How to move The Sims 4 to an internal hard drive without a symbolic link?
Hello! I've been playing The Sims 4 since I was able to get a PC all the way back in 2017 and have loved the game since, which means along the way I've managed to come across loads and loads of CC and mods that I really like. Unfortunately for me, that builds up rather fast over the course of around 7ish years and my PC storage is screaming in agony for help as I continue to get new things to dress my sims in.
Not too long ago, however, I got my hands on a 4TB internal hard drive which has been AMAZING for most everything else because it meant that I was able to relieve some of the pressure from my poor PC as well as giving me more space for more CC and move a lot of stuff over onto said hard drive. The only question I have now is how do I move the sims 4 to an internal hard drive without a symbolic link?
I'm really sorry if this is a bit of a dumb question but most other people I've seen asking have been mentioning doing so with external hard drives, and a lot of the responses that were given mentioned this symbolic link. I've never personally done a link like that and I don't want to do it unless it comes down to being my last option and I mean LAST option bc I will completely deplete my storage before I do that. So, again, I apologize if this is a dumb question but I want to ensure that I do this correctly and safely without having to worry about any workaround that doesn't actually move it and whatnot like the symbolic link mentioned above. In the meantime, I'll be sure to save a backup of my entire sims 4 folder to get ready to move everything, assuming that I'm not being a clown or something. Thank you in advance to anyone that helps!
ALSO also: Sorry again, but my only request for anyone willing to give me instructions is to please tell me what to do as though I'm a five-year-old; I'm autistic and I'm worried that I'll be the clown to mess something up along the way should there be any instructions given in the first place ajgvahfbad Thank you once again to anyone willing to help me! If there's anything else you need to know, please ask and I will do my best to answer! <3
@Fae-Sama-22580 The fundamental issue here is that Sims 4 will always look for the user folder in Documents > Electronic Arts. As you likely know, when no Sims 4 folder exists there, the game will make a new one. Because of this programming, there are only two options: to move the location of Documents, because Sims 4 will look wherever the Documents directory is located; or to use a symbolic link the point the game to a user folder stored elsewhere.
The guides for moving the user folder to an external drive all describe creating a symbolic link because moving Documents to an external drive is a bad idea. If that drive is unplugged, Windows won't be able to find the Documents directory, and that could have significant consequences depending on what the computer is doing at the time. For an internal drive, however, this is not a problem.
The point is, you can move all of Documents to your secondary drive, no symlink necessary, and Sims 4 should read the user folder just like it does now. This function is supported in Windows; you're not doing anything that is going to mess up your computer, at least as long as you follow the instructions. I will say that if your secondary drive is much slower than your C drive, you might notice significantly longer loading times, but that's the trade-off for having a larger drive that doesn't cost a fortune.
This is a good guide for moving Documents to another drive:
https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/74952-move-location-documents-folder-windows-10-a.html
If you get stuck on any particular step, just let me know which one and what about it is difficult or confusing.
