help with transfering steam files...

hey guys today my new computer arrived and i would like to transfer my steam games from my old pc to this new one.....

the reason for this is i have a internet data cap so to sum up is it possible to transfer the files to the new pc and install then so that i don't have to download them again from steam......

i thought it would be as simple as putting the files into the steam folder and then clicking install, but when i tried this with bc2 it started downloading from scratch again....

if it is possible id love to have some instructions on how to do it.

thanks a lot.

 

1. Right click the game
2. Backup game files
3. Choose the ones you want to backup
4. Copy backup file (It's in steam backup folder)
5. Move it over to new PC, restore the files

You'll need internet connection to restore the files but you don't need internet to back them up.

 

You can also copy / paste your steamapps folder over to the new drive. The backup system sucks and a lot of times still ends up downloading GB's of data for some stupid reason. As a matter of fact you can probably just copy paste the entire Steam folder over and reinstall Steam to that same directory and it will fix what needs to be fixed and get all the registry entries updated, etc.

 

I second recommendation the steamapps folder method. It works really easily. It's how I copied my Steam install from my desktop to my laptop. Easy-peasy.

 

yup, copying the steamapps folder is the best way to go about it hands down. using the steam backup feature is only good if you're going to backup a particular game to cd/dvd for future installs.

 

I'll add to the list of people who recommend copying the steamapps folder. Steam's backup feature, quite frankly, sucks. I've never been able to get it to work properly. Copying the steamapps folder is much quicker and much more effective.

 

ok thanks for the input guys really appreciate it, so after Ive copied the steamapps folder do i just click on the desired game to have it install again?

 

See this for detailed instructions: https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=7418-YUBN-8129

Essentially you just copy it back to the new installation and then open Steam and let it do the rest.

 

awesome seems to be working as we speak, thanks guys...appreciate it.

 

Looks like you owe me $20 according to Pitabred's price sheet.

 

how about some rep instead mate?.........worked perfectly using the steamapps method, quick and effective thanks a lot mate.

 

Great. Glad it worked out for you. I used to back up all my Steam games, but just started copying their respective folder to my home server so I can grab it whenever I need to. I wish their backup program was better though. Would be nice to compress a lot of that data for storage purposes, but for some reason a lot of times it downloads a lot after I install from the backup.