Steam's "Backup and Restore Programs"... do you use it?

[Scryder]

Simple question. I use Steam's "Backup and Restore Programs" often, to backup games, so I can play them in the future. I noticed nothing's changed in that since they've updated the UI a while back. I hope they don't take this away, as I can't be arsed to download 50GB of a game I've downloaded already a year or two down the line... when I feel like playing it again.

So I was curious, does anyone else use this feature?

[Jonj1611]

Not really, I used to when I had a slow connection but now its so fast that a 50GB download takes like 20 mins

[jimbouk]

Never used. Have transferred games between computers and just take the contents of the steamapps/common folder and when you install it it just does an integrity check and downloads anything it needs to again. I guess this doesn't really have to do anything more.

[Ttaskmaster]

a 50GB download takes like 20 mins

Really?
Oh you poor thing, I feel so sorry for you...!
60GB took me 17 minutes!


TBH, I'm not sure what B&RP would do.
As far as I can tell, it doesn't back up any cloud savegames, or any games that use additional launchers (MMOs, RPGs, Battlefield, possibly even Cyberpunk). Only those that save everything to the game folder within Steam on C:

I could be wrong, of course, but that's how it appears to work.

[Jonj1611]

Thats exactly what it does, just saves the game files, I used to use it a long time ago to save large games just in case the worst would happen but now due to playing only a few games and faster download speeds its become a bit redundant

[AC81]

Last time i built a PC i used the backup feature.
Saved alot of time downloading.

[Scryder]

TBH, I'm not sure what B&RP would do.

As @Jonj1611 said.

Also it's a legacy thing from when people used to back-up games on CD and DVD's. In fact the split options for backup files are still only CD (640MB) and DVD (4.7GB). For me it works flawlessly. And restoring from backup is currently faster than re-downloading for me. My download is 109Mbps... giving me about me just over 10.5MB/s. However downloading games hog all the bandwidth in the house. So this is still viable option for me, especially for large games.

As far as I can tell, it doesn't back up any cloud savegames, or any games that use additional launchers (MMOs, RPGs, Battlefield, possibly even Cyberpunk). Only those that save everything to the game folder within Steam on C:

I could be wrong, of course, but that's how it appears to work.

It does backup games on other launchers, I've backed up and restored games from Ubi launcher, Paradox etc without any problems. And they backup the whole game folder. Think this is because Steam requires a version that MUST be launched from Steam, then the launcher. So game files are created on "...\steamapps\common" folder anyways, if you install in the Steam launcher.

Not tried any recent EA titles as them back on Steam is new.... not sure if anything has changed from the past. Having said that I've restored DA: Origins several times over the years without any problems.

You're correct, it does not back up cloud saves... but that's probably because that came afterwards! And they never updated this since the DVD days.

It can handle the Steam folder on any drive, not just C:. I've got games on two drives atm.

[Output]

I think I've only used it once, to back up a few games before I did an upgrade either software or hardware wise (possibly when I moved my boot drive to SSD), in case things didn't transfer across properly.

It did transfer properly if I recall correctly, so the backup never needed using. This thread however has reminded me that I never deleted that backup afterwards.

[Scryder]

Thanks all. So it is just me that uses it all the time! I do have a ton of games, so it's not viable to keep them all installed at the same time, and I already talked about why I do it (faster than re-downloading).

I did wonder when Steam didn't bother updating it for a long time... I mean it works fine, but this explains why they left it as is. I do appreciate the replies.

[cbdeakin]

I've used it to backup and transfer games to other PCs, I think it's worth it for very large games (100gb). If you have a fast home network you can transfer thr backup files very quickly to other PCs, or you can use a USB3 SSD, useful for LAN parties etc.

Some games can be time consuming to patch (TW: WH II), so it makes sense to install from a backup.

If you have a very high speed connection, it's probably not worth it.

Also, if you reimage your whole PC with the Windows 7 backup and restore tool, say due to ransomware etc, this is generally the fastest way to reinstall your games.

[Saracen999]

"Steam's "Backup and Restore Programs"... do you use it?"

I don't, and won't, use Steam, so nope, I don't.

[Scryder]

Lol, I know @Saracen999. I'm well aware of your distain for DRM's.
For me, I go where the games I want to play are... I recently bought some Ubisoft store games.... after taking the plunge with Anno 1800. Got the Assasin's Creed back catalogue and Prince of Persia series.

On topic, this gave me some perspective. I will still use it for larger games, but won't for less than say 10GB.
I started my backup when we had crappy 1Mbps and slower internet, and never thought to change it... but am now reconsidering. Also I can free up some space on those external hard-drives (instead of getting new ones!).
Fingers crossed that there's no more internet outages...

[Saracen999]

Lol, I know @Saracen999. I'm well aware of your distain for DRM's.

....

Not for DRMs as such, but for the way they are implemented these days, such as Steam. But I take your point. I haven't exactly kept it to myself.