Switching Motherboard + CPU; is there an easier way of transferring files?

[lazyfortress]

1 minute ago, SeanSSD said:

AMD to intel might not work...do a clone or system image to another drive to have a back up of all your current os files. 

 

I don’t know the directories you installed any modified game files, but if they are in the steam apps folder only, you don’t need to worry about losing them and they will be recognized when you launch steam from the new drive. Just move your steam folder completely. 

Wait, I can just drag the entire steam folder from my PC to my external HDD, and steam will recognize all the games, and the games will all function properly?  If so, then I'm good to go!

[SSD Sean]

As long as the steam games are all installed within that same steam directory you should be set. You might have to delete a bunch of files within the steam folder if it doesn’t launch at first, then steam will recreate them...I’m not at my PC now so I can’t say which ones to delete if that happens or rather which ones not to delete, but I think you delete everything except the steam apps folder and steam.exe...there might be one more, but like I said, I’m away from home right now. 

 

If you had them installed on separate folders on another drive, you will just have to make sure the new drive letters are the same as they were before, and worst case redirect the game properties in steam to the location of that game on the other drives after the new install...but this isn’t an issue if everything is within that steam apps folder. 

[SSD Sean]

I wrote a guide years ago, but can’t  find it. 

 

This is basically it:

https://www.giantbomb.com/steam/3015-718/forums/moving-steam-from-hdd-to-an-ssd-or-hybrid-option-555236/

[lazyfortress]

8 minutes ago, SeanSSD said:

As long as the steam games are all installed within that same steam directory you should be set. You might have to delete a bunch of files within the steam folder if it doesn’t launch at first, then steam will recreate them...I’m not at my PC now so I can’t say which ones to delete if that happens or rather which ones not to delete, but I think you delete everything except the steam apps folder and steam.exe...there might be one more, but like I said, I’m away from home right now. 

 

If you had them installed on separate folders on another drive, you will just have to make sure the new drive letters are the same as they were before, and worst case redirect the game properties in steam to the location of that game on the other drives after the new install...but this isn’t an issue if everything is within that steam apps folder. 

Yeah all the games are in the Steam folder.  Could I just copy the "steamapps" folder, and replace the new steamapps folder with the old one so that my games are all there, including addons?