I've been running Steam and my Steam games off a 40GB IDE hard drive, and ran out of space. I plan on getting more games, so I purchased and installed a new SATA hard drive. It is running fine. How would I go about moving Steam and all of my games to this bigger and better hard drive? Is it something as simple as copying and pasting my Steam folder from my old drive into the new one? I don't want to screw up my games or my Steam account, so I would be really happy if you could give some advice. Thanks.
Yes it is that simple. Just don't restart or turn off your computer while your transferring files even if it seems like your computer is not responding. Wait a minute or two then if nothing happens restart it :buddy:
Install steam on your new drive, then copy over the /steam/steamapps folder
[QUOTE=Arsonist;19495887]Install steam on your new drive, then copy over the /steam/steamapps folder[/QUOTE]
That'd be the best way, if you just straight up copy it over it is going to break all the shortcuts.
If you don't want to reinstall steam you can also use junction points/symbolic links to point from your new drive to its old folder.
Example. I have steam installed on my program drive, but I have my steamapps folder on my data drive linked to an empty folder called steamapps in the steam directory.
[QUOTE=Arsonist;19495887]Install steam on your new drive, then copy over the /steam/steamapps folder[/QUOTE]
It's how i did it, very easy actually
I have a back-up of my steamapps folder on my external so that when I get new PC's. It minimizes the internet rape
[QUOTE=ToastaG;19495648] I don't want to screw up my games or my Steam account, so I would be really happy if you could give some advice. Thanks.[/QUOTE]
Why oh why are there ALWAYS morons who ask this?
YOUR STEAM ACCOUNT DATA ISN'T STORED ON YOUR COMPUTER, ONLY YOUR GAMES ARE!!!!!!! YOUR ACCOUNT DATA IS STORED ON VALVE'S SERVERS!!!!!!!!!
[QUOTE=dutchah;19532265]Why oh why are there ALWAYS morons who ask this?
YOUR STEAM ACCOUNT DATA ISN'T STORED ON YOUR COMPUTER, ONLY YOUR GAMES ARE!!!!!!! YOUR ACCOUNT DATA IS STORED ON VALVE'S SERVERS!!!!!!!!![/QUOTE]
calm down there bro
Thanks to everybody who was able to help.
[QUOTE=Arsonist;19495887]Install steam on your new drive, then copy over the /steam/steamapps folder[/QUOTE]
Don't even have to, you can actually just transfer over the entire Steam folder anywhere and it will still function. Works even when I reformat, steam will automatically reinstall all the needed system files for you when you first run it.
[QUOTE=dutchah;19532265]YOUR STEAM ACCOUNT DATA ISN'T STORED ON YOUR COMPUTER, ONLY YOUR GAMES ARE!!!!!!! YOUR ACCOUNT DATA IS STORED ON VALVE'S SERVERS!!!!!!!!![/QUOTE]
Incomplete achievements for Valve games are stored clientside, but all from within the SteamApps folder before they're "uploaded" to Steam Cloud.
Easiest to copy SteamApps to the new hard drive, uninstall Steam and then reinstall Steam so all the shortcuts and registry entries are fine and then paste the SteamApps folder back in. You don't have to, but it saves any hassles later on down the track. [b]If you uninstall Steam without copying SteamApps out first, it'll completely erase all your game content, config files and any other customisations you've made to any particular game.[/b]
Then defragment the new hard drive completely just to be safe, performance wise.
I've been waiting for one of these threads for a while. I'm copying Steamapps into my D drive now and then i uninstall Steam from the C drive and install into the D drive. Will I have to reinstall games?
[QUOTE=DrumStick;19546147]I've been waiting for one of these threads for a while. I'm copying Steamapps into my D drive now and then i uninstall Steam from the C drive and install into the D drive. Will I have to reinstall games?[/QUOTE]
no because that's what you just copied over.
[editline]11:09PM[/editline]
also official guide
[url]https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=7418-YUBN-8129[/url]
Ok well i got the SteamApps into my E Drive and i removed steam from my computer and i went back to the steam site and re downloaded steam and it came up with maintenance. I chose remove steam. I thought it would just remove from my C drive so i could install onto my D drive. No now my games are deleted. What the Christ.
Sorry for my idiocy, im obviously dumb with computers/steam.
P.S Now i have to Reinstall my games now.
[QUOTE=DrumStick;19546949]Ok well i got the SteamApps into my E Drive and i removed steam from my computer and i went back to the steam site and re downloaded steam and it came up with maintenance. I chose remove steam. I thought it would just remove from my C drive so i could install onto my D drive. No now my games are deleted. What the Christ.
Sorry for my idiocy, im obviously dumb with computers/steam.
P.S Now i have to Reinstall my games now.[/QUOTE]
It deleted the steamapps folder on your E drive? :crossarms:
[QUOTE=Roast Beast;19560593]It deleted the steamapps folder on your E drive? :crossarms:[/QUOTE]
yeah that doesnt sound right. It shouldnt do that.
Will a system restore fix it?
[QUOTE=SomeGuest;19541322]Don't even have to, you can actually just transfer over the entire Steam folder anywhere and it will still function. [/QUOTE]This is what I just did. Took a bit for 63.7 Gb to transfer though. All I think Im gonna have to do is redo my shortcuts. I don't mind it though.
Shit it's gonna suck moving 200gb when I format.
[QUOTE=Split3ndz;19587476]Shit it's gonna suck moving 200gb when I format.[/QUOTE]Yea, probably will take 45mins to a hour depending on transfer speed.
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