Where does steam download files to before installing

Create a free Team What is Teams? Learn more. How do I copy Steam game files from another PC while the game's still downloading? Ask Question. Asked 7 years, 11 months ago. Active 7 years, 2 months ago. Viewed k times. This is a different issue than merely copying game files which has been answered many times , because no answers I've found on here are applicable and will work: Today I bought Borderlands 2, which my brother already has installed.

Is there anything to do about this? Improve this question. Add a comment. Active Oldest Votes. One method I'm thinking of is to move the game to another drive if you own one and then start the download again.

I'm looking for a different method; Steam must have the list of installed games stored somewhere. In which file does something like that reside, and how do I edit it? This worked for me after testing out a similar scenario.

I'm not sure what values are strictly necessary to change. I simulated your problem. On one of my disks I had little space left, so I started downloading a game that was at least half that size, paused it after a few seconds, and quit Steam. Nothing revolutionary. I copy-pasted and deleted that. I opened up Steam again, but it logically didn't recognize the game having been partially downloaded. Starting the download again by clicking 'Install' in the Steam Library I got the same " You do not have enough disk space " warning it would actually have continued where it had left off, recognizing the files in the download folder, when I tried it with a smaller game.

I quit Steam again, grabbed an. I could click the 'Update' button to continue the download, but it simply wouldn't download anything. Then I tried to " Verify the integrity of the game files ", but it didn't work.

This process probably needs info from the appmanifest as well. I deleted the value of BytesToDownload again, looked up the size of the game in the download folder, and pasted both in the right places without the commas.

The " Clear download cache " after renaming the download folder to keep the files it had already downloaded didn't help. Just emptying the appmanifest file doesn't work: I figured the appmanifest might repopulate itself with the right values, but it doesn't. I also removed the values from the InstalledDepots and MountedDepots section, and kept the two identical integers, in the SharedDepots section this is likely the code for a DirectX or Visual Basic redistributable 2 , so probably not important for this purpose.

This did the trick: after restarting Steam the game continued downloading whence it left off. This could be slightly dependent on what games you copy values from and to, though.

Steam does not seem to actually keep a list of what's installed, although that is stored in part of the configuration data.

If you would like to try it will require copying the game to your separate drive, or at least moving the existing data out of the steamapps folder you'll be using, because this is an experimental technique and can destroy existing installation data. Here is a method I posted in a Reddit comment around a year ago, with a slight edit changing BytesToDownload to 0 :.

Move the game install data out of the steamapps folder if you haven't already, such as to your desktop. Then in Steam right click the game and "Delete Local Content" to make sure there's nothing left of it in that location, and then start the installation and pause it ASAP. Make sure it has the value of "BytesToDownload" set to something other than 0 though; otherwise it's useless.

To do so, you should first learn what files need to be backed up on your PC? You need now specify another secure drive or an external hard drive to continue the backup process. After this, you can manually copy each folder one by one the target device or use reliable file backup software such as EaseUS Todo Backup to fully backup all files at one time.

Click the " Select backup contents " button to start backup. Both local and network files will be listed on the left. You can expand the directory to select the files to be backed up. Follow the on-screen guide, select the destination where you want to save the backup. Click " Options " to encrypt the backup with password in " Backup Options ", set the backup schedule and choose to start back up at certain event in " Backup Scheme ".

There are also many other options you can explore, customize the backup task according to your need. Step 5. Step 6. EaseUS Todo Backup enables users to back up data to both third-party cloud drive and its own cloud drive.

If you want to back up data to third-party cloud drive, choose Local Drive, scroll down to add Cloud Device, add and login your account. You can also choose EaseUS's own cloud drive. Step 7. Click " Backup Now " to start backup. After the backup task is completed, it will be displayed in the form of a card on the left side of the panel. Right-click the backup task to further manage it. Store Download Support Live Chat. A brief guide on how to restore Steam missing downloaded files : Open Steam and click on the Library button at the top of the window.

Workable Solutions Step-by-step Troubleshooting Fix 1. Restore from Steam library Open the Steam game player and go to Library. Find the lost game name and select "Properties" Full steps Fix 2. Add installation libraries Launch Steam. Full steps Fix 3. Rename ClientRegistry. Last edited by FFL2and3rocks ; 11 Apr, pm. Ok well how exactly Do you transfer those files? Publicado originalmente por foondude your Library. Go to the steam store and find toom raider, unfortunately you WILL have to download the files, but you wont have to pay for it again If you are on the same steam account you got it on I also did the same..

Then after this has completed, u can click Play. It's simply a Repair process. Origin and Uplay do the same thing. Chocice75 View Profile View Posts.