[TheDreadedGMan]

Moving some of your Steam Games onto your SSD using Junctions

I have about 157 GiB of Games in my steamapps folder. It doesn't fit on my 80 GB Intel SSD.

However, several of the games I play the most will fit...

How do you move steam games without moving the steam folder?

By using an NTFS feature called "Junctions"

In this guide, I will show you how you can move some of your Steam games from your Storage HDD to your SSD, so they will load quicker.

Prepare your Steam folder, and install the Link Shell Extension

1. Download Link Shell Extension: http://schinagl.priv.at/nt/hardlinks...kshellext.html
2. Install the shell extension
3. Install Steam on your Storage HDD (if it's not already)
4. In this example I will use "D:\\Games\\Steam" as the storage HDD Steam folder, if you put it somewhere else, substitute your folder.
5. Close Steam before completing the rest of the guide.

Create a folder and move the game(s) to your SSD

1. Create a folder on your SSD to accept the Steam games.
   (in this example I will use C:\\Games\\steamapps)
2. Open your D:\\Games\\Steam\\steamapps\\common folder
3. Select the games you are going to move
4. Before moving them, right click your selection and click Properties
5. Check the Size of all the items will fit in your free space on the SSD
6. Cut and Paste, or Shift-drag-and-drop the files into your SSD: C:\\Games\\steamapps folder

Link the game folders using Junctions (repeat this process for each game folder)

1. Browse to your SSD: C:\\Games\\steamapps folder
2. Right click a game folder, and choose Pick Link Source.
   
   
   (If you don't see this option, you didn't install Link Shell Extension)
3. Navigate to your D:\\Games\\Steam\\steamapps folder
4. Right click on the common folder and click Drop As... > Junction
   
5. Repeat for each game folder.

Congratulations, each of the games you moved now lives on the SSD, and it's loading time should be at least marginally improved!

Coming soon: Screenshots!

 

[thiru]

Or you can use Steam Mover.

 

[TheDreadedGMan]

As thiru posted (just before I got this post in) there is a pre-made tool to do this for you, quite slick actually! http://www.traynier.com/software/steammover
(Saw it posted in another thread by frickfrock99 but that might not even be the first time?)

Anyway the thing I was going to cover in this post is that for my own system, I wanted Steam itself to be on the SSD, and then link the steamapps folder back onto the HDD, and then link the games I wanted on the SSD back from that linked folder.

So as you can imagine this is a little confusing, although not really that complex... however I wanted this guide to be simple, and I've noticed that steam is slow mainly because it waits on network access, not because of hard drive reads...

 

[thiru]

Lol sorry, you can ask a mod to delete/move mine if you want

 

[TheDreadedGMan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by thiru Lol sorry, you can ask a mod to delete/move mine if you want

Not a problem, it's a bit funny that great minds think alike?

Right after I posted I was like... here we go lol

 

[thiru]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheDreadedGMan Not a problem, it's a bit funny that great minds think alike? Right after I posted I was like... here we go lol

Well actually I know of Steam mover from frickfrock's thread too

edit: actually no, it was from a news thread.

 

[TheDreadedGMan]

I still like the Link Shell Extension even if you don't use it and use Steam Mover, it shows the hard links and junctions with an icon so you can see them in Windows Explorer.

 

[ACHILEE5]

Nice one GMan

Well explained

 

[TheDreadedGMan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ACHILEE5 Nice one GMan Well explained

Yeah now I have to make a mock version of all this to do screenshots...

I made a few of the key steps but since my setup is a bit different (more complex lol) the screen shots won't look quite right

 

[TestECull]

Nice explanation but I can simplify it pretty nicely.

Copy main Steam directory --> Paste on SSD --> Done.

Still..rep+. this will be useful to some people considering how small SSDs are these days.

 

[thiru]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TestECull Nice explanation but I can simplify it pretty nicely. Copy main Steam directory --> Paste on SSD --> Done. Still..rep+. this will be useful to some people considering how small SSDs are these days.

 

[ACHILEE5]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TestECull Nice explanation but I can simplify it pretty nicely. Copy main Steam directory --> Paste on SSD --> Done. Still..rep+. this will be useful to some people considering how small SSDs are these days.

Maybe GMan should edit the title of this post!

Because it's not just moving Steam to SSD

It's moving just some Steam games to an SSD

 

[infected rat]

Good advice all round. I second the notion that it's not worth having Steam itself installed on the SSD, it pauses and waits for web stuff much more than disk access slows it down. I've always just mklink'ed in a command window to get this stuff working but it a lot easier for people to use these kinds of tools that do it for you.

I don't advise copying games if they don't do a lot of slow loading really, it's relatively pointless, but games which chug along while they load all the models and textures into memory and the video card will see a big loading speed increase. I play a lot of Crysis (still!) and that is a good example, the individual level load times are pretty damn slow from HDD but you copy the lot onto an SSD and it screams through, and I'm using and old school Vertex 1.

Some Source games can be tricky to copy over because they are spread out in more places than is immediately obvious. For example TF2 will see a nice level load boost putting you as always one of the first into a new level once all set up but it's not just the team fortress 2 folder you want to junction, also the content and materials gcf files in the main steamapps folder.

 

[TheDreadedGMan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ACHILEE5 Maybe GMan should edit the title of this post! Because it's not just moving Steam to SSD It's moving just some Steam games to an SSD

HAHA -- That was the original title, I changed it just before posting to make it "shorter and simpler"... FAIL

Quote:

Originally Posted by infected rat Good advice all round. I second the notion that it's not worth having Steam itself installed on the SSD, it pauses and waits for web stuff much more than disk access slows it down. I've always just mklink'ed in a command window to get this stuff working but it a lot easier for people to use these kinds of tools that do it for you. I don't advise copying games if they don't do a lot of slow loading really, it's relatively pointless, but games which chug along while they load all the models and textures into memory and the video card will see a big loading speed increase. I play a lot of Crysis (still!) and that is a good example, the individual level load times are pretty damn slow from HDD but you copy the lot onto an SSD and it screams through, and I'm using and old school Vertex 1. Some Source games can be tricky to copy over because they are spread out in more places than is immediately obvious. For example TF2 will see a nice level load boost putting you as always one of the first into a new level once all set up but it's not just the team fortress 2 folder you want to junction, also the content and materials gcf files in the main steamapps folder.

I agree, since I've put Steam on the SSD it's pretty much actually the same speed... since it just waits for Network

Method of linking games, ranked by "ease"
1. Steam Mover app
2. Using the Link Shell Extension as in my guide
3. Using command line stuff like mklink

So yeah if you're on Vista or 7 you can use Symlinks for the GCF files, if you're on XP you're out of luck without a more complex arrangement of folders.

Also I agree, quite a few games don't really benefit much at all.

 

[ACHILEE5]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheDreadedGMan Also I agree, quite a few games don't really benefit much at all.

I mainly did the mod because I ordered the new "F1" from Steam

And every second counts in Formula One

Plus I have a spare 40GB Intel that needed a job

 

[TheDreadedGMan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ACHILEE5 I mainly did the mod because I ordered the new "F1" from Steam And every second counts in Formula One Plus I have a spare 40GB Intel that needed a job

Haha yeah every second, or 0.001 of a second

I've considered that game; it should be excellent, the GRID and DiRT2 games from codemasters have an excellent feel, and it will be undoubtedly using the same engine, but with some F1-specific tweaks.

 

[ACHILEE5]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheDreadedGMan Haha yeah every second, or 0.001 of a second I've considered that game; it should be excellent, the GRID and DiRT2 games from codemasters have an excellent feel, and it will be undoubtedly using the same engine, but with some F1-specific tweaks.

Oh mate, I'm mad for racing games

And I'm still playing Dirt2 And Grid

http://www.overclock.net/10683730-post189.html
From my *OFFICIAL* Videos of your Games thread!

 

[infected rat]

I am hovering on the buy button for a 60Gb Vertex 2E which I would make my OS drive and use the 120Gb Vertex 1 entirely for Steam... Any thoughts on that, can anyone talk me out of it?

 

[ACHILEE5]

Quote:

Originally Posted by infected rat I am hovering on the buy button for a 60Gb Vertex 2E which I would make my OS drive and use the 120Gb Vertex 1 entirely for Steam... Any thoughts on that, can anyone talk me out of it?

I say "do it"

As you can never have enough SSDs

Me! I have Steam one of my 80GB Intels! And Dirt2, Crysis and GTA4 on my 40GB Intel!
GTA4 loads up in the time it takes to see two load screens!
And all the game that load as you go really do run better

 

[infected rat]

Should be here before the end of the week

I really enjoy the benefit in load times these things bring, it helps me just dip in and out of games that I may otherwise not play so often because of the interminable load times. Ok, ok that might be a bit ADD but it does seem to help.

BTW very nice ssd setup there ACHILLES, I'll soon be as much of an addict as you

In fact in GTA IV LATD I'm only seeing one load screen on my Vertex 1. No in game improvement unsurprisingly given my setup but really the loading super fast is lovely.