Got Gifted A Used Gaming Laptop

[JimEvers37]

My brother recently upgraded to a better gaming laptop and I got his 'old' gaming laptop and I'm trying to figure out if it's worth the aggravation of trying to get Links on this laptop. It's running Win11, an HP Pavilion 15-ec2008ca (below are what I believe are the specs for the laptop)

AMD Ryzen 5 5600H 3.3GHz Processor
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 4GB GDDR6
8GB DDR4-3200 RAM
512GB Solid State Drive
Microsoft Windows 10 Home
Multi-Format SD Media Card Reader
10/100/1000 Network
Realtek Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 6 (2x2)+Bluetooth 5.2 Combo
15.6" FHD IPS Micro-Edge Anti-Glare Display
The thin and powerful HP Pavilion Gaming 15 Laptop (refurbished) lets you experience high-grade graphics and processing power that meets your gaming and multitasking needs.

I'm sure somebody will be able to read this and know if it will run Links successfully and will hopefully post the good news

My other question/problem which would be moot if it will not run Links, there are no CD/DVD drives to install the game with, I don't know if its possible to copy the files from the CDs or the version that currently works on my desktop.

Thanks in advance for any help that can be provided.

Jim

[pmgolf]

I have this:

Brand ASUS Model F512DA-NH77
Op Sys Windows 10 Home 64-bit
CPU AMD Ryzen 7 3700U 2.30 GHz
Screen 15.6"
Memory 8 GB DDR4
Storage 512 GB M.2 PCIe Gen3x2 NVMe SSD
Graphic AMD Radeon RX Vega 10
Video Memory - Shared memory - integrated card

and it runs Links (and the APCD). I also have a desktop PC:

AMD Ryzen 5 2600 3.4 GHz 6-Core Processor (an older version of the Ryzen 5 than yours)
Gigabyte X470 AORUS ULTRA GAMING ATX AM4 Motherboard
Samsung SSD 860 EVO 1 TB 2.5 Inch SATA III Internal SSD
Corsair Vengeance LPX 16 GB DDR4-2666 Memory
Asus GeForce GTX 1050 Ti 4 GB Phoenix Video Card
Windows 10 Pro

and it runs Links very well (and the APCD). (I love AMD)

The big question in my mind is Windows 11. Some people say it runs Links, but honestly, I don't trust MS!

You can get - IMO - a better version of Links 2003, which is downloadable, along with all necessary patches for $7.95.
Here:
https://www.linkscountryclub.com/download

You can also get all the original courses there ($). But before you do, look over all the free courses here at LinksCorner.org. I've played all of them, but the ones with the best graphics and detail are here.

Maybe someone will have the exact computer/Links/Operating system configuration that you do - maybe not, but the odds are real good that it will all work! You can get a DVD reader/writer that connects via USB, but you can probably find downloadable versions of whatever you need.

Pete

[Ian Wells]

I have the following:
Processor AMD Ryzen 5 5500U with Radeon Graphics 2.10 GHz
Installed RAM 16.0 GB (15.4 GB usable)
System type 64-bit operating system, x64-based processor

Edition Windows 11 Home
Version 21H2
Installed on ‎08/‎03/‎2022
OS build 22000.556

I downloaded the two Links files from Links Country Club and copied them to "C:\LINKS" and opened the C:\LINKS\LinksLauncher.exe. When it opened it was not promising but after I changed the display to 1280x720x32bit it worked fine. (I did not alter the compatibility settings.)
The only "problems "I have noticed is the player shadow is opaque with the translucent option greyed out and the swing meter is very large.
I can watch my ball on the top view sail effortlessly into the bunker.

I am the opposite of a pc guru but I can't imagine why your "new" laptop wouldn't work, in fact with the NVIDIA card I think the golfer shadow will be available in translucent.
Good luck.
Ian

[JimEvers37]

Ian,

Which files did you download from the Country Club? I copied the files from the Links 2003 CDs that I have onto a thumb drive, I installed it in c:Links and have gotten a few different errors trying to run Links. (I have ran the 1.07 Patch and Nvidia patch as well)

Thanks!

Jim

[pmgolf]

s_112.jpg (23.3 KiB) Viewed 4666 times

Install them in the following order: 3,1,5,2, numbered from top to bottom.

I have never installed the one with 1.5 in it's name. Links only costs $7.50, and for me, the ease of installing the download version makes it a great buy!

Pete

[Ian Wells]

Jim,

Which files did you download from the Country Club? I copied the files from the Links 2003 CDs that I have onto a thumb drive, I installed it in c:Links and have gotten a few different errors trying to run Links. (I have ran the 1.07 Patch and Nvidia patch as well)

I downloaded these files:

Links2K3_Down.exe (304.57 MB)
Links2K3_Players.exe (181.12 MB)

I never ran any patches. (I have just ran the Nvidia patch to see if it would give me a translucent shadow but it didn'.)

Ian

[pmgolf]

Before Mr. Corrector comes along, let me say "to the best of my knowledge,"

The 1.07 patch allows Links to use 1024 x 1024 textures instead of being limited to 512 x 512, and will expand course conditions to include challenging conditions, among other things. I'd call that a major update!

The nVidia patch provides wide-screen options for all the wide-screen monitors we now have. It is not limited to nVidia!

Pete

[GoBucks]

Here is a link to the LSPN thread concerning the Nvidia patch : http://www.lspn.net/community/viewtopic ... &sk=t&sd=a

Originally there was an issue involving W7, Nvidia drivers, and certain courses( mostly Legacy courses). Thanks to Mark Hulka, the Nvidia patch took care of that issue, and the 'Broken-Glass" appearance of water.

This is, in no way, a correction of what Pete said. Just more background on that patch..

[GoBucks]

Jim,

Which files did you download from the Country Club? I copied the files from the Links 2003 CDs that I have onto a thumb drive, I installed it in c:Links and have gotten a few different errors trying to run Links. (I have ran the 1.07 Patch and Nvidia patch as well)

I downloaded these files:

Links2K3_Down.exe (304.57 MB)
Links2K3_Players.exe (181.12 MB)

I never ran any patches. (I have just ran the Nvidia patch to see if it would give me a translucent shadow but it didn'.)

Ian

The opaque/translucent shadow issue goes way back. It's an ATI/Nvidia thing. In short, if you have Nviidia graphics you can use translucent. If you have ATI graphics, you can't.