Backing up Steam games

[soLoredd]

I have a quick question regarding Steam games and backing them up. I made a 20GB partition for Boot Camp and right now I have HL2 and Fallout 3 installed. Currently, I am playing both but when I am done, is it possible to backup those games to an external drive and then delete them to install new games?

Better yet, is there any way to increase the partition size of Boot Camp, other than having to start over? Thanks.

 

[CalumC]

You won't be able to do that easily because it confuses steam i think. However, this doesnt matter! You can delete any game you've purchased, and re download it through the games list on steam.

 

[mknawabi]

here's to resize:
http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20061025130528687

its quite a process, but its not too bad.

 

[soLoredd]

Thanks for the replies.

I think I'll go the resize route for now then. Doesn't seem to involved.

 

[apfhex]

I've been able to just backup the entire Steam directory from Program Files and copy it over to the fresh install of Windows or what have you (after installing Steam from the installer - then I just replace the folder in Program Files).

 

[soLoredd]

Thank you, that's what I was wondering.

I really love the distribution system of Steam, it's defnitely one of the best inventions for gaming to come along (I realize most of you have enjoyed Steam for awhile now but I'm just now getting back into computer gaming).

 

[telecomm]

I was in the same sort of situation (rather small Windows partition that started to fill up). My solution was to move all the Steam games to an external drive (you can run Windows apps from an external drive).

It's super easy:
1. copy one folder to your desktop
2. uninstall steam
3. reinstall steam, selecting your external drive as the destination drive
4. copy that folder to your external
5. play

Here are the instructions direct from Steam.