How to Repair: Steam Disk Read Error on Windows PC

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A Steam disk write/read error is a hard disk write error that prevents the system from installing or updating a Steam game. The error can occur at any time during a task, stopping the update or installation.

What is causing my Steam drive to not read properly?

  • There is a malfunction on the hard drive.
  • The Steam drive or folder is write-protected.
  • There are corrupt or outdated files in your Steam directory.
  • Your antivirus program or firewall is blocking your Steam download and save data.

How to resolve the Steam Read error?

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Check the integrity of your game files

  1. Open your Steam library.
  2. Right-click the game and go to “Properties.
  3. Go to “Local Files” and click on “Check the integrity of the game files.
  4. Any corrupted files will be replaced.

Launch Steam as an administrator

  1. Locate Steam on your desktop and right-click on the icon.
  2. Select “Properties” from the menu.
  3. Click the “Compatibility” tab.
  4. Make sure that the “Run this program as an administrator” section is enabled.
  5. Click “OK” to save your changes.
  6. You can now restart the application and try to load the game again.

Remove the write protection from the disk

  1. Right-click on the Steam folder in its directory (most likely in “C:/Programs (86x)”).
  2. Click on “Properties.”
  3. Find the “Attributes” section on the “General” tab and make sure the “Read-only” checkbox is unchecked.
  4. Click “OK” to save your changes.
  5. Restart Steam on your computer and try downloading the game again.

Deleting corrupted files

  1. Open the main Steam folder.
  2. Go to the “steamapps/common” folder.
  3. Look for 0KB files with the same name as the game you are trying to download.
  4. If these files are present, delete them.
  5. Restart the game or load it again.



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Frequently Asked Questions

Simply put, a disk read error can be caused by a number of reasons, such as incorrect boot order, BIOS problems, faulty IDE cable, misconfigured MBR, faulty hard drive, etc. If such a problem occurs, you can restart your computer as many times as you want by pressing "Ctrl+Alt+Del", the error will persist.

  1. Restart Steam.
  2. Reboot your computer.
  3. Remove the write protection from the drive.
  4. Deactivate the write protection setting for the Steam folder.
  5. Run Steam as an administrator.
  6. Erase any corrupted files.
  7. Check the integrity of the game files.
  8. Clear the Steam download cache.

The "Disc Read Error" message interrupts the update process, and you cannot play the game even if you have already fully downloaded it. The main reason for this error message is that Steam is experiencing problems with one or more files because they may be blocked for unknown reasons.

  1. Open steam.
  2. Go to the library.
  3. Right-click on DOTA 2 and select Properties.
  4. Click on the Local Files tab.
  5. Click on the Check game file integrity button.
  6. Allow the check to complete.

Related posts:
  1. How to Troubleshoot “Corrupt Disk Error” on Steam
  2. How to Repair Steam ‘Not Enough Disk Space’ Error on Windows 10
  3. How to Repair Steam Corrupt Disk Error On Windows
  4. How to Troubleshoot Steam “Stuck on Allocating Disk Space” Problem on Windows PC
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