Best way of keeping Steam installs

Caporegime
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Some of these games on Steam are massive and I don't relish the idea of having to download some of them again. Is the built in backup method a good way to shove the game files on to an external HDD so you can just get them back again in the future with minimum fuss?
 
Associate
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20 Apr 2008
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That works but you can also install them onto a second hard drive and on a reinstall just point steam back to said folder, I can't think where in the options it is off the top of my head
 
Caporegime
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If you move the data back into the common folder and install the game again, steam will check for existing files first.

In reverse, move the folder out of common, before uninstalling it from the client.
 
Soldato
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18 Oct 2009
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11,175
Yes, you need the manifest file as well. Those tell Steam whether the game is complete or only partially complete. Without the completed manifest file, Steam will start downloading the game again if you move a game folder back into the Steam directory.

The manifest files have numbers and no indication which is for which game. If you search for the game in question and steam appid, you'll get the number which corresponds to the game.
 
Associate
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This was helpful as I have games with a total storage need of at least 2+TB and that is my main steam account. I did try to copy the games themselves and put them in their own folder but as you can probably imagine that did not work I wasted valuable time and space. Thanks for posting this OP.
 
Soldato
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I have my entire Steam installation on a different hard disk and I’ve never had to do anything other than reinstall Steam back to the same location when I’ve reinstalled Windows. Steam has just automatically picked up all the games and carried on as normal when I’ve selected one to play.

I’ve never moved them to an external HDD though. When I run low on space, I’ve upgraded my games HDD and just copied everything across and changed the drive letter on the new HDD to what the old games drive was. Steam has then just carried on as normal.
 
Soldato
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Steams on another hdd for me, fresh install of base files onto ssd, ask it to install one game thats on hdd, point it to install it in hdd location, steam then finds the game already installed and all the other games in that steam hdd folder, job done
 
Associate
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I have my Steam games spread over 4 drives. My favourites and Vr games are on my SSDs, my other ones are spread across my 2 other big HDDs.

When I install a new game it asks where I want to install it and i select the drive I want then.
 
Associate
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dont you have to copy the manifest file as well then it just auto picks them up.
You don't as I copied the whole of my xcom 2 install folder from one computer to the other (over the network) and once I set it to install, it automatically picked up on the files that were there already and all it needed to do was download all the mods.
 
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