Make your own external Steam Games drive // TUTORIAL

[@MIDNITE69]

Choosing 'X' as the drive letter because it sounds extreme... Dweeb is an absolute blessing ❣

[@TheHypeCom]

Im really glad tech dweeb and my mom are getting along so well

[@gtijason7853]

I see he knows my mum as well, didn't know people enjoyed throwing hot dogs down a hallway 🔥but to each their own I guess 🌭🕳. 😁

[@bland9876]

My mom's with "the greatest technician that's ever lived".

[@bland9876]

​@@gtijason7853I used to toss hot dogs down hallways but I switched to eggplants they're interesting shape makes them roll down the hallway in a funky way. Whoever talks is there's the farthest wins.

[@powerfantastic01]

I have so many external USB storage devices I've been using this little trick for awhile to keep large games off my drive, but I hadn't considered an external NVME drive. Great info!

[@anderssorenson9998]

Shocking number of wizards watching.

[@PlayingItWrong]

Wizards are always watching.

[@Xorcist77]

I'm actually more of a Wwwyzzerdd if you get my meaning...

[@XEis-d8i]

You say it

[@Dracossaint]

This will be very handy to show people how to add steam libraries from other drives. Thank you

[@DNAMobileGaming]

I just removed my 512 giggle byte NVME to upgrade to a 2TB. I planned to do this because I have devices like the Rog Ally and a laptop that I'd like to play my main Desktop games off of. You're a true wizard for sharing this to others that don't know this works! 🙏

[@silverquillproductions4076]

This video helps a lot since the holidays are coming up and I need the extra external storage for my emulators so thank you much ❤

[@mirkodiciano4647]

fantastic how to video im sure this will help a tone off ppl thanks TD

[@kupokinzyt]

I have unlimited Google Drive through g-suite and my college account from like 10 years ago and use it. It has more than 40tb's of games and emulator stuff on it and works as any other external drive as long as I have an internet connection. Even if I didn't, I could always mark what I wanted to be offline. I get 1GB a second in terms of speed as it maxes out as fast as my ISP and Google has no data limit cap. Steam is installed onto it and I can stream huge games like Cyberpunk without ever having them installed or using local storage.

[@TechDweeb]

That is a freaking awesome setup. Wish I had decent internet, but I'm at the mercy of Starlink :/

[@jayjayare]

how do you use google drive as an external drive 😭

[@ryanbartlett672]

Long workday so thanks for literally 10+ chuckle/laugh out louds...oh and you reminded me I need to setup a Steam drive like this.

[@gotdangedcommiesitellyahwa6298]

Thanks for sharing your vast knowledge with those of us who are stuck in the stone ages, using almost 10 year old computers. ~$100 for this setup is actually really reasonable, compared to having to buy a new MB + internal SSD.

[@ProfessionalWalkingTours-oj2hs]

Freddi Fish just unlocked a bunch of old memories for me.

[@The8merp]

One tip I just learned is that your external drive should have NTFS format, that makes it a lot quicker, otherwise Steam takes a long time just Reserving Space on the external drive

[@fabiobezerra9569]

Great vídeo, please bring us more of this kind of project.. "DIY" ✌🏼🤓🎮

[@JutoTV]

This is a really good tutorial for multiple Windows pc's around your home. But what if we have linux systems? Especially with SteamOS. Won't the NTFS format create conflicts?

[@omarguerrero6417]

Warning some games don't have local saves and some games have cloud saves while others don't

[@TechDweeb]

Good point!

[@jackdoobie]

You did that thing... hope your vacation is going well.

[@TechDweeb]

Thanks buddy. We played Shredders Revenge on the deck. BIG hit with the kiddos!

[@EvilRyosuke]

I love your videos. Please make a tutorial in Moonlight/Sunshine.

[@thelocalfortuneteller]

Isn't transfer speeds a concern? Or are modern external storage options and IO now fast enough to do this?

[@pendantblade6361]

Dear smart and handsome Dweeb, The game I play the most, RimWorld, uses Steam Workshop to download mods. Assuming I don't copy the mod files manually, will I have to redownload my mods each time I disconnect the SSD? Thanks for the video.

[@baroncalamityplus]

Do you need to reconfigure your games' settings each and every time you move the drive to a different system or does that somehow stay with the system and not follow the drive?

[@SlickOnTop]

You could alternatively make backups of your steam games on the nvme ssd. That way it will work the same as a fresh install on your hard drive.

[@Andy-js5jy]

I recommend Sharge Disk (case) can suitable any NVMe SSD 2230 (until only 2tb) as faster that other case external SSD.

[@SteelIroh]

very useful guide thanks. There is only one question left, game saves are also transferred and immediately become available on another PC?

[@TechDweeb]

Yup, your game saves are on the drive.

[@danielmiller4354]

So this would also work playing between a PC and Steam Deck?

[@adinwalls]

I learnt to knit when i was 5 years old, can I still implement this?

[@Cloud28693]

Lovely!❤ I've never considered this kind of solution... Just a question: can you have both Steam games and Batocera in the same external drive?

[@Sadtiric]

Drastic knitting sounds like some kind of sportser activity.

[@orlandosarmiento1026]

Hi. I'm new to Steam. When I add the games to an external drive, can I play those games with retroarch or only with Steam? Great review.Thank you.

[@Alpha-ms9nj]

Great video with concise, precise and very relevant information as I have a few PC's and GPU's that need testing in games and an external SSD as a game library is perfect. Thanks for sharing this. Liked and subbed.

[@justkazwell4523]

Totally noob question Mr Tech, does this work with a gaming laptop? My SSD only has 256 gig and i have at most 60 gig left even if i free everything...so i'm considering this.

[@neilparker7477]

Quick question. If I have a game installed on my main PC, Can I just copy my install files to the external drive rather than moving via Steam? PS I'm a wizard but not a very good one.

[@TechDweeb]

Yes you can move the files over, but there is another file you will need to get called appmanifest (in the steamapps directory). Each of those appmanifest files corresponds to a game, and the number at the end of the file is the game's number on the Steam store. So just make sure to get the appmanifest for the game as well as the game files in the 'common' directory. Otherwise you will have to reinstall the game, although you probably won't need to re-download it because it will detect and verify the files, but if you get the appmanifest at the same time you won't have to do that step.

[@neilparker7477]

@TechDweeb thanks for the quick reply. Im going to set up an external drive for taking to friends or work (if it's a slow day 😂) love ur videos, keep them coming.

[@BReal-10EC]

If you tried to do with with an internal (not your C drive) drive, would it still work? Like a SATA SSD (on system lacking fast USB)? Wait.. Windows might encrypt all internal rives, and that would be an issue if moved.

[@busbybinne]

Thanks Dweeb! Can a you still go offline in Steam after you've set this up? When moving the drive to another computer does Steam require you to sign in online before using the drive? Example: I have a mini PC that I have "achieved" Steam games on that I keep offline all the time as sort of a back up. If I set up a drive like this can I follow your prosses without connecting my mini PC to the internet?

[@derekswitzer9624]

Does it have to be formatted a certain way? (Or can this be readable in Windows for also being a portable retrobat drive too?

[@TechDweeb]

Yeah any formatting that windows recognizes will be fine. You can definitely also put retrobat on it!

[@Wilberbeest]

Tech Dweeb, please do a video on the RTX 3050 6GB 70w desktop card Nvidia just put out. I’m feeling gaslit watching all the big review channels dumping on it by comparing it to entirely different market segment cards. It’s actual competition is the low profile GTX 1650 and RX 6400 cards (in a good price anyway). So this new 3050 seems to significantly advance the industry forward for turning office PCs into gaming PCs with DLSS as a very nice cherry on top! Yeah, the naming sucks and is confusing, but the thing itself seems pretty important. The new king of transforming office PCs into gaming rigs? Would love your thoughts!

[@fletcherchambers7175]

So does game progress and saves move over to the X:, er the X-TREME drive as well? Or does it vary by game?

[@GinoDonati95]

is there a way to make this work for a dualboot system win/linux so that I can play from the same library?

[@TechDweeb]

Yup! I use my windows drive on my Bazzite install. However there are some games that don't work (some games Linux doesn't like the Windows versions of the game), but most do work.

[@GinoDonati95]

@@TechDweeb I'll have to try it, thanks dude

[@shinigamiauthor]

boom. 28 second gang reporting for duty

[@TechDweeb]

My favourites 😘

[@mtcoiner7994]

Fantastic video. Thank you. Definitely building one of these ASAP

[@oakmen4604]

Asus makes a really good rugged enclosure. The TUF Gaming A1. It's drop tested and water resistant. It's the one I like.

[@randyraber8157]

Will this work on steam deck too

[@dambition7495]

can you have steam on the drive so that you dont have to install anyting at all one the pc you plug it into=?

[@piesareround]

I took a shot of milk every time Dweeb said "drive," and now I'm a dairy cow.

[@ls-prez6125]

Is that the rg35xx plus on your desk?

[@leemachiin]

What about Steam LAN Game Transfers?

[@Poop-zc4bc]

What happens If I unplug the drive

[@Bill_Cypher69]

Is there a way to copy the games back onto your PC from the external drive, instead of playing directly from it? Asking in case of a scenario where the only way you can access your steam games is from the physical backup. (Like if you can't connect to the internet, you have steam installed but don't have any of your games installed for some reason, but you have a backup of them in an external drive but it wouldn't be favorable to try to play directly off of it.) Also, probably a dumb question, but does it also back up all the other software that certain games may be dependent on? Like how "Saints Row 4" needs "Epic Online Services", etc.

[@anyanyanyanyanyany3551]

I think it's possible. Just make sure you point Steam to the correct games library once you're done moving everything.

[@Bill_Cypher69]

@@anyanyanyanyanyany3551 So then, if I no longer have access to the internet or my steam games (but still have steam installed), I can *manually* copy the library folder from the external drive back into my PC and it should work? *(simply speaking)* In other words, my physical steam library on the external drive _CAN_ act as a substitute for going online and re-downloading my games from my steam library? Given that I know where to copy the folder to of course.

[@anyanyanyanyanyany3551]

@@Bill_Cypher69 Yes, basically once you've downloaded your games once, and you've backed it up, you can reuse those games by pointing Steam to that folder.

[@Bill_Cypher69]

@@anyanyanyanyanyany3551 Thank you. However, do games like Saints Row 4, which need additional software downloaded when you install them, have said software in the library folder with them? Or is it located elsewhere, maybe even outside the steam folder, or in non-obvious directories? For example, when I downloaded Saints Row 4, it required me to download something related to Epic Games as well. I checked *"Program Files (x86)"* and there was indeed a folder titled "Epic Games" even though I don't own the launcher and have never installed it. The folder is *688 MB.* ^ So then, if that folder also went missing, would I need a copy of it as well? (So that I can copy it back into *Program Files (x86)* to hopefully fix any issues) I'd hate to have a game not work because the additional dependencies aren't included in the library folder.

[@anyanyanyanyanyany3551]

@@Bill_Cypher69 I think other software dependencies that are not in the Steam games library might have to be reinstalled manually. Tbh, I haven't had any experience with this yet, as I only moved my games library from one internal SSD to the other.

[@Blueissuperior]

Is it better to get one of these enclosure things and an m2 or just a usual external ssd?

[@anyanyanyanyanyany3551]

From what I've read online, one reason external SSDs exist is because they have been designed specifically to deal with the heat generated when it's operating. Internal SSDs and enclosures should work fine provided the enclosure can deal with the heat.

[@ToJoseGarcia]

Will this really hold All of my games?

[@Metal-Josh]

I just saw that Russ from Retro Game Corps posted that emulation station is now on android. So I think he’s going to tell us “ Yeah man, you wanna do it!”

[@Dracossaint]

1:02 turn on local transfer ???

[@easymoney480]

it worked on windows but on linux mint i have to go in to the settings and add the drive every time... so annoying

[@FranklinThePretendo]

TechDweep is the best youtuber

[@AlistairBrugsch]

Kinda sad there was no mention of USB A-Holes for the USB A plug to go into at 4:03

[@vijayakumarikumar3920]

A doubt if I have moved games to the drive from a account and use it with a pc with a different account without that game will it work??

[@vijayakumarikumar3920]

@@danielwaters3188 I mean you didn't buy the game in the different account

[@Tjensen999]

The shameless “Mom” plug. Epic!! 😂😂

[@soulprice5428]

Your awesomeness cool great and the best lol...can't wait for the next thing to come from your creation

[@_TheFlash12]

video starts here 4:12

[@jinty83]

I also have slow internet speeds as I live in the countryside. I have a windows drive and an ext4 linux drive which I use for different pcs. It's also how I transferred most of my games to my steamdeck via a dock. When I'm at work I can use the 5G hotspot on my mobile to download other things. No online gaming for me lol!

[@user-hq8wm8giyujcg]

But how to do get the game from steam which i already bought, then play the game without ever installing steam , so i can actually own it like buying a gaming cd? Also how do i extact the game from a physically bought cd to put the game anywhere like in hard drive or cloud and can play it anywhere without the actual cd?

[@HunterMael]

I bought this lottery ticket, It says "up to $10,000 In winnings" yet I won nothing. How do I turn this in for my $10,000? Same question

[@user-hq8wm8giyujcg]

@@HunterMael no its not

[@HunterMael]

@@user-hq8wm8giyujcg you purchased a digital license not the game, cry about it, buy the actual game next time.

[@user-hq8wm8giyujcg]

@@HunterMael a game is a game is a game is a game is a game is a game is a game is a game

[@davidtharp2125]

Link to Beikell enclosure please…

[@TheRealAlpha2]

I have like 5 internal game drives an 3 of them are nearly maxed out with inexpensive games I've obtained over a couple of years of my gaming PC ownership. I was nervous the first time I installed to a USB drive because I've been so used to Playstation being tight with game installs from PS3 (the drive you install games on is locked to _that_ PS3 and any other system will want to erase it, _including_ another PS3 you actually own. At least they changed that with PS4 and PS5... kinda. Still limited to how many you can own, unlike PCs.)

[@rockstarfun5]

Best tutorial ever❤️❤️

[@mariusottesenhllesli5038]

you do it wrong. i write how to do it 2 times and it gets removed it wont start if you just connect the drive bvecause windows is diffrent. only way to do it is to transfer the game over lan and backup restore always fails so you need 2 pc or a virtual machine. or you have to scan the game to configure it to other machine installation so it start only way to connect drive library is to clone windows and use samefiles as downloaded

[@TechDweeb]

Nope! Sorry but that's not true. I did it exactly as I showed in the video, and I've done it multiple times like this, and it works as I showed. Give it a try! And don't worry about the typos. I make typing mistakes when I'm upset too :.(

[@mariusottesenhllesli5038]

@eeb well my problem is that windows can not start any games if i did not verify intregrity. so i use local network transfer in steam. or i have to right click on 800 games. to just scan it to replace the main executable.. and system restore usally breaks my games so i i have to rescann intregity after the games have been scanned and reconfigured to that windows.. it needs to be cracked in order to start on any windows if its not downloaded or transfered. even if just connecting steam drive to another pc.. and this is just because windows is diffrent than donwload source in installation 2.if its not cloned. and its the truth have been using my steam account for 16 years now.. also did try backup restore and that did not work. some titles is not combatible and it has bugs like donwloading transfering never finnishes. and the games need to be installed to start in offline mode and launched once. so i buy a huge drive and use connectify hotspot and just connect them togheter and transfer them if you have slow speed i have 18 tb drive and have used 13 tb and it takes months on 20 mbit locally a week and they dont always transfer locally if i dont use insternett on 1 computer in another in connectify hotspot and this is correct way

[@Colombia20102018]

Best channel ever 🤩

[@TechDweeb]

Don't make me blush 😊

[@conniethunder]

Hey @TechDweeb Many thanks for this idea. I say that because I bought a GPU & NVMe combo package back when we where were getting sh4fted with GPU prices (Grrrr you miners). It never occurred to me to use the NVMe drive in an encloser since I had no motherboard slots.! - Yeah.....more money than sense! Hey, I was an IT pc builder 20 years ago, Tech today, 'you guys don't know you're born!'. xxx

[@SeeJayPlayGames]

Broccoli isn't gross if you oven roast it with oil, salt, and garlic powder. 425 F (218 C) for 15 minutes.

[@bland9876]

Broccoli cheese soup is amazing and that's without adding extra things to it like macaroni noodles.

[@themauwie8933]

This guy is a Legend. Pure gold. My best subscribe in 2023. I'm recommending this channel to my peeps also. And you people do the same... 😅

[@ericmjiron]

Has anyone tried this on ChimeraOS? Or will this only work on Windows?

[@TechDweeb]

Same method will work with Chimera OS! However you can't bring the drive back and forth between windows and linux PCs

[@albertodagostini8978]

Can I chose a file system that works for both Windows and Linux?

[@hiepbenh88]

My nvme reader board is 5$ type c 10gb/s amazing cheap

[@markalexander5578]

I didn't even know this was possible.

[@smidlee7747]

I've been doing this for a while. Too bad Gamepass doesn't have this feature.

[@imannn679]

broo thankss for ur helpp

[@PhenMr]

I'm surprised how small they can make it how bizarre

[@SNKev411]

Does a warlock count 😅

[@TechDweeb]

Nope. Wizards only.

[@PlayingItWrong]

We all must make little sacrifices.

[@SNKev411]

@@TechDweeb 😂🤣😂🤣

[@bsthadrudge5752]

Thank you.

[@BagTagMike]

Who's mom was in the picture? 🤔

[@marciomladenoff7912]

This is a great guide unfortunately my games are divided along steam, gog, epic and others.... Steam makes the integration easy but doing it on epic is like pulling teeth 😂

[@marciomladenoff7912]

Damn my mom strikes again... Well played tech dweeb well played...

[@cosmicgamingunlimited]

Was that Tinky Winky???

[@grimgg4435]

Am I crazy or am I hearing giggle bite

[@PenultimaGamrAKAhank]

200 Wizards out of 1000 viewers? What a crazy metric. BTW TECH DWEEB! You seem to have gotten more engagement from simply stating wizards should click the like button? Hmm. Js.

[@derekswitzer9624]

It’s the EXTREME!!! 😎👍🤣

[@cheetah672]

Thank you for giving me so many irresponsible ways for me to spend my money!!!

[@juanpaulofricke1506]

Where do you live that you internet is so bad 😭😭 mine is 700mb in the midle of nowere in Brasil. And it is so cheap, just 20$

[@mercyblack0101]

❤️

[@meisner-effect]

peace

[@Bibvock]

👾 : 🚀

[@TechDweeb]

Nice shot

[@Superamak]

Hi. 🥦

[@ngcheewei21]

DDDR RAM 😆

[@DarkWorldQ8]

Good video, but it was ruined with the immature "your mom" joke. A good KZbinr shouldn't insult the viewers, especially when it comes to people who have a dead mom.

[@ionamygdalon2263]

I am a wizard but shall not press the thumbs up button . . . . . Love trolling my favorite KZbinr of all time 😁 Have a nice day TD

[@TechDweeb]

Woah slow down there GANDALF!

[@ionamygdalon2263]

@@TechDweeb I am Gandalf the Troll! Your channel is special and wanted you to know. And although people tend to be reserved in Canada, where I am from... well, we do not have a word for "subtle" 😂

[@gtijason7853]

420 Wizards here at TechDweeb