Download sims 4 to my external hard drive

[chosita02]

I don't have enough space on my computer for sims 4. So I was wandering if i can download it on to my external hard drive.

[crinrict · Accepted solution]

It's possible but I won't recommend it.

Trouble is with the drive letter since it can happen that a hard drive is not applied the same letter when reconnected and then the game won't work. Depending on your USB connection, it can also be slow.

If you want to try anyways, here's instruction on how to change the installation path: http://sims4.crinrict.com/en/2014/09/change-installation-path/

[crinrict · Accepted solution]

It's possible but I won't recommend it.

Trouble is with the drive letter since it can happen that a hard drive is not applied the same letter when reconnected and then the game won't work. Depending on your USB connection, it can also be slow.

If you want to try anyways, here's instruction on how to change the installation path: http://sims4.crinrict.com/en/2014/09/change-installation-path/

[weiirdgamers]

has anyone done it with success?

[roberta591]

There have been posts that users have installed to a usb drive but no one have reported how long it works. What kind of computer do you have. If it's a desktop you should be able to add a second drive very easily. If it's a laptop you can get a larger drive and image the old one to the new one then swap them. Some laptops even have the ability to add an extra drive. The data rate on a usb drive will be slower then a drive connected to the motherboard. The only big problem I see if you have a laptop is any external connection could be reset should you disconnect the devices and use the laptop at a different location. Although I have though about Windows 10 with Microsoft OneDrive. I personally have reservations about my data being in the public domain (cloud storage). Data centers do go off line. Although data centers are are more reliable then your local cable company. There's always a nas box. Might get a better data rate because of the network connection. With things getting smaller, faster, and less complicated - I can't see making it larger, slower, and more complicated. Amazon has a Hitachi 2TB 7200rpm drive $43.99. Amazon Prime and in 2 days and a couple hours work. When I was in data processing class we were taught KISS (keep it simple stupid).

The best I can describe this is your hanging over a very deep canyon and your holding on to kite string.

Good luck.

[BurntLysol]

Hello, I know this post is kinda old but I wanted to say that I managed to download the Sims 4 onto my external in 2015, and I also used that with my laptop since I didn't have a computer. It worked well for me, the only issues I had was lag and long-ish loading screens but that could be because I used a laptop and not a PC. I also downloaded what I think was a lot of Custom Content and few mods and it still worked the same.

Hopefully, This can be useful to someone even if this is kinda late 

[MDyAs13]

hi, how did you manage to do this? I have a mac and I'm trying to download onto external hard drive. Changing the Game Library Location in Origin settings doesn't work! Thanks 

[madeleineedixon]

i'd also love to know how to do this successfully! it's taking up way too much space on my laptop

[MindyMcGaha]

Having the same problem. I bought a 1T External Hard Drive but when i go to my Origin settings > Installs & Saves > On your computer > Game Library Location and then choose my external hard drive, its says "The game installation directory is invalid. Please select a different directory." I just spent $80 on this hard drive plus the $25 for sims. If this doesn't work i'm going to be seriously upset. It was my birthday present to myself and so far its done nothing but stress me out and make me cry. 

[pcakes88]

Currently on the same boat. I have an HP Stream laptop, had to buy a Seagate 2TB External Hard Drive. So far it's not allowing me to save it to the new drive, I can only copy what's already been stored on my computer to the drive. Going to try a few more things to see if it'll work.

[roberta591]

@pcakes88  you can manually create the folder or change the Origin destination location THEN uninstall and reinstall and the installer should create the folder for you.