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sofuuuh's avatar
sofuuuh
2 years ago
Solved

Transferring data from Windows EA App to External Drive

Hello. 

I recently bought an SSD external drive to save my Sims files onto; reading other topics; I have an idea on how to save my game into my external drive (uninstall and reinstall in my chosen drive); that's for all DLCs. Do I have to create a folder for my Sims to save into? If I do; would it matter what the title is, how many files deep it can be etc.? I'm only asking because Windows has a certain file path for saved games. Would reinstalling into my hard drive create a folder for me anyway? Am I able to move my cc and mods straight into the hard drive without downloading everything again? And once I create a symbolic link for my mods, would that mean I can easily download CC and mods onto the hard drive directly? And I'm guessing updating, and buying more DLC would be as normal? I also have Gshade, which means I would need to uninstall it on my laptop; then reinstall and follow the steps as normal? Sorry if there are too many questions, just want to make sure I'm doing everything right. Thank you in advance! 

pc
  • puzzlezaddict's avatar
    puzzlezaddict
    2 years ago

    @sofuuuh  For your mods, you'd download them as normal, then move them straight to the Mods folder on your SSD.  If the files copy instead of moving, you'd be able to delete the original downloads without affecting the copies on the SSD.

    What I would suggest is redirecting the entire Sims 4 user folder to your SSD, for example D:\Game Content\The Sims 4, with all the usual files inside that.  It's simpler than creating a symbolic link for each of the subfolders and also makes troubleshooting a little bit simpler.  You then wouldn't have a "The Sims 4" folder within Documents\Electronic Arts; you'd instead have the symlink itself there.

    When I said install folder, I meant the folder into which the EA App installs Sims 4.  This needs to be a separate folder from the one that holds your Sims 4 user folder.  So as an example, on your SSD, you might have a Game Content folder that holds user data (saves, mods, etc.), plus a Games folder that holds the game's program files.

    I would suggest just starting the process and seeing the results.  It's a lot easier when you can see folders right in front of you rather than trying to visualize everything in advance.  If you do want to visualize, the symlink guide has some helpful screenshots.

3 Replies

  • puzzlezaddict's avatar
    puzzlezaddict
    Hero+
    2 years ago

    @sofuuuh  There are two independent parts to this process.  Moving Sims 4's program files is as simple as uninstalling the game and reinstalling on the external drive.  I would suggest putting the game one folder deep, as in, D:\Games\The Sims 4 rather than D:\The Sims 4.  This is for several reasons and is especially important if you want to store anything else on the external, including your mods.  You'll add GShade to the install folder after reinstalling, and the process will be the same as the first time around except for the new location.

    Updating and installing new content will work automatically just as it always has, by which I mean it'll work fine when the EA App is feeling cooperative.

    Your saves and other user content will still be in Documents > Electronic Arts > The Sims 4 no matter where the game itself is installed.  So yes, you'll need to create a symbolic link if you want the user data on the external drive as well.  Here again, one folder deep is necessary and sufficient, but it needs to be a different folder than the one you use for the program files.  (Otherwise you'll be mixing program files and user data, and that always ends badly.)  In case you haven't seen it, here's a good guide:

    https://crinrict.com/blog/2020/02/moving-windows-documents-folder-to-external-drive-via-symbolic-link.html

    Once you've set this up, you'll need to manually move over any newly-downloaded mods or custom content.  You could in theory move your computer's Downloads folder to the external, but in practice, this can also go badly, so it's best to move files over manually.  Here again, this is as simple as it always has been except that you're opening a different folder.  If it's easier, you can pin the Mods folder, or the Sims 4 user folder, to Quick Access in File Explorer so you're not always clicking through the entire file path.

    One last thing:  Make sure your external drive is formatted as NTFS before proceeding.  You can check in Disk Management (hit Windows key-X to see the option to open it) and format it from there if necessary.  Formatting a drive erases its contents, so rescue any files already on the drive first if necessary.

  • sofuuuh's avatar
    sofuuuh
    2 years ago

    @puzzlezaddict when you mention moving over newly updated or downloaded mods to my SSD, I'll download them as normal, put them through Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims\Mods, and then move them over to my SSD file location which would be for example maybe: D:\Game Content\Mods, Tray, Saves etc- which will all be their separate files like in Windows Documents, is that right? Does that mean my Sims 4 folder on Windows can be empty? Meaning I can delete the files that I downloaded or saved on Windows to only have them in my SSD to save space, and nothing can happen to my game or mods? And what would you mean by install folder? Would be in D:\Games\The Sims 4? And just confirm the only files I need to create is Game for it to be a final location for my actual game on the SSD, same with my mods, saves etc.

    Thank you so much for this, you have made it a lot simpler. 

  • puzzlezaddict's avatar
    puzzlezaddict
    Hero+
    2 years ago

    @sofuuuh  For your mods, you'd download them as normal, then move them straight to the Mods folder on your SSD.  If the files copy instead of moving, you'd be able to delete the original downloads without affecting the copies on the SSD.

    What I would suggest is redirecting the entire Sims 4 user folder to your SSD, for example D:\Game Content\The Sims 4, with all the usual files inside that.  It's simpler than creating a symbolic link for each of the subfolders and also makes troubleshooting a little bit simpler.  You then wouldn't have a "The Sims 4" folder within Documents\Electronic Arts; you'd instead have the symlink itself there.

    When I said install folder, I meant the folder into which the EA App installs Sims 4.  This needs to be a separate folder from the one that holds your Sims 4 user folder.  So as an example, on your SSD, you might have a Game Content folder that holds user data (saves, mods, etc.), plus a Games folder that holds the game's program files.

    I would suggest just starting the process and seeing the results.  It's a lot easier when you can see folders right in front of you rather than trying to visualize everything in advance.  If you do want to visualize, the symlink guide has some helpful screenshots.

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