How-to: Get back your CoD4 profile(s) after format etc.

[sistah]

Well, It has happened to all of us:
Format, blue screen, click click your HDD is dead, kaboom! pc explosion
and after that you realize that your whole effort of kills, headshots, bootcamps, hundreds of hours
simply...gone.

You start the game and you see:
Welcome new user! and your face looks like -->

Thankfully, these days are over.

Lets get started.

Note: This guide works on both original and cracked copies.

Preparation before the disaster:

1) We need to save your profile so you're gonna need an external drive, USB or Dropbox which I HIGHLY recommend (online data store)

2) Go to My Computer --> Program Files --> Activision --> Call of Duty 4 - Modern Warfare --> players --> profiles

3) Save to one (or all) storage solution that I recommend on step 1.

4) Load Call of Duty 4

5) Go to Options --> Multiplayer Options --> and press ''Enter key code''
it should reveal your serial number.

6) Write down the numbers and letters (this step is important!)

7) Save it on notepad and store it with your profile folder as I said on step 3.

*Next step is optional, you can download it after the disaster*

8) Download the two patches for MP:
CoD4MW-1.6-Patch http://www.gamershell.com/download_27186.shtml
CoD4MW-1.6-1.7-Patch http://www.gamershell.com/download_28304.shtml

Thats all you need!


Now lets put them all back to be able to play with your old and sooo precious profile.

1) While installing the game it'll ask you for the serial number,
use the one and only that you saved before.
If you lost it then the whole thing is a second disaster you fool!

2) Do whatever you need to do after (replace cracked .exe etc..)

3) Install the two patches to be able to play MP with the latest maps, fixed bugs blah blah

4) Start the game and when prompt to enter your name as a new player enter your old name you used before the disaster

5) Play for a few minutes *to create a profile on saves*

6) Close the game

7) Go to My Computer --> Program Files --> Activision --> Call of Duty 4 - Modern Warfare --> players --> profiles

8) Delete the profile folder and replace it with your old one

9) Done!

Enjoy!


A few notes:

- I saved my profile, serial number and patches on another internal HDD and on Dropbox (to have it wherever I go)
so I recommend to do the same.

- If for any reason you lost the profile and serial number, of course there is no other way to play with your own set up (guns, kills, completed ranks and so on).
But there is one last solution to play MP with Rank 55 and use all the guns,
you can download a package called CoD 4 Rank Tool: http://solariz.de/937/cod4-rank-55-mpdata-patcher.htm
It's NOT a cheat tool !!
As the creator said:
''My intention behind this isn't actually cheating.
The Problem was my crashed Windows & reinstall with the conclusion of beginning from scratch.
If you are used to play at lvl55 it is hard to start from scratch.''

This is a last time solution.


Thank you..!

I'd be happy to help you with any questions.

sistah

[Apocalypse]

Nice post Sistah! my stuff is on 160 gb usb drive.

[sistah]

Nice post Sistah! my stuff is on 160 gb usb drive.

Thank you, but as sistah recommend upload it to Dropbox to be double safe
chop chop!

[dyn]

Thanks sistah, i am sure many players will find your guide very helpful!

If you want you can export COD4 key as a registry file and then just import it *before* you start COD4 on new system, without re-entering it inside COD4 itself.
Do this: start > run > regedit > search(F3) for: codkey > export Activision branch (select it, then File > Export), optionally select Save as type: Win9x/NT for maximum compatibility.

Regedit file should contain:

Code: Select all

REGEDIT4

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Activision]

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Activision\Call of Duty 4]
"codkey"="1234567890ABCDEF1234"

On 64-bit systems it will be 'SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\...'.

Then install COD4 (or simply copy files) -> restore profile -> import key -> start COD4. This is also useful if your COD4 profile is overwritten or deleted for any reason, simply restore it + import key.

[sistah]

Thanks sistah, i am sure many players will find your guide very helpful!

If you want you can export COD4 key as a registry file and then just import it *before* you start COD4 on new system, without re-entering it inside COD4 itself.
Do this: start > run > regedit > search(F3) for: codkey > export Activision branch (select it, then File > Export), optionally select Save as type: Win9x/NT for maximum compatibility.

Wait, i didn't get something here, during the installation of the game you need to enter the S/N,
so why do we need to import the registry file after the installation?

[dyn]

Yes you have a point, i use reg file because i never install it, i just copy game data and then import key + restore profile. If you have COD4 on other partition than C: then you can simply import .reg file after windows reinstall (or backup restoration) and everything will be ready.

[IJ]

For anybody on windows 7 having trouble finding their profile folder try this file path:

Local Disk(C:)/Users/"User Name"/AppData/Local/VirtualStore/Program Files/Activision/Call of Duty 4/players/profiles

if you are running windows 64 bit the Program Files folder you want will have an (x86) at the end of it.

[dyn]

Yes this can be confusing. ioquake3 has an option (+set fs_oldstyle 1) to use local dir relative to the game dir instead of system/user dir, as old quake 3, or old ioquake 3 for that matter. I noticed COD4 behaves in the same way if it's not installed, ie. if you copy game data files without installing it. Something i prefer to do. Then user dir is inside COD4 game dir, like ...\cod4\players\profiles\{name}\. I hate it when games use system dirs.


You may also try to experiment with:

Code: Select all

+set fs_homepath /some/dir

It is for both COD4 and Q3. It can be relative or absolute, it was introduced for Unix systems, but it may be relevant for Vista/W7 as well.