Unable to Download Game: Game Forces Installation on C: Drive

j0n4h

J
  1. I download Elite : Dangerous via Steam.
  2. My Steam download folder is set to my E: drive (the drive I want to install the game on).
  3. I set the install folder in the launcher for the game to my E: drive. Despite selecting the E: drive, the game forces an install on my C: drive.
  4. I delete the Frontier Developments folder from my C: drive.
  5. Uninstall game.
  6. Uninstall launcher.
  7. Reboot.
  8. Repeat steps 1-7. Fail.

I can't figure out how to install it on the disk where I have space available for it- but I gotta say, this is infuriating. I've installed/uninstalled the game 5x now. Anyone have any insight?
 

STRONTIUM DOG

STRONTIUM DOG
I don't have the steam version but I can tell you some files do need to be written to c (your controls configs etc)
the products folder main bulk of files can be moved where ever you wish after installation
perhapse somone with more exp with steam may offer a more gracefull solution
the way without steam is to run the installer package from said drive but like I say some small files will be written to c
 
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j0n4h

J
STRONTIUM DOG said:
I don't have the steam version but I can tell you some files do need to be written to c (your controls configs etc)
the products folder main bulk of files can be moved where ever you wish after installation
perhapse somone with more exp with steam may offer a more gracefull solution
the way without steam is to run the installer package from said drive but like I say some small files will be written to c
Click to expand...
If I could just relocate the files after installation, I wouldn't have made a thread. See my original post, I do not have the space for the install on C:
 

Ned Flandalorian

N
The "Frontier Developments" folder doesn't hold the game files, it only contains a few user-specific settings.
The game itself is installed under "Elite Dangerous" in the steamapps directory.
 

Fnord Velkor

Fnord Velkor
j0n4h said:
@Fnord Velkor No, the game itself is installing on C:. I'm not talking a small 100 MB file, I'm talking GBs worth of download.
Click to expand...

Have you actually got a E:\Steam Library for it to install to?

Has anything else been successfully installed in E:\Steam Library?

The only other reason I can think of is if you have / had an older installation of Elite on your C: drive which is hogging the location in the registry. Otherwise, the installation process is entirely controlled by Steam.

One thing occurs to me - perhaps you can install the game using the actual frontier installer and then add that game to your steam library. Is that possible? I know you won't be able to run (in the sense of pass the validation) direct from that installation if you bought the game after April 2019 but maybe it could work with Steam. (NB this is just guesswork.)

The installer can be downloaded from http://hosting.zaonce.net/elite/Client-Installer.exe (that is official Frontier site / repository)
 

j0n4h

J
Fnord Velkor said:
Have you actually got a E:\Steam Library for it to install to?

Has anything else been successfully installed in E:\Steam Library?

The only other reason I can think of is if you have / had an older installation of Elite on your C: drive which is hogging the location in the registry. Otherwise, the installation process is entirely controlled by Steam.

One thing occurs to me - perhaps you can install the game using the actual frontier installer and then add that game to your steam library. Is that possible? I know you won't be able to run (in the sense of pass the validation) direct from that installation if you bought the game after April 2019 but maybe it could work with Steam. (NB this is just guesswork.)

The installer can be downloaded from http://hosting.zaonce.net/elite/Client-Installer.exe (that is official Frontier site / repository)
Click to expand...
Yes, the Steam Library folder exists on my E: drive, and yes, I already have another game installed there.

I bought this game originally from Frontier and then added the game to my Steam at a later point, so I don't know what that means in terms of adding it again, but it's worth giving it a shot.
 

Fnord Velkor

Fnord Velkor
j0n4h said:
....

I bought this game originally from Frontier and then added the game to my Steam at a later point, so I don't know what that means in terms of adding it again, but it's worth giving it a shot.
Click to expand...

Well that gives you an easy solution. Download that installer I linked into a directory on your E: drive then run the installer - making sure it installs under the directory you downloaded to. Then you can launch the game (well, run EDLaunch.exe), do the validation and Robert is your parent's sibling. If you want to run the game from Steam - just add it in your library (I can't remember how to do that at the moment, sorry).

If it still tries to install to C: then you must have a registry entry lurking from a previous install / attempt.
 
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Northpin

Northpin
j0n4h said:
  1. I download Elite : Dangerous via Steam.
  2. My Steam download folder is set to my E: drive (the drive I want to install the game on).
  3. I set the install folder in the launcher for the game to my E: drive. Despite selecting the E: drive, the game forces an install on my C: drive.
  4. I delete the Frontier Developments folder from my C: drive.
  5. Uninstall game.
  6. Uninstall launcher.
  7. Reboot.
  8. Repeat steps 1-7. Fail.

I can't figure out how to install it on the disk where I have space available for it- but I gotta say, this is infuriating. I've installed/uninstalled the game 5x now. Anyone have any insight?
Click to expand...


Weird, i have the Steam Version of Elite too, and it does install in the Steam Library location (incidentally, this is on C: )
I also have the Epic version of the game too, and it does install in the Epic Library location (incidentally, this is on D: )

So, i suspect user error.

Luckily enough (or... unluckily 🤔), Steam is able to work with multiple libraries, so you if you have several libraries you can move downloaded games between libraries without re-downloading them (there is a chance you have 2 libraries set, and you didnt chose the library located on E to install the game)


edit: damn smilies
 
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j0n4h

J
Northpin said:
Weird, i have the Steam Version of Elite too, and it does install in the Steam Library location (incidentally, this is on C:)
I also have the Epic version of the game too, and it does install in the Epic Library location (incidentally, this is on D:)

So, i suspect user error.

Luckily enough (or... unluckily 🤔), Steam is able to work with multiple libraries, so you if you have several libraries you can move downloaded games between libraries without re-downloading them (there is a chance you have 2 libraries set, and you didnt chose the library located on E to install the game)
Click to expand...

Negative on all counts.

Figured it out, for those wondering in the future.

The drive I wanted to install was an external drive. I had to move a large game from my onboard SSD temporarily and let E:D complete install. Both C: and E: drives were reading and writing, but the ultimate game installation was on my E: drive via the non-steam installer.

HOWEVER, my C: drive had just under 10 Gb of cached information written on the disk while installing the game on my E: drive. Had I not been able to move a game from the C: drive, I would not have had the space to allow the caching on my C: drive while installing on my E: drive.

Once the install was complete, I noticed my C: had recovered some storage, while flushing temp files reclaimed the rest.

I imagine that this is due to the fact that the E: drive is external and I had not selected to allow the drive to cache on its own BEFORE INSTALLING.

Tldr;
If installing on external SSD; (1) Enable caching on your external drive. (2) Have 10 Gb of space during install. (3) Wipe temp files from storage. (4) Happy gaming.
 
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