Steam Installation Error and Uninstalling Steam

[3P1CTH3K1NG]

A while back, I accidentally nuked my Windows 10 installation on my previous 120GB SSD, when I emptied my Recycle Bin, accidentally deleting system files that were hidden but were looked over.

Unfortunately, as expected, I had to reinstall Windows 10 and lost all of the data on my SSD due to me not being able to boot into the OS. When I got Windows 10 back, I made the mistake of accidentally installing Steam to C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam as opposed to simply reinstalling Steam and running it off my 3TB WD Red HDD. which contains another installation of Steam (an older one), as well as all of the games in my library. Whenever I launch the Steam client (which currently is the client located in the former directory as opposed to the latter directory, I consistently receive an error (this same error also occurs at the startup as I have set Steam to launch at the start of Windows) that appears as follows:

vrpathreg.exe - System Error

"The code execution cannot proceed because MSVCR100.dll was not found. Reinstalling the program may fix this problem."

See a screenshot here: https://imgur.com/a/AR7cH

This error appears three times along with three empty windows with black screens. Then, Steam launches, only for it to instantaneously use 48-50% of my HDD to run, as well as a noticeable increase in my CPU usage.

Before the crash, I ran Steam (both the client and the games) off my HDD, since I had rationalized that the HDD would be better served for this purpose. I also installed all games here as well. I also recently installed the W10 Fall Creators upgrade (Version 1709) for reference.

Although my user data for Steam may or may not be lost, I still have retained all of my game installations, as well everything else for Steam to run on my hard drive (W:). When I reentered into the client and added a new directory for my games to be installed, all of them reappeared (playable with the possibility of having to verify game caches before hand) as opposed to me having to re-download them.

When I went to attempt to uninstall Steam, I came across this thread (https://steamcommunity.com/discussions/forum/1/541907867783332303/) and immediately became concerned as to what would happen if I were to uninstall Steam from the Program Files (x86) folder and held off on doing anything.

I have continuously referenced the guide to uninstall Steam (https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=9609-OBMP-2526), but have my doubts as to whether or not I can uninstall Steam normally through Windows 10 settings or the Steam uninstaller utility without damaging any other folders in that same directory or causing any other issues.

To this end, I have some questions as to what I should do:

- Should I simply uninstall Steam through Windows or the utility or manually delete it with the added effort of going into the registry?

- What is the cause of the error I receive when Steam opens (with links to more information) and how I can remedy the error efficiently?

For reference, here are my specs:

OS: Windows 10 Pro (x86-64)
RAM: 24GB Corsair DDR3
GPU: GTX 970 FTW
SSD: Samsung 840 EVO 500 GB
HDD: WD Red 3TB HDD @ 5400 RPM

If anyone can help me with issue, any such help would be greatly appreciated. I'll post more screenshots as needed. Thanks in advance to anyone that is willing to help me.

[Slecky]

I think best thing to do is to go to your control panel and delete it with that, then reinstall it.

[3P1CTH3K1NG]

Originally posted by Ditlihii:

I think best thing to do is to go to your control panel and delete it with that, then reinstall it.

This was my first choice, but I'm still worried as to whether or not uninstalling it from said directory will cause the same problems that occured in the thread mentioned above. This may be the best choice, but I'd like to get more insight before I go ahead and make any decisions or take any action.

[3P1CTH3K1NG]

Can anyone help?

[The Giving One]

Originally posted by 3P1C TH3 K1NG:

.... as opposed to simply reinstalling Steam and running it off my 3TB WD Red HDD. which contains another installation of Steam (an older one), as well as all of the games in my library..

Is this 3 TB HDD an external drive ?

What is your antivirus program and any other security software you may have installed ?

Post the model number and model of the computer, please (prebuilt ?). If custom built, post the exact motherboard.

[3P1CTH3K1NG]

Originally posted by The Giving One:

Originally posted by 3P1C TH3 K1NG:

.... as opposed to simply reinstalling Steam and running it off my 3TB WD Red HDD. which contains another installation of Steam (an older one), as well as all of the games in my library..

Is this 3 TB HDD an external drive ?

What is your antivirus program and any other security software you may have installed ?

Post the model number and model of the computer, please (prebuilt ?). If custom built, post the exact motherboard.

The HDD is an internal drive. I use Windows Defender. I use a MSI Z97 Mate motherboard:

https://us.msi.com/Motherboard/Z97-PC-Mate

[The Giving One]

Was this a proper and clean installation of Windows 10 from scratch, doing a full format, or was it an upgrade from a previous OS installation ?

I suggest you try reinstalling all your C++ redist. packages. You can do this from the game's folder itself often enough, but not all of them will be reinstalled this way.

In your case, if I had your setup, I would store game files on the HDD and drag and drop them along with the .acf file to the SSD when ready to play.

This saves space on the SSD and gains the performance of that SSD also if the game can benefit, while keeping the game files downloaded and not removed if uninstalled.

You don't really need two installations of Steam if I understood what you posted above correctly, and that can cause issues anyway.

If you just want to keep all/most games actually installed on the HDD, then use the "add a library folder option", once you get this problem fixed.

I would save all steamapps folders to keep the game files and fully uninstall Steam, as long as it is in a folder all by itself, as per the support page on uninstalling Steam.

Then reboot, and check for any leftover files and/or registry entries. You may be albe to correct the registry entries that are no longer valid with CCLeaner or a similar program, if they exist.

Then, reinstall Steam to a folder all by itself totaly outside UAC control, as in not under any program files folders. Some say this does not matter, but that is the way I personally do it. Up to you. Then, you should be able to simply drag and drop the steamapps folder(s) in there in the proper place, with Steam closed and not running of course.

[3P1CTH3K1NG]

Originally posted by The Giving One:

Was this a proper and clean installation of Windows 10 from scratch, doing a full format, or was it an upgrade from a previous OS installation ?

I suggest you try reinstalling all your C++ redist. packages. You can do this from the game's folder itself often enough, but not all of them will be reinstalled this way.

In your case, if I had your setup, I would store game files on the HDD and drag and drop them along with the .acf file to the SSD when ready to play.

This saves space on the SSD and gains the performance of that SSD also if the game can benefit, while keeping the game files downloaded and not removed if uninstalled.

You don't really need two installations of Steam if I understood what you posted above correctly, and that can cause issues anyway.

If you just want to keep all/most games actually installed on the HDD, then use the "add a library folder option", once you get this problem fixed.

I would save all steamapps folders to keep the game files and fully uninstall Steam, as long as it is in a folder all by itself, as per the support page on uninstalling Steam.

Then reboot, and check for any leftover files and/or registry entries. You may be albe to correct the registry entries that are no longer valid with CCLeaner or a similar program, if they exist.

Then, reinstall Steam to a folder all by itself totaly outside UAC control, as in not under any program files folders. Some say this does not matter, but that is the way I personally do it. Up to you. Then, you should be able to simply drag and drop the steamapps folder(s) in there in the proper place, with Steam closed and not running of course.

I reinstalled Windows 10 from scratch using an iso and a USB.

With your advice, I'm going to follow the steps to manually delete Steam from C:\Program Files (x86) by:

1. Creating a System Restore point in Windows from which I can reset from in the likelihood that I screw up somehow.

2. Manually deleting and recycling all of the files in the C: directory for Steam (including the client and steamapps folder considering the fact that I have nothing in there).

3. Going into my registry, and deleting the keys from Valve to ensure that Steam is completely uninstalled and mitigate the risk of any other program files being corrupted.

4. Reinstalling Steam from the W: drive and updating it along with re downloading all of the C++ redist. packages and other files that Steam needs to run whilst preserving and/or moving my original steamapps folder until when everything is complete.

5. Restarting my computer after checking to make sure that no other files and or programs have been corrupted in any way (especially the system files for Windows).

6. Launching Steam and immediately verifying the integrity of the game cache for each individual game, as well as ensuring that error does not occur again at startup.

7. Updating all necessary drivers as needed and entering a game to determine how well it runs or if it can even launch without an error.

8. Test other games and continue to play and update Steam as needed.

Is this a good plan? I don't want to do anything to mess up my computer again and I want to be absolutely sure that this plan will work. Also, do you know the cause behind the error I receive when launching Steam?

[The Giving One]

It sounds good to me, if you just have to manually uninstall as per the support page. Not seen a user have to do that in a long time here, but it is possible as the support page shows.

But concerning your step 6, you said your steamapps folder is empty, right ? You said in step 2 that there was "nothing in there".

So you will not be able to verify the integrity of the game cache for those games, as there is nothing to verify, if I understood you correctly.

If you have any game folders with files in any steamapps\common folder, personally I would save that entire steamapps folder, as you also need the .acf file that goes with each game if it is present.

This will prevent having to redownload all those game files. But if you just want to nuke everything and start over, that's up to you.

I would fully purge Steam and reboot, THEN install any driver updates from MSI as well as Nvidia as necessary, then the C++ packages. You may need to reinstall all the C++ redist. from Microsoft directly, to be sure you have them all.

The games are "supposed" to do that for you upon first launch of the game from your library, but there are cases where you may need to reinstall them for some reason.

The only other thing I can think of at the moment is possible software you may have that can conflict with Steam maybe. Some users here recently, for example, were posting about a possible issue with GeForce Experience, so not sure if that is relevant to your problems or not.

You seem to know very well what you are doing there, in my opinion. Thanks.

[3P1CTH3K1NG]

Originally posted by The Giving One:

It sounds good to me, if you just have to manually uninstall as per the support page. Not seen a user have to do that in a long time here, but it is possible as the support page shows.

But concerning your step 6, you said your steamapps folder is empty, right ? You said in step 2 that there was "nothing in there".

So you will not be able to verify the integrity of the game cache for those games, as there is nothing to verify, if I understood you correctly.

If you have any game folders with files in any steamapps\common folder, personally I would save that entire steamapps folder, as you also need the .acf file that goes with each game if it is present.

This will prevent having to redownload all those game files. But if you just want to nuke everything and start over, that's up to you.

I would fully purge Steam and reboot, THEN install any driver updates from MSI as well as Nvidia as necessary, then the C++ packages. You may need to reinstall all the C++ redist. from Microsoft directly, to be sure you have them all.

The games are "supposed" to do that for you upon first launch of the game from your library, but there are cases where you may need to reinstall them for some reason.

The only other thing I can think of at the moment is possible software you may have that can conflict with Steam maybe. Some users here recently, for example, were posting about a possible issue with GeForce Experience, so not sure if that is relevant to your problems or not.

You seem to know very well what you are doing there, in my opinion. Thanks.

The steamapps folder is empty for the C: directory. All of my games are located in the W: directory, which would be the folder that I temporarily move somewhere else in order to not have to reinstall my games. These would be the games that I would verify to ensure that everything was still working.

I use GeForce Experience to streamline my GPU updates, but aside from an odd bug with the Windows start menu, I've had no problems.

Thank you very much for all of your help. I can't begin to express how grateful I am that you took the time to help me. If you ever need anything, let me know. :D