Backing Up Your Cache Files

[Chris D]

A very common question we get asked is "If I buy on Steam, what happens if I format my HDD - do I lose the game?". The simple answer is no. The information that you own the game is still stored on your account which allows you to re-download it whenever you want. However, what if you have a bandwidth limit or a slow connection? Fear not, you can simply back up and reproduce the cache files as many times as you like - it's perfectly legal.[br]So, to help you all out with how to go about doing this WhUtDuFuK.com have created a guide on how to back-up Half-Life 2 to save you having to re-download 4GB of data. For most the guide will be self explanatory, but certainly a handy resource for those not so competent when it comes to backing up data.[br]
[br]
You can catch the full guide by clicking right here.

 

[Koffern]

Great for us who aint a master in computers...Thanks

 

[electronic squid]

How would one go about burning them to normal CD's?

Is there a method of splitting the .gfc files so they can fit?

 

[DuB]

What if you don't have a DVD burner, but rather a standard CD burner? Are there files over 800 MB.?

 

[Dekstar]

Yeah DuB, they are, but you can split them using WinRAR.

Oh, Bookmarked Good one guys

 

[Ecthe|ioN]

Great to have a guide to send people to when they start asking about it. Good find Chris_D!

 

[Vinnie_NL]

Hopefully no more forum threads of this subject after this

 

[<RJMC>]

OMG hl2 is 4GB?

 

[DuB]

OMG hl2 is 4GB?

man - it's useless posts like yours that drive me up the wall!

No! Chris thought it'd be a good prank to write that... wtf do you think !?!
easy to see how you spammed your way to over 1700 post since January.

 

[RooM]

i dont have a dvd burner :'( !

 

[KBharvester]

or u could just move the valve directory to another hard drive then copy it back over after a format...worked for me...

 

[moonkids]

Yes, it would have been a more useful guide if it had explained how to split the files to fit on CDs. Personally, it's no problem, but I'm sure there are many who wouldn't know where to start. I still think it's silly that valve didn't just restrict their cache files to a max of 650mb-- it seems like it would have been a simple step that would have made a lot of peoples lives easier.

 

[Some_God]

Yeah I was wondering that it would be kind of hard to put a 1 gig file on a 700mb CD. :|

 

[The Lost EVA]

So will it be possible to load my .gcf files onto another computer in my house, my mom wants to play HL2, and play the game by merely DLing my authentication code onto hers once the game is out and then we can all play.

 

[noQ]

So will it be possible to load my .gcf files onto another computer in my house, my mom wants to play HL2, and play the game by merely DLing my authentication code onto hers once the game is out and then we can all play.

cool mom there ,but if you want to play with the same account you can't play together or at the same time.

 

[brink's]

man - it's useless posts like yours that drive me up the wall!

No! Chris thought it'd be a good prank to write that... wtf do you think !?!
easy to see how you spammed your way to over 1700 post since January.

Calm down dude
RJMC is no spammer, do you feel better about yourself now that you've put him down?

 

[noQ]

man - it's useless posts like yours that drive me up the wall!

No! Chris thought it'd be a good prank to write that... wtf do you think !?!
easy to see how you spammed your way to over 1700 post since January.

too serious there Dub. :rolling:

 

[Homie]

I already new this.

 

[The Monkey]

So if you get a whole new compuer you don't have to buy it all over again? That makes sence.

 

[GrungeMan]

how 'bout just simply save them on another harddrive? That what i always do if im not to lazy, havin' a t3 connection i dont really care

 

[Nahor]

What if Steam is down?

What I think is more insteresting is: what to do if Valve/Steam goes out of business? And with all those things between Valve and Sierra

Some answer can be found in the Steam FAQ (http://steampowered.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/steampowered.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=213) but I don't find it very satifactory. Especially the thing about reinstalling Steam in the same folder than the original.

 

[Mac]

thanks to this site, i made a really spiffy dvd cover to put my backup dvd in.

awesome dvd covers btw.

looks better than retail. I used the cover that was used as an example in the directions.

http://www.marcopolo.me.uk/hl2.html

I have an epson r800 printer that can print on the actual DVD itself to make a nice DVD that looks like it came from retail.. ill use one of the pictures on that site, probably the one that matches the dvd cover im using for the dvd box. (the one with the combine tower)

looks so slick

 

[TheOriginalEvil]

Just a little typo

how to back-up Half-Life 2 to save you from having to re-download 4GB of data

 

[LAYP]

cool mom there ,but if you want to play with the same account you can't play together or at the same time.

Yeah he has an awesome mom, but I think you can play if you both set it too offline, both log in offline and play single. No multi though, but you mom being a counterstrike fan as well doesn't seem to likely.

 

[DigitalAssassin]

Thanks for clearing this up Chris.

 

[Lazy_Moron]

Thanks for the tip. I just got one question though. My friend has a 56k connection and wants to buy the silver package off of steam. It will take him forever to download half life 2 and all the others games with his connection. I also own the silver package so if i just back up all those files and put them on his computer will he be able to play them if he also buys the silver package?

 

[LAYP]

Hmmm, I would think so since they are just files. Steam would just need to authenticate them.

 

[Vinnie_NL]

Yeah he has an awesome mom, but I think you can play if you both set it too offline, both log in offline and play single. No multi though, but you mom being a counterstrike fan as well doesn't seem to likely.

I thought moms who want to play HL2 aren't very likely either. My mom doesn't even know where the power button of the PC is .

 

[WAYNEOOO]

I just copied steamapps to another HDD, that guide was way over the top with its fancy 'lets make a glossy dvd front cover' .........

 

[Progz]

Thank you lord for this. Once I get this game I'm gonna make a back up in a second...Been wondering if we be able to do something like this

 

[Mac]

I just copied steamapps to another HDD, that guide was way over the top with its fancy 'lets make a glossy dvd front cover' .........

dude dont put that part down, its the best part of the instructions!

made me a badass cover thanks to it.

now i dont have to worry about not having a nice retail box and cd..

woot.

 

[The Lost EVA]

Yeah he has an awesome mom, but I think you can play if you both set it too offline, both log in offline and play single. No multi though, but you mom being a counterstrike fan as well doesn't seem to likely.

Unfortunantly she doesn;'t like CS. She does love UT and UT 2004. She just wants to play the SP Campaign.

I emailed Doug Lombardi last week and he said you can play HL2 offline, even the steam versions, all you need is the Steam Authentication Key and you are all set and that will DL when the game is released so Back up then and you should be all set.

 

[edog]

Hm...

Hm... I tried compressing the files mentioned in that guide with 7-Zip, using the LZMA algorithm set to 'Ultra' mode.. and squeezed the 4334 MB of cache files down to 2292 MB.. almost small enough to be split onto 3 CD's.. but not quite. Darn :angry:

I'll have to investigate further the effects of telling it to use an insanely large dictionary size when compressing.. maybe this would squeeze a few more megabytes out. Well, at the very worst, having it on 4 CD's would be acceptable.

 

[Barnz]

but the files are still encrypted, thats not gonna complicate things, when I have to reinstall in 6 months?

 

[The_Spaniard]

I am glad to see people are getting use out of the guide. It is not the only way of doing it but it is a simple way, and in the end isn't that what really matters?
Thank you for your continued support of www.whutdufuk.com. As long as I keep writing Half-Life relaited stories I hope you guys find them worthy of posting. Oh and I have a pretty big one comming up so stay tuned.

IRT Test
No it will not make any difference. The files are just data, you can transfer them to any computer you want as many times as you want, then when Valve gives the ok to unlock them the game is yours.

 

[Spartan]

However, what if you have a slow connection?

Any normal Internet connection is 'slow' when downloading 4 gigabytes. Either that, or I've been living under a rock and everyone has a T3 line these days.

 

[Dr. Freeman]

definitely a very useful guide :thumbs:
i will be backing up some things while not bothering with other stuff.

 

[Mess]

What would be really useful is a guide telling us what the hell to do with these files when we need to re-install.

Anyone?

-- Mess

 

[Nahor]

Mess, just copying the files back in your "C:\Program Files\Steam\SteamApps" should do the trick

 

[The_Spaniard]

Mess, just copying the files back in your "C:\Program Files\Steam\SteamApps" should do the trick

Yeah you would think that it is pretty obvious. You just stick them right back where you go them from.