How to change the install location of a large file that is transferred via Homegroup

nathdman

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Dec 6, 2013
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10,510
I am trying to transfer some large PC games from my older computer to my new PC. The new PC has Windows 8.1, an SSD, and a HDD. The SSD is the main drive and much smaller than the HDD. I want to transfer the games over my home group and put them onto the HDD. The problem that I am running into is that I am only able to transfer the files from the old PC to the public folder of the SSD. It will not allow me to transfer them anywhere else. Is there a way to change the default location of my PC's public folder? Or is there a way to get the PC to allow me to copy the games from the old PC directly to the new PC's HDD? Not sure if it is relevant, but the old PC is Windows 7. Thanks ahead of time for any help you can provide.
 
Solution
The best thing to do is to reinstall the games and set them directly into your hdd. I understand if you have mods, saved games etc but you can always copy those files and post them to their appropriate locations via usb. This said, it's pretty easy in windows 8 to change the default location of the public folders.
First right click on the library you want to change the default public folder for eg documents, music, pictures, or video. Next click "set public save location" and set it to the drive you want it. I know that in terms of the homegroup or network it utilizes the user which is located on the "c" drive or os drive which in this case is your smaller ssd but you want files to be placed on to the hdd. By setting all of these...

Should re-locate all personal folders from your SSD to your HDD anyway!
Personally I re-locate each folder manually. I create 5 'New Folders' on the target drive, (HDD) navigate to each folder in turn in 'Users' (My Name). e.g. 'Desktop', Rt Click, 'Properties' and open 'Location' tab. Choose 'Move' and navigate to New Folder on the target drive and choose that folder. Click OK and continue until contents are moved. Repeat the process with next Folder e.g. 'Downloads' and move to 'New Folder(1) and so on until you have moved all folders.

 

jnewegger23

Distinguished
The best thing to do is to reinstall the games and set them directly into your hdd. I understand if you have mods, saved games etc but you can always copy those files and post them to their appropriate locations via usb. This said, it's pretty easy in windows 8 to change the default location of the public folders.
First right click on the library you want to change the default public folder for eg documents, music, pictures, or video. Next click "set public save location" and set it to the drive you want it. I know that in terms of the homegroup or network it utilizes the user which is located on the "c" drive or os drive which in this case is your smaller ssd but you want files to be placed on to the hdd. By setting all of these (public docs, music, pics, vids) to your larger hdd as the default public folders you will also see them in the homegroup.
For example, I have my laptop with windows 7 on the same network as my gaming rig with windows 8. I can easily place any file from my win7 laptop to my win8 rig via the network and I have all my public folders set to my hdd instead of my smaller ssd.
This may not be the exact answer you are looking for but it is a solution. Hopefully you find it useful.
Alternatively, you can use a cloning software but I tend to hesitate on things with product keys as sometimes they are developed in a way to "fight" cloning. I've found it just easier although a bit more time consuming to just re-install the games directly to a new drive to avoid any potential issues. Cloning should work perfectly fine in theory and tends to do well with paid versions. I paid the $40 for acronis and it's been a charm but I'm not trying to recommend a solution that costs you money at the moment.
 
Solution