Steam Breaks its own Record

Fix: Steam stuck on starting download

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Last updated on May 4th, 2022 at 01:23 pm

Valve Corporation established Steam in 2010 to serve as a digital distribution channel for PC video games. It is owned by Valve Corporation.

More than one million games are accessible for download and play on the site as a whole (in addition to downloadable material and user-created “mods”).

Steam games are available for play on the cloud, and you may access the whole Steam library from anywhere. It is possible for anybody with an Internet connection to access and play the games you have bought or downloaded into your Steam library.

It is possible to save a large number of games on computers without having to worry about running out of storage space as a consequence.

Why is my Steam stuck on starting download

Steam is stuck on starting download because of the following reasons:

  • The request was unable to be processed by the steam server.
  • Internet connectivity issues or the Windows Firewall may also cause your Steam update to get stalled.
  • If your Steam client is not downloading the update, ensure that it is opened with administrative rights.
  • Cleaning your download cache or modifying the host files can also help you to resolve the issue of Steam not updating games properly.
  • You should also experiment with turning off the Windows Firewall to see if it helps to resolve the issue.

As a result, these are some of the most typical causes of the Steam update getting stuck or stopping downloading altogether.

There is a slew of additional issues that are associated with the update getting stuck or getting stuck problem in Steam as well.

Fix: Steam stuck on starting Download

Method 1: Launch Steam as Administrator.

  • Step 1: Tap the Windows key plus the E hotkey combination.

  • Step 2: In File Explorer, go to the Steam folder.

Right-click Steam.exe in the software’s folder and choose Properties from the context menu.

  • Step 3: Select the Compatibility option from the drop-down menu just below.

  • Step 4: Choose the Run as administrator option from the drop-down menu.

  • Step 5: Click on the “Apply” button.

  • Step 6: To dismiss the window, click the OK button.

To begin, verify that Steam has administrator access. Steam may become unresponsive at some time if you do not have administrative privileges.

With the help of the methods outlined above, users may setup their gaming client software to operate as an administrator.

Method 2: Delete the download cache on your computer.

  • Step 1: Select Settings from the Steam menu bar.

  • Step 2: On the left-hand side of the window, choose Downloads.

  • Step 3: Select the Clear Download Cache option from the drop-down menu.

When the Clear Download Cache dialog box appears, choose Yes from the drop-down menu.

  • Step 4: Afterward, return to Steam and log in.

Some Steam update difficulties may be resolved by clearing the download cache on your computer.

Clearing the cache will remove all of the data that has been stored inside. To clear the download cache, follow the instructions provided above.

Method 3: Make changes to the host file

  • Step 1: Press the Windows key plus the Q hotkey at the same time.

  • Step 2: In the search field, type Notepad into the search box.

Right-click Notepad and choose the Run as administrator option from the context menu.

  • Step 3: After that, go to File > Open and pick Open.

Follow the path mentioned: C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc

  • Step 4: Choose the host file

After that, choose the hosts.txt file and click on the Open button to open it. After that, at the bottom of the hosts file, add the following three lines:

68.142.122.70 cdn.steampowered.com

208.111.128.6 cdn.store.steampowered.com

208.111.128.7 media.steampowered.com

  • Step 5: To apply the modifications, go to File > Save.

  • Step 6: Quit the Notepad window by clicking on the X.

After that, launch the Run window by choosing Run from the context menu when you right-click the Start button.

  • Step 7: Enter the command ipconfig /flushdns and press Enter.

Changing the content server for Steam may help some customers who are experiencing problems with their Steam updates.

Users may do this by modifying the hosts file in the same manner that we have shown.

Method 4: Remove the package folder from your computer.

  • Step 1: Make certain that Steam is not currently operating.

  • Step 2: To launch File Explorer, press the Windows key + E at the same time.

  • Step 3: In File Explorer, go to the Steam directory.

In order to back up the Package folder, select it and hit the Copy to button.

Choose another folder to which you want to transfer the subdirectory. Then, in the Steam folder, right-click the Package subdirectory and choose Delete from the context menu.

  • Step 4: Launch Steam

Start Steam after wiping the Packages folder on your computer. Steam will then download and open a few files that have been downloaded.

Method 5: Deactivate the Windows Defender Firewall.

  • Step 1: Go to Cortana’s search box

To access the window, type firewall into the search box and pick Windows Defender Firewall from the list that appears.

On the left-hand side of the WDF Control Panel applet, choose Turn Windows Defender Firewall on or off.

  • Step 2: Select the Turn off Windows Defender option

Now, pick both the Turn off Windows Defender Firewall radio options and hit the OK button to complete the process.

If turning off Windows Defender Firewall resolves the problem, users will need to add Steam to the list of apps that are authorized by the firewall.

On the left-hand side of the WDF Control Panel applet, choose to Allow a program or feature via Windows Defender Firewall from the drop-down menu.

  • Step 3: Select the Change settings option from the drop-down menu.

Click on the Allow another program option to bring up the window seen in the screenshot just above.

In the Browse box that appears, go to the Bin subdirectory in the Steam folder and open it.

  • Step 4: Select SteamService

Select SteamService from the drop-down menu and press the OK button.

Finally, in the Add a Program box, pick Steam Client Service from the drop-down menu.

  • Step 5: Click on the “Add” button.

  • Step 6: Click the OK button

Click the OK button after selecting both checkboxes next to the Steam Client Service.

Method 6: Clean boot the Windows

Open the System Configuration window by typing msconfig into the Run command line. This will allow you to clean boot Windows.

  • Step 1: Go to the Selective section

Select the Selective starting radio button from the drop-down menu.

Then, under Selective startup, choose the Load system services and Use original boot configuration checks to enable them.

  • Step 2: Uncheck the option to load startup items from the drop-down menu.

  • Step 3: Click on the Services tab, which is located just below.

Choose the Hide all Microsoft services option first, then click OK.

  • Step 4: Then choose the Disable all option from the menu.

  • Step 5: Choose the Apply option from the drop-down menu.

  • Step 6: To close the System Configuration window, press the OK button.

Following that, a dialog box window appears, from which users may choose whether or not to restart.

  • Step 7: On that box, choose the option to Restart the computer.

A number of third-party anti-virus and firewall programs, as well as recording software and other system utilities, might cause conflicts with Steam and update issues.

Clean-booting When Steam updates, Windows will check to make sure there aren’t any conflicting third-party apps or services running.

An alternative approach that might be considered is a fresh boot of the computer.

FAQs

1. Why is My Steam Download Stuck?

The steam client is unable to download because the download server you chose is not operational, or because your internet connection is not operational.

Additionally, it is possible that a third-party security application is interfering with the download process.

2. How Do I Solve Steam Download Stopping?

Steam downloads beginning and halting issues may be resolved by clearing the Steam download cache, repairing the Library folder, and changing the download region, since the steam server may be too sluggish or congested to handle the downloads.

Perhaps checking the integrity of the game files will be beneficial to you as well. However, if none of these solutions work, just reinstall Steam.

3. What is the best way to skip a Steam game update?

Steam is configured to automatically install game updates by default; however, you may opt out of this by following a few simple procedures, such as: after installing the steam games, go to Steam Library, right-click on the game name, choose Properties, and then click the Updates tab.

To avoid automatic updates, choose Do not automatically update this game from the Automatic Updates menu. You may also disable Steam’s automatic updates in this manner.

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