I am going to cover the positive and negatives to using mklink to keep files(can even do folders with symbolic and junction links) in multiple locations.
Positive.
All updates are applied in all locations.
Programs see links as an actual files so almost all programs will work with these links
Negative
You are working with 1 files only now, you should take backups since you currently have 3 copies.
Deleting the file will cause them all to stop working.(depending on the type of link)
It takes a bit of work to setup.
To make such a link you can either make a hardlink or a symbolic link. For the most part they should both work similarly.
A hard link points to the data on the drive while a symbolic link points to the original file location(it even has the little shortcut arrow in Windows).
If you delete the original file on a hard link, the others will still contain data(as long as at least one link points to the data you can access it). These files look just like any other file and do not have an arrow to show they are linked.
If you delete the original file you have symbolic links to, the links will simply not work any more. Those links have arrows to show they are links. Programs used them the same as a file in that location. Restoring the file(same name and location) will fix it with this type of link. These types of links may be more user friendly.
I highly recommend testing this on some other files before putting it to use. This will give you time to get used to it.
Create a hard link or symbolic to a file.
Open the administrative command prompt. Hit start and type cmd then hold control + shift and hit enter. Say yes and you should have an administrator.
Now navigate to the location you want to create this link. cd\ will bring you to the root of a drive and cd.. will move up a level cd folder name will move you to folders. dir lists folders in your current folder(directory). You can also combine some of this to jump multiple folders at once.
So
Code:
cd\
cd "program files (x86)" [u]The brackets prevent errors when folders have spaces in the name[/u]
cd steam
cd steamapps
does the same
Code:
cd "c:\program files (x86)\steam\steamapps" from your primary drive(I assume you are C:).
Once you have found the directory you want, you use the mklink command(you can use it similar to cd, but this should be more easy to understand)
Code:
mklink /h "file you are creating" "full location of that file"
An example would be
Code:
mklink /h "myfile.txt" "c:\users\me\documents\files\myfile.txt"
I would not have a myfile.txt in whatever location I types the command.
Symbolic links are exactly the same, but you just leave out the /h
This video may help you. It only covers hard links, but again, leave out the /h and you have a symbolic link
https
/youtu.be/rG_L6ovMh2g