PC game won't install

[Doctor Gallop]

Hello everyone,
Sure could use some help with this.
I am trying to install Half Life 2 on my computer. [windows XP] When I put the cd in, a pop up window comes up and says I must have an internet connection or the game can not be installed. [I never had that happen with a game before]. When I click on yes, it installs Steam, after it seems to be installed, is when the pop up window comes up and says "cannot install program"..."check with vender". I never get to the point where it asks for a key or anything. I have loaded other games with and there was no problem.
Any advice would be appreciated.
Dennis

 

[mailpup]

When you installed Steam did you get to the part where you created an account with a user ID and password?

 

[Doctor Gallop]

Hi Mailpup,
The first time I tried to install it, that part did appear. I bought the game second hand through Half.com and the seller included a paper with on it something called: Steam account name and a contact email address. Also Product Name and confirmation code.
I have no idea what that all is.
The paper said this also: Important Note: Your new subscription is tied to your Steam account. This means that you will only be able to access Half Life 2 Game of the year when you login to steam using the account name:
Now this might make sense to a lot of people....but I am not the sharpest tack in the box!
Can you explain this to me in laymans terms?
Thank you.
Dennis

 

[Relic]

Hi Mailpup,
The first time I tried to install it, that part did appear. I bought the game second hand through Half.com and the seller included a paper with on it something called: Steam account name and a contact email address. Also Product Name and confirmation code.
I have no idea what that all is.
The paper said this also: Important Note: Your new subscription is tied to your Steam account. This means that you will only be able to access Half Life 2 Game of the year when you login to steam using the account name:
Now this might make sense to a lot of people....but I am not the sharpest tack in the box!
Can you explain this to me in laymans terms?
Thank you.
Dennis

Hi Dennis :wave:, welcome to one of the downsides of PC gaming! Buying PC games second hand causes a lot of issues especially Valve ones. So I'll try and make this explanation as simple as I can.

Steam isn't a part of the game but a 3rd party program necessary for the game to work properly. They use it as a form of DRM, hence needing to be online so you can activate the product. But since you bought the game second hand it's ALREADY activated. From your description it appears the individual selling the game ALSO sold you and provided the Steam account information that your copy of HL2 is tied too. If you have steam properly installed just open the program and LOG IN with the information he provided. If it isn't install properly just get the Steam client at http://store.steampowered.com/ and go from there. Once logged on you should be able to see what games are registered to that account, that being Half-Life 2. From there you should be able to simply pop in the CD and install the game or you can download it from Steam without needing the CD's and let it install but that will use a couple GB of bandwidth.

I must also inform you that the seller was breaking Valves policy, in that he sold his account when selling the game as they are both tied together. While this is done often with accounts Valve/Steam rarely take actions. Just wanted to let ya know.

Hope this helps you out .

 

[mailpup]

If the first person who bought the game used it, it will have been tied to his/her Steam account. That means you or anyone else can't use it unless ownership is transferred to you.

If the seller provided his Steam account ID, he would also have to provide his password too.

 

[Relic]

If the seller provided his Steam account ID, he would also have to provide his password too.

Good point, he didn't mention if a password was provided.

 

[Doctor Gallop]

Hi fellas,
The only info included was Steam account name, his email address, product name and confirmation code....no password. But they CD-Key # was included.
Do I have any chance in contacting Steam and telling them what happened to see if they can transfer the game to my new Steam account? Whew, its not worth buying games like this second hand.
Thank you for your help everybody.

 

[mailpup]

It seems that it will be unlikely that you can transfer the game to your account. See here: https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=1673-IDGK-4694

 

[Relic]

Hi fellas,
The only info included was Steam account name, his email address, product name and confirmation code....no password. But they CD-Key # was included.
Do I have any chance in contacting Steam and telling them what happened to see if they can transfer the game to my new Steam account? Whew, its not worth buying games like this second hand.
Thank you for your help everybody.

I don't believe Steam will help as it's against there policy since the game is tied to another account as mail points out. If you have his e-mail address contact him so you can get the correct information. If he gives it to you, I'd recommend changing it once you log in. And yes, second hand PC market isn't really worth it for most titles, exception being single player games that don't need online registration. But why even buy secondhand when you can get them cheap from online retailers and digital distributors like Steam. How much did you pay if you don't mind me asking?

 

[Doctor Gallop]

Its the Half-Life 2 Game of the year Edition. It is in excellent condition and contains 5 cd's.
Bought it for $6.00

 

[mailpup]

It's possible the seller did not understand Steam's policy regarding selling games but it appears that you wasted the $6.00. There are certain limited circumstances where you can transfer game CD keys (at the link above) and yours doesn't appear to be one of them.

 

[Relic]

Ya...it appears you're out $6 bucks . At least its not more then that.

But if you are still really interested in playing the game I'd recommend buying it from Steam itself for $30 after you made a new account. Or if you rather not download all the games just buy it from an online retailer like Newegg (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832130043).

Buying the Orange Box will give you the best bang for your buck and contains Half-Life 2, Half-Life 2 Episode One & Half-Life 2 Episode Two. It also has two separate games, Team Fortress 2 a team based FPS multiplayer game as well as Portal a first person action puzzle game.