Ok, here's the deal:

I go (well I actually used to go, but that's not a big deal ) to an internet cafe that has a valve cyber cafe account, and I use that service to play Counter Strike: Source.
That's fine, but the problem is, that, before I play, I have to download the required files to play, which are a couple of GBs. They have made a program to do that automatically, but you need to wait 10-15mins before you can play.
The program copies the files from a network computer. I have traced down the location from which the files get copied.
So, I was wondering, is it somehow possible to make "fake" files, which once accessed, they will return the data of an actual file that I have selected?
By this way, I can make files that will point to the original files, and by that way, I won't need to wait for the files to get copied!

I know that, if I manage to do that, the game will run a little slower, but, I think that it's worth the try...


Thanks.....

I'm not sure if Windows has named FIFOs but that would be my bet. You might be able to write a short Python script to get data from those files and pass them straight back out.

Even better would be you running those files straight from CD/DVD, if the terminals have their own CD drives.

But wouldn't a Python script require the file to be fully downloaded? (which I don't want to happen, because the file is about 2-3 GBs and downloading this file costs minutes )


And, no, the computers do not have a CD/DVD drive.

I think I need something similar to Linux's symlink command. I found that I can do this on Windows Vista using the mklink command, but this doesn't really help me since their computers are using Windows XP SP2.

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Originally posted by Mike
I think I need something similar to Linux's symlink command. I found that I can do this on Windows Vista using the mklink command, but this doesn't really help me since their computers are using Windows XP SP2.

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NTFS supports hard links and junctions, but apparently you can only link to volumes on the same computer, not shared volumes on a network...

http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=341355

http://articles.techrepublic.com.com/5100-6346_11-5388706.html

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It's important to keep in mind that NTFS junction points are designed to work only on local hard disks. They don't work across a network. In other words, you can't create a junction point on an NTFS drive that points to a network drive.

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Too bad...

Thanks anyway

Let's hope that there is a program with network support that allows me to do that

quote:

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Originally posted by Mike
But wouldn't a Python script require the file to be fully downloaded? (which I don't want to happen, because the file is about 2-3 GBs and downloading this file costs minutes )


And, no, the computers do not have a CD/DVD drive.

I think I need something similar to Linux's symlink command. I found that I can do this on Windows Vista using the mklink command, but this doesn't really help me since their computers are using Windows XP SP2.

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