Games are gone after uninstalling

[gatortango]

After uninstalling Steam because it wasn't working, I reinstalled it and all my game are gone. Do I just have to download the game again and my progress will still be saved?

[Spawn of Totoro]

The saves should be fine, as long as they were not stored in the Steamapps folder. You will have to re-download the games though.

Next time move the Steamapps folder to another diectory before you un-install. It will save you time.

[sfnhltb]

Does uninstalling actually remove the steamapps folder? It seems like a normal uninstaller wouldn't do that, so they might be still there - if you try and reinstall the games it might well pick up the files are still there (if you reinstall to the same directory). Saved games should normally be fine - some are stored in Steam Cloud anyway so even if you lose your hard drive you get them back when you login (or if you play from a different computer).

[Felix]

Originally posted by sfnhltb:

Does uninstalling actually remove the steamapps folder?

Yes

[swenor]

Originally posted by zach5jakeu:

After uninstalling Steam because it wasn't working, I reinstalled it and all my game are gone. Do I just have to download the game again and my progress will still be saved?

Uninstalling steam = uninstalling/removing completely ALL installed games from hard disk.
Don't uninstall steam BEFORE moving steamapps folder to some safe location.
Don't uninstall steam BEFORE moving userdata folder to some safe location.
Steamapp folder keeps your games.
Userdata folder keeps your games' profiles and savegames.

To answer your question - Yes, you have to download all games again.
Some games will keep your progress. Those with Cloud feature will (unless you were not using this feature [bad decision]), and those that store save/profile on system partition.
There is possibility that some games stored savefile/profile in userdata ONLY but didn't use Cloud feature at the same time - progress on those games will be lost.

[Mo]

Does uninstalling actually remove the steamapps folder? It seems like a normal uninstaller wouldn't do that, so they might be still there - if you try and reinstall the games it might well pick up the files are still there (if you reinstall to the same directory). Saved games should normally be fine - some are stored in Steam Cloud anyway so even if you lose your hard drive you get them back when you login (or if you play from a different computer).

[swenor]

Originally posted by Mo:

Does uninstalling actually remove the steamapps folder? It seems like a normal uninstaller wouldn't do that, so they might be still there - if you try and reinstall the games it might well pick up the files are still there (if you reinstall to the same directory). Saved games should normally be fine - some are stored in Steam Cloud anyway so even if you lose your hard drive you get them back when you login (or if you play from a different computer).

It does remove all installed games.
I tried that and it removed whole Steam folder - everything was removed.
My friend learned that the hard way - he though what you thought, and he ended up downloading 250 + GBs of data.
As I said about saves - they are stored in userdata with is removed upon uninstallation. On top of it SOME games don't use Cloud (very few, but still).

Better safe than sorry.
The simple way to avoid redownloading games and to avoid losing savefiles is to move/copy Steamapps and Userdata folder OUTSIDE steam folder, and then uninstall steam. When you install steam again you can move/copy those 2 folders back where they were and play (keep in mind some games will require cache integrity check, some will download some data). Even if you end up dling some files (small percentage), you will NOT have to download everything

[SalamiAttack]

Que?

[gyrotim]

I can't believe this. Steam is a multi billion dollar company yet there is no back-up file for the saves. I accidentally installed steam to try and reinstall it again because it was corrupted and after 30 seconds all of my saves and mods that I spent F***ing years getting were gone. ON TOP of all that, my last back-up of steam when it ♥♥♥♥♥♥ up somehow put it into my E drive without me even knowing.

Is there ANY WAY of retrieving my lost data?

[Yuriizin]

25

[Cathulhu]

Originally posted by gyrotim:

I can't believe this. Steam is a multi billion dollar company yet there is no back-up file for the saves. I accidentally installed steam to try and reinstall it again because it was corrupted and after 30 seconds all of my saves and mods that I spent F***ing years getting were gone. ON TOP of all that, my last back-up of steam when it ♥♥♥♥♥♥ up somehow put it into my E drive without me even knowing.

Is there ANY WAY of retrieving my lost data?

It's up to the developer to utilize features like the SteamCloud. Valve does not enforce the use of Steamworks or any of its features.
The feature exists, it not being used is not Valve's fault.

Additionally, the Steam uninstaller warns you that everything in the Steam folder gets deleted.

[Kargor]

Originally posted by Cathulhu:

It's up to the developer to utilize features like the SteamCloud. Valve does not enforce the use of Steamworks or any of its features.
The feature exists, it not being used is not Valve's fault.

While this is correct, there are things that Valve could do. For one, they could encourage publishers to use Steam cloud.

Also, Steamcloud itself is not particularly good. Many games don't even understand it, and store both saves and settings -- Valve could, for example, make a distinction between the two, and only download settings for the box that they game from, while saves would be shared between all boxes.

From a user perspective, accessing saves for a week or two back would sometimes be a very welcome feature as well.

Basically, Valve could make Steamcloud much more attractive, both technical and political.

[Cathulhu]

The game not understanding SteamCloud has nothing to do with Valve. The developer implements the feature and decides which files are to by synched and which not.

[The Giving One]

He just posted in the other thread that he revived that his saves were not lost after all. User error.

http://steamcommunity.com/discussions/forum/1/224446614465076931/?ctp=2#c1319962417042006730

[gyrotim]

Originally posted by The Giving One:

He just posted in the other thread that he revived that his saves were not lost after all. User error.

http://steamcommunity.com/discussions/forum/1/224446614465076931/?ctp=2#c1319962417042006730

Thanks for the notification man. :)

[Keftes]

I unistalled steam and all my games are unistalled too, but the games are still downloaded on my pc. Is it normal? Is there a way to fix it?