Redownloading currently installed game / Game deleted

[HLM]

So I live in a third world country, where I am subject to not only poor internet, but also the power going out randomly.

In the middle of a game, the power went out, and after rebooting the computer, Steam decided that the game I was playing was no longer fully installed, and required another 2GB or something to be downloaded.

In an effort to get around this nonsense I went looking for ways to convince Steam that the game actually was installed. Verifying game integrity did nothing. I found the "Repair Library Folder" feature and gave it a try

(Steam - Settings - Dwonload - Steam Library Folders - Right click folder - Repair Library Folder)

After leaving it some time to do its thing, I return to find the game has been completely removed. Steam hasn't just forgotten about it - the game' entire directory in steamapps\common is empty. Everything has been deleted.

I've accepted the loss and am now redownloading the entire game from scratch, but now I want to know how I can avoid this in the future? When steam thinks the files are not there but they are, what's the proper way to get it working again without redownloading?

[LimminL]

I would suggest backing the game up to a hard drive or even another directory. that way if something like this happens again you can just install from the backup.

Unless you can stop the power going out this is most likely your only option, as the fact that the game files were in use when the power went out meant that they were more vulnerable to corruption, which is likely what happened to them.

Right Click the game in your library -> Backup Game Files -> Follow the prompts

[MonkehMaster]

backup your games, also buy a battery backup (ups) to avoid power outages that shut off your pc unexpectedly.

[HLM]

I didn't mention backing up, which would have helped, but if I could have got Steam to see that the files were still there, that would have been even better.

I already have most of my games backed up to an external drive precisely because of my awful internet connection, but I've only had this game for a short time and hadn't remembered backed it up yet.

Luckily my saved game data is saved in a different location so I haven't lost my progress. If I had I wouldn't be writing this because I'd be dead.

[LimminL]

The issue here I think is that steam knew that the files were there, but they were corrupted and unusable due to them being in use when the power cut out. there really is no alternative other than backing up the games.

[The Giving One]

Originally posted by Limminl23:

The issue here I think is that steam knew that the files were there, but they were corrupted and unusable due to them being in use when the power cut out. there really is no alternative other than backing up the games.
:isitcoffee:

Yes, exxactly. Because OP had a power failue and things were not shut down properly.

That is explained exactly as you just stated here :

Installed games are appearing as uninstalled

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

[HLM]

I guess there's really nothing that could have been done in this case then, other than letting Steam download the 1 or 2 GB it was missing. Instead by using that Repair Library feature, I had to download the entire game again. 0/10 feature, would not recommend.

Adding the game to my backup collection as I type this...

[The Giving One]

Yea, if you have power issues often, and poor internet as you said in the OP above, then all you need is backups of the game folders and I would also do the .acf files just in case.

.acf files are kept in steamapps, and game folders are in steamapps/common.

Or you could just save the whole steamapps folder instead. A backup power suppy, as the user above mentioned, is not a bad idea either but backups should be fine.