Moving Steam Game library to a different drive?

[Soothsayerman]

I would like some insight on how to get Vortex to handle this well.

 

I am going to move "some" of my steam game libraries from my C:\ from their default installation location to another drive so many, not all of, my game libraries will then be on a different drive and directory.

 

This isn't a problem because I know how to do this.

 

The problem is that I will be moving all of this outside of Vortex so my mod links will be broken along with all my game saves.

 

What do I need to do in Vortex to make this happen smoothly? I did a trial run and after I moved a game, Vortex really did not want to recognize the new mod staging directory and the mod download directory. I did it anyway and had to re-install all the mods, redeploy and it was a real pain. So I feel that there must be a smoother, more "correct" way to do this?

 

Not all my games will be moved, so Vortex will need to "see" different locations for different games with the Vortex system files residing in their default installation directories on the C:\

 

Thanks for your help!

Edited August 28, 2022 by Soothsayerman

[rmm200]

Most important: For each game you move, Purge your mods from within Vortex. That removes the hard links.

So:

1) Purge all affected mods

2) Use Steam to move your games. Don't do it yourself; the catalog has to be updated by Steam

3) Tell Vortex where the game is now.

4) Update your mod staging directory location under Vortex Settings. Vortex will move it to the correct drive.

5) Activate your game Profiles and Deploy. Links for all of your enabled mods will be restored.

 

Come back here when you get stuck on a piece of this. I just say the way it should work; your mileage may differ.

 

Edited to add:

Say you just move your game directory without Purge. What happens?

 

Well Windows in it's immense wisdom will do a "Deep Copy". Each hard link will be replaced by an actual copy of your mod.

Now when you start Vortex, it sees a real copy of your mods in the game directory, and thinks you installed them manually.

Best case: all of your mods are flagged as redundant. Things go downhill rapidly from there.

Edited August 28, 2022 by rmm200

[Soothsayerman]

Most important: For each game you move, Purge your mods from within Vortex. That removes the hard links.

So:

1) Purge all affected mods

2) Use Steam to move your games. Don't do it yourself; the catalog has to be updated by Steam

3) Tell Vortex where the game is now.

4) Update your mod staging directory location under Vortex Settings. Vortex will move it to the correct drive.

5) Activate your game Profiles and Deploy. Links for all of your enabled mods will be restored.

 

Come back here when you get stuck on a piece of this. I just say the way it should work; your mileage may differ.

 

Edited to add:

Say you just move your game directory without Purge. What happens?

 

Well Windows in it's immense wisdom will do a "Deep Copy". Each hard link will be replaced by an actual copy of your mod.

Now when you start Vortex, it sees a real copy of your mods in the game directory, and thinks you installed them manually.

Best case: all of your mods are flagged as redundant. Things go downhill rapidly from there.

 

Thanks for the input. Your last paragraph explains what happened with that one game I moved, I was wondering what the hassle was about. Purging makes perfect sense, I didn't think about that and not doing that created, as you said, a lot of headaches. Your exactly right too, Vortex thought I did it all manually. Moving the game libraries with Steam is surprisingly easy actually.

 

Cool, I'll do what you suggested and see what happens but it seems like that would exactly fix my process so thanks again for chiming in!

Edited August 28, 2022 by Soothsayerman

[sonicdsl]

Most important: For each game you move, Purge your mods from within Vortex. That removes the hard links.

So:

1) Purge all affected mods

2) Use Steam to move your games. Don't do it yourself; the catalog has to be updated by Steam

3) Tell Vortex where the game is now.

4) Update your mod staging directory location under Vortex Settings. Vortex will move it to the correct drive.

5) Activate your game Profiles and Deploy. Links for all of your enabled mods will be restored.

 

Come back here when you get stuck on a piece of this. I just say the way it should work; your mileage may differ.

 

Edited to add:

Say you just move your game directory without Purge. What happens?

 

Well Windows in it's immense wisdom will do a "Deep Copy". Each hard link will be replaced by an actual copy of your mod.

Now when you start Vortex, it sees a real copy of your mods in the game directory, and thinks you installed them manually.

Best case: all of your mods are flagged as redundant. Things go downhill rapidly from there.

 

I've installed a new hard drive for gaming and have moved two (non-modded) games, no problems, through Steam. I only have FO4 left to move (so far) with a bunch of mods. I've found this advice (above) several times now. When I look at the Mods tab in Settings though, I do not see a Purge tab (I have not yet moved the game in Steam). Has this changed, or am I looking in the wrong place?

 

TIA

 

EDIT

Just did a test and the phrase "Purging files..." flashed before moving them. Seems it does the purge automatically now. I'll update if any further issues.

[AugustaCalidia]

For the purge function, go to the mods page itself (not Settings) and look in the taskbar at the top of the page.