How To Fix “Steam Disk Write Error”

When a game fails to be written to a disc or drive during installation or download via Steam, a “Steam Disk Write Error” is displayed. Sometimes when users try to update or install a game through the Steam client, they receive one of the following error messages:

  • There was a problem during installation, and now it’s finished.
  • Sorry, there was a problem updating.

Method 1: Steam’s Region Switching Features

Steam Disk Write Error

We will try adjusting Steam’s settings to see if that resolves the issue first, before moving on to more complex debugging. Altering the download’s location is one of the most fundamental options available.

  1. Launch Steam and select “Settings” from the program’s menu bar.
  2. The ‘Download Region’ can be accessed by clicking ‘Downloads’ in the menu.
  3. To play games from other areas, change Steam’s region settings.

Method 2: Turn off Antivirus Software Temporarily

Panda Antivirus, in particular, is known to produce a slew of Steam errors with Windows 10, as do other antivirus programmes and firewalls. That may not be the case, therefore turning off antivirus software and firewall protection momentarily is a good option.

  1. Disable the Anti-Virus software.
  2. You should disable your firewall.
  3. See if the Steam disc write error has been fixed now. If so, you should be sure to exclude the Steam folder from your security software’s scanning processes. After that, turn on your firewall and anti-virus software.

Method 3: Game and Steam Account Whitelisting

Disk write errors on Steam might originate from either the third-party security software (firewall + antivirus) or the built-in software (Windows Defender + Windows Firewall).

If this is your situation, the solution is straightforward: just whitelist the main executable and the Steam launcher that is used to launch the game under your AV / Firewall settings.

  1. To access the Run dialogue, use the Windows key plus R. Afterward, launch Windows Firewall by typing “control firewall.cpl” and hitting Enter.
  2. In the main menu of Windows Defender Firewall, select Allow an app or feature via the firewall from the left-hand side.
  3. When you get to the Allowed apps section, select the button that says “Change Settings.”
  4. Select the Allow another app option at the bottom of the list, then select Browser to navigate to the directory where the game is stored.
  5. Once you’ve located Game’s primary executable, put it to the whitelist; then do the same for Steam.
  6. Make sure that the Private and Public checkboxes corresponding to the two entries you just entered in the list of Allowed apps are selected.
  7. After making the necessary modifications and saving them, retry the download to see whether the Steam disc write problem still occurs.

Method 4: Examine Directory Access Control Lists

It’s also conceivable that Steam lacks the proper permissions to store game files; in this case, we’ll need to verify the directory permissions and adjust them accordingly.

  1. Leaving Steam, go to your default Steam directory:

C:/Program Files (x86)/Steam

2. Verify that the folder is not in read-only mode.

3. You can run Steam in administrative mode by right-clicking its launcher and selecting “Run as administrator” from the following menu.

By doing so, you can avoid having to manually fix any installation or update files that may have corrupted the Steam directory and accidentally set it to Read-only.

After making sure it isn’t, you can fix the issue by starting the programme as administrator, which will restore its permissions to write to the disc.

Method 5: Invoke the Check Disk Utility.

You may have corrupted sectors on your hard disc and your HDD is about to fail permanently if you are encountering similar troubles with other games you try to launch via Steam. Steam also displays a disc write error if it is unable to acquire the game’s latest update.

Here’s how to use CHKDSK to scan for and fix logical problems on your hard drive:

  1. To open File Explorer, right-click the Start button (located in the lower left corner of your screen).
  2. Select the Game installation partition by right-clicking, and then select Properties from the menu that appears.
  3. Check is accessible via the Tools menu.

Either issues were detected and fixed, or there were no errors to begin with, and your system will indicate this to you.