Install Steam on a company Laptop - no change to Antivir possible

[TENE]

Is there any way to install Steam on a computer for which the Antivir and Guard options cannot be altered? My company laptop fulfills the game's requirements where my private one does not...but any time I try to login after installing, the Steam Client tells me it cannot establish connection. Tried swiching off everything I can, but some basic protection features are just blocked by the admins, and going to my IT department asking to unblock a game client is a bit out of the question...

[Spawn of Totoro]

As it is a company laptop, I wouldn't suggest using it at all for games with out their permission.

If you DO have permission, then it is best to contact your employer's IT department for assistance. If you are unable to do so, then you are SOL.

Keep in mind that companies may have added software to log your activity and input as well, placing your Steam account at risk.

[Pscht]

Originally posted by TENE:

and going to my IT department asking to unblock a game client is a bit out of the question...

That's a sign. You REALLY shouldn't use company property for your games.

[ReBoot]

I bet, your IT department locked Steam sppecifically. Well, that, and Origin, Uplay... My point is, I am pretty sure they REALLLY don't want you to play games. If you got local admin rights, you can work around that & risk reprimand. I would't risk that if I were you. Not for games, anyway...

[Dronkitmaster]

Same person as OP here, recovered my old account. You're probably right that it would be frowned upon a bit. Nevertheless: there is no rule in place regarding using the Laptop for private purposes, they don't make you sign anything, and much more common things like netflix and such are not blocked. Of course I don't use it for other things during work hours, but even that would be a small issue, as there is no core work time/work time account (I often work on weekends, if necessary, but have days in the week free). The reason why I don't go to them is that even with simple question the answer is "we don't know, check our FAQ", even concerning work related software. And every help ticket goes through a central e-mail address used by around 1500 people, and is answered by some untrained front desk person. So there is simply no point in trying to solve anything with them, they usually only buy the Laptop, set it up for network use, and then it gets automatically updated with security features until after 4-5 years it is slowed down by all those updates to a level where they replace it and sell off the 5 year old ones, then completely formatted and empty, to students.

What would be the workaround with local admin rights? Jst asking for curiosity, but might tzry, as I really am sure no reprimand risked here.

[ReBoot]

Easy diagnostic step: start Steam with admin rights. See if it connects then. Further steps depend on the result of this.

[Pscht]

What are the odds your next post is going to be "they fired me, but WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY"?

[Muppet among Puppets]

Someone gives you a laptop.
Laptops get hot with games, and the battery is taxed.

I assume they did not want that.

[Dronkitmaster]

Originally posted by Pscht:

What are the odds your next post is going to be "they fired me, but WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY"?

Absolutely zero. Apart from the fact that I work here for years and know the environment, we actually have legislation overseas, for what you can get slightly reprimanded, heavily reprimanded, and only in the gravest cases, fired...(unlike in the US it seems)

[Dronkitmaster]

Originally posted by Muppet among Puppets:

Someone gives you a laptop.
Laptops get hot with games, and the battery is taxed.

I assume they did not want that.

As I said, laptops are written off after 5 years. I will be using it until the end of the 5 years. Many colleagues give theirs back in shreds and IT does not care...while mine is still pristine, as I actually take care of it. Battery life is an argument, but if missing keys are not an issue, that's hardly the same level...

[Dronkitmaster]

Originally posted by ReBoot:

Easy diagnostic step: start Steam with admin rights. See if it connects then. Further steps depend on the result of this.

Had tried that already, sadly no change.

[Ｍｏｎａｄｎｏｃｋ]

So you know you won't be given permission or assistance in installing Steam on a company owned laptop, yet you're trying to do it anyway.

What could go wrong? Here's my advice: Don't do it. Just get your own personal laptop, problem solved.

[HeyYou]

Can you add an exception to your antivirus, and firewall?

[Dronkitmaster]

Ok, I think I'm out. This is a good example for why some forums just don't work. The first worried voices ok, reasonable comment to warn me. I replied. But geez, really, does anybody here not believe they know everything better? Or even bother to read anything beyond the opening post? If I ask how to cut my hair I don't want a discourse on how the Bible tells you not to and how I will end up in hell for it...

Just to sum up: Company IT does not explicitly allow nor forbid it, they just don't care. There is no assistance beyond FAQ manuals, even for stuff like Office package, hence no point to ask. 4 years ago they abolished our department's IT guy, so now it's only a few guys and a lot of untrained temps in a building about 30 minutes away, so no chance to quickly knock on doors.
And, no, I cannot add exceptions. Since an incident caused by the carelss clicking on email-attachments by some senior staff members, they created an impermeable ring around the internal network, which occasionally also blocks work stuff (which is of course a delight, as, yes, no assistance).

[Scott, President of Dominos]

Any chance you can boot into an external disk with Windows/SteamOS already installed?

If you’re right and your IT dept is gone then your BIOS might not be locked.

Also I don’t support anyone using their work laptop for games, but I do want to see OP do something stupid.

Also, also, if there’s no DRM or PortBlocker, you can put the Executable on a flash drive and run it off that.

[Scott, President of Dominos]

Oh and, OP, if you try this, please report back if you get fired.