Deleting WindowsApps, Program Files, and XboxApps on your external hard drive is a matter of:
- Changing ownership of this files over to your new computer
- Editing permissions so that you have full control over these files
- Booting into safe mode and deleting each folder
The official Xbox app for PC has gotten much better over time (especially with the release of Starfield), but you’ll still find yourself running into infuriating bugs. Steam is still far ahead in user experience despite Microsoft’s investment into both speed and functionality.
A perfect example of Steam’s seamless user experience over the Xbox app is in the process of managing external hard drives across two different computers. Whether you’re moving to a new PC or like to switch between a laptop/desktop, you’ll find that the Xbox PC app will refuse to cooperate between two distinct installs.
I’ve found that there are two main issues that crop up when using an external hard drive between two PCs:
- You won’t be able to play previously installed games on a different PC
- You won’t be able to install games on an external hard drive if games were previously installed through a different PC
To solve this, I deleted the contents of WindowsApps, XboxApps, and Program Files without having to wipe the drive completely (these were the folders I found to have associations with previous PC Game Pass installs).