Steam keeps "forgetting" that I have some games installed

[DaRandomDude]

Sometimes when I open my library on Steam some games appear as "not installed" and when I install them it finds all of the game files and the download is finished before it really started. Why does this happen?

I have steam installed on drive C: (the smaller faster one) and my current library is on J: (the bigger slower one). Could that be it?

[The Giving One]

Installed games are appearing as uninstalled

https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=8379-RYIP-2998

If you are installing to an external drive, that is not recommended.

[DaRandomDude]

Originally posted by The Giving One:

Installed games are appearing as uninstalled

https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=8379-RYIP-2998

If you are installing to an external drive, that is not recommended.

It could be windows forcing steam to shutdown but it always happens while i use the pc. Never when I start steam again...
And I never did it while these games were being downloaded.

Both drives are internal.

[The Giving One]

Windows should not be forcing Steam to shut down, and if you have that problem, that is surely relevant here and good to take note of.

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

[DaRandomDude]

Originally posted by The Giving One:

Windows should not be forcing Steam to shut down, and if you have that problem, that is surely relevant here and good to take note of.

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

Nothing really. Right now I only have windows defender.

[The Giving One]

Originally posted by DaRandomDude:

Nothing really. Right now I only have windows defender.

If you have an issue with Steam launching or crashing or any problems with Steam at all, feel free to describe it more in detail, if you can. Include any error messages also.

EDIT..Aside from the installed games appearing as uninstalled of course. Sorry.

[DaRandomDude]

Originally posted by The Giving One:

Originally posted by DaRandomDude:

Nothing really. Right now I only have windows defender.

If you have an issue with Steam launching or crashing or any problems with Steam at all, feel free to describe it more in detail, if you can. Include any error messages also.

the only issues I have are the games appearing as uninstaled sometimes. and i can't really say much about that.

[The Giving One]

Originally posted by DaRandomDude:

the only issues I have are the games appearing as uninstaled sometimes. and i can't really say much about that.

Hmmm...

The reason the games "usually" appear as uninstalled is, the .acf files are missing.

Go to your steamapps folder on the drive where this happens. Open it up. Do you see the .acf files there ? Without these files, the games on that library folder will appear as uninstalled.

[DaRandomDude]

Originally posted by The Giving One:

Originally posted by DaRandomDude:

the only issues I have are the games appearing as uninstaled sometimes. and i can't really say much about that.

Hmmm...

The reason the games "usually" appear as uninstalled is, the .acf files are missing.

Go to your steamapps folder on the drive where this happens. Open it up. Do you see the .acf files there ? Without these files, the games on that library folder will appear as uninstalled.

I'll look at that the next time a game appears as uninstalled...

[The Giving One]

Originally posted by DaRandomDude:

I'll look at that the next time a game appears as uninstalled...

Make sure you have all your drivers up to date for the computer, and the OS. Check the manufacturer's website for driver updates. If running Windows 10, fully update everything.

There may be an issue with that drive becomming asleep at times, also. Check Windows power saving features to make sure the drive is not going to sleep maybe. I bet that could be it.

EDIT...The J drive, I mean.

[DaRandomDude]

Originally posted by The Giving One:

Originally posted by DaRandomDude:

I'll look at that the next time a game appears as uninstalled...

Make sure you have all your drivers up to date for the computer, and the OS. Check the manufacturer's website for driver updates. If running Windows 10, fully update everything.

There may be an issue with that drive becomming asleep at times, also. Check Windows power saving features to make sure the drive is not going to sleep maybe. I bet that could be it.

EDIT...The J drive, I mean.

So I found in the settings than an inactive drive will be deactivated after 20 minues of being inactiv. That could be it. J: isn't used when I do anything that isn't running a game because there are only games on it.
I set that to never.

The only updates it found right now where for the flash driver and windows defender

[The Giving One]

Yes, that was my next thought, as the drive was apparently going to sleep. I also have a library on a different drive here and never have that issue, but I have Windows 7.

I may be wrong though. I assume that by launching Steam, that would "wake up" the drive, and all should be well then and not cause this issue. I don't want to give you bad advice to make the drive run at all times if that is not the problem here. Just please keep it in mind that the issue may be elsewhere, and I could be wrong about the drive going to sleep causing this. Thanks.

[JPMcMillen]

Originally posted by DaRandomDude:

Originally posted by The Giving One:

Installed games are appearing as uninstalled

https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=8379-RYIP-2998

If you are installing to an external drive, that is not recommended.

It could be windows forcing steam to shutdown but it always happens while i use the pc. Never when I start steam again...
And I never did it while these games were being downloaded.

Both drives are internal.

Are the games all installed on the boot drive or are some installed on the 2nd drive? If they are on the 2nd drive, maybe Steam has trouble finding them if it launches while everything else is trying to load when you log into your computer. I turned of Steam's load at launch because it was one more thing using up resources during startup and I wasn't always going to be using it right away.

Also, try fully exiting Steam before rebooting/shutting down your computer, or if you're going to be away while it's on and OS auto-updates may force a reboot.

[The Giving One]

Originally posted by JPMcMillen:

I turned of Steam's load at launch because it was one more thing using up resources during startup and I wasn't always going to be using it right away.

This is good advice. Totally agree. I do the same.

[DaRandomDude]

Originally posted by JPMcMillen:

Originally posted by DaRandomDude:

It could be windows forcing steam to shutdown but it always happens while i use the pc. Never when I start steam again...
And I never did it while these games were being downloaded.

Both drives are internal.

Are the games all installed on the boot drive or are some installed on the 2nd drive? If they are on the 2nd drive, maybe Steam has trouble finding them if it launches while everything else is trying to load when you log into your computer. I turned of Steam's load at launch because it was one more thing using up resources during startup and I wasn't always going to be using it right away.

Also, try fully exiting Steam before rebooting/shutting down your computer, or if you're going to be away while it's on and OS auto-updates may force a reboot.

Steam is on C: and the games are on J:

Originally posted by The Giving One:

Originally posted by JPMcMillen:

I turned of Steam's load at launch because it was one more thing using up resources during startup and I wasn't always going to be using it right away.

This is good advice. Totally agree. I do the same.

I just did it as well.

[The Giving One]

You ''should" not have to force the J drive to run at all times, and never go to sleep. I am pretty sure I was wrong to mention that above. I can only ask that you please excuse me for that. The drive should wake up when it is needed, such as launching Steam or running a game from that J library.