Forum Discussion

Seasoned Veteran

1 day ago

Solved

Potential problems setting up EA App on fresh/upgraded Windows 11.

Hello,

This is not a problem, but to avoid any potential hiccups I wonder if anyone has any thing particular to watch out for below:

New Windows 11 pro (fresh not upgrade) on my PC. Was Windows 10.

Local account only. PC name change. Drive letters and owerships (in security tab) changed to remove unknow user, which was my old W10 account. Hardware - all the same.

EA app NOT installed yet.

So I own a lot of EA games, but have approx 8 or 10 full games already installed left over on non-system disk after using a brand new SSD for only my C: System drive.

Those games of course cannot be played without the EA App full setup. I would prefer not to have to re-download them. All game files are there.

All purchased directly through EA App, no linking. EA account has not been changed at all as my details have not changed. (just drive letter, ownership and OS)

I assume it should go smoothly. It was a doddle on Steam without any guide.

EA tend to have seizures during such operations, occasionally, although I have never experienced any issue with the EA APP itself or the old Origin, years ago. (I may be the only person who likes the EA App? just judging by posts. Heh Heh.)

So, I know I will have to do all the normal stuff, and fully expect it to be an intuitive step by step process, as it should be.

This post is just incase there are any known issues with doing all this. The last time I installed the EA APP was when it was first released, on the same PC as now, but W10. Never had any issuses.

Specs, not really necessary, but just incase:

HW: RTX 3080ti ROG strix gaming OC. CPU i9-9900ks @ 5.21GHz. 32 GB DDR4 @ 3,700Mhz. All SATA SSDs. It's an overclocked system but very stable so that should make no difference at - all.

Summary:

If anyone wishes to advise me on potential problems, it would be great. I want to be prepared and do it all in one go.

I'll install the EA APP in a couple of days, so if no one replies I'll take that as a good sign.

If anyone points out particular potential issues, of course I will like the post.

Cheers folks.

accessibility

GawgPorkChop
11 hours ago
Great, thanks EA_Leeuw ,
That's an excellent comprehensive guide.
I'm pretty confident about it all now, thanks to you.
If I end up having to re-download all or some of the games again, it's not really such a big deal. (I can only play one game at a time!)
So, it will work out. I know my way around the EA-App pretty well, so everything you mentioned makes sense and is a good check list.
Thank you very much indeed!!

3 Replies

GawgPorkChop
Seasoned Veteran
11 hours ago
Ah, EA_Leeuw ,
Sorry, but it seems as if I marked my own post as the Solution!!
I don't know how it happened, but well it did. Of course your post is the full/solution/answer.
Apologies, and again thank you very much for the Solution!!
GawgPorkChop
Seasoned Veteran
11 hours ago
Great, thanks EA_Leeuw ,
That's an excellent comprehensive guide.
I'm pretty confident about it all now, thanks to you.
If I end up having to re-download all or some of the games again, it's not really such a big deal. (I can only play one game at a time!)
So, it will work out. I know my way around the EA-App pretty well, so everything you mentioned makes sense and is a good check list.
Thank you very much indeed!!
EA_Leeuw
Community Manager
1 day ago
Hi GawgPorkChop ,

From what you’ve described, the main thing to watch is that the EA app needs to be pointed at the same install location where those games are currently stored.

After installing the EA app and signing in with the same EA Account, I’d suggest checking the app’s download/install location first and making sure it matches the drive/folder where your existing EA app games are installed. If the app can detect the existing files, it should verify/prepare the installation rather than download the full game again, though it may still need to download updates, missing files, or repair anything that doesn’t match.

For games that appear in your Library, you can also use Manage > Repair to have the EA app check the game files.

The parts I’d be most careful with in your setup are the changed drive letters and Windows folder ownership/security permissions. If the EA app cannot access the existing folders properly, it may fail to detect the install or behave as if the game needs to be installed again.

So before starting, I’d recommend:

Make sure the drive letters are final and won’t change again.

Make sure your current Windows account has full access to the game folders.

Set the EA app install/download location to the existing game location before starting any installs.

Don’t manually delete or move the existing game folders unless needed.

If prompted to install, double-check that it is pointing to the existing folder/location first.

I can’t guarantee every title will be picked up perfectly after a clean Windows install, especially with ownership and path changes involved, but in the best case, the app should verify the existing files and only download what is missing or needs updating.

Hope this helps.