Windows users have recently begun mass-reporting that Microsoft's Defender antivirus program, which is integrated into Windows 10 and 11 by default, is
I really need to bite the bullet and wipe windows off my new laptop. I’ve had an arch based distro downloaded and ready to go since mid August. Just don’t want to have to download my steam library again. My shitty Internet is painful sometimes.
At the best of times, moving steam games is a mess as more and more games use third party download systems.
But also? Going from Windows to Linux is an extra mess.
What I ended up doing to migrate from windows to linux for gaming without taking a poo on my data cap was:
Enable LAN transfers of games in Steam
Install/login to Steam on my linux laptop. If you don’t have a spare PC, this can largely be replaced with a raspberry pi with a big ass external drive attached.
Install the games I want to preserve. Steam is smart enough to realize it is the same files between windows and linux in this case
When that was done, reformat my desktop
Basically do the opposite direction and have my desktop stream the game files from my laptop.
Stuff like warframe was still a full redownload. But helped a lot.
Only if you have another place to hold it temporarily.
You can’t really install linux onto an NTFS drive. So you have to wipe the NTFS partition and start over with something like EXT4… that will kill the games.
Oof, I hear ya there. At least in my case I pretty much only play older games from GOG, usually in a virtual machine, so no Steam for me.
I did however go out of my way to download and compile the source code for Descent 1 and 2 directly on Linux, that was fun figuring out how to compile LOL!
Good luck with your Steam library though. If it was me, I’d test Linux out in a virtual machine first so you can test out copying your games over without outright wiping Windows first.
I really need to bite the bullet and wipe windows off my new laptop. I’ve had an arch based distro downloaded and ready to go since mid August. Just don’t want to have to download my steam library again. My shitty Internet is painful sometimes.
Is there no way to save your stream library to an external hard drive?
I’ve got a bunch of large games. And not as much space worth of thumb drives.
The other concerns, I have two programs that would be a pain to get running with wine.
At the best of times, moving steam games is a mess as more and more games use third party download systems.
But also? Going from Windows to Linux is an extra mess.
What I ended up doing to migrate from windows to linux for gaming without taking a poo on my data cap was:
Stuff like warframe was still a full redownload. But helped a lot.
Can’t you just move it?
Can confirm you can just move the game files to your Linux steam library to avoid redownloading
That might help. Sadly I don’t have enough raw space worth of thumb drives. And I’d do a full install of Linux, no dual booting.
Buy a second drive, they are cheap these days. Then you can keep the OEM Windows around, for a just in case.
Only if you have another place to hold it temporarily.
You can’t really install linux onto an NTFS drive. So you have to wipe the NTFS partition and start over with something like EXT4… that will kill the games.
Oof, I hear ya there. At least in my case I pretty much only play older games from GOG, usually in a virtual machine, so no Steam for me.
I did however go out of my way to download and compile the source code for Descent 1 and 2 directly on Linux, that was fun figuring out how to compile LOL!
Good luck with your Steam library though. If it was me, I’d test Linux out in a virtual machine first so you can test out copying your games over without outright wiping Windows first.