External Drive - Internal Drive

[Boost3d]

I'm trying to just import my saves to an external and into another PC. So basically can i drag and drop what i put on the external drive onto the new PC's internal drive? Can i i just install steam on the new PC and go to the hard drive and drag and drop then just play? If not please tell me the steps to do so! Because i don't wanna game on an external drive on a Desktop..plus apparently if i do play from an external drive there will be issue in performance

[aiden]

Yes, depending on the game.

Games that are mainly played online probably sync your saves to the Steam Cloud. But in the case of games like Final Fantasy 7, or System Shock 2 (older games that save games in the File Explorer), you would need to put the files on a thumb drive or something and drop them into the appropriate file location.

I don't know where you heard the performance thing from, btw. It probably won't matter, unless the external drive is crappier than the internal one.

There's really noting to lose; just back up your files, put them on a drive, and move them over to the new Steam locations on the new PC!

[Boost3d]

I heard it gives performance issues on another forum, and yea I only imported what doesn’t have cloud sync! So to summarize should I install steam first then drag and drop onto the internal?

引用自 Mexhe：

Yes, depending on the game.

Games that are mainly played online probably sync your saves to the Steam Cloud. But in the case of games like Final Fantasy 7, or System Shock 2 (older games that save games in the File Explorer), you would need to put the files on a thumb drive or something and drop them into the appropriate file location.

I don't know where you heard the performance thing from, btw. It probably won't matter, unless the external drive is crappier than the internal one.

There's really noting to lose; just back up your files, put them on a drive, and move them over to the new Steam locations on the new PC!

[aiden]

引用自 RoadKill2101：

I heard it gives performance issues on another forum, and yea I only imported what doesn’t have cloud sync! So to summarize should I install steam first then drag and drop onto the internal?

Seems like that would work, but then again I'm no specialist. BUT it doesn't seem like it would hurt anything, so go for it! Also, each game has a seperate location the save files need to be dropped into, so search around youtube or something and you can find what you need.

[Boost3d]

Well I drag and dropped the files onto the external from the common folder

引用自 Mexhe：

引用自 RoadKill2101：

I heard it gives performance issues on another forum, and yea I only imported what doesn’t have cloud sync! So to summarize should I install steam first then drag and drop onto the internal?

Seems like that would work, but then again I'm no specialist. BUT it doesn't seem like it would hurt anything, so go for it! Also, each game has a seperate location the save files need to be dropped into, so search around youtube or something and you can find what you need.

[Forcen]

http://www.gamesave-manager.com/

[aiden]

引用自 Forcen：

http://www.gamesave-manager.com/

That's the link I was looking for

[tacoshy]

well all games fiels that are not stored in the cloud by steam itself are saved under documents. You can just copy paste that fodler manually. To copy games you cancopy the entire steamapps folder or the steampps/common/game folder incl. the steamapps/appmanifest.acf file.


Addionally you can setup the Steam folder under your externald rive as secondary Steam library:
Steam->Settings->Download->Library->Add new Library


External drives have no performance issue itself. USB 3.0 (5Gbps) is faster then any HDD and closely to maximum SATA III (6Gbps) standard. With USB 3.1 you even have twice the bandwidth and can run SSD as fast as they can run.
Most ppl just believe and stake that external drives are slow because they buy expensive poor quality external drives with slow 2.5" 5400 RPM drives in it. The Computer Techs or Enthusiasts buy 3,5" 7200RPM drives, rarely 2.5" 7200RPM WD Black (1TB) or even go full nerd and use a SSD with an USB 3.1 adapter. They all put their own drive in their encasings which is not only cheaper but also as fast as internal drives.

[Boost3d]

The one i have is a WD 2TB USB 3.0. i did the whole common folder thing but i just don't know sbout running steam off of an external hdd. Doesnt sound safe

引用自 tacoshy：

well all games fiels that are not stored in the cloud by steam itself are saved under documents. You can just copy paste that fodler manually. To copy games you cancopy the entire steamapps folder or the steampps/common/game folder incl. the steamapps/appmanifest.acf file.


Addionally you can setup the Steam folder under your externald rive as secondary Steam library:
Steam->Settings->Download->Library->Add new Library


External drives have no performance issue itself. USB 3.0 (5Gbps) is faster then any HDD and closely to maximum SATA III (6Gbps) standard. With USB 3.1 you even have twice the bandwidth and can run SSD as fast as they can run.
Most ppl just believe and stake that external drives are slow because they buy expensive poor quality external drives with slow 2.5" 5400 RPM drives in it. The Computer Techs or Enthusiasts buy 3,5" 7200RPM drives, rarely 2.5" 7200RPM WD Black (1TB) or even go full nerd and use a SSD with an USB 3.1 adapter. They all put their own drive in their encasings which is not only cheaper but also as fast as internal drives.

[tacoshy]

引用自 RoadKill2101：

The one i have is a WD 2TB USB 3.0. i did the whole common folder thing but i just don't know sbout running steam off of an external hdd. Doesnt sound safe

引用自 tacoshy：

well all games fiels that are not stored in the cloud by steam itself are saved under documents. You can just copy paste that fodler manually. To copy games you cancopy the entire steamapps folder or the steampps/common/game folder incl. the steamapps/appmanifest.acf file.


Addionally you can setup the Steam folder under your externald rive as secondary Steam library:
Steam->Settings->Download->Library->Add new Library


External drives have no performance issue itself. USB 3.0 (5Gbps) is faster then any HDD and closely to maximum SATA III (6Gbps) standard. With USB 3.1 you even have twice the bandwidth and can run SSD as fast as they can run.
Most ppl just believe and stake that external drives are slow because they buy expensive poor quality external drives with slow 2.5" 5400 RPM drives in it. The Computer Techs or Enthusiasts buy 3,5" 7200RPM drives, rarely 2.5" 7200RPM WD Black (1TB) or even go full nerd and use a SSD with an USB 3.1 adapter. They all put their own drive in their encasings which is not only cheaper but also as fast as internal drives.

well so you bought an external drive off the shelve and not actually builded the external drive yourself? In that case you have a slow 2.5" 5400 RPM drive. It is not that slow with ~110MB/s but nothing close to the ~190-270MB/s you could have gotten with an external drive you could have builded yourself (buying an encasing with adapter for 10-20$ and a 2TB WD Black or Gold for 80$).

However why would it be dangerous? Its like any other drive and to be exact the same drive any laptop uses... In your case it is just slow so loadtimes going to be longer.

[Boost3d]

Ok, but if i decided to just drag and drop them onto the internal drive i can do so through the common folder?

引用自 tacoshy：

引用自 RoadKill2101：

The one i have is a WD 2TB USB 3.0. i did the whole common folder thing but i just don't know sbout running steam off of an external hdd. Doesnt sound safe

well so you bought an external drive off the shelve and not actually builded the external drive yourself? In that case you have a slow 2.5" 5400 RPM drive. It is not that slow with ~110MB/s but nothing close to the ~190-270MB/s you could have gotten with an external drive you could have builded yourself (buying an encasing with adapter for 10-20$ and a 2TB WD Black or Gold for 80$).

However why would it be dangerous? Its like any other drive and to be exact the same drive any laptop uses... In your case it is just slow so loadtimes going to be longer.

[tacoshy]

引用自 RoadKill2101：

Ok, but if i decided to just drag and drop them onto the internal drive i can do so through the common folder?

引用自 tacoshy：

well so you bought an external drive off the shelve and not actually builded the external drive yourself? In that case you have a slow 2.5" 5400 RPM drive. It is not that slow with ~110MB/s but nothing close to the ~190-270MB/s you could have gotten with an external drive you could have builded yourself (buying an encasing with adapter for 10-20$ and a 2TB WD Black or Gold for 80$).

However why would it be dangerous? Its like any other drive and to be exact the same drive any laptop uses... In your case it is just slow so loadtimes going to be longer.

drag and drop is nothing else then copy & paste. Of course you can but you should copy paste the entire steamapps folder. you need also the appmanifest.acf files. Otherwise you need to click on "install game" where it starts downlaoding and checking if everything is actually there which takes way lonegr then just copying the appmanifest.acf files in the first place.

[Boost3d]

What if I install the gane with the external connected? It should recognize it and automatically transfer

引用自 tacoshy：

引用自 RoadKill2101：

Ok, but if i decided to just drag and drop them onto the internal drive i can do so through the common folder?

drag and drop is nothing else then copy & paste. Of course you can but you should copy paste the entire steamapps folder. you need also the appmanifest.acf files. Otherwise you need to click on "install game" where it starts downlaoding and checking if everything is actually there which takes way lonegr then just copying the appmanifest.acf files in the first place.