Half-life retail activation problem [SOLVED]

[Soysauze]

To anyone who can help me.
I got a new pc and got my retail copy of half life 2. I installed it but when I tried to activate it on steam via cd code a popup tells me I need to install the retail standard of the game (the cd). But I've alredy installed it so what do I do? Steam isn't recognizing their game I paid 50 effin bucks and I can not even play it? Please help!

 

[Hectic Glenn]

Did you buy a pre-owned version or is this brand new copy?

From my memory, retail products involve you putting the DVD in first, going through the installation of copying the files, installing Steam, making an account (or logging into your existing one) and then registering your CD key to be tied to your Steam account. Is your DVD copying the files to the correct directory? Could you tell us where they are being copied to?

 

[Soysauze]

it is a new copy form 2004 i never opened it. the files are being copied to my hard drive

 

[Soysauze]

Ive installed other steam games like l4d2 and i had steam before that. I put in my code and they work perfectly.

 

[Hectic Glenn]

Your mistake is trying to register it separately through Steam. Close Steam and run the installation from the disk - it will prompt you to log in with your existing Steam account / register the CD at some point during the installation.

 

[Soysauze]

ok ill try that

 

[Soysauze]

i tried what you said and now i acant even access steam. i tried reintalling it but i cant do that saying the folder needs to be empty when it is. this is really starting to piss me off!

 

[Soysauze]

i fixed the steam problem the pop still shows: Installation of Half Life 2 retail standard is required before continuing. Please insert your Half Life 2 retail standard CD/DVD into the drive and select install from the autorun menu.

"OK"

 

[Hectic Glenn]

Are you running 64bit Windows 7? This problem usually occurs when Windows 7 is unable to tell Steam you have already installed the game. You can't change the directory in which the game installs from the disk and I haven't seen a fix before...but I suggest you try the following two fixes to see if they work:

1. Find the default directory where the CDs/DVD installs to. Probably C:/Programs Files(x86)/Valve (or Steam). Once you have found the location move the entire folder to C:/Programs Files. Continue the process and see if Steam recognises the installation in this new location.

2. A work around - Try installing and activating the game through Steam on a PC using Windows XP or Vista. Once activated, log in with your Steam account on your normal PC. I'm unsure if Steam will want you to download the game again completely or block you at this point. You can copy over the game files from the XP / Vista PC from the following folder C:/Program Files/Steam/Steamapps - the large .GCF files (game cache files) are what you need.

I can't find any other solutions for you on google or at SPUF so these are experimental fixes. By the way, $50? You can buy Half-life 2 through Steam right now for $7.40. Retail sucks, buy digital in the future - http://store.steampowered.com/app/220/?snr=1_4_4__13

 

[Soysauze]

Ok ill try those options. thank you for the advice and i got it when it first came out idk why. just never bothered to open it cause i had it on the xbox. i sold that and my games to get a 360 so... yeah. thank you.

 

[Soysauze]

I moved the files it worked! thank you so much!

 

[MuToiD_MaN]

Glenn 4 President of Valve Technical Support

 

[Hectic Glenn]

Glad the fix worked for you, I assume the OP meant option 1 was the one which worked. Since I've not seen this problem solved anywhere else I've marked the thread as solved for others who find this thread via google. If the solution works for you too, let us know. Thanks.