moving games to other pc, is it possible to copy the files rather than downloading?

[Syailendra]

i'm an mining explorer and land opening consultant, my job actually requires me to go to unhabitated lands. Right now, i have civ 5 in my laptop, steam downloaded version.
Right now i'm in a project deep inside a jungle, and one of my coleague bring his pc to the basecamp, a good one, compared to my crappy laptop. So for the sake of playing a better game, i want to copy them there. FYI downloading would be a futile attempt as there is almost no connection here. (i need 5mins to open steam home page)
how should i copy my game to that pc? what would happen if i copy my files to that computer?
What about my game at my laptop, i read somewhere that i can only have the game at one computer at a time, so is that would mean that my game on laptop be banned if i register the game on pc to steam?
Thanks.

 

[FeiLing]

You just should try it.

Steam should be installed.
Then try copying the whole "\SteamApps" folder to the other computer. Maybe it works, maybe it doesn't. I really don't know.

Just make sure to actually start the games in question after that - maybe there will be some downloading required but it might be much less than if you didn't copy these files over.

Also: Cool job , dude!

 

[timtofly]

Steam will probably send you an e-mail that verifies you are using the new computer. After putting in the 4 digit code it will work fine. So you will need access to e-mail. Just play in offline mode and you should be fine.

 

[Whiterussian]

I would recommend you to make a backup of the game (Open Steam under "Steam/Backup and Restore Game") This ways you can make a backup on a Harddrive or CD/DVD. Then You have to install steam on the other PC, and restore the backup trough the same menu.
Worked perfectly for me.

 

[Syailendra]

thanks for all support, it works fine! Put it on offline mode. Gratitude.
to Fei Ling, it is more of a hot job than a cool job, haha, it is noon here, at 33 celcius with 96% humidity! Whew... Like a sauna!