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Steam: hard drive is busy - what to do?

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Busy hard drive under Steam - solutions

Are you getting a "Hard drive busy" error on Steam? We'll show you what action you can take..

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A busy hard drive can cause some problems on Steam. But there are many reasons for this. That is why we have put together an overview of possible solutions for you.

Busy hard drive under Steam - solutions

  • Wait

Actually, the most effective method for this problem is to wait a few minutes. Sometimes Steam says "Hard Drive is busy" when the program is downloading hard drive space to download games. In this case, Steam needs a moment to perform the necessary calculations. Normally, after a few minutes, you can have the game installed without any problems.

The installation is another source of errors. The installation can take some time, especially for very large or older games. The files you need have all been downloaded, but your computer has yet to process them. This can lead to hard disk usage.

  • Check actual disk usage

If the problem does not go away on its own after a while, you should check how much your hard disk is actually being used. In the task manager you can see various processes and loads on your computer under the tab " Performance ". Various data carriers are displayed on the left. Click on the one that has Steam installed. In the example below, Steam is running on Lauferk F, i.e. disk 2. Although a game is currently being downloaded, the actual hard disk usage is 7%. If the tab is not there, you must first click on " More details " at the bottom left ..

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Your hard drive can also be overloaded by too many running programs. Make sure that as few apps as possible are running. You can then carry out the further steps.

  • Rule out errors on the hard disk

You can check your hard drive for errors in Windows. Because if the hard drive itself has problems, files may not be able to be saved properly on it. Here's how to fix a hard drive.

A hard drive that is too full can also ensure that the download of a Steam game causes an above-average load. In this case, you should clear out your hard drive. That means: Remove unnecessary files and also defragment the hard disk. This post tells you how to clean up a hard drive in Windows..

  • When all doesn’t work

If you have tried every point on our list but it still doesn't work, you should contact Steam Support . Otherwise a new installation of Steam would also be possible. However, you will then lose all of the saved games that are not stored in the cloud. In addition to Steam, you would also have to re-download all the games. In addition, there is no guarantee that reinstalling Steam will achieve the desired success in this case.


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