Uninstalling and reinstalling Source games

[Champie]

Hay i was going to reinstall tf2 from my computer and then reinstall it. I tend to screw things up without full instruction so can someone tell me how i can do this?

Thanks

 

[Ducttape]

I'll give it a shot - if someone knows a better way, feel free to correct me


To uninstall then reinstall a game from your Steam library:

1. Unless you want to re-download the game, you'll need to make a backup of the game that is already installed on your PC. Note: this will not backup any skins or mods you have installed for that game (like the TF2 32-player hud or the awesome scout rainbow bat skin)
   
2. To make a Back-Up of your game: go to the My Games tab in Steam. Find the game you want to backup, alt-click on it, and select Backup game files.
   
3. A window will appear with your game listed. Select next, and choose where you want the backup to be stored on your PC. (the default is c:\program files\steam\Backups). If you're happy with this location, select next.
   
4. Now you can select the file size for the backup. The default is CD (640MB). If you would like to burn the backup to removable media (CD, DVD) select the appropriate size. Note: You DO NOT have to burn the backup file to a CD or DVD for it to work. You can run the backup from your hard-drive or copy it to a flash drive and it will work fine. You can also select custom, input a larger file size (like 10000 MB) and it will create one large file. If you do not plan to burn a DVD to store the backup, this would be your best option.
   
5. After you complete your backup, you can delete the game from your harddrive. Go to the My Games tab in steam, alt-click the game you want to remove, and select Delete Local Content.
   
6. Once the game has been removed, you can now open the backup folder you created previously (c:\program files\steam\Backups). There will be a few things in this folder; you will need to click on the Restore Backup program file.
   
7. Follow the directions to re-install your game.

Hope this helps!

 

[Bravo Company]

If you don't want to keep the game and just want to get rid of it.

Steam>my game> right click> delete local content.

 

[Champie]

I want to keep the game and reinstall it but i dont have enough room on my computer to back it up!

 

[zippy258]

I want to keep the game and reinstall it but i dont have enough room on my computer to back it up!

Try backing it up to a disk.

 

[Champie]

But the size is 8026 MB i dont have anything that big to file it!

 

[Byakuya]

Just back it up on an extrenal drive. Or internal w/e...

 

[Champie]

what is an external drive?

 

[Blasphemy]

I'll give it a shot - if someone knows a better way, feel free to correct me


To uninstall then reinstall a game from your Steam library:

1. Unless you want to re-download the game, you'll need to make a backup of the game that is already installed on your PC. Note: this will not backup any skins or mods you have installed for that game (like the TF2 32-player hud or the awesome scout rainbow bat skin)
   
2. To make a Back-Up of your game: go to the My Games tab in Steam. Find the game you want to backup, alt-click on it, and select Backup game files.
   
3. A window will appear with your game listed. Select next, and choose where you want the backup to be stored on your PC. (the default is crogram filessteamBackups). If you're happy with this location, select next.
   
4. Now you can select the file size for the backup. The default is CD (640MB). If you would like to burn the backup to removable media (CD, DVD) select the appropriate size. Note: You DO NOT have to burn the backup file to a CD or DVD for it to work. You can run the backup from your hard-drive or copy it to a flash drive and it will work fine. You can also select custom, input a larger file size (like 10000 MB) and it will create one large file. If you do not plan to burn a DVD to store the backup, this would be your best option.
   
5. After you complete your backup, you can delete the game from your harddrive. Go to the My Games tab in steam, alt-click the game you want to remove, and select Delete Local Content.
   
6. Once the game has been removed, you can now open the backup folder you created previously (crogram filessteamBackups). There will be a few things in this folder; you will need to click on the Restore Backup program file.
   
7. Follow the directions to re-install your game.

Hope this helps!

wow lol does the job i just open up games console, right click, delete local content

 

[Awptimus]

what is an external drive?

I think it's like, a type of USB drive type thing. It is able to store info but doesn't add it to your computer.

 

[UnderLord]

I think it's like, a type of USB drive type thing. It is able to store info but doesn't add it to your computer.

A external drive is exactly how it sounds its a hard drive thats in a external enclousure usually connects to your PC via a USB port. Some of the newer ones do firewire (IEEE 1394a). If you have a dual layer DVD burner you can put it on a dual layer DVD which can store 8.5GB's of data. But if nothing is available to you dual layer DVD burner/DVD or a external hard drive then all i'd have to say is delete it completely and then redownload all content.