Can you install Steam and its games on a FW800 external HDD ?

[Dragonforce]

I just got my new MBP and hooked it up with a 160 GB Intel Postville SSD. As you know, space is valuable on SSDs (and expensive), so I'm planning on giving Windows 7 32 GB of space and install Steam as well as most of my Steamapps on a FW800 external hard disk.

So my question is...

- is that possible at all ?
- if so, has anyone done this and can share some tips / experiences ?

 

[Hellhammer]

Can't see why not.. Loading times will be longer though, but otherwise you shouldn't notice much difference

 

[Dragonforce]

I don't care about loading times... I'm just worried that its not possible and have to resize / install Windows again on a bigger partition.

 

[Hellhammer]

I don't care about loading times... I'm just worried that its not possible and have to resize / install Windows again on a bigger partition.

As far as I know, any app can be installed to external HD, including games.

 

[telecomm]

Steam yes, Windows no.

You can install apps on an external drive, but Windows (unless things have changed with Windows 7) can't boot from an external drive. That's not a Mac/Bootcamp thing, that's just the way Windows works.

There are some workarounds (but they require things like removing the internal drive, etc.), and so probably aren't worth the effort.

Edit: I should add that I've got Steam installed on an external drive, and it works just fine.

 

[Cougarcat]

I use steam on an external FW 800 drive (in windows) and it's perfect. The one thing that is kind of annoying is that most games put your saves in your /Documents folder on the main drive, not in your steam folder.

 

[Dragonforce]

I use steam on an external FW 800 drive (in windows) and it's perfect. The one thing that is kind of annoying is that most games put your saves in your /Documents folder on the main drive, not in your steam folder.

Thats what I wanted to know. Thank you very much for that information.

 

[0098386]

FWIW I used to run Steam off a mini 60gb USB drive. Performance was terrible, games always took too long to load up. Infact in games like TF2 that have a queue system for busy servers, it would often kick me because someone else had got in first.

But it's possible. Steam on PC is very portable. Valve games are all self-contained within the Steam folder. Some other games store their files outside of that folder though. Bioshock, Super Laser Racer etc.