You might have experienced the corrupt disk error on Steam while downloading a game/update. This is likely caused when the download gets interrupted such as PC shutting down unexpectedly. In this guide, we have covered various potential solutions in regards to this error.
Note: before proceeding, try this simple fix of running the Steam as administrator. Open start menu and search for Steam, right-click it and select run as administrator.
Fix 1. Repairing Steam’s Library Folder:
Repairing the library folder will fix the corrupted files, if there are any.
- Open Steam and click on the Steam logo at the top-left corner. Then select Settings.
- Go to Storage from the left-pane.
- Select the drive where the game causing the error is installed.
- Click on the three horizontal dots towards the right-side of your drive, and select the ‘Repair Library‘.
Fix 2. Clearing Steam Download Cache:
- Launch Steam and click on Steam at the top-left corner.
- Select ‘Settings‘ and go to the Downloads tab from the left-pane.
- Click on ‘Clear Download Cache‘.
- Restart Steam after this.
Fix 3. Renaming the Downloading Folder:
If your download has gone corrupted due to a sudden PC crash, then this fix might prove effective in resolving this issue for you.
- Open Steam and click on the Steam logo at the top-left corner. Then select Settings.
- Go to Storage from the left-pane.
- Select the drive where the game causing the error is installed.
- Click on the three horizontal dots towards the right-side of your drive, and select the ‘Browse Folder‘ option.
- Right-click the ‘downloading‘ folder and rename it to ‘old‘.
- Launch Steam again and the download\s will start again.
Fix 4. Disk Error Checking Utility:
This is a Windows utility that resolves issues occurring with the drive, related to file management.
- Right-click the drive where the game is installed and select Properties.
- Go to the Tools tab, and click on the Check button in the ‘Error-checking‘ section.
Fix 4. Changing Power Settings:
If the setting for turning the hard drive to save power is set to on, then the HDD could get disconnected at the wrong time and cause the date to get corrupted. To get rid of this, here’s what you need to do:
- Open Start menu and type ‘control panel‘.
- Change the View by option to Large icons.
- Click on ‘Power Options‘.
- Next to the power plan that you are currently using, click on Change plan settings.
- Click on ‘Change advanced power settings‘.
- Expand the Hard disk and then ‘Turn off hard disk after‘ option.
- Set the time limit to 0 (Never).
- Click on Apply and OK to save the changes.
Fix 5. Switching Game’s Drive:
- Open Steam and click on the Steam logo at the top-left corner. Then select Settings.
- Go to Storage from the left-pane.
- Click on your currently selected drive and a list will appear. If you see only one drive, you need to add a new one. Otherwise, you simply need to follow the last two steps.
- and then click on ‘Add Drive‘. This will create the Steam Library in another drive that you will select.
- Select the game that you want and then click on Move button from the bottom.
- Select the location where you want to move the game, and then click on Move.
Fix 6. Reinstalling Steam:
Before proceeding with the reinstallation of Steam, make sure to create a backup of the Steamapps folder. It is located here:
C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps
- Press Windows Key + R to open Windows Run. Type ‘appwiz.cpl‘ and hit Enter.
- Right-click Steam and select ‘Uninstall‘.
- Head to Steam’s official site, download and install it again.
- After the installation, place the steamapps folder back in its location (C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam).
