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kittell17's avatar
kittell17
6 years ago
Solved

Delete Origin cache on a different drive

Hello, I recently upgraded my computer to have Windows 10 and a 240gb SSD (C drive), and secondary 2tb HDD (D drive) have directed the installation of both my Origin app and games to my big D drive ...
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  • puzzlezaddict's avatar
    puzzlezaddict
    6 years ago

    @kittell17  What I meant about transferring the install files was that you could download the game on another computer—a laptop, a friend's system, even one at the library if they let you—then copy the files to a USB, then copy them to your own computer, and let Origin find the files rather than downloading everything.  But it sounds like that's a moot point for now, which is great to hear.

    For the pack, there are plenty of websites that list them out by release date, so you can see that EP03 is City Living or whatever.  I usually just google and jump to the Wikipedia page:

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sims_4#Expansions,_add-ons_and_editions

    If you're missing any packs, you can manually start the download through Origin: click on the Sims 4 icon in your game library, select More > Expansion Packs (or Game or Stuff Packs), scroll through the list, and find the one(s) that haven't downloaded.  Any you own should have an orange Download button.

    As for the household files, I think you're referring to the Tray entries?  I sort them by last modified date, so I know what goes with what.  But then my Tray folder doesn't have that many files, so it's easier to keep track of everything.  You could also copy the files into (properly named) subfolders somewhere else, and copy files from these backups into your main user data folder when you want to use something in-game.  But I agree, it's more of a hassle than it needs to be.

puzzlezaddict's avatar
puzzlezaddict
Hero+
6 years ago

@kittell17  Let's see if I can cover everything.

1.  You never need to delete Origin's cache unless you have issues with Origin or your games.  I never do it unless I'm testing something.

2 and 3.  The cache files will in their respective directories on C.  I have had Origin installed on D since I built this computer and can't find any cache files on D, and this is how it's supposed to work.  To move those files to D, you'd need to redirect the directories to D, which I doubt you'd want to do.

4.  To access D, keep "show hidden files" on, then click This PC, then D.  You'll land in the root folder of D and should be able to see everything there, including any stray files you don't want on D.

5.  Origin shouldn't leave anything on C that needs to be cleaned out.  If you're keeping legacy installers, you may want to change the location to D (in the same menu where you changed the install location of Origin games).  Origin's DownloadCache will still be in C:\ProgramData\Origin, but it should be empty when you're not actually downloading a game.

6.  Sims 4 packs are in their respective folders in the game's program files, i.e. d:\Program Files D\Origin Games\The Sims 4.  They're labeled by type of pack and order, for example Seasons is EP05.

By the way, when I installed Sims 4, I initially found a separate Program Files (x86) folder on D that Origin created when I installed the game.  So if you named your game install folder something else, you might want to have a look around for stray files.  These are not the game's program files, more like partial duplicates, and it should be fine to delete them.

7.  I'm not sure why you want everything on D and not C (sure, OCD, but programs load faster on an SSD), but it sounds like you have your reasons.  Windows supports all that, so it shouldn't cause any issues.

kittell17's avatar
kittell17
6 years ago

Hi @puzzlezaddict 

Thank you for answering my lengthy post! I really appreciate your answers. Regarding why I need to put everything on my D drive, it's it'sly because my C drive is only a 240gb SSD and my D drive is a 2tb. I aim to get a bigger SSD, but for now this is what I have to work with, and I would feel a lot better if my games were installed and operated on D. Yes, it's also partly OCD too.

I am taking a look at my D drive and I have everything on the Origin app, including Legacy files, to be in an "Electronic Arts" folder on the D drive. Inside that EA folder is also where I have the Origin app installed. I know this because both Origin and Sims 4 have all the games and pertinent files and whatnot inside them. On the C drive in Program Files (x86) I have the Origins folder which only has an empty Sims 4 folder. *Shrugs*. Moving on to the just the Program Files on C I do not see an Origin or EA folder or files, so I am assuming that me directing everything to D, at least on the Origin App settings, went through correctly.

I failed to mention, however, that I also did some tweaking on Windows 10 to send everything to D anyway via the gear icon - System - Storage - Change where new content is saved. Everything there is now set to D drive. I did this prior to installing any expansions, uffs packs, etc for Sims 4. I did not do this though prior to installing the base game. The base game was once on my C drive in the default way that it likes to save. This is what I did:

I went to where my base game was on the C drive, right clicked the directory folder (Documents and Users), and simply changed its location in Properties to D. This move, I found, concreted what I wanted. 

One issue that I have remaining though in regards to this cache topic is that earlier today and yesterday I had issues getting my Origin app to work. I would get gray boxes, etc and saw many posts of other gamers complaining about the same thing. Nothing new. So this is where I started deleting my Origin cache, and I did find them on C, not on the D drive.

It took me about 4 hours to get this up and running. Moving forward to present I am having a really difficult time dealing with the extremely painfully SLOW downloading speed of my Sims 4 expansions packs. My downloading speed is in hideous kB, and I can never download in mb. It's taken me about 10 hours and I have only got 35 percent downloaded of a 2.45gb expansion pack file for Sims 4.

I am fully aware how tricky it is to discern the exact cause. It could very well be my internet network since I am using a Linksys wireless-AC Mini USB adapter that is connected to my landlords wifi upstairs. My landlord provides the internet and has the main router inaccessible upstairs. It's also likely her internet provider too. I did a lot of troubleshooting with my Linksys already. I've updated the driver, managed clean reboot, restarted my PC l, etc. I do not have access to an ethernet cable or anything else except for my Linksys device, based on my living situation.

Other devices like my phone and TV work fine, and quickly, with the same network. My Linksys reads 4 out if 5 bars, but the downloading is constantly fluctuating every second, remaining in kb.

My Origin app is also set to no limit for internet l downloading and uploading.

I also did some reading and apparently other gamers have had downloading speeds trouble like me, even with good internet connections. What I need to know is it an Origin app issue, or something else? Is there any way that I can boost the speed? Has it got to do with the Origin cache files?

Thank you.

  • puzzlezaddict's avatar
    puzzlezaddict
    Hero+
    6 years ago

    @kittell17  I'm not sure how to help with the slow download speed; it's not my area at all.  It's probably better that you get help in the other thread you started.  But one thing that might be happening is that someone else is using the wifi at the same time you are.  Another person downloading a small file or loading a video or similar would explain the intermittent drops, and of course if a number of people are sharing the same wifi, it will be slow for everyone.

    On the other hand, Origin does seem to be excessively slow for many people with otherwise solid connections, and from what I've seen, it's not always easy to figure out why.

    If you can't resolve the download issues, it might be easier to download your games elsewhere, then transfer the files to your computer via external drive or USB and let Origin "Locate game."  (Alternately, you can start a download in Origin and then copy over the files; Origin should recognize that the program files are already downloaded and just verify them.)  While this doesn't always work, it may be easier than what you've described.

    • kittell17's avatar
      kittell17
      6 years ago

      Hi @puzzlezaddict 

      Problem is, I have not previously downloaded the Sims 4 expansions, especially since I'm trying to download a new purchase. 

      I am beyond frustrated right now with Origin and my internet. My phone and TV are all connected to the same wifi network and they work perfectly, without any issues. It's just my PC that screws up and now my USB adapter says something about an ipconfig problem, etc. I'm about to throw it out the window.

      As for downloading the expansions on Origin, I left that running all night. Not sure how far I got with it since both Origin and my internet mysteriously stopped working. I could not even login to Origin when I had my internet working for a bit this morning.

      In that new thread that I started I got a reply from Darko saying to perform the steps that I have already done. The only thing that I don't have is an ethernet cable, making this a wired device. But all my unwired devices work fine. I hate technology sometimes.. so much. 

      Thanks for helping me though. This is beyond my scope too because I think it's a combination of every network, ISP, etc being overloaded from the pandemic, and Origin being a pain like it always is. I don't know how else to get my Sims 4 expansions without downloading directing from the Origin apo.

    • kittell17's avatar
      kittell17
      6 years ago

      Hi @puzzlezaddict 

      Remarkably, I did fix my wifi adapter thing...for now. Not sure that it will act up again because of the ISP servers being bogged down. I actually had to move my adapter to the uppermost usb port rather than switch it about the lower usb ports. Go figure how that worked, but I'm going to try it again later when I reboot my computer. Sorry for my earlier rant. I did manage to download my Sims 4 expansions in record breaking time of 6 mins after I switched the port! I even have my Origin set to R&D mode. 

      Regarding the cache though, I also had to delete it (except for Local contents) a few times because Origin was being a pain. I guess I will need that in the C drive from now on because, based on what you said and what I could find, the Origin cache will not be set to my D drive.

      As for the Sims 4 expansions, I do have Seasons, vampires and recently downloaded the City Living expansions. Vampire and Seasons are in the correct directory but I can't seem to find the City Living, and the 2 other smaller packs that game with the bundle. I really wish EA or Maxis made the names easier to discern. And why did they make multiple files just for one household is beyond my understanding. With Sims 3 I knew where everything was. Again, I have my Origin app to download, including Legacy files, to the D drive. Maybe it's because I don't know the right names of the expansion and minor packs since they're marked as episodes? I have to take another look. How do I find a list of each expansion, etc in order to make navigating and finding them easier?

      Thanks again for your time and assistance.

      • puzzlezaddict's avatar
        puzzlezaddict
        Hero+
        6 years ago

        @kittell17  What I meant about transferring the install files was that you could download the game on another computer—a laptop, a friend's system, even one at the library if they let you—then copy the files to a USB, then copy them to your own computer, and let Origin find the files rather than downloading everything.  But it sounds like that's a moot point for now, which is great to hear.

        For the pack, there are plenty of websites that list them out by release date, so you can see that EP03 is City Living or whatever.  I usually just google and jump to the Wikipedia page:

        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sims_4#Expansions,_add-ons_and_editions

        If you're missing any packs, you can manually start the download through Origin: click on the Sims 4 icon in your game library, select More > Expansion Packs (or Game or Stuff Packs), scroll through the list, and find the one(s) that haven't downloaded.  Any you own should have an orange Download button.

        As for the household files, I think you're referring to the Tray entries?  I sort them by last modified date, so I know what goes with what.  But then my Tray folder doesn't have that many files, so it's easier to keep track of everything.  You could also copy the files into (properly named) subfolders somewhere else, and copy files from these backups into your main user data folder when you want to use something in-game.  But I agree, it's more of a hassle than it needs to be.

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