Installing 4.0, Avoiding Temp Files Filling Up C:

Magistrax · Jan 25, 2023

Hey guys, I'm trying to install Horizons 4.0, but even though the game and launcher are installed in my E: drive, it appears that temporary files for the download are completely filling my C: drive and causing my OS to chug out. Any help with avoiding this would be appreciated.

Some details:

Steam version of the game, Legacy Horizons installed on my E: drive. Trying to install 4.0 through the launcher (I don't see an option to install 4.0 on Steam itself...). Files seem to be going into the Steam folder on E:, but during the download all the free space on my OS drive C: is getting filled. It's about 15 gigs free. When I cancel the download, the space is cleared up again, so I can only assume temporary files are filling it up. I tried turning off the Virtual Cache in the Launcher options thinking that would help, but the C: still gets filled up..

How can I avoid this? I've seen similar posts and people mentioning "swap files" or some such but have no idea how to do that, and I don't have access to an external drive. Any help would be appreciated, cheers!

Imo · Jan 25, 2023

Hey there, it sounds like you're running into an issue with temporary files being stored on your C: drive during the installation of Horizons 4.0. One solution you can try is moving your Steam folder to a different drive or partition. This will ensure that the temporary files are stored on the same drive as the Steam folder, rather than filling up your C: drive. You can move the Steam folder by following these steps:

Exit Steam
Go to the Steam installation folder (default is C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam)
Cut and paste the Steam folder to the desired location (E:\Steam)
Hold down the shift key, right-click on the Steam.exe file, and select "Open file location"
Right-click on Steam.exe and select "Create shortcut"
Cut and paste the shortcut to the new Steam folder location (E:\Steam)
Run Steam.exe from the new location.

Alternatively, some users have reported success with disabling the Steam Cloud synchronization feature for Elite Dangerous, which may help to reduce the amount of temporary files being generated during the installation. You can do this by:

In the Steam client, right-click on Elite Dangerous and select "Properties"
Go to the "Updates" tab
Uncheck "Enable Steam Cloud synchronization for Elite Dangerous"

You may also want to try moving the Virtual Cache files to a different drive as well. This can be done through the options menu in the launcher.

Let us know if any of these solutions work for you.

Magistrax · Jan 26, 2023

Hey Imo, thanks for the quick reply and suggestions!

So I've had a look and it would appear that none of these solutions will work for me..? Maybe some more info will help:

I currently have two drives; the first is partitioned into C: and D:, and the second is E:. I use the C: partition only for the OS and generic Program Files. My default Steam installation is on the D: partition. I have a secondary Steam folder on my E: drive where I have Legacy Horizons installed.

To address the solutions you graciously provided directly:

1. My default Steam Install folder is actually on my D: partition; I do not have a "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam" folder. I have plenty of space on my D: where my default Steam installation is, if the temp files went there it would be fine.

2. I do not have a selection for "Enable Steam Cloud synchronization for Elite Dangerous" in Steam, or a "Steam Cloud" selection either, like in many other games. I assume this is because the Frontier servers act as the Cloud in this case?

3. I cannot see an option in the Launcher to move the Virtual Cache. This sounds like the best/simplest solution to my problem but I only see a menu selection for Virtual Cache. My first attempt I tried with the Virtual Cache on, and the second attempt I tried with Virtual Cache off. I'm not sure where the actual cache file is going on my C: either; it's not the default C:\Temp folder, and there are no references to Steam, Frontier, or Elite in my Program Files or Program Files(x86), so I am at a loss.

If there is a selection in the Launcher to tell it where to place the Cache and I'm missing it, please let me know, or any other ideas/suggestions.

DrinkyBird · Jan 26, 2023

Imo said:
You can move the Steam folder by following these steps:

Exit Steam

Go to the Steam installation folder (default is C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam)

Cut and paste the Steam folder to the desired location (E:\Steam)

Hold down the shift key, right-click on the Steam.exe file, and select "Open file location"

Right-click on Steam.exe and select "Create shortcut"

Cut and paste the shortcut to the new Steam folder location (E:\Steam)

Run Steam.exe from the new location.

Don't do this, Steam has a system to let you create libraries on other drivers that's easier and less likely to break stuff.
Steam > Settings > Downloads > Steam Library Folders.
Once the folder is created, right click on ED in your library, go to Properties > Local Files > Move install folder.

Magistrax · Jan 26, 2023

DrinkyBird said:
Don't do this, Steam has a system to let you create libraries on other drivers that's easier and less likely to break stuff.
Steam > Settings > Downloads > Steam Library Folders.
Once the folder is created, right click on ED in your library, go to Properties > Local Files > Move install folder.

Thanks for that! But again, this doesn't seem to address the problem. Elite correctly appears in the E: which has plenty of space, and is it's own standalone drive separate from my C: and D: partitions. In Steam Library Folders there is nothing on the C: partition.

Imo · Jan 26, 2023

Elite saves additional data independend from the game location in
C:/username/AppData/Local/Frontier Developments and
C:/username/AppData/Local/Frontier_Developments.
The AppData folder is invisible.

Magistrax · Jan 26, 2023

Imo said:
Elite saves additional data independend from the game location in
C:/username/AppData/Local/Frontier Developments and
C:/username/AppData/Local/Frontier_Developments.
The AppData folder is invisible.
View attachment 342943

Ah ha! That's... something... so if this is where the files are going, would it be possible to move/redirect these folders somewhere else?

This is quite the conundrum to simply update an already installed game...

metatheurgist · Jan 26, 2023

How to Move Windows' Temporary Folders to Another Drive

If you're trying to save space on your system drive---say, if you have a space-starved solid state drive---moving Windows' temporary files to another hard drive makes sense.

www.howtogeek.com

Dunno if that works for Steam.

conan02 · Jan 26, 2023

metatheurgist said:
How to Move Windows' Temporary Folders to Another Drive

If you're trying to save space on your system drive---say, if you have a space-starved solid state drive---moving Windows' temporary files to another hard drive makes sense.

www.howtogeek.com

Dunno if that works for Steam.

Should work, my Steam downloads always was placed in current Steam apps library. Seems as Windows installer stores something in "<User>/AppData/Local/Temp" folder.
Probably Temp folder is used for decompressing installation files by Windows installer service.

Marvin the Martian · Jan 26, 2023

Magistrax said:
. It's about 15 gigs free.

That is nowhere near enough room for your C drive.

If your C drive isn't at least 15- 20 % empty, you have too much on it.

nemolomen · Jan 26, 2023

Magistrax said:
Ah ha! That's... something... so if this is where the files are going, would it be possible to move/redirect these folders somewhere else?

This is quite the conundrum to simply update an already installed game...

When I installed Steam, the last time, I installed it to its own 1 TB SSD (D

.

What size is your C: partition?

Marvin the Martian · Jan 26, 2023

nemolomen said:
What size is your C: partition?

People still partition?

nemolomen · Jan 26, 2023

Marvin the Martian said:
People still partition?

fdisk is alive and well in 3309...

Magistrax · Jan 27, 2023

Marvin the Martian said:
That is nowhere near enough room for your C drive.

If your C drive isn't at least 15- 20 % empty, you have too much on it.

nemolomen said:
When I installed Steam, the last time, I installed it to its own 1 TB SSD (D.

What size is your C: partition?

My C: partition is 120 GB, and has 18.7 GB free, which is roughly 15% free. It shares a 1TB HDD with my D: partition, which is 810 GB with 294 GB free. My E: drive is a separate HDD with 3 TB (1.2 TB free).

I've never had any issues with my C: having ~18 GB free before.

metatheurgist said:
How to Move Windows' Temporary Folders to Another Drive

If you're trying to save space on your system drive---say, if you have a space-starved solid state drive---moving Windows' temporary files to another hard drive makes sense.

www.howtogeek.com

Dunno if that works for Steam.

I haven't tried this yet, was hoping for some more suggestions that weren't as involved. Will let you know how it goes.

Marvin the Martian · Jan 27, 2023

Magistrax said:
My C: partition is 120 GB, and has 18.7 GB free, which is roughly 15% free. It shares a 1TB HDD with my D: partition, which is 810 GB with 294 GB free. My E: drive is a separate HDD with 3 TB (1.2 TB free).

You're running at the absolute maximum on your C drive. That's your problem. Trying to add another 25 to 30 GB to that is killing your system. There is absolutely no fix for that at all other than getting rid of enough data so that when you install ED you have the real estate to install it while having that amount of room left over.

With your C drive that full, your system probably struggles just to do it's weekly defrag / optimization.

You simply can't be maxed out like that and then install a 25 to 30 GB program and expect it to work.

nemolomen · Jan 27, 2023

Magistrax said:
My C: partition is 120 GB, and has 18.7 GB free, which is roughly 15% free. It shares a 1TB HDD with my D: partition, which is 810 GB with 294 GB free. My E: drive is a separate HDD with 3 TB (1.2 TB free).

I've never had any issues with my C: having ~18 GB free before.

I haven't tried this yet, was hoping for some more suggestions that weren't as involved. Will let you know how it goes.

How large is your page file?

Magistrax · Jan 27, 2023

Marvin the Martian said:
You're running at the absolute maximum on your C drive. That's your problem. Trying to add another 25 to 30 GB to that is killing your system. There is absolutely no fix for that at all other than getting rid of enough data so that when you install ED you have the real estate to install it while having that amount of room left over.

With your C drive that full, your system probably struggles just to do it's weekly defrag / optimization.

You simply can't be maxed out like that and then install a 25 to 30 GB program and expect it to work.

I've never had any issues before with any programs or games. I've installed other games over 100 GB onto my D: and E: drives with no problems. Every other game will put temporary files into it's installation folder. Again, to be clear, I am not trying to install on the C:, so this shouldn't be an issue. 18 GB free is plenty for any other task I do.

nemolomen said:
How large is your page file?

View attachment 343279

My C: page file is currently set as 12487 MB.

nemolomen · Jan 27, 2023

Magistrax said:
I've never had any issues before with any programs or games. I've installed other games over 100 GB onto my D: and E: drives with no problems. Every other game will put temporary files into it's installation folder. Again, to be clear, I am not trying to install on the C:, so this shouldn't be an issue. 18 GB free is plenty for any other task I do.

So, where is Steam installed, on C: or some other drive?

I understand you have Legacy Horizons installed on E:, but where is Steam itself installed?

As others have said above, I would bet that if Steam is installed on C: then it is using C: for "temp storage" during the install and the 50GB size of H4.0/Ody is too big for the "temp storage" space you have available.

@Imo gave an accurate description of how you can fix it, but personally, I would rather uninstall Steam, and all installed games, completely, making sure to SAVE ALL of your game saves for all of your games first, and as needed.

Also, as I said above, I installed Steam on its own 1TB SSD on my current PC. And, as a consequence of that, this problem is avoided, not that I planned it that way specifically for that reason. I did that so that Steam would not interfere with my boot drive in case I needed to reinstall the OS from scratch, not that that is a problem these past 13 years or so since Win7 released.

Magistrax said:
My C: page file is currently set as 12487 MB.

That is the setting? I was just wondering what the actual size is.

Marvin the Martian · Jan 27, 2023

Silly me. I just have a single Samsung 2TB NVMe solid state drive. Everything goes on it. No issues of any kind. Still have around 1.6 TB free.

nemolomen · Jan 27, 2023

Marvin the Martian said:
Silly me. I just have a single Samsung 2TB NVMe solid state drive. Everything goes on it. No issues of any kind. Still have around 1.6 TB free.

Nothing wrong with that.

My boot drive is only 256GB NVMe. When I stream (not often lately), OBS Studio uses C: and the game uses D: and that way they don't interfere with each other. I also have a 3rd SSD for recording videos of gameplay, for the same reason. Ody has enough performance issues of its own that it really needs its own drive, IMO.