Need to reformat my PC. What about Steam?

Whackeygrunt

Whackeygrunt

Whackeygrunt

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Hi all,

Ok so I need to reformat my C patition which currently has Windows 7 RC on it with a full working copy of Windows 7.

I have Steam (and thus, all games bought and installed through Steam) installed on my E partition. Obviously C is the only drive that is goign to get wiped and have things change on it.

However, I will probs need to reinstall all my programs etc on my D partition due to registry related malarky. Anyway, I was wondering, if I leave Steam and all the games I've got installed on the E partition, will it still work once I've reformated Windows? Or will i need to reinstall Steam and all those games? Or just Steam?

I have a feelign Steam was designed to handle reformat jobs well. Maybe it's just wishfull thinking. Either way I need to know.

Thanks.
 
Just run the Steam executable once your back into Windows and point to the same location, jobs a good 'un.

One of the many reasons to love Steam :)
 
Whackeygrunt said:
All the installed games will still work ok? It will remmeber their settings etc?
Click to expand...

Depends on the game and whether they've used Steam Cloud. The most recent Valve games (TF2 and L4D) save your settings, so you don't need to change them if you reinstall your games, however most game don't have that. I can only think of one non Valve game which does that which is Torchlight.
 
It's quite possible to update your RC to retail Win7 without formatting. It throws a hissy fit at first, since you're trying to upgrade an Ultimate edition (Win7 RC) to home premium (that's the release I bought), but a few registry tweaks will allow you to update fine without the need to start from scratch. No problems with mine over the last 6 months.
 
Some games will save there profiles and what not in the documents folder.

Libraries > Documents. Most of the games I bought off steam has done actually. :p
 
Gimpymoo said:
Just run the Steam executable once your back into Windows and point to the same location, jobs a good 'un.

One of the many reasons to love Steam :)
Click to expand...

This

Just be wary of third party games who store saves in My Docs.

Spend 10 minutes on google checking where your games save and back up any you need to.

All games will play fine and dandy (though some may want to reinstall some distributables first)
 
You find some the save games in these folders ;)

C:\Users\'your name'\AppData\Local

C:\Users\'your name'\AppData\Roaming

C:\Users\'your name'\Saved Games

C:\Users\'your name'\Documents\My Games

C:\Users\'your name'\Documents


You need to show hidden folders to be able to see the AppData folder ;)
 
Stupid idiot developers that have to put their files into all kinds of obscure folders. Where are the times when all files were in the game's directory and that was it..
 
Paul_cz said:
Stupid idiot developers that have to put their files into all kinds of obscure folders. Where are the times when all files were in the game's directory and that was it..
Click to expand...

You store all your word documents in c:\program files\microsoft office?

Thought not.
 
Kenai said:
You store yours in C:\Users\vonhelmet\AppData\Roaming then I take it?
Click to expand...
:D

I have about 100 steam games installed and only one (RA3) of them has put the save games in the actual save game folder (C:\Users\'your name'\Saved Games)
But it has put the profiles in the \AppData\Roaming\ folder :rolleyes:
 
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Paul_cz said:
Stupid idiot developers that have to put their files into all kinds of obscure folders. Where are the times when all files were in the game's directory and that was it..
Click to expand...

No, they should all be in one place "documents, games, saves".

A lot of games currently follow this, there are a few however that don't, annoyingly so.
 
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