Why does Steam take sooooo long to start up?

Ace Modder · 16 Jun 2011 at 20:56

Quick for me

NeilF · 16 Jun 2011 at 20:57

^^ That's how fast my subsequent runs are, after I've done an exit.

But the first load takes a minute!

Ace Modder · 16 Jun 2011 at 20:58

My first load is that quick too, in fact that was my first load.

Mr.Fantastic · 16 Jun 2011 at 20:59

I have noticed over the last few days that when i start stream up it sometimes maxed out my internet (10Meg) for afew secs.

gropingmantis · 16 Jun 2011 at 21:00

I just rebooted and it was still 6 seconds.

Check the fragmentation of your drive.
Check your connection.
Repair the client.

Swordfish · 16 Jun 2011 at 21:01

Mine launches at start-up. Exited and started it = 5 seconds. Disables auto launch and re-stared PC. Started steam manually = 5 seconds.

NeilF · 16 Jun 2011 at 21:07

gropingmantis said:
I just rebooted and it was still 6 seconds.

Check the fragmentation of your drive.
Check your connection.
Repair the client.

This has been across two different ISPs (as I changed a couple of months back). Both give/gave me over 10Mbit/s!

Why would it be a fragmented drive? Not loading much, and not other application I can run takes anywhere near this long?

How can I safetly repair it?

note: I can see other comments around with people suffering min+ load times over the years

setter · 16 Jun 2011 at 21:10

Mine takes 15 seconds or so, 6 year old 7200rpm hdd, couple of windows open on a 2 week old install of win7 64.

NeilF · 16 Jun 2011 at 21:38

It's clear my Steam is unhappy then... Any suggestions?

Snograt · 16 Jun 2011 at 22:01

I had this problem. In my case it was either my ridiculously oversized Steam folder (way over 300GB) or a crappy HDD.

Bought myself a new 2TB jobby, deleted a few dozen games that I never actually play, now it's as smooth as silk.

Well, maybe corrugated silk...

uv · 16 Jun 2011 at 22:07

trigger-happy said:
just download the steam installer and repair steam.

No need - just delete everything except steam.exe and the steam apps folder, then run steam.exe. it'll re-download everything it needs

NeilF · 16 Jun 2011 at 22:25

Just cleaned ou APPCACHE and it loaded in 10-15 seconds... So that's 1/4 of the time!

NeilF · 16 Jun 2011 at 22:26

uv said:
No need - just delete everything except steam.exe and the steam apps folder, then run steam.exe. it'll re-download everything it needs

Will I lose any personal settings?

Can't I just delete that blob file somewhere?

HangTime · 16 Jun 2011 at 22:53

I find it pretty slow as well, takes a good 8s to load up to Library.
Origin is around 6s by comparison.

orderoftheflame · 17 Jun 2011 at 07:31

From experience... having a lot of games installed can slow things down.

It's not like it's any bother though.

Have less installed, or just launch at start up and you know... have patience?

TNA · 17 Jun 2011 at 08:32

For me it all depends if I am not using my line. If I am downloading something it can take a while to log in.

On a unused line just now took 3 seconds to login, an additional 2 seconds for everything to load. So 5 seconds total

NeilF · 17 Jun 2011 at 09:26

Cleared out APPCACHE folder, and now loads up in about 15 seconds, instead of nigh on a min!

orderoftheflame · 17 Jun 2011 at 09:39

NeilFawcett said:
Cleared out APPCACHE folder, and now loads up in about 15 seconds, instead of nigh on a min!

Clearing appcache will make the client start faster, but you'll need to redownload things like icons and backgrounds every time you clear it.

NeilF · 17 Jun 2011 at 10:03

orderoftheflame said:
Clearing appcache will make the client start faster, but you'll need to redownload things like icons and backgrounds every time you clear it.

? Sorry ?

orderoftheflame · 17 Jun 2011 at 10:21

NeilFawcett said:
? Sorry ?

The appcache folder contains assets used in the client such as icons, tiles and the backgrounds used on the details view.

If you delete you appcache folder, you have to redownload all of those assets as you need them. It wont take too long depending on your connection and how many games you've got.