Main SSD getting full even though no games are on it?

[Bryy]

So, even though most of my games are located on my D drive, Steam is still on my C (my SSD), and so a few save files and such still go there.

My SSD drive is running out of room fast. I'm wondering if moving Steam will also cause those tetriary game files to move?

 

(why are  there outlines.)

[Humanoid]

Save files normally get sent to your Documents folder, not the Steam install directory, so no. To get rid of the saves automatically going onto your SSD, you can change where your Documents folder lives. It's a Windows thing, not a Steam thing (just go to the Properties for the Documents folder), but it also means moving your other files that you might want to retain fast access to, so it's not a perfect solution.

 

An alternative is, because most games don't let you customise save directory (bloody hell, we could do this in the 80s), is to use symlinks/junction points to 'trick' the games into saving onto your hard drive: essentially you leave a 'shortcut' in your Documents folder that actually points to a location on your HDD. (Think of a symbolic link as a "super" shortcut)

 

P.S. I think Steam does save screenshots to the Steam install directory by default though, might be worth looking if you take a lot of them.

Edited September 11, 2014 by Humanoid

[Sensuki]

System Restore, Page File.

[AwesomeOcelot]

Save games saved to the cloud can be in the Steam directory but Steam tends to only save some of the files if a game has large save files e.g. New Vegas, therefore it doesn't seem to use much space at all compared to saved games in documents, you definitely should go delete the unnecessary ones.

 

WinDirStat (amongst others) maps a drive and shows you what's taking up space. Windows 7 has a utility called Disk Cleanup that deletes a lot of temporary files and can clean up system files.

Edited September 11, 2014 by AwesomeOcelot

[Elerond]

Relocating "My documents" directory to some other drive than C is also good way to save space in C drive, because many games and programs but their files user specific files there (save files, dlcs in some cases, e-books, audiobooks, etc.).

[Zeckul]

You can visualize what is taking space on it with tools like WinDirStat.

 

CCleaner is a good tool to reclaim space used by temporary installation files and whatnot.

 

If you want a good guide on cleaning up your C drive then there's no better than Scott Hanselman's.

Edited September 12, 2014 by Zeckul

[Bartimaeus]

Alternatively, i.Disk for seeing what's taking up space. Additionally, run Disk Cleanup to remove old Windows Update backups and other useless files, set a cap on how much room system restores can take up, (or, in my case, as I have extensive backups, disable system restore entirely).

[Bryy]

It's weird because I always move My Documents to the new drive. 

 

Moving Steam did it.

[Gorgon]

I think I'm about to cave in and get the 500gb samsung. I need an additional storage drive. I still have an IDE interface disk but it's not going to last forever and I think IDE legacy connectors.won't either. 500 is not really enough, but I've got 8 ATA slots to fill up. Only using 4.