Post your Steam questions here!

[pevergreen]

They suggest you back up because they don't want people complaining about loss of data. If you just have everything you want, its safe to reformat the partition.

So, yes it is safe and perfectly fine to reformat without backing up.

[CountMRVHS]

I've read through this thread and I'm afraid it bodes poorly for my ability to buy & play ETW.

Here's my situation:

I have 2 computers at home, one of which is a relatively old one that is used for internet and other mundane tasks. The other computer is relatively new and is used only for gaming -- it doesn't ever go online; we don't even have it hooked up to go online.

Our internet connection is dial-up, terribly slow, and the online computer won't be able to run ETW. It's not like we're somehow willfully refusing to upgrade to broadband; it simply isn't available where we live. So even if the gaming computer was hooked up to the internet, I highly doubt I'd be able to get into Steam and do what needs to be done there.

Is there, then, some way that I could use *another* computer to access the internet and Steam? Can I, for example, register the game via my wife's work computer (which has a broadband connection), then bring the game home, install it, and play on my gaming computer?

I'm afraid I know what the answer will be...

[A Very Super Market]

Hmm...

I think you could buy the boxed version, hook up your gaming computer to dial-up, and steam will be able to verify it. Then you can set it to offline mode, and disconnect your gaming computer forever. And play Empire. You simply need to have steam running, and offline mode needs no connection (obviously)

You won't be able to patch, but do you think you can manage to download them?

[CountMRVHS]

Thanks for the reply.

I assume getting later patches and the like would be no problem for me, provided they are released in the same way they've always been. I've been downloading patches and mods from my wife's work computer, then just zipping them over to the gaming computer.

Your approach sounds promising, but I'm worried about a couple of issues:

1) We got our gaming computer a year ago. To be honest, I'm not sure if it even *can* be connected to the internet, because I'm not sure if it even has a modem. Do new computers even come with modems these days? I get the feeling most computers aren't made with dial-up connections in mind.

2) Assuming it's possible to get it online, what exactly is involved with getting steam to verify everything? Do we need to download something, and if so, how big? With our dial-up connection, I worry that any downloading would take hours, and we'd lose the connection before the download was completed (this has happened several times to me -- hence my current practice of using my wife's better work connection).

[A Very Super Market]

You need to download steam, and that is it. I'm not sure how big of a file it is, but I suppose you could just download the setup on your wife's computer and whisk it over to the unconnected one.

As for verification, it shouldn't take too long, since all it does is check if your game is legit or not.

[Suraknar]

Thanks for the Info, I know steam is a popular thing and some have been using for a long time.

Yet what happens if I uninstall Steam after installing the game? Will it uninstall the game too?

It is just that I like my solo games to be...well...solo and installed where I want them, it did not even give me a choice of where to install the game it installed it where steam was.

[A Very Super Market]

You cannot choose where you install your games. It must be in the steamapps folder for steam to let you play. I think uninstalling steam will also uninstall your games, but you can just move the game folders somewhere else and not need to download them again. You just can't play them

[Gorm]

They suggest you back up because they don't want people complaining about loss of data. If you just have everything you want, its safe to reformat the partition.

So, yes it is safe and perfectly fine to reformat without backing up.

I did it with no problem. Here is a link on how to do it from Steam (in case anyone else has the same issue):
https://support.steampowered.com/kb_...2509-ULZC-1733

[Gorm]

I can't download the manual. Says it is corrupted.

??

[Barkhorn1x]

I can't download the manual. Says it is corrupted.

??

Do a right click, "Save as..."

[Gorm]

Do a right click, "Save as..."

Did a right click on the game in the Steam list, selected "View Player Manual" and get the browser window open and get the error message, "File damaged".

Opened the Properties panel: cannot right click on player manual link.

Where else can you get the manual? I am surprised to not find it in the game folder, as many other games include this.

[Gorm]

Did a right click on the game in the Steam list, selected "View Player Manual" and get the browser window open and get the error message, "File damaged".

Opened the Properties panel: cannot right click on player manual link.

Where else can you get the manual? I am surprised to not find it in the game folder, as many other games include this.

I was able to download the manual using the same URL on my Mac. Must be a browser issue.

[Gorm]

I have been having graphics issues with the game where some text gets scrambled. Now, during the original download, I had a problem with the HD not being the right format. I fixed that issue. So, I was wondering if it is possible to delete the game from the HD, and then download it again? Or will I lose everything? Steam seems to be very slow in contacting me about this problem.

[Barkhorn1x]

I was able to download the manual using the same URL on my Mac. Must be a browser issue.

Yes, probably was - I use Firefox.