How to Fix Steam Disk Write Error?

Only hardcore gamers would agree on the fact that what Yoga and meditation do to other people, gaming does the same to them. That bittersweet feeling of staying up all night just to finish that last mission and complete the game is equivalent to finishing a great book. Everything is fine with the gamers but one thing which irritates them to the core is the errors that come while installing or updating the game.

Imagine waiting for a game to go on sale in steam and after months and months of wait it’s price finally drops and you start downloading it in a hurry. Everything is good until you start installing it and then suddenly an error pops up saying “steam disk write error” and the installation has failed. People will say it’s made up, but this has cost us gamers both time and patience. 

From a fellow gamer to others, I will try to explain what this error is and how we can solve it in easy steps so that you don’t have to go through the pain of this journey.

What is Steam disk write error?

Steam is a very popular social gaming platform that allows users to download, install and play games. It offers its users many functions like video streaming, digital rights, voice chatting, automatic game updates, cloud services, multiplayer gaming, social networking services, track our progress throughout and let us compete with the others.

It can run on any operating systems as well as steam is considered as extensive software among existing similar software. Whenever we install any game through Steam on Windows, Steam first downloads that game and then installs it. While installing, due to some issues in our hard drive, the game gets corrupted and this is what is Steam download disk write error.

Another such scenario when we get this error is when steam updates a game. We get Steam update disk write error Windows 10 or Steam disk read error Mac depending upon the type of system we’re using.

How the Steam Disk Write Error Appears?

This error appears as a pop-up message when you install or update a new game or trying to update an existing game. There are chances that you may face this error while launching a game that is not updated to its latest version. Here are some common error messages encountered by the gamers as a pop-up on their computer screen:

Reasons behind Steam Disk Write Error

This is a very common error when Steam unable to complete install or update of the game. There are many reasons behind this error varying from system to system. Here I have listed some of the common reasons behind this error:

• If your disk is write-protected, you may face this error.
• Your hard drive is damaged or having any physical defects.
• Your antivirus or Windows Defender Firewall may block the Steam game from downloading and saving the required files.

Troubleshooting tricks to Fix Steam disk write error?

The common solution for this is to delete steam and reinstall entire content including games. The above solution will work fine but takes a lot of time and hard work needed. Before going to this hard solution try the below given easy tricks to fix the issue.

Restart your computer

Though it seems very simple to apply. Most of the errors are temporary but most of the errors can be dealt with successfully by just restarting your system.

Restart your Network Router or Modem

Try restarting your router or modem. Sometimes the network may get affected due to the prolonged running of your network hardware.

Disable your antivirus or firewall protection

Sometimes your antivirus or firewall detects the Steam files as a threat and restricts it from downloading and saving data on your system. By disabling the antivirus or firewall temporarily chances are there to fix this error.

Change Download Region

The Steam content system is divided into various geographical regions. It is the duty of the Steam client to detect its current region and to use the content server available in that particular region. Sometimes, you may get Steam Disk read error due to the slow or overloaded servers in a particular region. However, you can try to download Steam by choosing a different content server. To do so

• Navigate to Steam > Settings

• Then navigate to Downloads > Download Region

• You can try to download Steam by choosing any download region other than yours.

Deleting the 0kb file

One of the Reddit users has provided a solution that has worked for many others. He suggests you go to this location:
Program Files (x86)/Steam/steamapps/common

Delete the 0Kb file with the title of the game you are updating. Relaunching the game after this step has worked for many users.

Delete logs

Steam generates some corrupted file logs when the steam game gets corrupted while installing or updating. The location of the logs with the file names can be found at the below location:
Steam/logs/Content_logs

Just delete all the files and then you are ready to continue with downloading or updating the game.

Check for the Windows and Drivers Updates

If your Windows operating system and drivers are not updated to its latest version then there are chances that you may get such types of common errors. To check for the latest updates:

• Click the Start button in the lower-left corner.
• In the search box, type Update and hit Enter.

• In the list of results, click either Windows Update or Check for updates and then wait for a while to look for the latest updates available for your computer.

To update the drivers follow these steps:

• Right-click on the Start button and select Device Manager.

• Head to the desired device and expand.

• Right-Click on the specific device, you want to update and click Update Driver.

• Then choose Search automatically for updated driver software and wait for a while to search for the driver updates available.

• Restart your computer.

How to Fix Steam Disk Write Error?

Steam has also recommended some troubleshooting methods like Restarting the system, Re-installation of the Steam app, remove download cache, verifying local files and many more tricks. To know these tricks in detail please follow the guide below which will take you through all the steps which are needed to be followed. Do let us know which solution works best for you. 

Remove write protection

Another possible reason for Steam disk update or write error is when the disk in which Steam is writing is write-protected.
This can be resolved with simple steps in Windows 10 by executing the below commands in command prompt one by one.
diskpart

list disk

select disk # (# is the number of a hard drive which you want to select)
attributes disk clear read-only

Clear Steam Download Cache

Corrupted Steam download cache may cause a Steam disk write error in many cases. To clear the download cache of Steam just follow these steps:

• Open Steam and head towards Steam > Settings
  

• And then go to Downloads > Clear Download Cache.

Verify Integrity for Steam Game Files

This helps to verify your game files are not corrupt and fix the error.

• Initially, restart your computer and launch steam.
• Click on the library from the menu option as shown in the figure.

• Right-click on the game that is giving the error from the list select properties.

• A new window open, go to local files in the menu. Under local files, tab select verify the integrity of game files.

• It takes time to steam to verify the game files.
• After completion of the process close all the windows, re-launch the Steam app. Now retry installing or updating the game that caused an error. I hope, this solution help to disk write error steam.

Move your Steam Game to a different drive

Sometimes your system may prevent Steam files to download and save to the selected location on your hard drive. In such cases, it is always better to try to download and save the Steam game by choosing a different drive or partition on your hard drive.

Run FlushConfig

On running flushconfig, you can clear download cache and will solve steam disk read error.

• Close steam window completely before starting run flushconfig process.
• Press Windows logo key + R from the keyboard simultaneously.

• New pop–up window opens, type or copy-paste steam://flushconfig and click on ok button.

• On the new pop–up window to continue flush, click on ok button.

• After completion, restart your computer.
• Now launch the steam and install or update the game that caused an error before. And see whether the error disk write Steam
• is fixed.

User Account and Steam Folder Security to Full Control

In some of the cases, error disk write Steam occurs because you don’t have permission to run steam. To set user account full control and to change attributes of the Steam folder follow the below steps.

• Close all the windows open on the desktop.
• Type Windows logo key + R from your keyboard, type or copy-paste % ProgramFiles (x86) % in the box and click ok. If you have saved your steam in any other location, go there do the same as below.

• Right-click on the steam folder and select properties.

• Under the general category, go to the attributes section present at last. Uncheck the box parallel to the read-only option as shown in the figure. Finally, click on the apply button.

• Next, go to the security option. Under group or user names click on the edit button as shown in the figure.

• New Window of permission for steam opens, click on your user account. Go to permissions for users box uptick full control as shown in the figure.

• At last click on the apply and OK button.

• Now, go to the steam right-click on it and from the list select run as administrator.

• Here try to install/update whatever the operating causes the error before. Check whether the error disk write Steam disappears.

Check for Hard Drive Errors

The drivers which are outdated or overloaded with data can cause the issue. To fix you have to check your hard drive spot the error and rectify them to fix the issue.

• Firstly, go to computer right-click on local disk (c 🙂 because as default steam folder will present in that drive. Select properties from the list.

• Now from the new window, go to tools under error checking click on check option as shown in the figure.

• If the system shows any errors you have to remove them and if the problem is with the driver update them.
• After completion of the process, launch steam and check whether the error disk write Steam fixed.

NOTE: Primarily outdated drivers are errors in the hard drive; update your driver’s mainly graphics driver to fix the issue.

Exclude Steam from DEP

If the steam is displaying error disk write Steam, then block Steam from data execution to fix the error. This option is available in Windows 10.

• Go to start menu and select control panel.

• On the new window, select the system and security category.

• From the next window, select the system.

• On the left–panel of it, go to advanced system settings.

• On the pop–up window go to data execution prevention and select the second option as shown in the figure and click on the add button present on the bottom of the box. And add the location where steam folder present in your PC, on default steam, saves in c:/ProgramFiles(x86)/steam. Finally, click on the apply and OK button.

• Restart your computer and launch steam hopefully issue gets fixed.

Run As Administrator

Go to steam location c:/program files(x86) > steam on your computer. Right-click on steam.exe files and go to properties option. Next head to the compatibility tab and uptick run this program as an administrator. Click on the apply button and ok, now launch steam and check either the error fixed or not.

Conclusion

Hopefully, this article helps you to fix the Steam disk write error. If you have any queries, suggestions, or more solutions to solve the issue write to us in the comment section. Do you have any other issues with your electronic devices, write to us and we will give you appropriate best solutions to fix the issue. If you feel this article helpful please like, share, and follow our Facebook page and keep visiting our website for such guides and tutorials.

Also Read: How to Fix Steam Store Not Loading Problem?