Transfering Steam files to another PC

[Kreij]

Having dial-up at home, getting some of the stuff I want off of Steam is out of the question.
I heard that if you install Steam on another PC, log into your account, download what you want and then do a "games backup" through Steam you can take the backup home and install it as the files are Steam account specific, not PC specific.

Anyone tried this?

Specifically I want the SDK and the SDK Base. (about 2.4GB ... ain't happen on Dial-Up)

[Ravenas]

Having dial-up at home, getting some of the stuff I want off of Steam is out of the question.
I heard that if you install Steam on another PC, log into your account, download what you want and then do a "games backup" through Steam you can take the backup home and install it as the files are Steam account specific, not PC specific.

Anyone tried this?

Specifically I want the SDK and the SDK Base. (about 2.4GB ... ain't happen on Dial-Up)

I don't know why you would want SDK with a dial-up connection.

After back-up, your files can be burned to a disk and transferred to another computer. There is no reason why you wouldn't be able to do that as long as you have access to that game on your other computer.

[Mandown]

I have done this before but i didn't make a back-up i just copied and pasted the whole steam folder (games and all) on a cd and transfered it to all 3 of my computers and all work fine. never did the back-up though.

[Kreij]

I don't know why you would want SDK with a dial-up connection.

Modding.

After back-up, your files can be burned to a disk and transferred to another computer. There is no reason why you wouldn't be able to do that as long as you have access to that game on your other computer.

Ok, I was just wondering how it worked. If I pull the SDK and SDK Base here at work and then do a backup, I want to make sure when I restore it at home it will only restore the SDKs and not remove everything else I already have loaded at home.

[PVTCaboose1337]

I have done this before but i didn't make a back-up i just copied and pasted the whole steam folder (games and all) on a cd and transfered it to all 3 of my computers and all work fine. never did the back-up though.

I did that too, works fine, just copy and paste.

[ex_reven]

I did that too, works fine, just copy and paste.

Ive never tried it myself. But we did it at pinchy's house with no issues.
All steam does is look in the valve directory.

All the files have a specific directory for where they must be located, and as long as they are in the correct place steam will find them and make them accessable.

eg - gaming folders must be under your account name folder, Game Cache Files must be in the steamapps folder. Keep everything together and you should be fine.

[FatForester]

Yea, I do this all the time. As long as you copy the files to the corresponding folders, you'll be ok. And if theres some files missing or whatnot, Steam will download the parts you're missing. Also, to save time you could always compress the files. Most of the .gcf files compress like mad! It might not save as much time, but it's easier to transport if thats an issue.

[Kreij]

Ok, I will probably try to add the SDK to my home computer tonight.
If it hoses my Steam install, I am going to pay homeless people to come to the houses of all you who said it will work, and sing out of key under your bedroom window at wee hours of the morning for a month. :D

Thanks to all for the info.