Steam, why does it keep losing files? (verify cache)

[papercut2008uk]

i've had games installed for 2-3 years that are none steam, they all work fine, no damaged files, no missing files.

 

then there's steam, i have around 160 games, some i haven't played in a while, but are installed and some that i play all the time.

 

i have a HDD that is just for games to run off of.

 

every time i verify cache of games (i'm having to do this more often) there are always files that have failed to verify and steam then downloads them, this happens for about 1 in every 4 games i verify.

 

so what is it? is it just steam loosing files? is there something wrong with my computer??

[Eric Veteran]

Are you switching between multiple operating systems that use the same directory for the Steam library? That can cause it. Otherwise, it might be necessary to post an event log of some sort.

[papercut2008uk]

nope, i'm on vista Ultimate 64bit, i only have the 1 os installed.

 

i hardly ever uninstall any of the games, just install, updates are active, everything on my system is upto date (all motherboard drives, Graphics card drives and windows) 

 

there is no hardware issues (checked SMART status) no errers on disk (Chkdsk), no viruses/malware that i know of (scan often).

[soniqstylz]

I'm only saying this because it's become a pet peev lately and it's completely off topic, but holy **** the word is "losing".

[pupdawg21]

No, games are periodically updated and steam also periodically change their protection mechanisms and how files are stored and organized on your system in between client versions. This causes new files need to be downloaded for games already on disk or just to be re-organized or compressed a different way. If you watch the 'download' as it is occurring you will notice that often no or few files are actually being downloaded instead, the steam client is doing something with the files that are already on your system to match whatever changes they have made int he client rendering the old files in-operable.

[max22]

I had to do this with my Left 4 Dead 2 which took forever. Now there a error so I have to delete it soon and redownload it.

 

Don't worry I love redownloading stuff it is fun!

[papercut2008uk]

I had to do this with my Left 4 Dead 2 which took forever. Now there a error so I have to delete it soon and redownload it.

 

Don't worry I love redownloading stuff it is fun!

 

try downloading 500Gb+ worth of games, not so fun when it takes about 2-3 weeks to fully download everything.

 

it might have a little to do with the steam client updates, but not sure. 

[max22]

try downloading 500Gb+ worth of games, not so fun when it takes about 2-3 weeks to fully download everything.

 

it might have a little to do with the steam client updates, but not sure. 

 

I redownloaded 2 to 3 TB before.

[MillionVoltss]

Maybe its your SATA drivers, ( I know you said its up to date ) Might this be a Vista fault ?

[illage3]

Every time I run steam the client apparently needs and update all the time. Lol

[Daedroth]

Steam launches at startup for me, and every time it looks for updates and verifies the cache.

[Kane]

Have you checked your ram? I had a problem like this years ago with Steam. My ram was dieing.

[articuno1au]

I'd say hit up the event viewer and see if you can spot NTFS or DISC errors in the logs.

 

I'd say there would be stuff to be seen in there.

[AStaUK]

It's nothing to worry about, the missing files are most likely local config files that don't exist.

 

https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=2037-QEUH-3335

[Setnom]

If when you check file cache and Steam needs to download only a few kilobytes, it's probably nothing of importance. For instance, Ubisoft games like AC III install a Uplay shortcut on the desktop when you run it for the first time.

 

I removed that shortcut and then when I verify the game's cache, it always downloads 1,2 kb, which I assume it's some sort of "shortcut fix". The game always runs fine.

[spaceelf]

Which antivirus are you using?  Some of them seem to change the metadata on exe files and cause problems.  Some just aren't really all that effective.

 

I'd recommend uninstalling whatever and trying Kaspersky after its recent showing in av-comparatives

[Noir Angel]

I have this every time I do an OS reinstall as well, and it seems specific to some games: Left 2 Dead (1 and 2) and Portal 2 mostly. I'm not sure exactly why it happens but my suspicion is that it has something to do with the new content delivery system as it never happened to me under the old system

[chrisj1968]

I have to do the verify cache action on left 4 dead 2. could be an issue with the syncing with the cloud. but when the verify cache takes place, it tells you how many files are missing and them downloads them automatically to fix itself.

 

I can see how this can get monotonous if you get a hundred or more games. the Sync feature doesn't always work as it was intended.