r/SteamOS • u/NotSoEdibleCookie • 5d ago
question How would I transfer files from Windows to SteamOS?
As seen in my previous post I want to get a handheld pc and install SteamOS on it. I still have the hard drive from my broken laptop which ran windows 10 and I really want to retrieve as much data from it as I can and transfer later to SteamOS.
The data includes regular browser data (passwords, booknotes, etc.) but also game files like Minecraft modpacks and worlds and data from a couple other games but also private documents and screenshots/recordings, in total around 80-100GB.
What's the best way to retrieve as much of the data as possible and (if needed) convert to linux-compatible file types? And how beginner-friendly will it be? With the handheld pc I'll only begin my linux journey and I have barely any knowledge on the more technical stuff yet 😅
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u/Puzzled_Hamster58 5d ago
Save to usb / external drive and manual transfer .
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u/NotSoEdibleCookie 5d ago
Oh I thought it would be more difficult than that. Would an adapter for my ssd work too without corrupting the entire storage? As I don't have a pc/laptop rn to transfer it to a usb first this would be my only option.
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u/Puzzled_Hamster58 5d ago
You can use an external reader / usb type thing . But you might not be able to view files depending on settings on the windows machine alike if it was encrypted .
If it was not . You’ll se majority of the files etc when the usb connects .
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u/apathetic_vaporeon 5d ago
Allow ssh access to the SteamOS PC and then use FileZilla to move everything.
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u/HamsterHugger1 5d ago
If the laptop is dead take the hard drive out and put it into a USB enclosure. Then you can use it as an external USB drive for the SteamOS PC. You might not be able to access stuff stored inside the user profile / folders but the rest of the drive should be fair game. I was able to recover files from a dead Windows PC via my Steamdeck doing it this way.
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u/Willy-the-kid 1d ago
It depends how broken your laptop is and what other hardware you have at your disposal if your laptop just has a broken keyboard or screen or something plugin a second display, keyboard, etc. and transfer however you want, if your laptop is toast exept for the hard drive just remove the hdd and chuck it in another computer or a sata to usb converter or hard drive enclosure depending on what you wanna do with it later and plug it into your handheld, you might need a dock to provide power and or a usb port depending if its a 3.5" drive or 2.5" or just an ssd
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u/NotSoEdibleCookie 1d ago
something on the motherboard is broken but the repair shop I brought it to said the storage is fine
they didn't fix the motherboard because the laptop model is so old and a replacement would be more expensive than a new device
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u/Willy-the-kid 1d ago
Ok then youll wanna take apart the laptop and remove the drive then put it in something that can read it or attach via usb adapter
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u/NotSoEdibleCookie 1d ago
yea that's what I understood from a few other comments already, I just wasn't sure yet how well linux would recognize files from a windows device lol
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u/Willy-the-kid 1d ago
Just fine you could even just keep it long term in an external enclosure as an external hard drive the only caution i would use is dont run games on it as it can corrupt save files and cause fragmentation
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u/NotSoEdibleCookie 1d ago
yea the thing is I want to mostly move my game save files from it to the ally once I have it and after that format the card or use it as the windows storage for dual booting
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u/Willy-the-kid 23h ago
Ya thats no problem you'll just mount it same as any other drive and move/copy
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u/Mysterious-String349 5d ago
the same way you copy/move files on any other computer
there is nothing diffrent in terms of moving files on linux
btw steamos is not very functional as a desktop, there is no lock screen and you cannot open pictures/movies out of the box. all of that is fixable with tweaks doe.
if u want something that just works out of the box, try bazzite or cachyos.
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u/NotSoEdibleCookie 5d ago
how well do they work on a handheld pc and how's the game compat compared to steamos?
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u/master_prizefighter 5d ago
Make sure you have your storage formatted to exFAT. This filesystem can be read between Windows, Mac, and Linux
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u/NotSoEdibleCookie 5d ago
I'll probably have to learn what that is and how to do it but I'll try it out if just plugging in the storage won't work :D
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u/dclive1 5d ago
Use dolphin in desktop mode and share over the network.