Steam Downloads At 0 Bytes Disk Usage. How Can I Fix This?

Steam is one of the well-liked video game digital distribution platforms that permit subscribers to buy and download their favorite computer games straight to their PC. It is a convenient method of getting games compared to going to a physical shop and getting a copy of your game.

Although it’s quite a solid place, there are cases when certain problems can take place, which we’ll be addressing today. In this newest installment of our troubleshooting series, we’ll deal with the Steam download stuck at 0 bytes problem.

Also Read:

• What To Do When Steam Won’t Open?
• How To Fix: Steam Game Won’t Launch?

What’s Happening If Everything Is Fine And My Download Speed Is Still Low?

So what does all it needs to carry out with the low download speed? Well, let’s suppose you’ve ten large files. The total size of it is a gigabyte each, and in them, you’ve to change two MB of files. When Steam is building such files, it’d need to download the two MB files and copy the rest 1022 MB from the existing installation for each file.

Multiply it by 10 (there are ten files in total). It’d make 10220 MB of copying and twenty MB downloadable files. Therefore, you spend much of your time waiting for such copies to happen; you’re bound by the copying speed. It’s the reason why downloading speed is not an issue when you’re installing a game from scratch.

It downloads the whole thing because there are no existing files/manifest present on the PC. There’s just an issue when the copying amount is far greater than the amount to be downloaded.

Another issue that adds to the aggravation is that Steam has three progress counters, one is bytes reused, one is bytes downloaded, and one is bytes effectively written out to recently modified files. In the user interface, it just exposes the first counter, so it might seem that the download has actually stopped, whereas the copying has to be happening in the background.

How Can I Confirm That My Network Connection Or Any Other Issue Is Not The Cause For 0 Bytes/Second?

There’s a file named Steam/logs/content_log.txt. It can be simply located in the Steam directory. It has all the information regarding the bytes for reuse, download, and copy. Aside from improving the user interface, there is not much that can be performed on Steam’s end.

The copying is essential because if any other algorithm is utilized, it’d be extremely ineffective and can corrupt files extremely simply. Not to state, a lot of bandwidth will be utilized.

How Can You Troubleshoot The 0 Bytes Problem?

Before performing the suggested troubleshooting methods for this particular issue, we recommend that you try to reboot the PC first. It’ll refresh your OS as well as get rid of corrupt temporary data and is quite effective in resolving most software-related problems.

There are numerous factors that can trigger this particular issue ranging from corrupted cached data to the DNS configuration problem. The following are the suggested troubleshooting methods you have to follow to resolve this problem.

Fix#1: Disabling The Automatic Detect Settings

From Google Chrome:

• First of all, launch the Chrome web browser > click on the Chrome menu.
• Click on Settings after the drop-down menu appears.
• Once you are on the Settings page, simply enter proxy in the dialogue bar on the top.
• Now from the search results, choose the result that says open proxy settings.
• When the settings are opened, simply click on the LAN Settings option in the Connections tab.
• After that, uncheck the automatically detect settings option > save the changes and exit > reboot Steam.

From Network Settings:

• First of all, hit the Windows + R keys to bring up the Run dialog box.
• Now, enter inetcpl.cpl in the dialogue box. It will launch the internet properties.
• After that, navigate to the Connections tab > choose LAN settings.
• Once in the LAN settings menu, simply uncheck the statement that says automatically detect settings.
• Now, save all the changes you have made and exit to reopen Steam.

See if the Steam download problem still appears.

Fix#2: Change The Download Region

If your download is stuck at 0-bytes, in the majority of situations, it may be because of the server facing a technical problem, or it has been overloaded by the high traffic. You can simply try to change the download region for resolving this problem, follow these steps:

• First off, click on the Steam option > choose Settings from the menu.
• Once you’re in the Settings menu, simply head over to the Downloads tab.
• Now, choose any other region that is near you in the Download Region option.
• Then, check if the problem still persists.

Note: If changing the Download Region has resolved this problem, you may have slow download speed problems on Steam.

Fix#3: Checking The Disk Usage

If the disk is presently busy copying some other file, then there is the likelihood that the Steam procedure will be put on hold as it waits for the current task to be finished.

• First off, hit the Windows + R button to open the task manager.
• After that, go to the Process section > check the Disk usage percentage. If it’s not full, that is to say, 100%; it denotes something else is the issue, and you can continue with the troubleshooting.
• If the disk usage is full, you can check which program is triggering the outrage. Frequently, Windows updates consume much of the RAM, as well as disk, write space. We can simply disable that from the services option for lowering the consumption.
• Hit the Windows + R key and enter services.msc in the dialogue box.
• A window will appear and will have all the services which run or are running on Windows. Simply browse to the end of that, where you can see the Windows Update service. If Windows Update was taking up much of the resources, it denotes that it’s enabled and running.
• Simply click the service, and you’ll then be redirected to the Properties. Stop that service first utilizing the option.
• After stopping it, simply choose the Startup Type option > choose Disabled from the drop-down box.
• Save changes and exit > reboot the PC.

See if the Steam problem still appears.

Fix#4: Flushing The Steam Config And DNS

One method for resolving this issue is to try to reset the internet settings and config.

• First of all, hit the Windows + R key to open the Run dialog box.
• After that, enter steam://flushconfig in the dialogue box.
• Steam will open a small window for confirming the action. Before proceeding, make certain that you know the Steam sign-in credentials > hit Ok. Note that after doing this, Steam will ask you to sign in once again using your details.
• After carrying out the above actions, hit the Windows + R key for opening the Run window once again.
• Then, enter cmd in the dialogue box for launching the command prompt.
• Once in the command prompt, simply enter ipconfig /flushdns > hit Enter.

See if the problem still appears.

Fix#5: Disabling The Connected User Experiences And Telemetry

The Connected User Experiences and Telemetry, formerly recognized as the Diagnostic Tracking Service, is the service in Windows that automatically runs and sends data to Microsoft. It’s been recognized to interfere with how Steam functions which is why you ought to try to disable this service.

• Enter services.msc in the search bar > press enter.
• Find the Connected User Experiences and Telemetry service > double-click on it.
• Choose Stop for terminating it > change the service’s Startup Type to Disabled.
• Reboot Steam.

See if the download error still appears.

Fix#6: Scanning The PC For Malware

One of the things that can trigger this issue is a PC that’s been infected with malware. To eliminate this possibility, you’ll have to scan the PC for malware, and if one is located, it ought to be removed.

• First of all, navigate to https://www.malwarebytes.com/antimalware/ > download the free version.
• Save the installation file to the PC.
• Once the download is finished, simply double-click on the file to start installing Malwarebytes.
• Follow the on-screen instructions. Make certain the Enable free trial of Malwarebytes Anti-Malware PRO option is unchecked.
• Make certain your PC is connected to the Internet.
• After that, launch Malwarebytes.
• Malwarebytes will usually ask you to download and install any accessible updates when you launch the program. To check for and manually install any updates, click the Update tab > click on the Check for Updates option.
• On the Anti-Malware screen of Malwarebytes, click on the Scanner section. The Scanner window will appear.
• On the Scanner window, choose one of the first two options: do a quick scan which is suggested in the majority of situations or Perform a complete scan which is chosen if a quick scan hasn’t fixed the issue.
• If Malwarebytes detects any threat, it’ll place the suspicious file in quarantine. After the scan is finished, click on the Quarantine section > review all the threats Malwarebytes detected: for permanently deleting a malware, choose its name > click on Delete.
• After the scan is finished and you’ve addressed any threats, simply click on Exit for closing Malwarebytes.

Check if the problem still occurs.

Fix#7: Closing The Background Applications

This problem could also occur because you’ve some other program or application that’s utilizing the disk. Perhaps there’s some update or copying process by another tool that is utilizing the disk at 100%. One way to confirm that there are not any apps utilizing the disk is from the Task Manager.

• You first have to launch the Task Manager from the Taskbar, simply right-click on it. You can also hit the Win + X button > click on Task Manager.
• Once there, click on the More details button.
• You’ll see a few sections or tabs, click on the one that says Disk > check the tools that are currently utilizing the Hard Drive.
• Once you notice an app, simply close it manually or click on the End task button in the Task Manager.

Fix#8: Trying To Disable The Flow Control On Ethernet

If you’re utilizing an Ethernet connection for connecting to the router or modem, then you can try disabling the flow control. It’s a feature that stops the data flow and makes certain that other services are given precedence. For instance, if somebody on the network is actually making a VoIP call, then it’ll be given bandwidth precedence while the Steam procedure will get a lower bandwidth.

• First of all, hit the Windows + R key for launching the Run dialog box.
• After that, enter devmgmt.msc. It’ll open the PC’s device manager.
• Once in the device manager, simply look for the Ethernet network adapter (it’ll be under the Network adapters’ drop-down). Once you’ve found it, simply right-click on it > choose Properties.
• Once the properties are launched, go to the advanced section > search for the Flow Control from the options list > click on Disabled from the Value drop-down.
• Save all the changes and exit your device manager.
• Reboot your PC.

See if the Steam download stuck at 0 bytes problem still appears.

Fix#9: Clearing The Download Cache

There are cases when the issue can be triggered by the corrupted cached data, which is why you’ll have to clear the cache.

• First off, launch the Steam client > go to the Settings menu. It can be found in the top left menu.
• After that, find Downloads in the Settings panel.
• Now, click on the Clear Download Cache option > click on OK for confirming the choice, and after some time, Steam will ask for the login details. Sign in to Steam.

See if the Steam 0 bytes error still appears.

Fix#10: Allow Steam Through Firewall

In certain situations, steam may be blocked through the Firewall because of which it’s coming across the problem while making contact with the servers. Therefore, in this fix, we’ll be permitting Steam through the firewall for both private and public networks. For doing that:

• First of all, hit the Windows + R buttons to launch the Run prompt.
• After that, enter Control > hit Enter.
• Now, click on the View By option > choose Large Icons from the list.
• Next, choose the Windows Defender Firewall option > click on the Allow a Feature or App through Firewall from the left-hand side pane.
• Then, click on the Change Settings option and check both the Public and Private options for Steam.
• Now, save all the settings > open Steam.
• After logging in, check if the problem still persists.

Frequently Asked Questions Section:

Why Does My Steam Load 0 Bytes?

Every game provided on Steam is divided into pieces of about one MB. When the update is launched, Steam analyzes that and calculates how you can make files from the tracks already saved in the database.

Why Is My Download From Steam So Inconsistent?

It might be because the loading procedure is going faster than the hard drive can write, so it stops for some time while it waits for your hard drive to record. Although five Mbps is much less than the normal HD speed, it can occur under Windows if a lot of other processes/programs make use of the disk.

Conclusion:

After trying each fix listed in this guide, if the downloads still do not get resolved, you can check if there’s an issue with the internet connection.

Connect to some other network (not necessarily Ethernet or WiFi, you can try 3G as well) and check if the issue gets resolved. If the downloads are smooth on the other network, it denotes that there’s an issue with the ISP (Internet Service Provider).

You need to get in touch with the customer service and tell them about the specific issue. You can also try to disconnect other devices on the network and reboot your internet modem. You ought to also check if there’s any conflict with the Windows defender or antivirus. At times, the extensions present in the Google Chrome web browser also create issues.