When we use Steam for the first time, we don’t suspect that a lot of errors and problems can fall on our head when using this client of the game distribution service. Various problems with the connection, with the download, with the launch of various games and similar problems. In this article, we will look at one of the errors (steam disk write error), because of which you can’t normally download the update for some of your games.
For example, you download updates for Dota 2, the download begins, and then, at the very end of the download, a message suddenly appears on the screen in which you can see the following text:
An error occurred while updating Dota 2 (error while writing to the disk)
Quite an unpleasant situation, agree? Naturally, without downloading the update, you can not run the game you want. Now we will try to correct this situation, walking along with the five methods that even a PC beginner can perform.
The Steam application is quite simple to use, but if you make a mistake at some point in dealing with a computer, then the application will surely “mischievous” and not install the desired applications. There are many ways to deal with this problem.
In this article, we will talk about the error of writing to the Steam disc: what caused its appearance, how to deal with it and what to do with errors of this kind in the Windows operating system. We recommend reading the article to those users who due to an error, cannot install the application from the library.
Causes of writing errors to the Steam disc
This kind of problem(steam disk write error) occurs when the partition of the hard disk on which the user is trying to install the application, gives some failures. Steam simply can not install an application on it. Possible causes of malfunctions related to the hard disk may be both physical and software factors.
Physical damage can only include damage to the ceramic disk or reading head, but this will be noticeable by the characteristic creaking sounds from the system unit.
Software crashes are more common because some users do not even know the size of their hard disk and upload many unnecessary files to it, but over time the place becomes clogged, you can not download anything anymore, which is why the problem arises – Steam error writing to disk. In the next part of the article, we will explain in detail how to fix it, how to avoid it in the future.
Error Steam writing to disk – Ways To Fix?
# Option 1: Check the hard disk
First, you have to check your hard disk for free space. This is done simply: open “My Computer” and look at the sections if they are not red, and the amount of free space exceeds what is needed to download the application, the problem is not in the hard disk. But if there is still no place, do the following:
- Right-click on the desired section.
- After that, go to “Properties,” where you first have to do a disk cleanup, and then go to the “Service” and defragment it. It is also advisable to check it for errors, and this function is in the same place.
# Option 2: Clearing Steam Boot Cache
The first thing you should try to do in this situation is to clear the Steam download cache, as it can cause huge problems when downloading various content. It is in order to avoid these troubles, and there is a function to clear the cache. To do this, do the following:
- Go to Steam Settings.
- Next, go to the “Downloads” tab.
- Click on “Clear Download Cache.”
- After clicking, a message will appear, indicating that you will have to restart your account. We agree.
- We go back to Steam and check for the message “An error occurred during the update (an error while writing to the disk).”
# Option 3: Check free disk space
The following advice may seem completely pointless since you know exactly how much free space you have left on the disk … right? You rarely think about it, especially having on board, for example, a 1TB hard disk.
However, it is possible that you were very enthusiastic and did not even notice how you managed to fill all the free space. Check if you have at least a dozen gigabytes on the disk for the update being downloaded.
If not, clean your disk and check if the message “An error occurred during the update (an error while writing to the disk) disappeared.”
# Option 4: Change loading region
If you can not download any content from Steam, then you can try the download region, as sometimes there is a failure, because of which the download on the selected region ceases to be made, for some unknown reason. In this case, you can simply change your download region. To do this, do the following:
- Go to the “Settings” Steam.
- Go to the “Downloads” tab.
- Change your download region, for example, to Switzerland or something like that.
- Then restart Steam and check for the problem in the face of “An error occurred during the update (an error while writing to the disk).”
# OPTION 5: Check the integrity of the game files
Classic option. There is always a chance that your game is not all right, i.e., its files were damaged, as a result of which the problem appeared in the form of the message “An error occurred during the update (an error while writing to the disk).” To start the verification process, do the following:
- Go to your library of Steam games.
- Right-click on the game you want and go to “Properties.”
- Then go to the Local Files tab.
- Click on the button “Check the integrity of the game files” and wait until the end of the verification process.
If any deviations were detected in the files, they would be corrected. After that, check the problem again.
# Option 6: Disable Antivirus
There is a possibility, albeit small, that your antivirus, for some reason, blocked downloadable updates for the game, taking it as a malicious element.
It happens with a moderate frequency among users, so it will not hurt you to check this probability. Disable your Antivirus for a while and see if the download will work normally.
Video on the steam disk write error
Finally, We hope that the error writing to the Steam disc does not bother you anymore. It is worth noting that the manipulations performed with the hard drive are guaranteed to speed up your operating system, because the hard drive will have much less garbage, and all the files will be arranged in order.