I have both an SSD and an HDD in my PC. Regular Steam games download and install successfully on either drive, but games downloaded through Steam Tools only work when the SSD is selected. When I choose the HDD, the download starts normally and then eventually fails with a "disk is corrupted" error. The HDD otherwise seems fine: I can copy files, download other content, and install regular Steam games to it without problems. I also completely formatted the HDD, but the Steam Tools issue remained. Steam itself is installed on the SSD. Could this be caused by Steam Tools, its installation path or permissions, the drive's file system, or a Windows setting?
2 Answers
Formatting the drive does not completely rule out a storage problem. Steam Tools may write files differently or use larger temporary files than a normal Steam installation, which could expose a bad sector, cable, connection, or file-system issue. Check the drive’s health and Windows Event Viewer, try another SATA or USB connection if applicable, and test with a different folder or Steam library on the HDD. If only Steam Tools fails while every other write test passes, its path handling or compatibility is the more likely cause.
First check whether Steam Tools lets you choose a separate download or installation directory, rather than relying only on Steam’s default library location. Make sure the selected HDD folder is a valid Steam library and that your Windows account has full write access to it. Since Steam itself is installed on the SSD, the issue may be specific to how Steam Tools handles the HDD path.
Steam is installed on the SSD. The download does begin when I select the HDD, but after some time Steam reports that the disk is corrupted. Regular Steam games still install to that same HDD normally.