TS2017 and TSW running side by side

[Ajay1]

I'm in a bit of a pickle here!!! we'll sort of. I'm assuming when it comes out in Dec TSW may well install in a separate folder within Steam as Railworks does now ? eg: Steam/Steamapps/Common/TWS (like TS2017 is in the railworks folder, eg: Common/railworks) Now with that install theory in mind,on my system I'm not going to have enough space unless I stop adding to TS2017 or once TSW is up and running delete TS2017 and all it's bits and bobs to make space for TSW.

At present I have my Steam installation and contents are on my main internal HD partitions (1 of 3) witch is 680GB in size of which only now 233GBs is listed as free to use. At this rate with the TSW Beta as well it will soon come to a head.

I do not really want to stop using TS17(as I still would like to continue using) which has accumulated 9 years of stock/assets/3rd party freeware,not to mention the numerous amount spent on payware,and I don't really relish the idea of another computer at this time.
A thought has come to mind of having TS2017 on one drive and TSW on another,say an external 2TB HD or visa versa via USB and both sharing the same Steam client connection and account. Could this be done? or perhaps two Steam client installations managing each Sim on the separate HDs on the one computer?

I'd be interested to hear of any thoughts or suggestions that may help. Thanks.

Antony.

[holzroller]

There is already the option in Steam to install games onto different drives. Currently I have 3 steam libraries on 3 different drives, TS2017 has a dedicated drive as does Omsi. As long as you have space in another partition or can add another physical drive you will have no problem.

[AndiS]

It has been well established that TS17 and TSW will run side by side. They are simply two different games that do not have a technical connection. Just a historic one.

There were a few posts from people who have alternative installation of Steam and/or TS17/16/whatever. The things said there will hold for alternative games, too. My minimal hardware knowledge would suggest that you want to have all game content on internal harddisks as even USB 3.0 will be slower than internals.

[tnleeuw01]

You can do that with one single Steam installation.

I don't recall how exactly it's done but I can look it up for you when I'm back home.

Cheers,

--Tim

[TransportSteve]

A thought has come to mind of having TS2017 on one drive and TSW on another,say an external 2TB HD or visa versa via USB and both sharing the same Steam client connection and account. Could this be done? or perhaps two Steam client installations managing each Sim on the separate HDs on the one computer?
I'd be interested to hear of any thoughts or suggestions that may help. Thanks.
Antony.

I currently have 3 internal HDDs on my PC, plus a brand new external one, and I've already split my Steam games from one drive to another, Antony, it's quite easy to do, you just need to amend the destination when you install something from Steam, which generally by default will point the installation path directly to your C: Drive, and you have to remember to navigate the path to another one of your choice, and all future patches and other updates for that particular game will automatically go to the new destination.

Cheerz. Transport Steve.

[gptech]

At present I have my Steam installation and contents are on my main internal HD partitions (1 of 3)

What's on the other 2 partitions, and why the need to have it partitioned?

[Ajay1]

Thanks for your replies everyone, firstly ,that I did know!!! that it could already be done, I will now start looking into how it's done as I am not teckkie speckkie and will have to tread carefully as not to do any harm. Secondly, "Whats on my other two partitions?" Well. when I first had my computer built for me some years ago now I only had installed one large hard drive partitioned off in three. Windows operating system , Programs and other software, and the last partition for Games, I have also since increased the size of the games and decreased the size of the programs partition as much as it can handle,hence I'm wanting to try an external USB attached HD dedicated solely to TWS.

Antony.

[gptech]

when I first had my computer built for me some years ago now I only had installed one large hard drive partitioned off in three. Windows operating system , Programs and other software, and the last partition for Games,

OK, so it's to logically split the disc up into distinct areas, which now isn't really necessary. It's very much a personal thing, some swear by it, others (myself included) swear at it.
There are pros and cons to both sides, https://askleo.com/should_i_partition_my_hard_disk/ is just one of many articles you'd find firmly sitting on the fence.

If you have a reasonable amount of free space in total across all 3 partitions it'd make sense to consolidate them into a single one; if space is short an extra drive is the answer, and also bring the benefit that having an operating system on a separate physical drive to your programs and data improves performance.
An external drive may sound like a good idea, but I fear it wouldn't be fast enough---or at least the USB connection wouldn't be; think of it as the 3 high speed lanes of a motorway (the drive) becoming the single lane after a junction (USB cable). The traffic (data) whizzes along quite nicely on the motorway, but has to slow dramatically once off it. External drives are great for archive storage, but not really the answer for files you need (relatively) quickly
The better option is to fit an internal drive, though it's a very skilled operation as you'd need to know which way to turn a screwdriver and be able to read an instruction sheet In short, a piece of cake.
You could fit another traditional spinning drive, or fit an SSD for either TS or Windows but going for a traditional driveon it would really be no more expensive, probably cheaper in fact, than an external drive, a chunky SSD would be more expensive though:

£40 for an internal 1TB spinning drive
£50 for an external model
In that price range you should be able to get a 120GB SSD, ample for windows but not necessarily TS--you'd be looking at a 3 figure sum for 500GB

[Ajay1]

Thanks Gary, I understand what your saying, and as it stands at present I do not have any more space within my computer tower to fit any more inside(Oh, and the money at the moment for a new computer which I'd like) I am already running three external USB HDs attached quite happily with no apparent loss of speed these have ample space as they range from 1 terabyte to 3 terabytes in size and I would like to try these. Nothing ventured nothing gained. It's just a matter of how to go about it?

Antony.

[gptech]

I am already running three external USB HDs attached quite happily with no apparent loss of speed these have ample space as they range from 1 terabyte to 3 terabytes in size and I would like to try these

Ahhh...as you already have an external drive(s) to test with you're in a no-lose situation: if it works then the issue is resolved, if you have problems then it hasn't cost you anything but time---and either way your results would be very interesting, and certainly useful for others running out of storage space and options.

Shifting a Steam installation is dead easy:

The official Steam guidelines on moving a Steam installation are at https://support.steampowered.com/kb_art ... -YUBN-8129, but it's easier to just cut Steam.exe out of it's present location and paste it into a new one such as F:\Games\Steam, depending on what letters are assigned to your externals. The choice of directory naming is entirely up to you down to the Steam directory. Once you've got Steam.exe in a new home, just double click it. It's a clever little application, sensing it needs company in that new home and will proceed to download from the Steam servers all it's associated files and then any games you have. You'll be prompted to log into Steam, and will most likely need to input a special code Steam will mail to you so make sure you can remember your Steam account details and have access to mail.
Once you've entered the code and the new home for Steam is set as the download location TS will be re-installed. You may have a large collection of DLC, so letting Steam do this overnight is not a bad idea, You could pause the download of the game though, exit Steam completely and copy and paste your Assets and Contents folder over from your old installation--this should/could keep Steam happy enough to realise you have all the files and it may not need to download things again. Personally I'd just let it download the whole lot overnight, and when you wake up all refreshed you'll have a brand new, pristine Steam installation. If you have a desktop shortcut for TS, this will need editing to point to the new installation, or a new one creating through the Steam client.
You can pause the download of the game

[blade2014]

dont forget that TSW will be free to test in December only then you have to buy it when it comes out nothing in TS2017 will work in it

[tnleeuw01]

You don't need to shift or move your Steam installation.

It is quite easy to spread your Steam installation over multiple drives.

--Tim

[Ajay1]

I've had a read of your instructions Gary,and your easy way sounds the best,but I'd just like to run in by you once again how I interpret it from what you've written (correct me if I'm understanding this wrongly ).Here we go:

Create a new Steam folder in one of my external HD (in this case P drive which is 1 terabyte) leaving the original steam folder and contents where it is, at present E drive.

Cut the Steam.exe only from E drive and paste it into the empty Steam folder in P drive then double click to run

( a correct , correct , correct should be sufficient if my understanding of the procedure is right)

It then does its thing and reinstalls all necessary files (the long long process) and at the end of it all being prompted by Steam to log in again using the verification code sent to authenticate my account, that then sets up the new Steam folder location
only. Steam then verify's and automatically starts to redownload and install all my Steam purchased DLC's too which I could perhaps speed up the process a little by already placing the Assets & Contents folders from my backup ones.(your idea of a fresh install sounds better) .

When all finished, use the steam client to create a new TS shortcut leading to it's new location.

That all sounds pretty easy. What happens then about the original installation and all else on the E drive? and all the third party addons/routes etc that are installed via their own exe programs,the likes of Just Trains and so-forth ? or is that another story.

I do appreciate the time all of you are taking to help me put this all in place. Sorry I'm an old fogee and it takes a lot to sink in!!!!

Antony.

[tnleeuw01]

You can spread your Steam installation over multiple drives, and choose for each game where to install it.

That sounds, to me, MUCH easier than moving the whole Steam installation.

I looked up the steps, there's an easy way to do it.

When you click "Install" on any non-installed Steam game, there's a label "Choose location for install", and a drop-down allowing you to choose installation-locations (one folder per drive).
That drop-down should have an entry "Create "new Steam library on drive X".

So choose that option, then choose a folder on that drive where you want Steam to install games. And next time you install a game, check to make sure the right library destination is selected.


There's also a way to move individual games between libraries, to free up space on one drive. That is a bit harder I believe. But with many games storing their savegames on the Steam Cloud, it's also possible to un-install them and re-install them on the desired volume, provided you do not have a lot of local mods installed!


Whatever option you choose, good luck getting the games installed side by side with enough space left!

--Tim

[bri2808]

Anthony

Take Gary's advice, I did it this week (having originally just moved TS to another hard drive - little to no difference) and move the whole lot including steam. I have noticed an improvement in performance and am still tinkering with the settings so should only get better

And if it makes you feel better, I am NOT an old fogee, but still needed a step by step guide from him. But was worth the patience in the end. I have 200MB virgin broadband and so didnt need to leave it overnight... Took longer copying over files (3rd party stuff etc) but I did it in a day overall