[SOLVED] W10 + Steam question

[nbartolo7]

Not sure if I will explain myself correctly but I will try,

I currently have a C: drive with windows on it, that will become the D: drive in my next rig and will not be wiped out. At least in the beginning. Anyway, my question is, if I had Steam on my old C drive, will I have to reinstall it in the new rig? Or just run the install file? Will it work just fine?

And more importantly, will it find my game saves for those games that are not on the cloud?

 

[Colif]

I am not sure what steam recovers. Its probable it does as I have game saves for one game from 2012 and this PC is only 2 years old.

Appdata is just another save location for game saves. Its not only one as...

That's because there is--unfortunately--no standardization as to where games put their save data. Many Steam games put their save files in a subdirectory off that UserData folder, many others put them in other random locations, such as "My Documents", "ProgramData", "AppData", and sometimes even in the Windows registry. Still others place save files in multiple locations simultaneously. Ultimately, the game developer decides where it goes, and despite being something of an inconvenience for the end user, that's just how it is.

https://steamcommunity.com/discussions/forum/7/1489992713703433875/

maybe backing it up is just to make sure its not missing anything.

 

[nbartolo7]

Yes. I would recommend being judicial about what you copy from AppData, but if you want a quick and dirty approach, you can copy everything over. Just make sure to skip AppData\Local\Temp

Are you sure I can just copy paste the previous appdata folder over the current one before installing all the games that I have a save for? Won't there be a conflict once I install the games after doing that, and they see that there are already files in appdata that shouldn't already be there?

 

[Colif]

Are you sure I can just copy paste the previous appdata folder over the current one before installing all the games that I have a save for? Won't there be a conflict once I install the games after doing that, and they see that there are already files in there?

i feel like i answered this before, I would install the games and then replace the folders with old appdata

https://www.pcgamer.com/steam-backup/ - if you set backup up, it copies it all to cloud

 

[falcon291]

Why is the folder "userdata" in program files x86>Steam recommended to copy/save/backup before reinstalling windows? Doesn't steam auitomatically recover my "userdata" just by connecting to the internet once I install it in new PC?

Steam client does not have such a function. You should take care of it yourself. Games have free rein to install their data files, anywhere they want. It is something I don't like that they can create folders as they wish but unfortunately it is how it works.

 

[nbartolo7]

i feel like i answered this before, I would install the games and then replace the folders with old appdata

https://www.pcgamer.com/steam-backup/ - if you set backup up, it copies it all to cloud

Thanks. You did in fact answer a very similar question I had last time. Btw, the link doesn't explain what I want.

The clerk at my local computer store told me that I could copy my documents folder and appdata and any other folder where there could be Steam saves lying around, but that I should be in safe mode, so that Steam does not accidentally do something. Is that a good tip? Extra-safe?

 

[Colif]

guess it makes sense since steam won't be running in safe mode.

 

[nbartolo7]

Steam client does not have such a function. You should take care of it yourself. Games have free rein to install their data files, anywhere they want. It is something I don't like that they can create folders as they wish but unfortunately it is how it works.

It seems you were right, so, here are my two userdata folders side by side. On the left, you have the brand-new userdata folder that was just created by Steam as soon as I installed it on my new boot drive(drive C after logging into steam client (also on C for the first time on that drive. And on the right, you have my old C: drive, which is now the D: drive. It does have one more folder as you can see named "ac" with a bunch of folders inside, but all are empty, so not sure if it's worth copy/pasting "ac" into new "userdata". Let me know what you think.

The interesting part though is what's inside the two 120535189 folders. There's a bunch more stuff as to be expected on my older drive. So you're right, Steam does not automatically recover everything that was in the userdata folder, unless... those numbers(folders) are all games, and once I reinstall them all the folders that I'm now lacking will reappear? So, no need to copy/paste?

Anyway, my question is, in case there may be some save files in all those folders, is it best to copy paste everything onto the newer "userdata" folder?

 

[Colif]

Anyway, my question is, in case there may be some save files in all those folders, is it best to copy paste everything onto the newer "userdata" folder?

Yes.

Provided you don't delete the ones on D until you sure that they work, you haven't lost anything except time if it doesn't. So go for it, if steam has any problems you just remove it and reinstall again. I think it should be fine though.

 

[nbartolo7]

Yes.

Provided you don't delete the ones on D until you sure that they work, you haven't lost anything except time if it doesn't. So go for it, if steam has any problems you just remove it and reinstall again. I think it should be fine though.

What about the "ac" folder? Leave it there or copy paste it even though folders inside are all empty?

 

[Colif]

why not wait until all games are installed and then look to see if ac exists, and you can copy it over in safe mode if need be.