between commas.

• In ConfigInstallType replace the value to 3.

• Delete the Title String.

• Add a new String (Right-click>New>String Value) and name it ConfigGDFBinaryPath, then in the value data space put C:\Windows\system32\GameUXLegacyGDFs.dll

It should be look like this.
Step 5: Close the REd and open GEF, wait 'till windows updates the game info.

• Manual

If you can't find the game your looking for in GameUXLegacyGDFs.txt, you still can use another already in the file and edit its values.
Step 1: Go to All Game Guide to search your game.

Save the cover image for later use.
Step 2: Now go to Entertainment Software Rating Board and find a game with similar rating.

Step 3: Now lets find out if its listed on the GameUXLegacyGDFs.txt file, if not keep searching on the ESRB page.

Step 4: Open the REd and navigate to this location.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\GameUX

The KEY name might be different from yours.​

Step 5: Once you find the KEY that belongs to your game, edit as follow:

• In AppExePath put the location of your game executable.

(e.g. C:\Program Files\Illusion Softworks\Hidden & Dangerous 2\hd2.exe).

• In ApplicationId put the xxx value you found in *GameDefinitiongameID="xxx", on the GameUXLegacyGDFs.txt file.

Add just the value between commas.

• In ConfigInstallType replace the value to 3.

• Delete the Title String.

• Add a new String (Right-click>New>String Value) and name it ConfigGDFBinaryPath, then in the value data space put C:\Windows\system32\GameUXLegacyGDFs.dll

It should be look like this.
Step 6: Open GEF and wait to update the info.

Step 7: Update the REd by hitting the F5 key and replace the info as necessary.

This is just the basic info only, you can fill the blank spaces if you like.
Step 8: Now copy and paste this values and put them like so:

• in TimeToRefreshBasicData: b357951d59359b57 (Hexadecimal)
• in TimeToRefreshBoxArt: 855c358859359b57 (Hexadecimal)

The given values should stop reverting the game to its defaults every once in awhile.
Step 9: Now navigate to this location and paste the image your game will use as a cover.
C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\GameExplorer\GamesBoxArt
The AppData folder is hidden by default you can learn how to unhide it in this tutorial.
Step 10: Change the name of the image with the one we're replacing.

• If you wanna use another type of image you need to edit the last part of the BoxArt String to the kind of file you wanna use.

(e.g. ...//images.../g21004lorom.jpg) JPG/PNG/BMP.

• Or if you want to use an icon instead, just edit:

AppExePath put the location of the icon.
BoxArt leave it blank.



Step 11: Now open the GEF and your game should display with the new info on it.

BTW, if you think is too much work for you, just take a look at this tutorial Games Explorer - Edit all credits to Darkness Warrior '96.




That's all for now...
Rjck.

Related Tutorials

---

• How to Delete a Game in Games Explorer Folder in Vista, Windows 7, and Windows 8
• How to Create a "Games Explorer" Shortcut in Vista, Windows 7, and Windows 8
• Hide or Unhide Games in Games Explorer Folder in Vista, Windows 7, and Windows 8
• How to Restore the Default Games in Games Explorer Folder in Windows 7
• How to Customize the Windows 7 Games Explorer Context Menu
• Games Explorer - Edit with Game Explorer Builder
• How to Add Steam Games to Windows 7 Games Explorer Folder
• Enable or Disable Game Updates in "Games Explorer" in Vista, Windows 7, and Windows 8
• Enable or Disable Last Play Time of Games in "Games Explorer" in Vista, Windows 7, and Windows 8
• Enable or Disable Game Updates in "Games Explorer" in Vista, Windows 7, and Windows 8

 

[Tizmo]

Excellent tutorial! I was able to easily add the games with this!

I have one small, but annoying problem.

Every now and then, a few games (and only those) AUTOMATICALLY change the boxart and titles, release dates etc! My GTA IV automatically changes to San Andreas. Call of Duty - United Offensive changes automatically to Call of Duty 2! Call of Duty 4 did this once. Battlefield 2 has always stayed correct.

I can go back to the registry and edit the parametres, download the boxart etc and everything is fine again. But after a few days they are changed again!

Any ideas?

PS: I think I used the GameDefinitiongameID values from the GameUXLegacyGDFs.txt file for GTA IV, CoD4 and UO. It's as if they are reverting back to the original game in the gameuxlegacy file.

Oh, is there any way to change the game version that appears in the game explorer? For every non-Microsoft game it says version 1.0.0.0.

 

[Rjck]

Thanks Tizmo and welcome.

You are correct the info is reverting back to the original game.
It seems like the game values have a time to refresh the data and that's why it happen.
This two values seems to be related to that issue:

TimeToRefreshBasicData
TimeToRefreshBoxArt

Just change the value data in the registry for every custom game.

TimeToRefreshBasicData = a4,6a,0e,94,9c,7e, ca,01 (Hexadecimal)
TimeToRefreshBoxArt = 76,b4,79,94,9c,7e,ca, 01 (Hexadecimal)

In GE options:

• Check Download art and info about installed games.
• Uncheck Collect most recently played game information.
• Change from automatically to never check online for updates and news.

Let me know if that helps.

About the version info. No, it cannot be changed at all I tried every single value and no luck so far.

 

[Tizmo]

When changing the values for TimeToRefresh, will those values make it so that it never refreshes?

 

[Rjck]

When changing the values for TimeToRefresh, will those values make it so that it never refreshes?

hope so, I already testing and all seems to be ok for now. If its not fixin' the issue please let me know.

 

[Tizmo]

Ok, I will try in the morning. It is late here.

 

[Rjck]

Ok, I will try in the morning. It is late here.

Cool.

 

[Tizmo]

Right, I changed the values. I will monitor this for a few days and see what happens.

 

[Rjck]

Right, I changed the values. I will monitor this for a few days and see what happens.

Great.

 

[Tizmo]

So far everything seems fine.

EDIT: 3rd day, everything is still good.

EDIT: 5th day, everything fine.

I think I can say that this is working. I will still keep an eye on this though.

 

[oh hi there]

Nice guide. Worked mostly for me. Couldn't get the box art working though. It just doesn't want to change it. All I see is an image of the icon of the exe.

 

[irbri]

Hey Rjck, great tutorial! I have a question... do you recall the "Customise Play Menu" option for games in Vista, do you know if there's any way to get it back in 7? It was really helpful for loading game mods etc and I'm quite peeved that it's either been left out or has been cleverly hidden.

Related; http://www.sevenforums.com/customization/46599-shortcut-targets.html

Thanks!
Bri

 

[Rjck]

Thanx guys and welcome to the forums.

 

[Rjck]

Nice guide. Worked mostly for me. Couldn't get the box art working though. It just doesn't want to change it. All I see is an image of the icon of the exe.

Hi, oh hi there. Can you post a screenshot of the GEF and the registry? maybe i can help.

 

[Rjck]

Hey Rjck, great tutorial! I have a question... do you recall the "Customise Play Menu" option for games in Vista, do you know if there's any way to get it back in 7? It was really helpful for loading game mods etc and I'm quite peeved that it's either been left out or has been cleverly hidden.

Related; http://www.sevenforums.com/customization/46599-shortcut-targets.html

Thanks!
Bri

Hi irbri, yes i remember it. It was a really helpful option back in Vista, but unfortunately the option its available only to Games For Windows, yep i tried to get it back but without luck.

 

[Rjck]

So far everything seems fine.

EDIT: 3rd day, everything is still good.

EDIT: 5th day, everything fine.

I think I can say that this is working. I will still keep an eye on this though.

Thanx for the update Tizmo, same here all seems to work fine too.

 

[VeLiKi]

question, again:
I've added a custom game to my game folder using your tutorial. I found the box-art image, changed all the registry values, found an equivalent game on ESRB website, made everything perfect...except for one detail: game now won't run from game folder. Whenever I run it, I get a weird error:

"An Assertion failed in F:\Torment\Source\chitin\Chitin.cpp at line number 1393
Programmer says: Error initializing key table, bad key file"

Ok, I installed Planescape: Torment on my C: drive, it's path is C:\Torment. I dragged and dropped it's .exe into games folder to create a shortcut, then edited all the information through registry editor. But now, whenever I run it I get this stupid error. If I manually run the game .exe from it's folder, the game runs fine.
What am I doing wrong?

 

[Rjck]

question, again:
I've added a custom game to my game folder using your tutorial. I found the box-art image, changed all the registry values, found an equivalent game on ESRB website, made everything perfect...except for one detail: game now won't run from game folder. Whenever I run it, I get a weird error:

"An Assertion failed in F:\Torment\Source\chitin\Chitin.cpp at line number 1393
Programmer says: Error initializing key table, bad key file"

Ok, I installed Planescape: Torment on my C: drive, it's path is C:\Torment. I dragged and dropped it's .exe into games folder to create a shortcut, then edited all the information through registry editor. But now, whenever I run it I get this stupid error. If I manually run the game .exe from it's folder, the game runs fine.
What am I doing wrong?

Hi VeLiKi, are u sure is just an .exe file? or does it has .exe -command?

Create a shortcut of the game in your desktop and then >right click>Properties>Shortcut tab, take a screenshot to take a look.

 

[VeLiKi]

Hi VeLiKi, are u sure is just an .exe file? or does it has .exe -command?

Create a shortcut of the game in your desktop and then >right click>Properties>Shortcut tab, take a screenshot to take a look.

Here:

and the shortcut:

Double-clicking the shortcut also runs the game just fine. Also, I edited the value AppExePath in registry for my Torment shortcut in games folder to C:\Torment\Torment.exe but it still doesn't work.

 

[Rjck]

Mmm that's strange, All seems to be ok.
Lets try this:

1. Open the registry editor and navigate to the location below and search your game.
   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\GameUX
   NOTE: The key values might be different from yours.
2. Go to C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\GameExplorer\ and find the folder with the same name of the game. "the one you take note above".
3. Open that folder until you find the game's shortcut. eg. ...\{3F29E50B-538D-48A0-9F69-A632B5AA5308}\PlayTasks\0\
4. Delete that shortcut, put a new shortcut of the game in here and rename it "Play".

Note: Make sure GEF is closed, cause otherwise when u delete the shortcut in the step 4, the game will dissapear from GEF and u have to make all the tutorial again.

Hope that solves the issue.

 

[oh hi there]

Ok I have attached an image of the reg info for one of the games that does not appear. Also, the games explorer page.

One game I had to enter manually that seemed to work was simcity4. I entered both silent hill games manually. The one I highlighted doesn't seem to update properly.