Moving Steam to an SSD

[Phog]

Is there any way I can move Steam - and only Steam, not the games - from my HDD to an SSD without 3rd party programs? I want to do this because of the Startup Impact of Steam Client Bootstrapper and Steam Client WebHelper. I figured by moving Steam to my SSD, it would help my PC boot up and become fully usable faster, since currently those two programs together are rated with a High Startup Impact on my computer. Any tips for doing this?

[eram]

Set steam to not start with windows if you want to keep the install in the current location. You can set it in the steam options.

Setting steam to not start with windows means zero impact on windows startup.

[Phog]

Originally posted by erλm:

Set steam to not start with windows if you want to keep the install in the current location. You can set it in the steam options.

Setting steam to not start with windows means zero impact on windows startup.

I just wasn't sure if it would cause problems or not

[Reaper]

Originally posted by Nightenhelser:

Originally posted by Padraig:

Is there any way I can move Steam - and only Steam, not the games - from my HDD to an SSD without 3rd party programs? I want to do this because of the Startup Impact of Steam Client Bootstrapper and Steam Client WebHelper. I figured by moving Steam to my SSD, it would help my PC boot up and become fully usable faster, since currently those two programs together are rated with a High Startup Impact on my computer. Any tips for doing this?

Uninstall Steam from your HDD and install it on an SSD. Installations cannot be moved like files can.

sure they can. dont know what makes you think it can't just be copied

[Reaper]

Originally posted by Nightenhelser:

Originally posted by FeaR_TH3_Reap3R:

sure they can. dont know what makes you think it can't just be copied

Not really. At least not for your average user. When a program is installed it registers identifiers/signatures and registry keys on the drive it's installed on.

An average user is not going to know how to edit those

you have no clue what you're talking about do you? It's literally as simple as dragging the steam folder to another drive.

[Silicon Vampire]

it is best to run the steam.exe file directly and as admin for the first time in the new location...

[Lhetre]

You may just install Steam on your SSD - without deleting your steam library - then show steam where the games are. You'll have to verify the integrity of the games eventually, but this is quicker than downloading each and every one of them.

My set up is Windows and Steam on an SSD, games are on another SSD. Steam is quite slow to boot whatever you do - because their servers are slow.

[bigbenisdaman]

Copy steam to ssd whereevr you want it, all but the game folder. Then launch Steam.exe, set to start on boot.

Then go to steam>settings>downloads and set where u want games to go. Then just start a game dl, pause it to make sure its in the location u want, close steam and move the games there along with the appmanafest. Launch steam.

Its really kinda pointless though. Use mklink to move select games to ssd for better loadtimes etc in slow loading games is a better option.

[The Giving One]

1. As the good erAm said, set Steam to not run upon boot of your system, after you have Steam moved.

Save or backup the steamapps folder first. This is the most important step.

Moving a Steam Installation and Games

https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=7418-YUBN-8129

After backing up steamapps, yes, you do have to uninstall Steam from the previsous location.

Uninstall Steam

https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=9609-OBMP-2526

You must do this before reinstalling Steam in the new location due to the exact reason the good Nightenhelser said above......

Originally posted by Nightenhelser:

When a program is installed it registers identifiers/signatures and registry keys on the drive it's installed on.

An average user is not going to know how to edit those

Then, reboot the computer, and reinstall Steam in the new location, just as the good Silicon mentioned above.

Originally posted by Silicon Vampire:

it is best to run the steam.exe file directly and as admin for the first time in the new location...

Then, after launching Steam and letting it fully update, log out and fully exit Steam, then drag in that steamapps folder that you saved or backed up, right back to its location in the Steam folder.

Now, run Steam and your games should be recognized as installed.

[Reaper]

Originally posted by Nightenhelser:

Originally posted by FeaR_TH3_Reap3R:

you have no clue what you're talking about do you? It's literally as simple as dragging the steam folder to another drive.

O rly?

If you encounter any errors during the move process or when Steam is launched from the new location, it may be necessary to perform a more thorough process:

1. Exit the Steam client application.
   
2. Browse to the Steam installation folder for the Steam installation (continuing the from the last section example, this would be the new location of D:\Games\Steam\.
   
3. Move the SteamApps folder from the Steam installation folder to your desktop.
   
4. Review the Uninstalling Steam topic for instructions to uninstall Steam (this must be done to remove your old Steam installation settings from the Windows Registry).
   
5. Review the Installing Steam topic for instructions to re-install Steam to the desired location.
   
6. Move the SteamApps folder into the new Steam installation folder to copy all of your downloaded game content, settings, and saved games to the new location.
   
7. Start Steam and log in to your existing Steam account to confirm that the move was successful.
   For installed games, verify your game cache files and you will be ready to play.

https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=7418-YUBN-8129

From Support themselves. Would you like to be further educated in Computer Knowledge 101?

not by someone like you who doesn't have a clue how to do basic functions. if you can't figure out how to copy a program without causing errors, that's your own lack of common sense.

[Silicon Vampire]

that is quite enough, the both of you...

[i_dig_graves]

i legit just cut and paste the whole thing games and steam app and it worked fine but now that steam is on another drive it wont start on boot up and i want tooo for reasons

[bigbenisdaman]

Originally posted by i_dig_graves:

i legit just cut and paste the whole thing games and steam app and it worked fine but now that steam is on another drive it wont start on boot up and i want tooo for reasons

Go in your steam options and tell it to start on boot again. If for some reason it still dont, put a shortcut in the startup folder. %APPDATA%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup

[Shahryar]

I want to do the same thing too. I just got my new laptop today and installed steam (as well as epic & EA) onto my internal drive. But now I'm thinking I should just keep all those applications installed on the same external SSD portable that has the games. I figure this will help keep my internal drive lighter and i gotta grab the SSD for the games anyways. Looking at the comments above, seems just a simple uninstall & and then reinstall to the external SSD should take care of it. Let me know if there's anything I'm missing