New HDD and games files

[Slinkie]

Hi Folks,

I currently have a 300gb hdd that is starting to sound a bit rough. Windows takes an age to load and when it does it makes some horrible scratching/ grinding noises!

At the moment this is my only hdd and so have all of my games installed on it. I have another hdd I want to use to replace this which should perform a bit better too.

How do I keep all my games files etc so I don't have to reinstall/ re download all of my games.

Can I just install windows and all my drivers onto my new HDD, and then copy all of my install files over from my old hdd and then just format my old drive?

how will this work with the games I have downloaded from steam? Can I just download steam and install in on my new hdd then just copy my old steam file over the new install? The only games I have with the disk are crysis and orange box, my others game (5-6) are all downloaded so I don't want to have to have to download them again!

Thanks

Matt

 

[thegoonden]

In terms of dumping raw copied games onto a fresh windows........
Loads of games will work just fine if you just copy them over to the new drive without installing them.
Some will lose some functionality (gpgnet loses touch with supreme commander for example).
Some will work fine RIGHT up until you need to update them, some patch installers INSIST on reading the game's installation directory from the registry, rather than letting you browse.

If windos is on the same drive as the games, why not copy the lot with disc cloning software (and put the dodgy drive away in a safe place, it'll run one more time I'm sure and will therefore be an instant 1:1 backup snapshot of your current system).
If windows is on a separate (physical) drive, then it's a doddle.....put new drive in, copy yer baggage accross, take old drive out, make sure new drive is given the same drive letter the old one had, and you're sorted......kinda like the trick with the tablecloth and the fully set dinning table.


Do you defrag at all?
Drive might just be fragged to bits, appalling groans, growls and even the occasioanal screech can be caused by a head seeking 50,000 blocks of data from 50,000 different places on the drive.
If you DO defrag now and then, do NOT do it again until you replace the drive and save your stuff.

 

[uv]

you fdon't need to reinstall Steam or anything.. just copy across the entire Steam folder, open the Steam.exe, and it'll register a service, and you're good to go. I've carried the same Steam folder through a jillion windows installs

 

[thegoonden]

you fdon't need to reinstall Steam or anything.. just copy across the entire Steam folder, open the Steam.exe, and it'll register a service, and you're good to go. I've carried the same Steam folder through a jillion windows installs

Yup, Steam is defo one of those that couldn't give a monkey's.

Just install that one little app, point it to the right place and orf yer go.