Steam on an external hard drive

Toonces · February 11, 2023, 04:28:55 PM

Hey team.

I'm still gaming on my laptop. I've run into an issue: I've exceeded my HD space on my computer! I can't install updates anymore and even uninstalling a few games just isn't opening up the space I want/need.

Question: Has anyone had success using an external HD for Steam and gaming? The idea would be to clean my laptop of games, and move everything to the external drive. I don't know how, or if, that would work.

al_infierno · February 11, 2023, 05:37:45 PM

I use a secondary HDD as a D: drive to install most of my games (especially ones that don't require SSD performance) and it works like a charm. I imagine an external drive would work just the same so long as you don't accidentally unplug it while you're playing

Gusington · February 11, 2023, 05:53:03 PM

^I do the same.

ArizonaTank · February 11, 2023, 07:29:53 PM

I have a large external HD as F: drive, on my desktop where I store my Steam games.

No issues. Sometimes games with lots of HD access are a little slow, but I would rather have the space than speed.

If your laptop is newer and the drive supports a USB-C connection, you might not even notice any speed issues.

Toonces · February 11, 2023, 07:50:43 PM

Excellent!

W8taminute · February 11, 2023, 09:56:08 PM

Quote from: ArizonaTank on February 11, 2023, 07:29:53 PMI have a large external HD as F: drive, on my desktop where I store my Steam games.

No issues. Sometimes games with lots of HD access are a little slow, but I would rather have the space than speed.

If your laptop is newer and the drive supports a USB-C connection, you might not even notice any speed issues.

This. Got an external HD as F: and it works fine.

Pete Dero · February 12, 2023, 04:45:10 AM

I have 3 external hard drives and this works great.

Starting up a game might take a bit longer but it beats having to re-install a game.

If I have issues I just move that game to the SSD.

Redwolf · February 12, 2023, 09:53:49 AM

There is a difference between (a) the Steam installation and (b) the Steam library and libraries.

You can have as many libraries holding games on different harddrives as you like, and none of them have to be in the main steam installation.

I would keep the Steam installation on an internal drive and then distribute the games as you see fit. I have 3 drives for game libraries - an NVMe SSD for DCS, a semi-large SATA SSD for most games and a HD for some overflow of games that load fast anyway.

JasonPratt · February 13, 2023, 08:31:08 AM

I was going to say, Steam puts a lot of files on my main (SSD) C: drive, where my (now deprecated) Win 8.1 is. (sigh, need to upgrade that soon...) Steam doesn't say it's going to do this, it just does it.

But if Steam was instead installed on my (disc) D: drive, where my games also go, maybe that wouldn't be a problem.

ArizonaTank · February 13, 2023, 10:36:35 AM

Quote from: JasonPratt on February 13, 2023, 08:31:08 AMI was going to say, Steam puts a lot of files on my main (SSD) C: drive, where my (now deprecated) Win 8.1 is. (sigh, need to upgrade that soon...) Steam doesn't say it's going to do this, it just does it.

But if Steam was instead installed on my (disc) D: drive, where my games also go, maybe that wouldn't be a problem.

I've had similar issues. Occasionally a Steam game will dump a bunch of data on the C: drive, even when I have told it to install the game on F:.

Out of the Park Baseball is a good example. When you create a large baseball universe to play in, it generates a bunch of "historical" data that gets dumped to C: drive. Many gigabytes of data, that is hard to find. Also, I have not found any way to tell it to dump this data to another drive.

This is not helpful on my desktop where my C: drive is an SSD with limited space.

Redwolf · February 13, 2023, 11:19:45 AM

Quote from: JasonPratt on February 13, 2023, 08:31:08 AMI was going to say, Steam puts a lot of files on my main (SSD) C: drive, where my (now deprecated) Win 8.1 is. (sigh, need to upgrade that soon...) Steam doesn't say it's going to do this, it just does it.

But if Steam was instead installed on my (disc) D: drive, where my games also go, maybe that wouldn't be a problem.

Well, either way, you can just move the entire Steam install to D:\ and adjust the path in the desktop icon. There isn't anything special going on that hardcodes the location.

Redwolf · February 13, 2023, 11:22:12 AM

Quote from: ArizonaTank on February 13, 2023, 10:36:35 AM
Quote from: JasonPratt on February 13, 2023, 08:31:08 AMI was going to say, Steam puts a lot of files on my main (SSD) C: drive, where my (now deprecated) Win 8.1 is. (sigh, need to upgrade that soon...) Steam doesn't say it's going to do this, it just does it.

But if Steam was instead installed on my (disc) D: drive, where my games also go, maybe that wouldn't be a problem.

I've had similar issues. Occasionally a Steam game will dump a bunch of data on the C: drive, even when I have told it to install the game on F:.

Out of the Park Baseball is a good example. When you create a large baseball universe to play in, it generates a bunch of "historical" data that gets dumped to C: drive. Many gigabytes of data, that is hard to find. Also, I have not found any way to tell it to dump this data to another drive.

This is not helpful on my desktop where my C: drive is an SSD with limited space.

It that in your home directory? You could move your entire home dir out of C:, although that is probably a bit of effort.

If not it is forbidden by Steam policies, IIRC.

Toonces · January 17, 2024, 09:01:32 AM

Could one or two of you guys post an Amazon link to what you're using? I definitely need to address this now.

ArizonaTank · January 17, 2024, 09:31:43 AM

I actually bought my drive at COSTCO for a really good price. It is 6TB Seagate. Make certain to get one that supports your fastest USB port.

for an Amazon link something like this should work

https://www.amazon.com/Seagate-Expansion-Desktop-Drive-Black/dp/B092R5KTT7/ref=sr_1_12_sspa?crid=UIND0RRYLNBF&keywords=external%2Bhard%2Bdrive&nav_sdd=aps&qid=1705501950&refinements=p_n_feature_two_browse-bin%3A5446816011&rnid=562234011&s=pc&sprefix=exter&sr=1-12-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9tdGY&th=1

My computer is fairly new, so I use a USB 3.0 port that is pretty fast (USB 3.0 is rated to 5GBps). USB ports that are blue are usually 3.x or above. Red USB ports reach speeds of 10GBps.

I have always had good luck with Seagate or Western Digital.

Recommend investing in a good USB cable, not just one you have sitting around.

If you have an older desktop computer, with an old USB port (USB 1.0 or USB 2.0), the speed jump you would get from moving to 3.0 is huge. I would recommend adding a internal USB card to your motherboard. Pretty easy to do actually. Something like this:

https://www.amazon.com/FebSmart-Superspeed-Self-Powered-Technology-No-FS-U7-Pro/dp/B081Y4NT25/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?crid=34Z8ESYB5MBN7&keywords=internal+usb+port+cards&qid=1705502618&sprefix=usb+port+card%2Caps%2C137&sr=8-1-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&psc=1

ohh...but I think you said you had a laptop, so you can buy a port hub, but I don't think it gets you any more speed.

Tripoli · January 17, 2024, 10:31:59 AM

Quote from: ArizonaTank on February 11, 2023, 07:29:53 PMI have a large external HD as F: drive, on my desktop where I store my Steam games.

No issues. Sometimes games with lots of HD access are a little slow, but I would rather have the space than speed.

If your laptop is newer and the drive supports a USB-C connection, you might not even notice any speed issues.

My experience is the same. FWIW, I try to store the games with the higher specs that need the computer to access a lot on my internal drive, while games that are less computer intensive go on the external drive. For example, Rule the Waves would be on my external drive, while Starfield would be on the internal drive. Steam does allow you to set up multiple locations like that