SteamTool Library Manager 1.1

Released September 22, 2010

Introduction

Have you run out of space to install games within Steam? Want to install some of the games in your Steam Library to another hard drive or solid-state drive?

With SteamTool, you can install the games in your Steam Library across more than one hard drive. Games on the second hard drive will continue to play, download and update as normal, since Steam is still able to access them using their original folder names.

How to Get Started

1. Create an empty folder on the additional drive that will have games installed on it.
2. Open SteamTool, and select the folder that you just created.
3. SteamTool is now ready for you to transfer games. From now on, all you have to do is:
4. Choose a game from the list and click 'Move to Storage' or 'Move to Steam'.
   
   

Important Warnings:

1. SteamTool makes use of NTFS Junctions. Steam will need to be installed on an NTFS partition for SteamTool to work.
2. Some programs might display incorrect results when accessing your Steam folder, if they follow the same links that Steam uses to access games on the second drive. (i.e wrong number of files in a folder)
3. You should read this guide explaining how to back up your Steam Library. No warranty is available in case of data loss, etc. Use at your own risk.

Downloads

Screenshots

Your Steam games are ready to transfer as soon as SteamTool starts. More

Once you create your storage folder and select it in SteamTool, your games will automatically show up, ready to move whenever you open the app. If you find that your games aren't showing, try running SteamTool as an Administrator.

A complete copy of the game exists at all times while transferring. More

Before any changes are made to the original game, SteamTool confirms that the game in storage is a complete copy of the original. If SteamTool is unable to finish moving your game (i.e. Steam is still using it), you'll still have a copy of your game, and SteamTool will offer suggestions for how to continue.

If you want to be sure, just close Steam before moving a game that Steam has recently used.

(v1.1) SteamTool makes it easy to confirm that your linked games are set up correctly. More

SteamTool automatically detects a variety of issues with your games, and will show a 'Messages' button to warn you of potential problems.

Previously installed games can be moved directly into Storage and linked to Steam. More

The 'Link to Steam' button will only appear if SteamTool detects that a game is not linked from the steam folder. This can be used to restore a previous installation of any game that was once in your 'steamapps' folder.

After linking a game, you can 'Install' it within Steam, which will download any updates released since you last installed it.

If you see a "This game is not available" error, Validating the Game Cache will probably solve it.

Known Issues

• Many Valve games are not listed in SteamTool. The resources for Valve games are often stored as files within a single folder, but SteamTool can only move games that are stored in their own individual folders.
• Windows XP is not supported by SteamTool. Windows XP and earlier versions have incomplete support for junctions in Windows Explorer, making the process somewhat unsafe. For Windows XP users, I would suggest looking at the Link Shell Extension, which works around these problems.
• User Account Control may require SteamTool to be run with administrative privileges to create links.
• SteamTool has been tested to work with Windows 8, but may require the installation of an extra Windows component (as detailed in this MSDN article).
• As of November 2012, you can now install certain games to a second hard drive using the main Steam client!

Credits

• SteamTool makes use of Jeff Brown's excellent .NET Junction Library, hosted over at CodeProject. This program was far easier to create thanks to his efforts.
• Special thanks go out to everyone who provided suggestions for improvements to SteamTool.
• Program icons are sourced from an free icon set by aha-soft.
• This is a freely available personal project, and is not affiliated with, sponsored by, approved by, or otherwise related to Valve Software or Steam.

Version History

• SteamTool v1.1 — Changelog for 1.1 — September 22nd, 2010
• SteamTool v1.0 — Changelog for 1.0 — July 19th, 2010
• SteamTool v1.0b3 — Changelog for 1.0b3 — July 10th, 2010
• SteamTool v1.0b2 — Vista or newer required to run — July 8th, 2010
• SteamTool v1.0 beta — Initial Public Release — July 7th, 2010
• SteamTool Pre-Release 2 — July 4th, 2010
• SteamTool Pre-Release — July 1st, 2010