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Installing origin and games to D drive

Hi simmers!

Hoping someone a bit techy can help me out! I want to install origin and all my sims4 games onto my D drive as my C drive is at 75% and reserved for other things. My D drive is EMPTY lol. I installed it to my D drive once, months ago but when I did I did something wrong and messed up so many folders and ended up just resetting my laptop. So I don't want to make whatever same mistake, again. Do I need to create a special folder there first? I'm finding mixed info online. Or do I install origin to the C drive and then re direct the games to point to the D drive? gah. I'm usually okay with this stuff when i can find a straight answer, but the inter webs are confusing me this morning.

thanks all!
you're ele-phantastic

Comments

  • rudolpharudolpha Posts: 995 Member
    Not a tech, had help from Geek Squad, but a lot of my Sims files are now on my D drive, which was empty and still has more room than my C drive. Now I watch for new downloads and if I get a choice make sure they don't go on C.
  • CarpeNocheSimsCarpeNocheSims Posts: 158 Member
    edited September 2022
    I just moved more space from the D drive over to my C drive. You can change the partition size, there are videos out there showing how or take it in to a tech. I kept forgetting to change the path and causing issues. So, I just changed the sizes.
  • catmando830catmando830 Posts: 9,117 Member
    On my older Alienware I have 2 regular HD's and 1 SSD, hubby installed the extra HD and the SSD. All my game info is on the SSD, and anything to do with TS4 that has to reside on my computer will automatically go to the SSD. Hubby is an VP of IT where he works, but knows it all.

    I would recommend taking this to someone who knows what they are doing. You could loose everything if you do it wrong.
  • rudolpharudolpha Posts: 995 Member
    My Geek Squad contact told me that while on older computers you could change partition size on the newer ones it was not possible. I never intend to buy a partitioned computer again. Dell is a good brand but all that empty space is a downer.
  • Colton147147Colton147147 Posts: 10,453 Member
    The fastest way is by uninstalling the game and reinstalling the game by selecting the drive you'd want to install it on (Make sure to back up your saved games, mods, and all that).
    Your Justine Keaton Enthusiast and the Voice of the Sims Community.
  • CarpeNocheSimsCarpeNocheSims Posts: 158 Member
    edited September 2022
    Never mind.....

    I'll just say that if given the choice, don't buy a computer with a partition.
  • JadedJaneJadedJane Posts: 991 Member
    I bought an external hardrive and put it all on there. My husband did it all. I have no idea how to do it. But I can download to my hearts content.
  • JyotaiJyotai Posts: 505 Member
    I've done this.

    If you're dealing with partitions of a single actual drive... none of this matters - moving files between partitions is just like trying to decide if you want to plug your right or left nostril next time you take a breath of air - you're not achieving anything. ;)

    If you have multiple physical drives though, it can be very helpful to move things.


    My game is installed on D which is an SSD drive connected on one of the two m.2 slots on my motherboard. The C drive is on the other .m2 and also an SSD.

    SSD's have a limited number of times they can be written to before they stop working. If you try to run this out though any good quality drive is likely to be able to do enough write cycles to last somewhere between half a decade to a decade. Longer than most people need.

    (I learned this when I got an SSD for my Tesla's security cameras; which means that drive is in constant write mode - so even a top quality SSD for that will only last a few short years, while a normal one can burn out in 6 months.)

    Note that if you move the game to a non-SSD, gameplay will slow down a LOT. People playing on 'spin drives' will likewise see massive performance gains if they move to SSDs... You just have to remember than an SSD burns out, eventually - which is only an issue if you expect to not upgrade them for more than a 5-10 years or so...


    What I don't see is a way to tell Sims 4 to write all of it's assorted gameplay files to somewhere other than My Documents...

    So the real task it to move the My Documents folder off of the C drive...


    This is actually more important than moving the game, as the files in My Documents are being written to with every gameplay.

    This will impact a LOT more than just Sims 4 - it will move everything. But that's also why it's a good idea to do.

    You can move your documents drive, and I do recommend it.

    Your C drive is a drive you want to have a large amount of unused space on. Your operating system will run faster as a result. I forget if this issue is bigger in Windows or OSX, and with OSX if it was an issue it might be different on their new chips than it was when they were Intel.

    Moving My Documents is a task though. This note on Microsoft's website demonstrates a very easy process but it dates to 2010... So I'd google the procedure specific to your version of Windows:

    https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/move-the-my-documents-folder-to-another-drive/a41eaabb-2c5b-4502-85ba-fd49a007fd82

    I don't use Discord because it doesn't support multiple accounts and I don't need folks at work wondering what I'm doing even on my own time. Until Discord catches up with every single other voice / video conferencing system, I limit where I use it:
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