Recovering a Steam Library?

[ExplodingJellyfish]

So my computer crashed a while back, and my C: drive died, and I have a steam library with all my games and save data on my 3-TB E: drive. I got a new drive to hold Windows and everything is functioning. I installed Steam on the same E: drive that has all of my games and save data already downloaded, and everything was fine, and I went to go install a game (In this case it's Ultimate Custom Night) and it said it was gonna install in the steam folder that it installed in, and I clicked select a new library, and I went through the menus and clicked on the SteamLibrary folder that already had all my games in it. But after clicking "Select" steam refused to download anything in that folder, giving 2 error messages, one saying: "Failed to add new Steam library folder" and one that said "Selected drive already has a Steam Library folder. Steam will manage multiple game installs in a single folder for you"

I don't know how to change the default installation location to be the folder that already has all my games downloaded and installed, and I cant move my full SteamLibrary folder to another drive because its too big. Unless I just have to uninstall Steam and put it on another drive, which is tedious and the other drives are already almost full, I really need some help with this.

Base question: I have a folder on a 3-TB (E:) drive that was my steam library folder. then my computer crashed so I lost steam, and now that its fixed with a new C: drive, I install steam on the E: (3-TB) drive, and now it wont let me access the games I already have, it wants to install them brand new.

[ᴠᴀʀ]

Just create a new steam library with a different name and then copypaste the content of your steamlibrary map to newly created folder.

The game content is located in steamlibrary/common/game name/

Then hold down shift or ctrl and select each game in library > install (choose the new library folder with the game content) It should discover existing content.

Here's an article at steam support that basicly covers the things you have to do. While the title is not your case, the method of re-installing games is still the same.

https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=8379-RYIP-2998

[The Giving One]

So you installed a new Steam to the drive that already had your games on it, that being the E drive.

That means that you now have two library folders on that drive. You cannot add a new library folder unless it is empty. So Steam has it's own library in the new installation AND the old library that you had before, if I understood you right.

Just create a totally new, empty folder on the E drive, then add that to your library folders list. Then close Steam and log out, and drag your steamapps folders into that new empty folder.

Then launch Steam and now Steam should see the new library.

EDIT...Ninja'd. The good card trade above seems to have said it first.

You cannot just add the game folders. You have to drag in the entire steamapps folder. Because there are .acf files in the steamapps folder that Steam will need also.

[ExplodingJellyfish]

But I can't assign a new Steam Library in the E: drive because Steam won't allow it. it says that theres already a steam library folder in there and won't allow me to change to a new one.

[ᴠᴀʀ]

Create a folder first called "Games" or something like that. You can also rename the old library folder first before creating a new one.

Then in this folder add a library folder. Then copypaste the content from your old library to your new library.

[ExplodingJellyfish]

But I told you, I can't. It will not let me create a new folder through steam, but I am moving all of my files from the old steam library to the one in the steam install place. its taking a while but then all of my files will be in a place where they can be detected by steam without having to add anything new

[The Giving One]

Originally posted by ExplodingJellyfish:

But I told you, I can't. It will not let me create a new folder through steam, but I am moving all of my files from the old steam library to the one in the steam install place. its taking a while but then all of my files will be in a place where they can be detected by steam without having to add anything new

As long as you have all your steamapps folders, even if you make a mistake, you will not lose any of your games and won't have to worry about redownloading them.

Just drag out everything with Steam closed on the E drive and THEN make the new empty folder after reopening Steam and logging back in. Then, you can log out and drag in the steamapps to that new folder.

The folder that you make just has to be totally empty first. And only move the files around with Steam closed and you logged out. Create the folder, of course, with you logged in and using Steam.