Playing games while running after a Windows reinstall without installing them
Playing games while running after a Windows reinstall without installing them
Hi Guys,
Last night I had to reinstall Windows 10. It was on the C drive, and there was Steam with some games on a separate drive (not a partition). I thought I’d have to delete everything and start over, which happened for about 99% of the games. Luckily, I reinstalled Steam but kept the games folder intact, and the only working one was RDR 2.
I’m not sure why it’s not showing up in the control panel or anywhere else. It’s still visible in the Steam library and works fine when I launch it normally.
Do you know if there are any drawbacks to this process? Also, is there a way to make it appear as a proper installation (using regedit) without having to delete and re-download everything?
You may need to verify files on each game. Otherwise, if the files are there, it's not issue. You wouldn't use Windows for uninstalling either so that doesn't matter.
It's a bit complicated, but once you understand what needs to be done it's actually quite simple.
PS: If your games aren't being recognized this way, don't reinstall them right away. There are alternative methods to get Steam to recognize them, but this approach should generally succeed 99% of the time!