Hey guys,

I have the hard copy CD version of New Vegas. However, my Steam still insists on downloading the game. As I am in a (painfully slow) internet cafe at the moment, this is less than ideal. Any way around it?

Are you putting the CD in or just entering the code into Steam?

I put the CD in, and it prompted the Steam code. I can't get it to do a hard install.

Thanks to Steam, retailers can do small tweaks and patches on the game between they encased the initial version on the DVD for retail, and the actual release date. It's very common for the game to have a update waiting as soon as you install it. It might be (unfortunate) some huge file that needs updating, so basically yeah, you are stuch with downloading it.

But don't worry, thinkg on the bright side: if you were downloading the full game and not just some download (it will tell "installing" even if it only needs to download a couple of files a.k.a. upgrading), it would take a lot longer

The "update" is 6,400 MB; I think it's downloading the actual game here.

Anybody know a way to bypass this? It's incredibly frustrating, I have the CD *in my computer* and yet Steam still insists on downloading the game at a whopping 80kb/s. :nope:

It did the same thing with the digital download from Direct2Drive. I downloaded the game from D2D (6.4GB zip file), unzipped it to a directory, and it extracted several files (setup.exe, Fallout New Vegas Disk0.sim through Fallout New Vegas Disk4.sim and several others).
When I clicked on setup.exe, it launched Steam and began downloading the game AGAIN, rather than installing from the files I had just downloaded. If I didn't have 50Mb internet connection, I would have been royally pissed.

Yup, it makes no sense that it goes this way. Would be far more logical for the disc to hard install and simply have the player have to register the game on Steam to play. T_T

There goes my plan of playing New Vegas before orchestra tonight...thanks for this simple oversight, I guess? :\

I bought the CD version of the game and it also appears to be downloading the whole damn thing via Steam too. What was the point of me purchasing a CD if you were going to install it via Steam anyways. I could have just bought it on my Steam account.

There is more than just the Steam client on the CD. Why aren't they installing what is on my CD?

I have been a big supporter of Bethesda, but if I'm going to have to put up with this on future games, I'll have to reconsider buying their games.

Yup, a hard install followed by registering the game on Steam would have left me playing 20 minutes ago; because of this I'm looking at installing the game for the next couple hours. I got the CD to avoid having to download the game, as even the internet back in my dorm is suspect at best.

This really just makes no sense.

I had this issue with Metro 2033. Try the following, worked for me and others.

1. Close Steam (File > Exit).
2. Go to the Start button and select Run (XP) or type Run in the Search box and choose Run from the list (Vista).
3. In the Run window type:

"C:\Program Files\Steam\Steam.exe" -install E:

Replace E: with the CD/DVD drive you are installing from if is not correct.
Replace C:\Program Files\Steam if your Steam installation is not in the default location.

4. Press OK. Your installation should continue from the disc.

Sorry, what do I type in the "Run" box exactly? I typed in "D:\Steam\Steam.exe -install E:" and it just brought the Steam download back up.

I have the hard copy, but it installed from the disc through steam. It didn't download the game. Was installed in a few minutes... that said, it crashes as soon as it gets done with the intro movie. TONS of steam users are having the game crash after the intro. REALLY pissing me off.

I got mine from gamestop, but I might have to take it back or something (though you probably can't return pc games that are opened). I don't know if the walmart one does the whole steam thing. Either way, i'm downloading a crack to bypass it. I bought the game so if I can't play it out of box, i'm sure as hell going to do whatever I have to to play it.

What did you do to get it to install through the disc? Mine autojumped to downloading...weird that two different things would happen.

You need to make sure steam is properly closed, not sitting in the back ground and also make sure the final quotation marks are after exe not E: unless thats a typo in this post. If this does not work try this...


1) Completely exit from the Steam client.
2) Go to C:\Program Files\Steam (or the Steam directory that was specified during installation).
3) Locate ClientRegistry.blob and rename this file to ClientRegistryOld.blob.
4) Restart Steam to allow the file to be recreated.
5) See if it now works from the disc.

this does not work for me, why couldnt i just of downloaded it from the disc then registered it like any other game i have...way to go 6 hours left...

Did it with the quotation marks in the right place, still didn't seem to work. I guess I'll just wait around for the download as I've had bad experiences monkeying around with my Steam files; thanks for the help though!

Agreed talako, this is really inexcusable on Beth's part, in my opinion. No reason for us disc owners to get screwed over if we bought the CD because our internet isn't good enough to download the game in anything resembling a reasonable timeframe.

Ok, slightly modified 1st solution...may be that points 1 and 2 could help.:

1. Log in to Steam and click on Library.
2. Right-click on the game, select Delete local content, and confirm.
3. Insert the first disc into your computer.
4. Close Steam (Steam > Exit).
5. Press Windows Key + R to open Run
6. In the Run window type:

"C:\Program Files\Steam\Steam.exe" -install E:

Replace E: with the CD/DVD drive you are installing from if is not correct.
Replace C:\Program Files\Steam if your Steam installation is not in the default location.
7. Press OK. Steam will launch and ask you to sign in if you do not have your password saved. Your installation should continue from the disc.

I didn't do anything. It just did it that way. I put in the disc, I went to the disc from explorer and started the install there instead of autorun (don't know if that should make a difference though), hen it opened steam and installed everything off the disc.

Still can't play though.

This is rediculous. Fallout 3 game me so much crap with crashing every now and then and now this won't even start playing the game. Did the same person code this crap? Still have a while till the "not so legit" version gets done to see if the no steam patch will fix my problem. GRRR.

Must have been the fact that you used explorer instead of autorun, I guess? Weird.

It says on the back of the box that it requires a free Steam account.
So yeah, looks like you need it if you want patches and such.

I have Steam, that's not the issue. The issue is that I have a hard copy of the CD that I am installing with and yet Steam insists on using my painfully slow internet connection to download the damn game.

Did you try deleting the local game cache and then forcing steam into offline mode then try the cd install?

Just taking a swing here, as I haven't gotten mine yet.

This happened to me, but I do not have that slow of internet. I waited for it to finish downloading, and now it crashes for me every time. I get this error "Fallout: New Vegas has stopped working" after I run F:NV from steam, it then a window pops up, and I click run F:NV. I always have steam running so it just took over the install. I put in my cd-key, and now it just doesn't work.

I have tried what others suggested, and I have just installed from downloading and it keeps crashing. Yes I updated my drivers too.

If the above fails, try using System Restore and go back one day. That might clear out any registry entries that have the PC convinced it needs to go through Steam to install.

Some other forums have reported with other games that anything that messes up the DVD installation will make Steam ignore the disk in the tray each time you try to install. Don't know if that is true, but it is worth a shot.

Then, install the game under a strict Clean Boot, I mean strict to the point of not having your PC on the web, so disconnect the Ethernet (or disable wireless or whatever you need to)

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310353 Same applies to Vista/7

Let me know what happens. (You will have to reconnect to the web to activate if the install works)

Strange it's downloading through Steam for some.

I just installed it and it installed from the disk. (Said so right on the install window.)

Steam was not running when I ran the setup.exe from the disk. It started and logged me into Steam, then threw up an "Installing from disk" window. As soon as it was done I started it right up and away it went.

I'm interested to see what the "official answer" will be from whoever figures it out. I just can't wrap my brain around why it would be different.