Random Thoughts Thread

[Xeogred]

Well I'm going to attempt to move my Steam games around to another HDD today. Probably after I beat Axiom Verge. All tutorials I see show how to move from one drive to another, but what I need to do is get them off the current HDD to another, then install my new HDD and move everything again to that one. Wish me luck.

[isiolia]

Well I'm going to attempt to move my Steam games around to another HDD today. Probably after I beat Axiom Verge. All tutorials I see show how to move from one drive to another, but what I need to do is get them off the current HDD to another, then install my new HDD and move everything again to that one. Wish me luck.

If you can't install both drives at once to just duplicate it, maybe get a SATA to USB dock?

I think the only time you really need to worry about the actual "move Steam folder" instructions is if the end result will be in a different location, relatively speaking. Pretty sure last time I upgraded the drive my Steam folder is on, all I did was copy the folders and then changed the drive letter to match and it worked fine.

[MrPopo]

Yeah, if you're doing a hard drive upgrade and you have the ability to hook up both hard drives at once (either a desktop or a laptop with a USB enclosure for the second drive) then you can just use drive cloning software to copy over your existing system drive over to the new, bigger drive.

[Xeogred]

I... never thought of that! I don't think I have an available power and SATA connection though. So it's taxed out with this new drive being my last for internal storage.

It's a huge mess all around haha. When I built this PC I just got a cheap 1TB WD originally and installed the OS there. Then I moved the OS over to a SSD. But I still think I have many programs installed to this 1TB, so I've always been very weary of touching that one. Which is a crutch now since I'd like to max out space. I basically treat it as the C drive, so yeah I'm not sure if it's worth the headache to figure out exactly what's on it and installed, etc.

I put in a 6TB WD Green that's been great. It's a bit slow though, so mainly just for backing up shows and stuff I guess. The new drive I got is a 6TB WD Black with better RPM's and all that, so I hope it's good for gaming and faster to access.

The secondary 1TB I have in there is literally just my Steam games and other games. I'll probably have to fix up my Quake exe pathways when I move it around, but it's otherwise just some emulators and stuff. This is the drive I'm replacing with the WD Black. I was going to move everything over to the Green, then install the Black and move it over to there.

I have a 3TB Seagate external which might be problematic in the future and a 2TB WD Elemental that's been strong for ages.

I bet you're confused. I'm going to try to be more strategic about all this with the next PC I build.

Only thing I'm confused about are Steam saves, are the save files in the games common folders too?

[BoneSnapDeez]

Do some Steam games save to a server rather than on your hard drive?

The other day I attempted to play one of those Genesis ROM hacks - one that has since be delisted. The game works, but when I save now it crashes.

[laurenhiya21]

Do some Steam games save to a server rather than on your hard drive?

The other day I attempted to play one of those Genesis ROM hacks - one that has since be delisted. The game works, but when I save now it crashes.

Yep, on the right hand side of a game's store page, if the game says it has "Steam Cloud", then it saves to a server. Most games save to that now, and the only games that don't (that I've seen) have been around on Steam for quite a while and haven't updated to add that in (like Recettear).

You can disable that by right-clicking a game in your library then go to Properties, and then Updates. Then under "Steam Cloud", uncheck the "Enable Steam Cloud Synchronization" box.

[isiolia]

Only thing I'm confused about are Steam saves, are the save files in the games common folders too?

There's no standard for it. Some do. It's more common for modern games to put save data somewhere in your user account folder though - Documents, Documents\my games, Saved Games, AppData...

Steam does have cloud sync for your game data though, so unless you've disabled that for a particular game, it doesn't really matter where exactly it's being stored, Steam can likely put it back (or copy it to a laptop/etc).
'course, for what you're talking about doing, it means that most of your save data won't be changing anyway.


Personally, I would rather not copy data twice. So, if I were doing what you're doing, I'd swap your new WD Black drive in temporarily for the WD Green and do the copy directly. Then pull the 1TB out, put the Green back in, and make sure the drive letters are right.

[Reseeded Hareline]

Cleaned out the closet, dresser, and hallway of clothes that I don't wear and just cluttered up the place. Some of the stuff never worn or lightly used. Lots of sweatpants and even a couple heavy coats. What a waste.

Took it to a local church that has a big table outside for the less fortunate folk to come and grab if they need something. It's my xmas present to the hood. Grew up in it and still live in it. Never got anything back from it. At least I know a few people will be a little warmer.

[Xeogred]

Only thing I'm confused about are Steam saves, are the save files in the games common folders too?

There's no standard for it. Some do. It's more common for modern games to put save data somewhere in your user account folder though - Documents, Documents\my games, Saved Games, AppData...

Steam does have cloud sync for your game data though, so unless you've disabled that for a particular game, it doesn't really matter where exactly it's being stored, Steam can likely put it back (or copy it to a laptop/etc).
'course, for what you're talking about doing, it means that most of your save data won't be changing anyway.


Personally, I would rather not copy data twice. So, if I were doing what you're doing, I'd swap your new WD Black drive in temporarily for the WD Green and do the copy directly. Then pull the 1TB out, put the Green back in, and make sure the drive letters are right.

That actually sounds like a much better idea.

[Xeogred]

Well, I've ended up deleting half of what I was going to move over since you basically have to move the Steam folders one by one, then delete local content via steam and "install" it again to the new location then it detects existing files... so it's a one by one process.

Tested a few games though and my save files for intact. So all should be good!

Still going to attempt to move like 50 some games... phew.

I guess the next adventure will maybe be seeing if I actually can replace my original 1TB, that had the OS on it originally and a lot of programs installed on it. Could be a headache though.

I also got a bundle of new SATA cables. I have no idea if they're faster than what I had, but they're red and cool looking. Figured what the heck.