Transferring game files to new PC

[Safester]

Hi CMDR's,

I've recently completed my first PC build and am looking to install ED soon, the old PC is Windows 7 and the new PC is Windows 10.

I want to transfer any or all of my game files but I'm not 100% sure where all the files are located or even if it's a good idea to do (possible compatibilty issues?). Basically I don't want to lose any of my game progress, key bindings, settings etc. I know many of the files will be in my user folder but am wondering if there may be any other locations I'm not aware of. Also, will there be any files I shouldn't transfer to the new PC?

So, can anyone point me in the right direction of where I can find these files please and is it just a simple case of copying files over to the identical location, backing up beforehand of course? I should say that on my old PC the game was not installed on the OS disk so would any files from there require copying or are these purely game data files?

Thanks in advance.

 

[[VR] Zakk]

Simply copying your game files will very likely cause a multitude of problems. If you want to use a complex program under Windows, you need to install it properly.

Your CMDR progress is saved in your account anyway. No need to copy any files over.

The only item you may want to copy is your keybinds, assuming you will use the same input devices on your new pc. They are stored in a file called something like "Custom.3.0.binds". You can find it by searching for ".binds" in the Windows Explorer. Copy that file from your old PC, locate the directory where your keybinds are stored on the new PC and paste the file there.

Otherwise, you'd have to re-assign all keybinds manually on the new PC, which can be a PITA. But other than that, there is no need to copy any files.

 

[WeComeInPeace]

When I bought a new PC, I reinstalled the game (from Steam) and copied over my bindings file. Then I used my old login and apart from a higher frame rate I couldn't tell that I was on another PC.

 

[Zieman]

Your CMDR progress is saved in your account anyway. No need to copy any files over.

Not entirely true.
You want to copy your Journals and Visited Stars Cache over too, in addition to binds.

 

[Safester]

Thanks for the quick replies.

Just to avoid confusion, I will be doing a fresh install of ED on my new PC, it's just my progress / settings / binds I'm asking about (sorry if that wasn't clear), including my journal files as Zieman stated.

 

[Zieman]

Journals, and seemingly some other stuff (that the game probably autogenerates if not present), are in:
C:\users\<username>\Saved Games\Frontier Developments\Elite Dangerous

VisitedStarsCache.dat can be found in:
C:\users\<username>\AppData\Local\Frontier Developments\Elite Dangerous\<number>
where <number> is (I think) your backer/account ID or serial number.
There's another folder that's also named just as a number, looks like material trading history is stored there.

 

[Para Handy]

You can save yourself a lot of typing by using:

%LOCALAPPDATA%

and

%USERPROFILE%


(as in %LOCALAPPDATA%\Frontier Developments\Elite Dangerous\Options\Bindings and %USERPROFILE%\Saved Games for example)

 

[varonica]

Thanks for the quick replies.

Just to avoid confusion, I will be doing a fresh install of ED on my new PC, it's just my progress / settings / binds I'm asking about (sorry if that wasn't clear), including my journal files as Zieman stated.

Just to repeat Zieman, not because he wasn't clear but because it's so important, visitedstarscache.dat, they are NOT in the journals directory and must be backed up seperately. The number of threads we have had from players no longer being able to see which stars they have visited in the galmap after re-installing is, well, definitely more than one!

 

[Para Handy]

Just to repeat Zieman, not because he wasn't clear but because it's so important, visitedstarscache.dat, they are NOT in the journals directory and must be backed up seperately. The number of threads we have had from players no longer being able to see which stars they have visited in the galmap after re-installing is, well, definitely more than one!

The annoying thing about that is that it is not exactly* clear which of the "numbered" folders applies to which commander ( for those of us with multiple accounts {and also clearsaves?} ) I have a load of these numbered folders, both visited stars and trade data ones.


* OK - not at all clear.

 

[Zieman]

The annoying thing about that is that it is not exactly* clear which of the "numbered" folders applies to which commander ( for those of us with multiple accounts {and also clearsaves?} ) I have a load of these numbered folders, both visited stars and trade data ones.


* OK - not at all clear.

Do the actions (jump a jump or two and visit a mat trader, do a few transactions) and check the files last modified timestamp.

 

[Para Handy]

Do the actions (jump a jump or two and visit a mat trader, do a few transactions) and check the files last modified timestamp.

Yeah obviously - but lots of accounts is the issue. In actual use I check in EDD for last activity of that commander so use that date/time to find the folder if I want it.

 

[Bravo17]

Safest thing to do is to copy over all of the C:\users\<username>\AppData\Local\Frontier Developments\Elite Dangerous\ folder. You may have a few extra mb's used on your hard disk, but at least you know that you have got everything that you need from the folder.

 

[Safester]

Thanks all, I'll taker a closer look once I've installed the game. It's likely that I'll just copy over whole folders than individual files, but I'll scrutinise their contents before doing so in case anything looks untoward.

 

[varonica]

Safest thing to do is to copy over all of the C:\users\<username>\AppData\Local\Frontier Developments\Elite Dangerous\ folder. You may have a few extra mb's used on your hard disk, but at least you know that you have got everything that you need from the folder.

Except that some data is stored in "user/saved games/frontier developments", and don't forget to save your screenies which may be in the pictures folder depending on how you have set it up.

Since it's going onto a new PC keep all the data on the old one for a few weeks until you are sure there's nothing on there you want, that's always safest.

 

[Bravo17]

Except that some data is stored in "user/saved games/frontier developments"

Yes, I should have made my post clearer, I was only commenting on the discussion about what to copy from the C:\users\<username>\AppData\Local\Frontier Developments\Elite Dangerous\ folder

 

[Codger]

From a previous thread on this. I think it's already all been said, but I might as well put it here anyway

You'll want to back up your bindings, journals, and visited stars cache

Journals are here:
C:\Users\[YOURUSERNAME]\Saved Games\Frontier Developments\Elite Dangerous

Bindings are here:
C:\Users\[YOURUSERNAME]\AppData\Local\Frontier Developments\Elite Dangerous\Options\Bindings

Visited Stars are here:
C:\Users\[YOURUSERNAME]\AppData\Local\Frontier Developments\Elite Dangerous\[SOME_NUMBERED_FOLDER]

 

[Alkibiades]

How to backup your commander / transfer it to a new PC

Hello everyone! I just noticed that there is no backup/transfer guide available in the forum so I'm going to change that. I play the stand alone version with the launcher, I dont know if the paths are the same with steam. STEAM DOES NOT SAVE THESE FILES. Why should you back up your...

forums.frontier.co.uk

I made a thread about this a while ago to write down the entire process. I did it myself last year because my ssd (almost) died.

Hope this can help you. Quick summary: you need a clean new install and need to copy a couple of things. Its not that super easy with just copy and paste.

 

[Arrowroot 66]

Since this topic comes up pretty frequently, and I'll need it myself in a few months when I can hopefully afford a new PC, can I request the mods sticky this thread please?