delete of steam.exe failed win32 error 5 (Steam 26% update error)

[PotshotPolka]

This is a goddamn mess.

 

I was changing my settings in a game (Red Orchestra) when I suddenly crashed.

I restart, cannot enter the game, so I delete my clientregistry.blob file as the cure-all to any issue like this, restarted steam, then this shit started happening.

 

Upon reaching 26/27% steam stops updating, makes a temporary minidump file, then does one of two things, the first being the error (delete of steam.exe failed win32 error 5) or the other prompting me to log in. When logging in correctly it simply states "Cannot connect to steam network". When putting in incorrect username/pass it states invalid account info, so that's not the issue.

 

I've attempted deleting everything in my steam folder but the games/steam.exe, and then I went a step further and completely gutted the folder and reinstalled, no dice. Does anyone have any clue as to WHAT fucking issue could result in this error after the entire directory was nuked?

 

Also before anyone decides they can use Google and I can't:

 

• Yes, I've gone to Steam's support page, and I've tried what the next 3 pages of links suggested to do, which were all about the same thing.
  
• No, I have NOT recently installed a AV/Spyware program, the one I've had has never interfered in games or updates.
  
• No, I haven't gotten a magical virus that targets steam, that's just Valve's support team's way of saying "We don't know what the fuck is wrong, but maybe its some other asshole's fault."
  

If no one can come up with anything I'm just going to reformat, I've got enough clutter on this HDD I could use a reason to anyways, but help is appreciated.

[Jager]

i would check and uninstall everything steam related except the game gcf backups, then redownload a clean steam install to another folder and transfer the gcfs over. if steam crashes once the gcfs are over then its an issue with your backups creating havok, (happens when steam is updating them and crashes sometimes)

 

if you prefer the tactical nuke option first, dump RO 's gcf and reinstall steam and see what you get.

[PotshotPolka]

i would check and uninstall everything steam related except the game gcf backups, then redownload a clean steam install to another folder and transfer the gcfs over. if steam crashes once the gcfs are over then its an issue with your backups creating havok, (happens when steam is updating them and crashes sometimes)

 

if you prefer the tactical nuke option first, dump RO 's gcf and reinstall steam and see what you get.

 

 

There are no backups. I deleted everything steam related already, no dice.

 

I have steam on my laptop so I booted it up. What happened was odd, it stopped for a moment at 26%, then after a moment continued and booted all the way and updated properly.

 

Any other suggestions?

[PotshotPolka]

So I just installed basically all my necessary drivers and so on after reformatting, and sure as fucking hell the issue is persisting. What in the fuck could I have done to keep it from loading on this computer after being completely reformatted? Like I said earlier, it loads perfectly fine on my laptop.

[Tweezy]

Not a lot I can say accept do you have net.framework? Im sure a friend said ages ago that steam uses framework... Try it, might help!

[Jager]

i would suggest if you are on a clean format to look at your windows updates and such and finish everything you might need to update, then try installing steam.

 

I know with my 7 i had to turn UAC back on so that steam installed correctly or it hung during the update because it needed firewall and hard drive access permission, something that even though UAC was "off" it was still trying to pop up a warning window and couldnt til i set permissions higher.

 

also try the install and running of steam as an admin user on your pc, that tends to bypass some of the more special types of issues

[Tweezy]

After searching on google, this might be helpful

 

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=222881

[PotshotPolka]

I tried installing to a different directory, and sure as shit that worked.

 

Why? I haven't got the slightest clue, and that pisses me off.