Steam
What is Steam?
Steam is a digital distribution, digital rights management, multiplayer and communications platform developed by Valve Corporation. It is used to distribute games and related media online, from small independent developers to larger software houses. Steam's primary service is to allow its users to download games and other software that they have in their virtual software library to their local computers. Steam-integrated games are stored as single non-compressed archive files with the extension .gcf (an acronym for game cache file). Steam allocates space on the user's hard disk for .gcf files before downloading in order to reduce fragmentation which may occur when downloading large files and performing disk access. Game cache files help to make games more portable, stop users from accidentally overwriting important files, allow for easy modification of resources, and allows for validation of content for errors. Steam provides digital rights management (DRM) for software titles, by providing "custom executable generation" for executable files that are unique for each user, but allow that user to install the software on multiple computing devices via Steam or through software backups without limitations. As such, the user is required to have started Steam while connected to the Internet for authentication prior to playing a game, or have previously set up Steam in an "offline" mode while connected online, storing their credentials locally to play without an Internet connection. Steam includes a digital storefront called the Steam Store, through which users can purchase computer games digitally.
Overview
Upon installation and setup, it defines an auto-start registry entry which makes this program run on each Windows boot for all user logins. A scheduled task is added to Windows Task Scheduler in order to launch the program at various scheduled times (the schedule varies depending on the version). The software is designed to connect to the Internet and adds a Windows Firewall exception in order to do so without being interfered with. The software installer includes 48 files and is usually about 4.29 MB (4,493,824 bytes).
Program details
URL: www.steampowered.com
Help link: support.steampowered.com
Installation folder: C:\Program Files\steam
Uninstaller: MsiExec.exe /X{048298C9-A4D3-490B-9FF9-AB023A9238F3}
(The Windows Installer is used for the installation, maintenance, and removal.)
Estimated size: 4.29 MB
Language: French (France)
Files installed by Steam
-
AppOverlay.dll - Steam Application Overlay Renderer (Steam Application Overlay)
-
AppOverlay64.dll
-
SteamUI.dll - SteamUI Dynamic Link Library
-
tier0_s.dll - tier0_s Dynamic Link Library
-
tier0_s64.dll
-
crashhandler.dll - Steam Crash Handler Library
-
crashhandler64.dll
-
GameOverlayRenderer.dll - Steam Game Overlay Renderer
-
GameOverlayRenderer64.dll
-
steam.exe - Steam Client Bootstrapper (Steam Client Bootstrapper (buildbot_winslave04_steam_steam_rel_client_win32@winslave04))
-
CSERHelper.dll - CSER Helper (Debug Helper Routines)
-
GameOverlayUI.exe - Steam
-
Steam.dll - Steam Client Engine
-
Steam2.dll
-
steamclient.dll
-
steamclient64.dll
-
steamerrorreporter.exe
-
steamerrorreporter64.exe
-
steamTmp.exe
-
streaming_client.exe
-
vstdlib_s.dll - vstdlib_ s.dll
-
vstdlib_s64.dll
-
WriteMiniDump.exe - Win32 MiniDump Helper
-
uninstall_steam.exe - Uninstall Steam
Behaviors exhibited
Scheduled Task
- steam.exe is scheduled as a task with the class '{F379847F-E7EF-4084-9B2F-B87B28202FA4}' (runs on registration).
Scheduled Task (Boot/Login)
- steam.exe is automatically launched at startup through a scheduled task named Steam Login.
2 Startup Files (User Run)
- steam.exe is loaded in the current user (HKCU) registry as an auto-starting executable named 'Steam' and executes as "C:\Program Files\Steam\steam.exe" -silent.
- steamTmp.exe is loaded in the current user (HKCU) registry as an auto-starting executable named 'Steam' and executes as "C:\Program Files\Steam\Steam.exe" -silent.
Startup File (All Users Run)
- steam.exe is loaded in the all users (HKLM) registry as a startup file name 'Steam' which loads as "C:\Program Files\Steam\steam.exe" -silent.
Windows Firewall Allowed Program
- steam.exe is added as a firewall exception for 'C:\Program Files\Steam\Steam.exe'.
Network connections
- steam.exe connects to VALVE-CORPO.edge4.London2.Level3.net (212.187.192.162 port 80).
- steam.exe connects to 68.142.91.36 (port 27017).
- Steam.exe connects to cdn-178-79-196-253.pmo.llnw.net (178.79.196.253 port 80).
- Steam.exe connects to 69.28.145.170 (port 27017).
- Steam.exe connects to cm-04.lux.valve.net (146.66.152.15 port 27018).
- Steam.exe connects to 80.239.194.142 (port 27030).
- Steam.exe connects to VALVE-CORPO.car2.Philadelphia1.Level3.net (4.78.155.50 port 27031).
Resource utilization averages
Show technical details
| steam.exe |
| Memory: | 133.94 MB | |
| Total CPU: | 0.0102767425% | |
| Kernel CPU: | 0.00678770% | |
| User CPU: | 0.00348904% | |
| CPU cycles/sec: | 40,148,848 | |
| Switches/sec: | 455 | |
| I/O reads/min: | 2.45 MB | |
| I/O writes/min: | 420.91 KB | |
| GameOverlayUI.exe |
| Memory: | 36.47 MB | |
| Total CPU: | 0.0126768236% | |
| Kernel CPU: | 0.00708749% | |
| User CPU: | 0.00558933% | |
| CPU cycles/sec: | 30,822,598 | |
| Switches/sec: | 194 | |
| I/O reads/min: | 633.64 KB | |
| I/O writes/min: | 29.26 KB | |
How do I remove Steam?
You can uninstall Steam from your computer by using the Add/Remove Program feature in the Window's Control Panel.
- On the Start menu (for Windows 8, right-click the screen's bottom-left corner), click Control Panel, and then, under Programs, do one of the following:
- Windows Vista/7/8/10: Click Uninstall a Program.
- Windows XP: Click Add or Remove Programs.
- When you find the program Steam(TM), click it, and then do one of the following:
- Windows Vista/7/8/10: Click Uninstall.
- Windows XP: Click the Remove or Change/Remove tab (to the right of the program).
- Follow the prompts. A progress bar shows you how long it will take to remove Steam.
OS VERSIONS
Win 7 (SP1) 60%
Win Vista 0%
|
|
HOW IT STARTS
Automatically starts? Yes
(Found in the run registry)
|
|
USER ACTIONS
 |
Uninstall it 11%
Keep it 89%
|
|
Windows
Which Windows OS versions does it run on?
| Windows 7 |
64.93% |
|
| Windows 10 |
13.78% |
|
| Windows XP |
10.87% |
|
| Windows Vista |
10.26% |
|
| Windows Server 2003 |
0.15% |
|
Which OS releases does it run on? |
| Windows 7 Home Premium |
41.14% |
|
| Windows 7 Ultimate |
13.87% |
|
| Microsoft Windows XP |
10.63% |
|
| Windows Vista Home Premiu... |
9.24% |
|
| Windows 7 Professional |
7.70% |
|
| Windows 8.1 |
3.70% |
|
Geography
24.44% of installs come from the United States
Which countries install it?
| United States |
24.44% |
| France |
14.94% |
| Germany |
13.13% |
| United Kingdom |
6.98% |
| Poland |
3.63% |
| Canada |
3.49% |
| DK |
3.35% |
| Sweden |
2.93% |
| Brazil |
2.51% |
| Portugal |
2.37% |
| Belgium |
2.09% |
| Finland |
2.09% |
| Spain |
1.82% |
| Czech Republic |
1.40% |
PC manufacturers
What PC manufacturers (OEMs) have it installed?
| Hewlett-Packard |
21.10% |
|
| Acer |
20.80% |
|
| Dell |
15.60% |
|
| GIGABYTE |
14.68% |
|
| ASUS |
12.23% |
|
| Intel |
3.06% |
|
| Toshiba |
2.75% |
|
| American Megatrends |
2.45% |
|
| Medion |
1.83% |
|
| Apple |
1.53% |
|
| Lenovo |
1.53% |
|
| MSI |
1.22% |
|
Common models |
| HP Pavilion dv7 Notebook ... |
5.41% |
|
| ASUS All Series |
3.24% |
|
| HP Pavilion g6 Notebook P... |
2.70% |
|
| ASUSTeK K53SV |
2.16% |
|
| Acer Aspire M3910 |
2.16% |
|
| Acer Aspire 5738 |
2.16% |
|
About Valve
Valve is a video game development and digital distribution company through Steam best known for its critically acclaimed product, Half-Life.
Publisher URL: www.valvesoftware.com