Question.

Why does it want me to close steam when starting a backup or restore?

Answer.

When Steam is running an update could start at any time, when this happens windows will put a lock on the files that it is updating. If the tool tries to backup the locked file, the 7-Zip will instantly give up on archiving that game if a file is in use, this will basically corrupt that games backup.

Playing a game will also create the same scenario. Better to be safe than sorry as far as backups are concerned.

This functionality can be disabled by going to '%AppData%\SteamBackupTool\settings.cfg' and setting 'checkSteamRun' to true. (Change at your own risk)

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Question.

When is it recommended to use LZMA2?

Answer.

LZMA has the potential to do a better job at compression but can only use two cores. this tool can run many instances of LZMA but this can also result in file fragmentation.

LZMA2 can use up to 8 cores, compression can get worse for every second core used, but file fragmentation is not a issue.

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Question.

I have just done a Restore but Steam says that the game is not installed?

Answer.

You may need to tell steam to install the game by clicking on the 'INSTALL' button in your Steam Library.

If Steam starts to download the whole game, talk to us on the Overclock.net Forum Thread.

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Question.

Can I manually restore the games?

Answer.

Yes you can.

1. Install 7-Zip or WinRar
2. In the backup directory, find the archive of the game you want to restore.
3. right click -> 7-Zip -> Extract Files...
4. navigate to your steam folder
5. open to 'steamapps/common'
6. extract the game to there

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Question.

Could you make a Linux or Mac OS version?

Answer.

Not easily, SBT is written in C# using Visual Studio and for this reason runs on the .NET Framework developed by Microsoft. A Mono version could be ported over in order to create a multi platform environment. Further more games that are compiled for Windows will not be compatible with Linux or Mac.

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Question.

Can my older backups be restored by newer versions of Steam Backup Tool?

Answer.

Yes, it will be able to restore all but the earliest backups. If all else fails check out the 'Can I manually restore the games?' question above.

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Question.

Can Steam Backup Tool backup other game services like Origin?

Answer.

Unfortunately no, if you want to add this functionality check out Contributing to the code base.

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Question.

Can Steam Backup Tool check the integrity of backups?

Answer.

No, 7-Zip has this functionality though.

1. Install 7-Zip
2. navigate to the backup location
3. go into the 'common' folder
4. Select all .7z you want to test
5. right click -> 7-Zip -> Test archive

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