Steam Disk Write Error : What It Is and How to Fix It

Steam is a popular video game distribution service. Boasting a huge number of games and serving the gaming needs of millions of people worldwide. With popular titles like Counter Strike, DOTA and Fall Guys the game which boomed in popularity and roped in a lot of players. This makes it one of the most loved game distributing clients amongst the people in the gaming circle. Here we’ll talk about a common error caused while downloading or installing a game, known as the Steam Disk Write Error and tell you ways to resolve this error.

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Steam Disk Write Error: Ways To Fix It

The Steam download disk write error usually occurs when you try to install a new game or update a pre-owned game (in some instances called as the Steam update disk write error). It happens when Steam is not able to access the storage device. So as to download and install the game files or it doesn’t has the permission to write files on a certain drive. Now, we’ll give you some methods so that you can resolve the Steam disc write error and get back to gaming action in no time!

Restarting Steam & PC

One of the easiest solutions to Steam disk write error and really helpful if your problem is a minor one. Restarting Steam will get rid of any bugs caused due to technical errors and then try to reinstall or reupdate your game and it might work. If it does not, check out the following solutions below.

Running Steam As An Admin

To run Steam as an admin, go to your Steam icon present on the desktop or in the Start Menu, right click on it and click on “Run as Administrator”.

Doing this will give Steam administrator privileges, thus allowing it to write on the disk if it wasn’t granted the permission before, proving to be a fix to the issue of Steam not writing to disk. If you’re still having problems, look below for other fixes to this error.

Also read: Driver WudfRd Failed to Load-5 Ways to Fix It

Giving Permission To Steam To Write On Disc (Manually)

Sometimes automatically the permission given to steam is ‘read-only’ which means that it can only read the information from the drive. You cannot write new information(downloading) or make changes to the existing information(updating). If this is the problem you’re facing, you can easily fix it by going to Steam folder properties and unchecking the read-only setting.

Removing Write Protection From The Drive

If removing the read-only setting wasn’t your problem then check if your disk is write-protected, that is protected from other programs writing on it. This is generally auto-done by Windows as a defense against unwanted programs writing unwanted stuff on your disk. This helps protects it from certain threats to your PC. If your disk is write protected then you can easily remove the write protection by doing the following steps –

Open Command Prompt

Type diskpart and press enter

Type listdisk and press enter

Type selectdisk *number* (Enter the number of the disk you’re having a trouble writing on) and press enter

Type attribute disk clear readonly and press enter

Now reboot your PC and try reinstalling your game.

Removing the Corrupted Files

Sometimes during installation due to some error or an unknown bug, some files may get corrupted, causing the Steam disk write error. To fix this, go to the Steam folder and go to the directory – steamapps/common. Then look for a file with the name of the game you were installing/updating that’s 0KB in size. Delete that and try to play the game again. You can also go to Steam/logs/content_log. Scroll to the bottom of the log file and you may find a “failed to write” error along with the file’s name and path. Copy and paste the path in the directory bar of the Windows directory bar and delete that file.

Also, sometimes the cache files of Steam might corrupt and cause errors. It could prove to resolve our issue if we try removing them. Navigate to your Steam application and open the Settings. In Settings look for Downloads and then choose the Clear Download Cache option and if everything works right, you might return to enjoying your game in no time.

Disabling the Antivirus & Windows Firewall

As good and helpful as the Antivirus software and the Windows Firewall must be, they sometimes cause problems due to being overcautious and not allowing third-party apps to write on the disk to protect us and our device from unwanted threats. In some cases, these are the agents causing the Steam disk write error. Add an exception for Steam in your antivirus and firewall or try disabling them and then reinstalling your game.

Also read: Kernel Data Inpage Error: How to Fix It Once And For All

Check The Drive For Driver Updates Or Errors

The Steam disk writes error might occur due to some outdated drivers. Look if your drivers have some updates and install them from the internet. If that doesn’t work, there might be something wrong with your hard drive itself. Check it for errors using the Windows troubleshooting interface. If the problem still persists, you may need to replace the hard drive. Alternatively, you can try moving Steam to a different drive and then reinstall the game and see if that works.

Contact Steam Customer Support

If nothing works and you have tried all of our mentioned fixes, you can try contacting Steam support and they’ll connect you with a technician who will guide you to fix the problem.

Conclusion

Steam Disk Write Error is a common error occurring when updating games or downloading games. If you follow our tried and tested guide to fix the problem, you will get rid of this error in no time. Now get back to enjoying your game with your friends.

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Tony Polanco

Tony, computing writer at Automaticable, covers laptops, tablets, Windows, iOS. Off-duty, he indulges in comics, gaming, speculative fiction, and excessive Twitter use. Non-nerdy side includes rocking out at concerts and hitting NYC bars.