My Steam is messed up

[Syt]

It started on Monday. The updater just hung there at 0%, over an hour. I cancelled and restarted. It got to 28%, then gave me a file error ("Steam.exe has been deleted but it's still there" - wtf?). I tried running the SteamNew.exe, but it gave me "Service Currently Unavailable".

I poked around for solutions on the interwebs, and I tried them all. Deleting the *.blob files, booting in safe mode, reducing the security levels on my account within Win7, clean re-install . . . no change. A variety of file errors or being unable to connect.

What *did* work in the end was:
- clean re-install
- kill process from task manager before update starts
- boot up in safe mode with network
- update runs

However, next day it was back to square one - update not working, file errors, etc.

I'm NOT going to boot my system in Safe Mode (and possibly do a fresh install) every time I want to access Steam.

I was a big fan of Steam, but now I'm about to give up. I have no idea what might cause this - I made no new install/changes to my system between, say, Sunday and Monday when the errors started, so I'm rather befuddled.

[Grey Fox]

Have you tried contacting Valve Support?

[DGuller]

WAD.

[Josephus]

steam's a pain in the arse. I haven't had an issue that bad; but I frequently get a "You are already running Steam" message when I go to play a game, yet can't access it. So I have to do a reboot.

[sbr]

steam's a pain in the arse. I haven't had an issue that bad; but I frequently get a "You are already running Steam" message when I go to play a game, yet can't access it. So I have to do a reboot.

I get that occasionally but I just shut down the process instead of rebooting.

[viper37]

It started on Monday. The updater just hung there at 0%, over an hour. I cancelled and restarted. It got to 28%, then gave me a file error ("Steam.exe has been deleted but it's still there" - wtf?). I tried running the SteamNew.exe, but it gave me "Service Currently Unavailable".

I poked around for solutions on the interwebs, and I tried them all. Deleting the *.blob files, booting in safe mode, reducing the security levels on my account within Win7, clean re-install . . . no change. A variety of file errors or being unable to connect.

What *did* work in the end was:
- clean re-install
- kill process from task manager before update starts
- boot up in safe mode with network
- update runs

However, next day it was back to square one - update not working, file errors, etc.

I'm NOT going to boot my system in Safe Mode (and possibly do a fresh install) every time I want to access Steam.

I was a big fan of Steam, but now I'm about to give up. I have no idea what might cause this - I made no new install/changes to my system between, say, Sunday and Monday when the errors started, so I'm rather befuddled.

if you have an anti-virus&firewall other than Windows, try uninstalling these + Steam. Reboot.  Reinstall Steam.  See if it works.

Alternatively, you might want to check for virus/spywares first with a clean USB stick

I never hard any problems with Steam.  Imho, it's the best gaming platform out there.

[Razgovory]

steam's a pain in the arse. I haven't had an issue that bad; but I frequently get a "You are already running Steam" message when I go to play a game, yet can't access it. So I have to do a reboot.

I get that occasionally but I just shut down the process instead of rebooting.

Yeah, that's what I do.  I rarely have problems with Steam, and usually their forums are fairly helpful.

[Syt]

Yeah, I've run all kinds of virus/malware checks, but they've come up empty.

Guess I'll have to try my luck with their support.

[Syt]

And six days later I get a response. I should try deactivate all non-MS services on startup (except Steam Client) and see what happens.

Nothing changed (which I also reported to them just now).

The error messages I get, though, seem to point at the files getting "locked":
- "Deleted Steam.exe but the file is still there."
- "Can't open SteamNew.exe [or SteamTmp.exe] for writing."
- "Can't copy Steam.exe because the file is in use by an application."

I get similar messages sometimes when a Paradox game updates ("You need admin rights to delete this file.") - usually after a few minutes the file becomes "unlocked", though, and I can continue the update.

It seems *.exe files get locked for awhile (5-10 minutes?) after they were created or used (which, I would think, is a security measure), and Steam gets tripped up by it. Though I still can't fathom why it used to work fine a short while ago.

I've tried lowering and disabling user account security stuff, given myself full admin powers, disabled my antivirus, but nothing seems to solve this.

[viper37]

Do you have a firewall other than windows?  What happens if you disable everything?

[Syt]

Do you have a firewall other than windows?

No, and I've set appropriate privileges for Steam.

What happens if you disable everything?

In the msconfig? Nothing, really, except some stuff stops working without the MS services.

[viper37]

Did you turn off Windows firewall entirely?
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-vista/Turn-Windows-Firewall-on-or-off

[Caliga]

reformat your hard drive.

[Syt]

Well, it seems to be running again, for now.

What fixed it? Downloading a mid-August release of Steam that was linked on the Steam Support forums by some guy.

No idea what it fixed, or what was broken, but at least I can access my games (for the moment).

[Syt]

Restarted computer, tried to start Steam - tries to update, error messages ensue. Yay.