Steam will no longer load my game. Says preparing to install and does nothing. So now I can't play. How do I play from the disk so I don't have to start over and reload on top of my 55 hours of play time?

you can′t play from the disc

Did you try copying your save games folder elsewhere, uninstalling/reinstalling Steam, reinstalling the game, then copying your save games back?

Look at the Steam help, there should be info for such cases.

Get the mod manager, i believe it bypasses steam i could be wrong. I don't even have steam installed anymore and the mod manager opens it right up :celebration:

First thing to try is always exit steam then restart it.

What is the "mod manager"?

It shouldn't. Both FOMM and Wrye Flash start the launcher that requires steam to run.

As for OP's problem, try switching Steam to offline mode. That helps when my Steam gets stuck like that.