Steam re-installation question

teh_captain · 26 Mar 2015 at 12:59

Hello chaps,

Got a quick question with regards to uninstalling and re-installing Steam. I've got Steam (and Origin actually) currently installed on a 120Gb 840 Evo (separate from my OS drive) with a couple of games on it plus a load of other games installed onto a 1Tb Barracuda.

I'm overhauling my machine this weekend (new case, GFX, SSD etc) and have bought a 250Gb 840 Evo to replace the 120Gb for games. Now do I just uninstall Steam & Origin, put the new drive in and re-install them?

Will Steam recognise the games that I have on my mech drive/Steam library, or will I have to uninstall/redownload them all? Not so bothered about Origin as I only have about 3 games all on the SSD which I'll redownload.

Cheers,
Tom

UberGinge · 26 Mar 2015 at 13:09

Assuming you don't format the original SSD right away, you could just mount it as a second drive and copy the steamapps folder across to the new drive post install of Steam.

JulioH · 26 Mar 2015 at 18:04

I'm not 100% sure, but I would use the Steam backup feature. I think you just right click on any game and 'Backup game files'.

When I tried to copy my steamapps folder and moved it across it didn't recognise them for me and kept redownloading the games.

ron3003 · 26 Mar 2015 at 18:13

Just use Macrium to clone the 120gb to the new 250gb.
Shut down, swap out the SSD and restart.
Provided the new drive is using the same drive letter as the old drive Steam/Origin will not see anything has been changed

Surfer · 9 Apr 2015 at 10:54

im in similar position. I have steam and windows on 1 250gig ssd which i now realize was far too small. So buying another 250gig ssd and want to transfer steam to that.

do i need to backup each game onto the new ssd drive?

So basically i want
c:/ 256 gig ssd mx100 windows 7 and a few non-steam games
e:/ 256 gig ssd mx100 steam

or you reckon i would run out of space again pretty quick? Treesize puts it at 124 gig size already.

Mockingbird · 9 Apr 2015 at 10:58

I'd use the Steam backup feature myself - pretty foolproof.

That said, Steam's generally very good at picking up installations if you move the steamapps file to the new install location.

Origina I think you have to start the download, close origin, copy the files to the new location, open origin and it'll check the files and go 'done'.

kthula666 · 9 Apr 2015 at 11:35

Done a move a few times. I just rename steam to steamold. Reinstall Steam and copy steamapps folder into it. Start steam and log in.

teh_captain · 9 Apr 2015 at 11:44

Apologies I forgot to update this thread!

It was very straightforward in the end; for Steam I used the backup/restore feature - ticked which games I wanted to back up to another drive and when I put the new SSD in I just restored the files to it. Easy peasy.

E: Also it instantly recognised the games in my library which I had on another drive as initially they were greyed out.

For Origin I followed this process: http://help.ea.com/uk/article/backing-up-and-restoring-your-origin-games/ - again very easy. Got BF3 and all expansions back hassle free.

Thanks everyone for their help and suggestions!

Drizmod · 9 Apr 2015 at 11:50

I have steam on another drive with about 200 GB of games installed. I have done fresh re-installs of windows countless times. To get steam working on a new install I just run the steam exe directly from where its installed and it pops up saying some files are missing and its downloading. After a couple of minutes Steam works fine. Games work also. I never use the backup feature.