The Whole Half-Life
Level design resources for GoldSource, Source, and beyond
Featured map: dm_perthowned by Silvertongue

The Steam "Preloaded" Created 18 years ago2006-03-07 13:26:06 UTC by rowleybob rowleybob

  1. Forums
  2. General Discussion
  3. View Thread

Created 18 years ago2006-03-07 13:26:06 UTC by rowleybob rowleybob

rowleybob
rowleybob
Posted 18 years ago2006-03-07 13:26:06 UTC Post #166850
If you're not aware of this you should be!!!

Just yesterday I found I had 4 GB more space on my HDD than normal, and to put it lightly I was shocked! I mean, 4 GB is quite a large sum to just disappear without notice or at least someone letting you know, right?

I finally realized what it was. The other day, I decided I was tired of seeing the HL2 Demo and CS source demo on steam, and I found you could delete them. What I didn't know, is that steam preloaded both of these, in full on my HDD, thereby chewing up my bandwith and HDD space without asking or even letting me know :|

Is it just me, or is this complete and utter bullshit??
rowleybob rowleybob
Tycell
Tycell
Posted 18 years ago2006-03-07 13:27:20 UTC Post #166851
Cry us a river.
Tycell Tycell
Captain P
Captain P
Posted 18 years ago2006-03-07 13:29:34 UTC Post #166854
It sounds like nonsense, yeah... I mean, you would probably have noticed some slowdown back then, right?

Just weird, dunno what to think of this... I wouldn't like un-asked-for preloads myself...
Captain P Captain P
rowleybob
rowleybob
Posted 18 years ago2006-03-07 13:33:07 UTC Post #166857
I guess that would explain high pings sometimes, but I really had no idea until now.
rowleybob rowleybob
D_man
D_man
Posted 18 years ago2006-03-07 13:34:47 UTC Post #166858
I had no idea that could happen :
D_man D_man
rowleybob
rowleybob
Posted 18 years ago2006-03-07 13:39:25 UTC Post #166859
At the very least they should ask you, or have something in settings to disable it.
rowleybob rowleybob
Rimrook
Rimrook
Posted 18 years ago2006-03-07 13:52:08 UTC Post #166863
Not true, steam has placeholders that you dl so it shows up on the game list, but nothing like 4 GB of crap. I've seen this happen too but it was light, like 6 mb total. Otherwise how steam can dl 4 GB of crap onto my comp in miraculously short amounts of time deserves a Nobel Peace Prize.
Rimrook RimrookSince 2003
rowleybob
rowleybob
Posted 18 years ago2006-03-07 14:01:42 UTC Post #166864
Not True? I'm telling you it was over 4 gb.
There is no other explanation. One day I had 19 GB free, and the next over 23 GB free, AND it happened to be on the exact day I deleted the "placeholders" as you call them.

I never delete anything, let alone 4GB! How else could I lose/gain that much without knowing about it. I haven't installed anything new in ages either...
miraculously short amounts of time
It would have to be over a long period of time, of course--probably ever since the demo became available.

I'm telling you man...
rowleybob rowleybob
Captain P
Captain P
Posted 18 years ago2006-03-07 14:16:27 UTC Post #166867
Deleting 4 GB takes some time so you should've noticed that while deleting them... are you really sure of this?
Captain P Captain P
rowleybob
rowleybob
Posted 18 years ago2006-03-07 14:21:01 UTC Post #166868
If you mean was there a progress bar or something, no.

But the very next day, All this free space. I suppose I should have tried to confirm this somehow before posting, but I really don't see how it could be anything else...

edit: Check out the random rants on this link. It confirms the filesize at least:

http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?p=1027501006
rowleybob rowleybob
Tycell
Tycell
Posted 18 years ago2006-03-07 15:51:40 UTC Post #166877
How many times must the same thing be beaten into your head? Honestly if you are complaining about the size of something that is free, you really need to find a better use of your time.

If history is an example, games will only continue to grow in size. We used to be able to contain games on floppys. As the game grew more complex, they contained more data and the next media we moved to was CDs, as they had a higher capacity. Now we are starting to see games released on DVDs as they are getting even more complex and therefore contain much more data. Its a sign of the times. If you want to cry and complain about the size of games nowadays then perhaps you should return to gaming on your 486.

Maybe you can save up a purchase a bigger hard drive as they have become very cheap. Or you could just delete some junk from your exisiting hard drive. Im really not sure what you are looking for here. Do you want all teh game devs to bow to your will and release sub par demos to satisfy your unrealistic needs? Or do you think the ownes is on you to be able to provide enough disk space to house a FREE demo.
Tycell Tycell
Jax
Jax
Posted 18 years ago2006-03-07 17:30:28 UTC Post #166882
Its not the space, its the ethics of it all...
Jax Jax
rowleybob
rowleybob
Posted 18 years ago2006-03-07 19:35:33 UTC Post #166899
Don't waste your time. Tycell apparently wouldn't mind if someone was leeching huge amounts of his bandwith/HDD space, without his knowlege/permission, for something he didn't need/want.

:|
rowleybob rowleybob
Habboi
Habboi
Posted 18 years ago2006-03-07 19:37:34 UTC Post #166900
Maybe you had 4 GB worth of pictures in the screenshot folder :P
Do I detect an Alyx lover?
Habboi HabboiSticky White Love Glue
rowleybob
rowleybob
Posted 18 years ago2006-03-07 19:43:41 UTC Post #166901
She is hot :D
rowleybob rowleybob
TawnosPrime
TawnosPrime
Posted 18 years ago2006-03-07 19:48:47 UTC Post #166903
Ai Bob...that she is
TawnosPrime TawnosPrimeI...AM...CANADIAN!
darkphoenix_68
darkphoenix_68
Posted 18 years ago2006-03-07 22:30:16 UTC Post #166916
I believe there is a setting somewhere in Steam which determines whether a program is kept up to date. (There's a global setting, I think, and a per-program setting.) Perhaps that (or a similar setting) also determines whether the preload occurs automatically.
darkphoenix_68 darkphoenix_68
RabidMonkey
RabidMonkey
Posted 18 years ago2006-03-08 04:07:41 UTC Post #166937
Aye, you can disable that.

Rowley: It doesn't actually download the data, it just creates temporary cache files as placeholders so it won't run out of space during the potential download. They're redundant data, so they're fairly quick to create. That's why when you install a new Steam game and it has to update initially - All the installation did was partition off the space for Steam to use.
RabidMonkey RabidMonkeymapmapmapfapmap
Tycell
Tycell
Posted 18 years ago2006-03-08 09:38:15 UTC Post #166971
Don't waste your time. Tycell apparently wouldn't mind if someone was leeching huge amounts of his bandwith/HDD space, without his knowlege/permission, for something he didn't need/want.
I have noticed no drain in bandwidth and 4 gig isnt really that much these days. If valve want to give me the free HL2 demo seeing as a bought the game, good for them. I dont care, and it hasnt ever disturbed my online play.
Tycell Tycell
rowleybob
rowleybob
Posted 18 years ago2006-03-08 13:24:51 UTC Post #167003
It doesn't actually download the data, it just creates temporary cache files as placeholders so it won't run out of space during the potential download.
Well that changes everything. That means Steam was never robbing the precious bandwith, nor HDD real estate...

Thanks for the 411 Rabid!
rowleybob rowleybob
Habboi
Habboi
Posted 18 years ago2006-03-08 15:34:59 UTC Post #167018
Well you honestly didn't think it took up THAT much GB?...
I'd expect something like 2 copies of Quake 4 to take up that space...
Habboi HabboiSticky White Love Glue
rowleybob
rowleybob
Posted 18 years ago2006-03-08 16:02:50 UTC Post #167024
The HL2 and source demo do take up that much space if they're installed.

If you clicked on the link from hardforum, you would see how much space they actually take up:
source sounds.gcf - 975mb
source models.gcf - 449mb
source materials.gcf - 1.01gb
source engine.gcf - 68.6mb
half-life 2 content.gcf - 838mb
rowleybob rowleybob
m0p
m0p
Posted 18 years ago2006-03-08 16:56:51 UTC Post #167030
Quit whining. Who gives a crap about 4GB if you have a decent sized HDD anyway?
m0p m0pIllogical.
Seventh-Monkey
Seventh-Monkey
Posted 18 years ago2006-03-08 16:57:21 UTC Post #167031
You should pay more attention to your PC, then, and you'd've noticed the hard drive space bein' eaten up. I massively recommend SequoiaView.

Four gig isn't exactly a big deal.
Seventh-Monkey Seventh-MonkeyPretty nifty
monster_urby
monster_urby
Posted 18 years ago2006-03-08 17:59:14 UTC Post #167043
Four gig isn't exactly a big deal
Go back about 10 years and you'd have been shot for saying that. Luckily though, that is a fact in modern day systems. I've lost 8 Gigs to Valve (HL1 and HL2) and thats hardly anything.

8 gigs well spent I say. :)
monster_urby monster_urbyGoldsourcerer
Seventh-Monkey
Seventh-Monkey
Posted 18 years ago2006-03-08 18:14:55 UTC Post #167056
Yeah, back ten years. Not nowadays.
Seventh-Monkey Seventh-MonkeyPretty nifty
rowleybob
rowleybob
Posted 18 years ago2006-03-09 12:51:01 UTC Post #167193
Who gives a crap about 4GB
It's not about the space you fucking moron. If software is earmarking 4GB of space without your knowledge/consent, that's just plain bullshit, period.

HDD space is also more valuble when your a mobile user...so fuck you and your 300GB HDD[/envy] :P
You should pay more attention to your PC
Indeed I should. Checking out SV now, looks neat...
rowleybob rowleybob
MNuTz
MNuTz
Posted 18 years ago2006-03-09 13:05:37 UTC Post #167200
my steam folder is running at 11.9 GB, i remember when a big game used to take 2MB :)
MNuTz MNuTz
rowleybob
rowleybob
Posted 18 years ago2006-03-09 13:13:46 UTC Post #167202
Terrabyte?!

<rowleybob regards his 88.1GB drive, and feels inadequate :( >
rowleybob rowleybob
Seventh-Monkey
Seventh-Monkey
Posted 18 years ago2006-03-09 16:24:52 UTC Post #167259
Don't worry, you are :P.
Seventh-Monkey Seventh-MonkeyPretty nifty
You must be logged in to post a response.