Steam says game is running when it's not.

[Mount C]

Whenever I close a game, Steam doesn't register that it closed and, as a result, can't run the game because it thinks it's already running. This happens for EVERY game I play. Even if I restart Steam, it still thinks I'm running every game I closed. The only way I can stop this is to restart the computer completely.
The easiest solution I found while searching onine was to close the game in task manager, but here's the thing; The games don't show up in task manager! How do I fix this so I can run games again without having to restart my computer?

[ᕈᖺᎯﬡ𝜏ᗝⲙ]

In Task Manager, Click Processes > Show processes from all users; if the game application isn't visible.

[SeaGoblin]

did you ever find out how to fix this? nothing is in task manager for me, not in processes or services, the game is legit not running, but steam thinks it is. only way to make it stop is to exit steam and relogin

[cSg|mc-Hotsauce]

Originally posted by SeaGoblin:

did you ever find out how to fix this? nothing is in task manager for me, not in processes or services, the game is legit not running, but steam thinks it is. only way to make it stop is to exit steam and relogin

So the same thing happening again?

https://steamcommunity.com/app/730/discussions/0/1733216261958268980/

What did you do when you had these issues? List everything.

https://steamcommunity.com/app/730/discussions/0/3020122487775056409/

https://steamcommunity.com/app/730/discussions/0/1742226629861644322/

[SeaGoblin]

Originally posted by cSg|mc-Hotsauce:

Originally posted by SeaGoblin:

did you ever find out how to fix this? nothing is in task manager for me, not in processes or services, the game is legit not running, but steam thinks it is. only way to make it stop is to exit steam and relogin

So the same thing happening again?

https://steamcommunity.com/app/730/discussions/0/1733216261958268980/

What did you do when you had these issues? List everything.

https://steamcommunity.com/app/730/discussions/0/3020122487775056409/

https://steamcommunity.com/app/730/discussions/0/1742226629861644322/

:qr:

the other 2 posts about the vac server kicking me , support told me its possible my RAM is keeping cheat engine active in its memory even though cheat engine isnt running. so now i know to jsut restart computer after playing mafia 3 with cheat engine.

but the first link you posted i legit forgot all about making a post about it. anyways a week after that post the issues randomly stopped on its own . but now its back again, and no explaination on why its doing this

[Xatusili]

Originally posted by Robin3sk:

In Task Manager, Click Processes > Show processes from all users; if the game application isn't visible.

:yinyangflip:

THanks it WORKED!!

[Vanhalla]

This is happening to me with MSFS. I know everyone says go to task manager, end the steam task and restart steam. We shouldn't have to do this. This seems to be a pretty big issue and since it's happening with multiple games it would suggest it's a steam issue. Perhaps I am wrong but I hope it gets fixed.

[Stormcleaver]

Yes, this is a Steam issue. It's 2021 and is happening to me. The game isn't in task manager. Restarting Steam doesn't work. Like OP said, restarting the entire computer is the only solution.

Please, if anyone has a way to solve this without restarting your computer, please speak up. This is very annoying.

[Mount C]

Originally posted by TheAstralAssassin:

Yes, this is a Steam issue. It's 2021 and is happening to me. The game isn't in task manager. Restarting Steam doesn't work. Like OP said, restarting the entire computer is the only solution.

Please, if anyone has a way to solve this without restarting your computer, please speak up. This is very annoying.

Originally posted by Robin3sk:

In Task Manager, Click Processes > Show processes from all users; if the game application isn't visible.

:yinyangflip:

That seems to be the best solution, but it's not always guaranteed to work.

[Kinatera]

Try opening the arrow next to steam task in backround processes and in apps through task manager, the game could be hiding in there, that was the problem for me and thankfully I got it fixed

[Washell]

Originally posted by TheAstralAssassin:

Yes, this is a Steam issue. It's 2021

I know you said it a few months ago, but since no-one chimed in:

Steam has millions of users. If it was a steam issue, this thread wouldn't have 9 posts (10 including this) after 3 years. Multiple pieces of software not closing properly is a PC issue. A driver may be wrong for the device. A disk may be failing. The windows install may be corrupted. A memory stick may be dodgy. The problem is local, the solution will be too. Fix Your PC.

That said, random crashes (which I'm assuming you people are experiencing too) and failures to close are a ♥♥♥♥♥ to diagnose and fix. It's actually easier to run a full memtest and diskcheck, and start a completely wiped system and a freshly downloaded (and thus up to date) copy of Windows installer. If it still persists then, well, you're screwed because you're looking at PSU, CPU or motherboard issues and the only way to really rule them out is to replace them one by one. Hopefully you have some you can borrow.

[toe ring that binds them]

Originally posted by Washell:

Originally posted by TheAstralAssassin:

Yes, this is a Steam issue. It's 2021

I know you said it a few months ago, but since no-one chimed in:

Steam has millions of users. If it was a steam issue, this thread wouldn't have 9 posts (10 including this) after 3 years. Multiple pieces of software not closing properly is a PC issue. A driver may be wrong for the device. A disk may be failing. The windows install may be corrupted. A memory stick may be dodgy. The problem is local, the solution will be too. Fix Your PC.

That said, random crashes (which I'm assuming you people are experiencing too) and failures to close are a ♥♥♥♥♥ to diagnose and fix. It's actually easier to run a full memtest and diskcheck, and start a completely wiped system and a freshly downloaded (and thus up to date) copy of Windows installer. If it still persists then, well, you're screwed because you're looking at PSU, CPU or motherboard issues and the only way to really rule them out is to replace them one by one. Hopefully you have some you can borrow.

I'm assuming most people (like myself) just ignored it for years without bothering to make an entire post about it. The only reason I am even writing this is that dismissive people like you who actually have little to no idea what they're talking about really annoy me. The fact that Steam can't detect that a primary active process has been shut down or is no longer running is definitely an issue with Steam's ability to detect processes. Many programs store bits of themselves within memory until a PC is restarted; it's super common. That being said: Steam should be able to adapt with that in mind in 2021. I don't mind if Steam thinks a game is running, but it shouldn't be stopping me from running my game executables.

Sorry guys, Steam is always going to try and detect little pieces of game programs that ran with the executable because they're likely paired together (depending on the game), and Steam is too aware of that fact. I've stopped using Steam as my primary game library years ago, and only use it now because it's impossible to run games that are bought from Steam's platform without Steam.

Originally posted by TheJazztralAssassin:

Yes, this is a Steam issue. It's 2021 and is happening to me. The game isn't in task manager. Restarting Steam doesn't work. Like OP said, restarting the entire computer is the only solution.

Please, if anyone has a way to solve this without restarting your computer, please speak up. This is very annoying.

Originally posted by SeaGoblin:

did you ever find out how to fix this? nothing is in task manager for me, not in processes or services, the game is legit not running, but steam thinks it is. only way to make it stop is to exit steam and relogin

Originally posted by Mount C:

That seems to be the best solution, but it's not always guaranteed to work.

Unfortunately, the solution is to eliminate every process that is making use of game files. Even having a .log of the game open or in-use by another process will give you this issue. This includes programs like Razer Cortex, CCleaner, any PC optimizing program that detects game files, many antivirus/antimalware services/programs, anti-cheat services, and the list goes on. These programs are good, it's just that Steam's compatibility with these programs is completely ridiculous. It can even be something you don't expect, but I guarantee if you were to go through your task manager with all processes ticked on and closed all non-essential processes other than those necessary for windows to run (but kept barebones Steam running), you would solve your issue. Yes, the issue is local, but it's not your fault or your PC's fault, it's still Steam's fault.

[Rose]

I'm working on the same thing right now. Morrowind crashed, and steam is reporting it as running.
No amount of nuking the RAM sets has helped, there's nothing from the D drive in the ram right now, which is where the game is located, not a single file, yet steam still reports the game as running. This is ridiculous and it has everything to do with steam itself. Restarting the PC works, but that's a very poor quality solution.
Some experimentation has pointed that the things that keep running (not anymore, since I've disabled it) and may have caused this whole thing are the pieces of steam cloud sync files or something like that. This might indicate that steam is still trying to cloud sync the game and doesn't understand that the game has crashed an hour ago. Unfortunately, turning off the cloud sync doesn't help steam recognize that the game has stopped, at least not if cloud sync has been on at the time of the crash, but I would still suggest turning it off if you don't need it. It's ridiculous that steam cloud sync is on by default and is branded as smooth experience across your devices without steam first checking if you actually have multiple devices.
I'll report back if I find more info or a solution.

[crunchyfrog]

Originally posted by Rose:

I'm working on the same thing right now. Morrowind crashed, and steam is reporting it as running.
No amount of nuking the RAM sets has helped, there's nothing from the D drive in the ram right now, which is where the game is located, not a single file, yet steam still reports the game as running. This is ridiculous and it has everything to do with steam itself. Restarting the PC works, but that's a very poor quality solution.
Some experimentation has pointed that the things that keep running (not anymore, since I've disabled it) and may have caused this whole thing are the pieces of steam cloud sync files or something like that. This might indicate that steam is still trying to cloud sync the game and doesn't understand that the game has crashed an hour ago. Unfortunately, turning off the cloud sync doesn't help steam recognize that the game has stopped, at least not if cloud sync has been on at the time of the crash, but I would still suggest turning it off if you don't need it. It's ridiculous that steam cloud sync is on by default and is branded as smooth experience across your devices without steam first checking if you actually have multiple devices.
I'll report back if I find more info or a solution.

Instead of hijacking this thread, you should really be asking this in the morrowind forum here.

Bethesda games being as wonky as they are, I'm fairly sure someone will have had something like your issue.

[Rose]

Originally posted by crunchyfrog:

Instead of hijacking this thread, you should really be asking this in the morrowind forum here.

Bethesda games being as wonky as they are, I'm fairly sure someone will have had something like your issue.

Please mind your business, smart guy, this is not your thread, this is an open thread, I've commented in the appropriate thread about the same problem. This has nothing to do with Morrowind, this has happened before with many other games in my case alone and in many other cases I've stumbled upon on the internet while searching for a solution.

TL;DR: think before you post. Please.

[crunchyfrog]

Originally posted by Rose:

Originally posted by crunchyfrog:

Instead of hijacking this thread, you should really be asking this in the morrowind forum here.

Bethesda games being as wonky as they are, I'm fairly sure someone will have had something like your issue.

Please mind your business, smart guy, this is not your thread, this is an open thread, I've commented in the appropriate thread about the same problem. This has nothing to do with Morrowind, this has happened before with many other games in my case alone and in many other cases I've stumbled upon on the internet while searching for a solution.

TL;DR: think before you post. Please.

I strongly suggest you read the rules of posting here that you agreed to.

As users we are perfectly allowed to remind you not to break the rules and hijack threads.

We are also obliged to tell you to post in the game's forums, as this IS a game related issue.

Now, if you have an issue with my response, by all means report me to a mod, and they'll advise you accordingly.