Restoring Steam Games (Questions) [SOLVED]

[Zenoth]

I'll try to make this short...

I've done some cleaning up with my files and drives recently, and reinstalled Windows (7). But before doing that I had to create some extra space in my back-up drive in order to move most of my Steam games (from the "common" folder) to it (to the back-up drive) from my main drive. To save that extra space I had to delete some files in some of my game installation folders. I looked at the biggest-sized folders (of specific games) to make sure that I wouldn't delete too much of any specific game, but just enough so that I'd save said extra needed space. I did that because I knew that Steam would recognize the already-existing files and just download the rest after reinstalling it (Steam). Well, it did recognize some, but now I'm running in a weird problem that I've never encountered before (logic, since I've never had to resort to deleting half my games before to save HDD space for back-up purposes).

The main issue I'm experiencing right now is that Steam tells me that I own 'x' game and that the game in question is already in my Steam Library, even though it's not. For example, the game Alien Swarm (it's just one of the few games I have that same issue with) shows as "In Library / You Own It" when browsing for it in the Steam store. That's because I want to initiate the game's download to force Steam to see the already-existing files of that game that happen to be present in the proper folder under Steamapps (common folder). So, essentially, about half of the game is there, the biggest files are still there, the only ones missing are the executable and a couple of others.

I've tried to simply cut the Alien Swarm's folder out of the Steam's common folder to somewhere else and restart Steam to see if it then would consider the game "gone". It still thinks that I own it and that it is present in my Library. Since Steam thinks the game is still in my Library it doesn't allow me to initiate any download. And of course, since the game isn't in the Library there's no way for me to right-click the title to check the files integrity to just download any would-be missing files.

So for now I have to ways to effectively just recover missing files without having to download the entire game again. Not to mention that even if I had to download the entire games again I still wouldn't be able to since I have no actual download options available in the Steam store since Steam thinks said games are in my Library to start with.

What would be my solution(s)?

 

[cmdrdredd]

Open steam and go to your games tab so you can click on the games. Instead of left click, right click on the game that you want steam to check and select properties. Then click the local files tab and have it verify the integrity of game cache. It should do an integrity check and retrieve the broken or missing parts. I just tested it myself with a game I had installed. I deleted 3 files and the game would not start when I pressed play. Doing the check started the download of the missing files.

If you cannot click the game tell it to start the download when the folder is in your steam apps/common folder. It will verify the files before downloading anything and only retrieve the missing pieces if any. Is something else happening that I'm missing?

 

[Zenoth]

Open steam and go to your games tab so you can click on the games. Instead of left click, right click on the game that you want steam to check and select properties. Then click the local files tab and have it verify the integrity of game cache. It should do an integrity check and retrieve the broken or missing parts. I just tested it myself with a game I had installed. I deleted 3 files and the game would not start when I pressed play. Doing the check started the download of the missing files.

If you cannot click the game tell it to start the download when the folder is in your steam apps/common folder. It will verify the files before downloading anything and only retrieve the missing pieces if any. Is something else happening that I'm missing?

I can't right-click the games in my Library, as I already mentioned in my post. The games are missing in my Library, but Steam thinks they are there. I'll use Alien Swarm as an example again. If I look for the game in the Steam store and go on the game's page, there's a green band saying that I already own the game, and that it is in my Library. In fact, the game is not in my Library.

Now what is actually there just happens to be the game's folder itself, which is located in the proper "common" folder, under the Steamapps one (as all my other games are). Most of the main game's files (the biggest ones) are still there in the game's folder itself, only a few are missing. What I would like to do would be to tell Steam "look, I already have most of the game files here, download the rest, and don't tell me it's in my Library because it doesn't show there".

I mean, I would just re-download everything if I had to. The problem is I can't actually just download the game from scratch since I don't even have the option to download it to start with since Steam believes the game is already installed.

 

[cmdrdredd]

First you say it's not in your library but then you say steam says it's installed already. If steam was saying it's installed then it would show in your library. Note: Steam saying it's installed is different than saying you already own it so it's probably just the wording that got me.

Have you clicked on your name at the top of the page and checked your account details to view the licenses and subscriptions to verify the game(s) are listed there? There may be a problem with your licenses. Sometimes if you log out and then log back in it will reacquire the licenses you have. Aside from that you might have to contact Valve and hope they can do something.

 

[Artorias]

You can refresh Steam's files, try the steps in this support article.

https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=3134-TIAL-4638

Edit: For some reason Steam support is down, once its back up give this a go.

 

[Zenoth]

Ok, problem is solved.

It was pretty simple, but wasn't evidently clear. I only had to go to the Steam Store page of the game I had the issue with, and click "Play", which instead of launching the game initiated the download for the missing files. After doing so the missing game reappeared in the Library. I guess I was confused due to the absence of an actual "download" button on the game's page in the store (I.E., no actual download option is present if Steam believes that the game is in the Library). So ultimately it was just a wording issue in the end.

Alright, thanks for your help by the way cmdrdredd.

 

[cmdrdredd]

I thought it would be something like that. Steam has always been cooperative for me when I move folders around.