New Computer - need to download all my games again...

[Hycinth]

I just bought a new computer. Why do I have to download all my games again? Weren't they saved in Steam? If not, why not? It's a pain in the neck to start all my games again from the beginning. If yes, can you tell me where they are?

[BJWyler]

Games are downloaded to a hard drive. When you get a new hard drive, it is empty, so the games have to be downloaded again.

That's why I keep all games on a separate hard drive, so I only need to put the drive in the new PC and point Steam (and shorcuts) to that drive and viola! no installation necessary.

[PaulKrawitz]

Uh... do you know how "getting a new PC" works?

How are your games supposed to be on your new PC, if you JUST bought it...

Of course you will have to set up everything and download all your games again.

[Yzal]

How the hell did you go 6 years as a pc gamer without learning something this basic?
seriously, i'm amazed.

[AustrAlien2010]

Yes. You need to re-install them.

But your saved games are located on your old hard drive. You can copy those, if you can find them. Copy them to a USB drive or something. And then paste them on your new PC to the same location, so that you do not lose game progress.

Originally posted by Just Lazy:

How the hell do you go 6 years as a pc gamer without learning something this basic?
seriously, i'm amazed.

It's normal. A lot of people use a microwave, but have no idea how a microwave works.

[SPG]

Something people should research BEFORE doing something. There is plenty of info on the internet on how to do this. If your old hard drive with all your games on it is still good, install it in your new computer as an extra drive.

[Painkilleruk]

just clone the drive from old to new one, it will be identical copy. Its what im doing when ally x comes out just copy my ally 2230 to a 2280 so I dont have to re downloads all drivers, updates and games again

[Kargor]

The Steam client can be used as a download-source from other machines on your LAN. Open Settings, go to the "Downloads" section, and make sure the "game File Transfer over Local network" is enabled. This should allow your new PC to just get the games from the old PC, which is generally a lot faster than going through your ISP.

[nullable]

Originally posted by Hycinth:

I just bought a new computer. Why do I have to download all my games again? Weren't they saved in Steam? If not, why not? It's a pain in the neck to start all my games again from the beginning. If yes, can you tell me where they are?

Yikes.

I mean there's definitely a part of me that thinks this is performance art. But... where do you think Steam games you downloaded went on your old computer? Do you not know how files work? Or how to move data between machines? These are all useful skills and concepts to know in computing.

[wesnef]

Originally posted by AustrAlien2010:

It's normal. A lot of people use a microwave, but have no idea how a microwave works.

Eh, this is kind of on the level of "you mean I have to put the food *in* the microwave to heat it?"

[Yujah]

Is it really too hard for everyone other than AustrAlien2010 to understand that OP is talking about savegames rather than the games as such ("It's a pain in the neck to start all my games again from the beginning.")

Games that used Steam cloud (or some other cloud, in fact) for their savegames you can on the new system just continue with after a cloud-sync. Those games that don't unfortunately will have kept their savegames in some not generically specified place. Most would live under your old Windows user's C:/Users/<Windows user name>/AppData and .../Documents folders but this is not a guarantee.

If the old system is still operational it might be easiest to use e.g. https://www.gamesave-manager.com/ to back them up from the old system and then restore to the new. Note; no experience with the program so don't blame me if it sucks.

[wesnef]

Originally posted by Yujah:

Is it really too hard for everyone other than AustrAlien2010 to understand that OP is talking about savegames rather than the games as such

Why do I have to download all my games again? Weren't they saved in Steam?

That doesn't sound like saves to me. /shrug


(personally, I've never used Cloud. When I built my new computer in 2020, I stuck the old HDD in an external enclosure, and transferred my "My Games" and "My Saves" folders from my user folder. For the few games that I cared about transferring saves.)

[Yujah]

At worst he/she means both, but as per the quoted bit that you cut with the savegames the primary issue -- although a rather large percentage of games on Steam or at the very least of my library do in fact use Steam cloud and would as such as per that part Just Work.

Anycase; game/savegame conflation or just cloud-unlucky, certainly the stated issue of "start(ing) all my games again from the beginning" meant some interpretation is needed. Hope that save-manager thing is useful...

[76561198407601200]

Originally posted by Hycinth:

I just bought a new computer. Why do I have to download all my games again? Weren't they saved in Steam? If not, why not? It's a pain in the neck to start all my games again from the beginning. If yes, can you tell me where they are?

https://steamcommunity.com/app/697900/discussions/0/3719440044266767420/

In your other topic you are aware on how to do this yet here are somehow aren't able to.....

[Hycinth]

Some of you guys are insulting. That is never helpful. That's just your ego showing off.

I went to a specialist to get my data downloaded onto my new computer. I thought that there may have been a server at Steam that saved my games. But obviously, that is not the case. I have games on another site that does that. Those games are not saved on my computer but at that site.

I will try to go into my old computer but there was water damage which is why I bought a new one. However, I may be able to get the data from it some other way. I will have to ask the same specialist who downloaded my data from my old computer to this one.

[Hycinth]

Some of you are insulting which is never helpful. If you don't want to be helpful, please just don't comment.

I will go back to my old computer and see what can find. Thank you to those of you who were helpful.