games won't download properly

[fev2011]

I've tried clearing out the download cache, deleting and redownloading everything, literally deleted steam and redownloading it and it still won't work properly. My problem is, steam isn't using my network to download game at all anymore, it only uses my disk which makes no sense to me. I have a 500mb/s wifi which in theory should download 50gb games in 10mins and it used to do that. Now just updating a game which is about 100mb takes 2 months+. is there any way for me to fix this problem? cause other launchers such as epic games works fine but now steam is bugging and I don't know of a fix

[crunchyfrog]

It could be a number of things.

First off, you nered to understand how Steam works. You should NEVER go over 90% disk space usage on your install drive. Also, as games are both encrypted and compressed, you should always allow up tot THREE times the total file space for the game.

So for example, you have a 1TB drive and you've used 800GB then you are at 80% and have around 100GB left to play with. But if you try to download a 80GB game, then you likely won't have enough space as you need three times that.

Also, your internet speed isn't the limiting factor because of the compression and encryption. You hard drive, I/O, RAM, CPU and motre govern speed.

So if any one of those is causing a bottleneck there will lie your issue.

Pay attention to the downloads page and the graph and your Task Manager under Windows to see if anything;s hitting high usage.

[Don Penguin]

try downloading on other pc what do you get?

[Elucidator]

You know too little on how computers work.
People think you don't need to know how a car works to use it, but-- they don't realize that they know when they stir, the wheels turn, or when they hit the switch on the left upward, the lights pointing left flash, etc.
They know at a very basic level how it works, which is helpful when using it. Yes they don't need to know these things to use it, but still...
if they don't know, they cannot clean the windows or give proper signals and thus cause traffic problems, especially when they get emotional about these things as a result.

Its the same with computers, you need to understand at a very basic level how hardware interacts and how the internet works. (in the last case, you can compare 'how the internet works' to 'traffic rules and the law')
so with how it works, I am mainly saying how you can use it, how things interact when you use them, what the end result is and what you can encounter, etc.

You're basically piloting your computer and you have no clue what is happening as you do.
>.>;

Steam..
it downloads over a special encrypted line, where it makes multiple connections to spread over multiple servers.
it checks stuff, it logs you into that line and out, it checks which parts it needs to get from where, etc.
it validates stuff, it checks if the installation of the client is proper, it checks what files you have and still need, etc.
It combines stuff, if you have loose parts left
it extracts stuff, if it is compressed
it makes notes of stuff, it saves pretty much all of the actions it did in a file, so it expects files to be there (somewhere) when it knows it already downloaded them, and yes you can confuse it by removing the files.
etc.

regular download is just 'copy file from server' (over one line, one port, etc.)
epic is regular download + extract + make keys here and there, install done.

You can compare Steam to Torrent, and to Mega (with the mega app/mega addon for a browser), but not with epic launcher, downloadwise.

Sumarized: Basically you confused the client and it needs to recheck things which it does in full detail so it is using your disk yes.

Edit: unless you broke more stuff somehow.
....that said, it could have been windows update if you didn't do anything. I don't know what happened exactly.
but the thing is, don't remove your game files when an error happens at least. That will make Steam validate everything (checking if everything is still there, and only after that try to download)

I recommend at least the following
Make sure Windows Update isn't doing anything (at all). make sure its finished updating.
after that ... reset your dns.

Originally posted by https://support.pearson.com/getsupport/s/article/Reset-an-Internet-Connection-Flush-DNS#win10:

Windows 10. 8 and 8.1

Navigate to the desktop. (From Home, tap or click the Desktop tile).
Right-click the Start button (the Windows logo in the lower-left).
Choose Command Prompt (Admin).
When asked whether to allow Command Prompt to make changes to your computer, select Yes.

Note: If you are asked for an administrative login, you will need to contact your system administrator.
Type "ipconfig /flushdns" and press Enter.
Type "ipconfig /registerdns" and press Enter.
Type "ipconfig /release" and press Enter.
Type "ipconfig /renew" and press Enter.
Type "netsh winsock reset" and press Enter.
Restart the computer.

Edit 2: I said what i said because I felt like it was needed. There are a number of reasons, but I won't mention those.
It's just that, in the last few days there are about 10+ threads with similar issues in Help and Tips forum that I answered to, all with the same subject. I think I answered 6 or so two days ago.
If you knew how a forum works, you'd use search or hit the 1,2,3 page buttons to see if someone encountered a similar or related issue and gained knowledge.

Considering that byte conversion. 50GB = 51200MB. with 500mb/s (megabits per second, not bytes), it would take about 14 minutes. (slightly less if you had full speed from the get go and didn't need to confirm your connection and such.). 10 minutes is 40% inaccurate.
100mb over 2 months would mean a speed of 412kb/s (kilobits) which is about 51.5KB/s

the only thing this tells me is that your PC is doing something that isn't downloading, something is preventing this. Yes, I get it, its Steam. Because when Steam is not running browser downloads at full speed, is the conclusion.

The only time Steam uses full resources on your PC is during validation, why is it validating then? I don't know.

Windows services can interfere with the process as well.

I tell this to a lot of people, but we need to know more about your setup, your system, if you want people to be able to 'examine' and 'figure out what is going on'.

I have no clue what is running on your computer and no one does, so every one will be throwing rocks and hope something randomly hits.

If you can't provide that information, then no one can help you. People will ignore your thread, etc.

Well anyway I guess I got too tired and shouldn't be on the forums. Its .... morning basically. Couldn't sleep, so I am a bit, less witholding I guess. I suppose that is why I sound harsh.