Recently I wanted to start playing Dota 2 with my friends but suddenly, an error popped up ” Dota 2 disk write error ” while downloading the game and even for my other installed games, I can’t even update them.
After doing some research I found this happened to a lot of users, so I did some research to get the best and easy fixes that will stop you from going deep in technical stuff and protect your system from more errors.
The easiest and best way to fix the issue is to repair your steam library folder, open steam > steam settings > Downloads > and in Content Libraries click on steam library folders button > right-click on every folder and select the ” Repair Library folder “, doing this will solve your Dota 2 disk write error problem.
Easy ways to fix the disk write error
It can be less or greater than the time mentioned here because some fixes depend on the download speed of your internet. 30 minutes
- Clearing the download cache
Sometimes due to the network or server failure which can be the main reason to get a damaged file from the server while downloading or updating any game so to fix this issue, we can just clear the download cache from steam settings, follow this step to clear the download cache, Steam Settings > Download section > Clear Download Cache
- Library Repair
This is the most effective method to fix the disk right issue for not just Dota 2 but for also any other games you face errors like this so here are the steps you can follow, steam settings > Downloads > and in Content Libraries click on steam library folders button > right-click on every folder and select the ” Repair Library folder “
- Controlled folder access
If you have gone through any article on the internet, most probably you encountered the fix that says that you have to disable the windows defender to fix this issue. This can cause you some serious problems related to viruses and cyber-attacks.
So the alternative way to solve this kind of problem is to give main programs controlled folder access, which means giving a program to read and write to the restricted parts of your hard drive, follow these steps to give any program folder access,
— Open Windows Defender
— Click on ” Virus & Threat Protection “
— Go to Ransomware protection and click on ” Manage Ransomware protection “
— Click yes when a pop appears
— Click on ” Add an allowed app “
— Here you can choose 2 options ” Recently blocked apps ” or ” Browse all apps “
— If you select ” Recently blocked apps ” then a pop will appear to select the different apps ” .exe ” files to add in allowed lists if you see any of the names starting with “steam.exe” then click on it to add it.
— If you can’t find the name, then click on ” Browse all apps ” and then navigate to the application where it’s installed, like ” C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steam.exe “
— After selecting the steam program file click on add button.
After doing this you don’t have to disable the Windows Defender to risk your system and also defender will not cause any problem to steam. - Disabling Download Accelerator and Download Manager Programs
If you have any download accelerator or download manager like IDM, etc to manage all your downloads for your system, then disable it or uninstall it
- Disable or removing any cleaner
If you have a cleaner installed on your system like iObit, please uninstall it or have any antivirus installed in your system to temporarily disable it to check the next points.
- Disable Antivirus
If you have any antivirus installed in your system disable it while downloading or updating the game, here are the ways to disable antivirus,
— If you are using Avast
1. Search for the Avast icon in your computer’s system tray and right-click on it.
2. Click on Avast shields control.
3. Locate the options to disable the program – the options are to disable it for 10 minutes, an hour until the computer is restarted, or permanently (until you yourself turn it back on). Select whatever option suits you best and use it to disable the program.
— If you are using AVG
1. Search for the AVG icon in your computer’s system tray and right-click on it.
2. Click on Temporarily disable AVG protection.
3. Choose how long you want AVG to be turned off and whether you want AVG to disable its Firewall too.
4. Click on OK to disable the antivirus program.
— If you are using McAfee
1. Search for the McAfee Antivirus icon in your computer’s system tray and right-click on it.
2. Click on Exit.
You should see a dialog box warning you that McAfee‘s protection will be turned off. Click on Yes in this dialog box to disable the antivirus program - Add to the Game folder to the Exception list for antivirus and Windows Defender
Disabling antivirus doesn’t work then add the exception list in the exception list. Follow these steps to add steam folder in the exception list,
–– Windows Defender
1. Click the Windows button and in the search bar type “Windows defender”.
2. Open the application named “Windows Defender Security Center”.
3. Select the option “Virus and threat protection”.
4. Go to Virus and Threat Protection Settings. Windows may prompt you to allow administrator access to use this feature. If so, press Yes.
5. Search the window which says “Add or remove exclusions”. Click it and you will be navigated to a menu where you can add exclusions.
6. Click on the option which says “Exclude a folder” and navigate to your Dota 2 directory. Once you reach the location select the folder and save changes.
— Bitdefender
1. Open Bitdefender and go to the Protection Window by clicking the shield icon shown below in the picture.
2. Click on the link which says View Modules.
3. Click on the Settings icon which you can see on the upper right corner of the antivirus.
4. Go to the Exclusions tab present in the window.
5. Click on “List of files and folders excluded from scanning”.
6. Click on the ADD button. Navigate to your Dota 2 directory and select the folder to exclude it from the scanning process. You should also select the Both option before you add an exception
7. Click Add and save changes.
— Avast Antivirus
1. Open the Avast interface.
2. Click on Settings found at the bottom left corner of the screen. From Settings, browse to General and scroll down the options until you find Exclusions.
3. Expand the section and you will see a dialogue where you can add global exceptions. Navigate to your Chrome directory using the option of Browse.
4. Once you have selected the Dota 2 folder, click on ADD found at the bottom left side of the screen. Press OK and it is now added to global exceptions of Avast antivirus.
— McAfee Antivirus
1. Open McAfee Antivirus by clicking on its icon present on the toolbar on the bottom right side of your Windows.
2. Click on Manage Security.
3. Select the option of Schedule and run scans option present in the box of Virus and Spyware Protection.
4. Select the option of Schedules scans from the list of options that follow. A new window will pop up and from there you will see the Add button present under the tab of Excluded Files and Folders. Select the Dota 2 directory after clicking Add through the file explorer.
5. Once you reach the location select the folder and save changes.
–– Kaspersky AV
1. Open Kaspersky AV from the icon present in your taskbar at the bottom right of the screen.
2. Navigate to the Settings menu.
3. Select the tab of Additional and select the tab of Threats and Exclusions from the list of options given.
4. Click on the Configure Exclusions present in the middle of the screen.
5. Select the option of Add present in the bottom right of the screen.
6. Now navigate to the Dota 2 directory using the Browse button. Once you reach the location select the folder and save changes.
— Malwarebytes
1. Open your Malwarebytes window by either clicking on the icon in the taskbar located at the bottom right side of the screen, or by clicking the program’s launch file.
2. Once the program is opened, click on the Malware Exclusions tab located on the left side of the window.
In this tab, you find an option that says “Add folder”. Click it and you will be navigated to File Explorer from where you can select your Dota 2 directory. - Re-installing
If anything doesn’t work for you, there is no option left behind for you instead of reinstalling steam. But, after reinstalling steam, you have to re-download all the games you installed from steam, and don’t worry, this will not delete the games you purchased from the Steam store.
— Click on the start menu and type control panel, open it
— Click on ” Uninstall a program “
— Navigate to Steam and right-click on steam
— Click on uninstall - Hardware failure check
Sometimes a hard disk can have a bad sector and this could lead to hardware failure problems and which can cause the disk write error after a specific storage limit has been crossed so to check this simply follow this step,
Step 1. Open This PC, right-click on System drive and choose Properties.
Step 2. Go to Tools, and then click Check. Click on Check under Error-checking.
It will notify you about the drive failure, that it can be repairable or not if it’s repairable then the system will do it by itself and if the problem exists, you have to get to a new hard drive for your system.
The most common factors due to which gamers generally see steam content write errors is either because of not updating the steam regularly or because of the wrong setup of windows defender, any third-party cleaners-antivirus. But, believe me, 50% of them get rid of it by just restarting their system or applying the fixes mentioned from 2-5.
Prevention is better than cure
To prevent it from happening again any of these kinds of errors, here are some pieces of advice
- Regularly Updating your windows and drivers
- Better to pause any work you doing while the update is on going.
- Also check Steam for updates.
- Don’t use any cleaner it’s just make your system slow and cause more error.
- Don’t use free antivirus and just use Windows Defender if you can’t afford it.
- Before purchasing the antivirus make sure to check dates and some background check on antivirus key provider.
I have written the 9 easiest ways to fix disk write errors and work for all other games. Fix it by using them:), if the error doesn’t fix feel free to write it down in a comment we are glad to help you out.