Specific download folder/drive

[BLUETIGER]

I have noticed that when steam updates games, that it downloads the packed files onto the same hard drive that the game is to be updated on. This essentially doubles the amount of HD space needed then what it lists required.
What I'm asking is if there is a way to specify a drive just for the downloaded data and not have it temporarily dumped to the same drive as game are on?

[wuddih]

make the downloads folder a symlink to somewhere else.

http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/16226/complete-guide-to-symbolic-links-symlinks-on-windows-or-linux/

[Hptm.Samurai]

Wie kann ich mir postal2 Downloaden ?

[BLUETIGER]

Originally posted by wuddih:

make the downloads folder a symlink to somewhere else.

http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/16226/complete-guide-to-symbolic-links-symlinks-on-windows-or-linux/

thats fine in theory, but steam does not know how to create symlinks to place the download in a different drive.
Its also a rather lenthy work around to create a symlink then force game to update and do it for 3 to 4 games updated thay are on 3 different drives.

[Tev]

I don't think I've ever seen my game files double in size, except in pre-load scenarios (and PAYDAY 2's lousy updates); and pre-loaded files are downloaded under depotcache\; not under downloading\.

I couldn't have even installed DOOM on my D:\ -disk, if it had suddenly doubled in size mid-installation.

Symlink would work in the sense you'd exit Steam, you'd move the files from under steamapps\downloading to i.e. D:\'s Steam Downloads. Then you'd remove the "downloading" -folder

Open up cmd.exe as an administrator, then use mklink /d "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\downloading" "D:\Games\Steam Downloads"

That for example. Then everything that's to be installed on C:\ has its files temporarily on D:\

[BLUETIGER]

Originally posted by Teutep:

I don't think I've ever seen my game files double in size, except in pre-load scenarios, and pre-loaded files are downloaded under depotcache\; not under downloading\.

I couldn't have even installed DOOM on my D:\ -disk, if it had suddenly doubled in size mid-installation.

Symlink would work in the sense you'd exit Steam, you'd more the files from under steamapps\downloading to D:\'s Steam Downloads. Then you'd remove the "downloading" -folder

Open up cmd.exe as an administrator, then use mklink /d "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\downloading\" "D:\Games\Steam Downloads"

That for example.

It doesn't stay doubled, only for the patch to finished.
I only noticed it with the fact that my D drive had only 16 gigs free but the patch required 8.3 gigs, after patch was downloaded it said it didn't have enough room to apply patch. My steam is installed on E drive so if it was supposed to dump downloads to the steam folder, it should not have been a problem. E drive still has 63 gigs left.

[Tev]

I'm going to say it happens; and doesn't happen.

There's no way I could've installed DOOM which is 63 795 MB on my disk which had 70 GB left if it had done a patch at any point around the same size.

At the same time, I've witnessed this "double size" with a lot of PAYDAY 2 updates, where while the disk might have 30 GB free, I can't download some 1 GB update without making the game's size of free space.

[BLUETIGER]

Originally posted by Teutep:

I'm going to say it happens; and doesn't happen.

There's no way I could've installed DOOM which is 63 795 MB on my disk which had 70 GB left if it had done a patch at any point around the same size.

At the same time, I've witnessed this "double size" with a lot of PAYDAY 2 updates.

Yeah in this case it was with ARK