[Guide] How to make DCS download updates on a separate drive

[Shadow KT]

I used it succesfully with last weeks update. 

 

 

[DOBBO45]

On 7/19/2018 at 4:41 AM, Revs said:

 

I figured it out.

mklink /J "C:\Program Files\Eagle Dynamics\DCS World OpenBeta\_downloads" "D:\DCS Download Junction\_downloads"

 

That will create _download link from to

 

The could have been named anything else but the which is the link must only be named _download for it to fool DCS updater.

 

And don't forget to right click command promt and run as Admin.

This worked for me December 27/2020....Good work.

[Shadow KT]

Nice. I've edited the original post a bit, to make it clearer.

Edited January 4, 2021 by Shadow KT

[Fri13]

It was nice when ED made the official updater to offer alternative download directory. But then someone had some problems with it and it was required to be removed.

Now it is back to command line procedure that is causing a extra challenging step for new users.

[Omega One]

Does anyone know if this link option still work?? I would love not to buy a new SSD. 

Edited May 27, 2021 by Omega One

[draconus]

It has to work because it works on a system level and DCS is just app running on that system. Buy SSD anyway

[Omega One]

1 hour ago, draconus said:

It has to work because it works on a system level and DCS is just app running on that system. Buy SSD anyway

 

 

LOL... I have an SSD; the problem is theres 164Gbs left. I don't want to have to upgrade to a larger SSD if I dont have to. The more space I can save, the better. 

Edited May 27, 2021 by Omega One

[draconus]

1 hour ago, Omega One said:

the problem is theres 164Gbs left.

There is no problem then.

[Omega One]

6 minutes ago, draconus said:

There is no problem then.

 

kinda is .... I've noticed every dcs update, its sucking up lots of storage. Thats with me deleting temp files/fxo/ tacview files/etc. I'm probably going to need a new SSD by November at this rate. So I'm looking for a solution where the updates can be used from my HDD which is 3 TBs. 

Edited May 27, 2021 by Omega One

[Nodak]

https://www.howtogeek.com/howto/16226/complete-guide-to-symbolic-links-symlinks-on-windows-or-linux/

 

Best bang for the buck is putting your maps on the separate drive, they're huge but all in the same folder.  Than you have plenty of room for all the modules you can handle.

[Shadow KT]

18 hours ago, Nodak said:

https://www.howtogeek.com/howto/16226/complete-guide-to-symbolic-links-symlinks-on-windows-or-linux/

 

Best bang for the buck is putting your maps on the separate drive, they're huge but all in the same folder.  Than you have plenty of room for all the modules you can handle.

 

Yeah, I've been thinking about moving some of my maps, which I rarely use, or only for SP to another drive.

[Yurgon]

Just ran into the low space problem during a DCS update on my OpenBeta installation. A dedicated 500 GB SSD just doesn't cut it anymore. Well, okay, it won't take any more terrains, that much is for sure, but at least for now I can update DCS again.

Awesome tip in the first post, thanks a lot man!

[MAXsenna]

25 minutes ago, Yurgon said:

Just ran into the low space problem during a DCS update on my OpenBeta installation. A dedicated 500 GB SSD just doesn't cut it anymore. Well, okay, it won't take any more terrains, that much is for sure, but at least for now I can update DCS again.

Awesome tip in the first post, thanks a lot man!

Hehe! I just noticed when I clicked update, that I was down to 60GB on my 2TB, luckily I managed to empty the recycle bin to get another 30GB, but that was it. Haven't been using Stable for a year+, so I guess that'll go next time. Will give me another 300GB+...  

[USA_Recon]

On 6/13/2018 at 11:23 AM, Shadow KT said:

To who ever has issues with space on their SSD when updating DCS

 

What you will have to do is create a symbolic junction, which in simple terms means, creating an image folder on your DCS drive which points to a different drive. This way the game will see the files where they should be, but their physical location will be on another drive. This is perfect for downloads as they are temporary files which is only used while updating. If you try to split your DCS like this you will only degrade your performance.

 

https://www.howtogeek.com/howto/16226/complete-guide-to-symbolic-links-symlinks-on-windows-or-linux/

 

Here is a nice guide explaining stuff in simple terms.

 

1. Copy your "_downloads" folder (from the main DCS directory) and paste it on a drive you wish

 

2. Go back to your DCS directory and delete your "_downloads" folder. (You can combine steps 1 and 2 with the "cut" function)

 

3. Open the Start Menu and type "cmd" in the search bar, right click on "Command Prompt" and select "Run as an Administrator"

 

4. type: mklink /J "C:*path to your dcs "_downloads" folder" "D:*path to where you want the "_downloads" folder's content to be stored"

 

If successful you should see a message say "Junction created for..."

 

Here is an example how it was setup for me

 

mklink /J "C:\Games\DCS World OpenBeta\_downloads" "D:\Games\DCS\_downloads" (My game is installed on the C drive in this case and I am creating a virtual hard link folder named "_downloads", which when I open will direct to my downloads folder, located on my D drive)

 

Refresh your DCS directory and you should see the folder back there with a small icon in its bottom left corner.

 

Don't worry if you mess up something, nothing happens, you can just delete that folder and you destroy the link.

 

Cheers !

 

thank you for sharing this - your a life saver!

[Andrew8604]

It worked going from 2.9.8.1214 MT to 2.9.10.4160.

Had error as shown in picture.

Copy "_downloads" folder from your DCS installation drive to another drive with ample room...such as from 1TB SSD C drive to a 2TB (spinning) D drive.  Then delete the "_downloads" folder from the DCS installation folder.  When you run the MKLINK command line (in administrator mode), it will create the "_downloads" folder in your DCS installation folder as a junction, or what looks like a 'shortcut'.  If the "_downloads" folder is still present in your DCS installation folder when you run the command line, it will say something like, "Cannot create file when file already exists."

Something like this:  mklink /J "C:\Program Files\Eagle Dynamics\DCS World OpenBeta\_downloads" "D:\DCS Download Junction\_downloads"

FYI...

mklink /?

Creates a symbolic link.

MKLINK [[/D] | [/H] | [/J]] Link Target

        /D      Creates a directory symbolic link.  Default is a file
                symbolic link.
        /H      Creates a hard link instead of a symbolic link.
        /J      Creates a Directory Junction.
        Link    Specifies the new symbolic link name.
        Target  Specifies the path (relative or absolute) that the new link
                refers to.

[ZACHI]

Exactly what I needed! Thank you 

It worked for me.

[Baldrick33]

I use symbolic links infrequently and have to look up the syntax every time!

I found this utility made things much easier

https://github.com/arnobpl/SymlinkCreator

[MAXsenna]

On 2/9/2025 at 12:21 PM, Baldrick33 said:

I use symbolic links infrequently and have to look up the syntax every time!

I found this utility made things much easier

https://github.com/arnobpl/SymlinkCreator

Will check that out, is it similar to this Shell extension, which makes the process pretty much drag and drop? 

Cheers! 

http://schinagl.priv.at/nt/hardlinkshellext/linkshellextension.html