Steam thinks the game is not installed

I've researched the web carefully and went on about 20 pages, either from Steam itself or from this website or among other forums. Since I'm a StackOverflow user, I decided to give here a try:

I have steam on my PC for a long time. Not sure if I re-installed Windows at some point or not, but today I wanted to go back to play a few games so I managed to get Steam up and running again (D:\Games\Steam, deleted the ClientRegistry.blob and ran the steam.exe as Admin.) Apparently, Steam is running fine, it even recognize that I have Dota 2, Free to Play (the documentary) and Rocksmith installed (though needs update). But the one game I want to play (Left 4 Dead) it says it's not installed.

- If I try to install it, it gets stuck HERE:

enter image description here

- I can't repair it because ...

I'm looking for ANY ANSWER AT ALL other than

delete the files of the game from [...]\common\steamapps\ and re-download everything

. Since Dota 2 and other games were easily recognized (automatically), I was hoping there were something I could do to avoid downloading billions of bytes again (it will take me more than 24hrs to re-download everything).

steam left-4-dead-2

Best Answer

In settings there is 'steam library folders' button, you can solve your problem from here.

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Why does Steam think a game is not installed?

Games may appear uninstalled when Steam no longer recognizes the installation files. As long as the affected game's folder is still in the proper location, attempting to launch the game will prompt a download. This will allow Steam to recognize the installation files during the download process.

How do I fix Steam game installation?

If you are launching your game through STEAM:

Open your Steam Library.

Right-click the game, and then click Properties.

Click the Local Files tab.

Click Verify Integrity of Game Files to perform the repair installation. The validation process begins and any corrupt or missing files are reacquired. \u30fd(^\u25c7^*)/

How do you trick Steam into thinking you bought a game?

To trick Steam into thinking that you own the game, you will have to add the game to your library. If the game is cracked, you will not be able to access some parts of the game, as the online multiplayer features. You may not also be able to see a game art as the banner unless they choose to add it.

How To Fix Steam Showing Games as Uninstalled (Easy Fix)

Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Images: Pixabay, Miguel Á. Padriñán, Pixabay, Andrea Piacquadio