Steam: Download while playing?

[ValentineUK]

I was wondering if there is a way to get Steam to allow me to download/install and Steam game while i'm playing another?

Eg. Play Counterstrike while i'm installing Bastion.

 

[Romidude]

Minimize, pause download, then resume. It will tell you it was suspended, so that fixes it.

 

[AlexiVolkov]

Just alt-tab out of what ever game you start, pause and resume your downloads and there you go.

 

[ValentineUK]

I love you all! Thanks so much!

 

[megapenguinx]

Steam hogs bandwidth like there's no tomorrow, so you're better off playing a single player game.

This person speaks the truth. Make sure you play a single player game or you'll be in lag-city.

 

[J_Monsterface]

you have to blow into the cartridge

 

[DazZ.]

Tab out.

But dont do it if its a game that uses the Source engine, because the Source engine SUCKS ASS and the game will crash if you minimize it.

That's bollocks, I alt tab constantly and never had it crash for that reason. Source engine even lets you goto fullscreen windowed mode so alt tabbing is instant whilst still being fullscreen, which is rare now a days and a godsend to anyone with multiple monitors.

 

[mcdain]

Well I'm on Windows 7 64-bit, and I've never come across that problem.

 

[DazZ.]

Tab out.

But dont do it if its a game that uses the Source engine, because the Source engine SUCKS ASS and the game will crash if you minimize it.

That's bollocks, I alt tab constantly and never had it crash for that reason. Source engine even lets you goto fullscreen windowed mode so alt tabbing is instant whilst still being fullscreen, which is rare now a days and a godsend to anyone with multiple monitors.

What OS are you using? I never had the problem before switching to Windows 7, now literally every source game crashes upon alt-tab. A friend of mine running the same version (64 bit) has the same problem. A simple google search gives way to a wealth of people who seem to have the exact same problem.

The problem seems to be exclusive to Windows 7 64 bit, which is a pretty big problem because a lot of people use it, but on the other hand, ALL users of 7 64 bit seem to experience it, so... Am I really talking bollocks? Or are you?

Well I'm on Widows 7 64 bit as well... and if it's that big a problem anyone who regularly alt tabs should be in borderless mode anyway, that'll make any alt tab issue go away.

 

[Furioso]

Oh wow this thread fixes a problem I never thought to ask for a solution for

 

[Nalgas D. Lemur]

Tab out.

But dont do it if its a game that uses the Source engine, because the Source engine SUCKS ASS and the game will crash if you minimize it.

That's bollocks, I alt tab constantly and never had it crash for that reason. Source engine even lets you goto fullscreen windowed mode so alt tabbing is instant whilst still being fullscreen, which is rare now a days and a godsend to anyone with multiple monitors.

What OS are you using? I never had the problem before switching to Windows 7, now literally every source game crashes upon alt-tab. A friend of mine running the same version (64 bit) has the same problem. A simple google search gives way to a wealth of people who seem to have the exact same problem.

The problem seems to be exclusive to Windows 7 64 bit, which is a pretty big problem because a lot of people use it, but on the other hand, ALL users of 7 64 bit seem to experience it, so... Am I really talking bollocks? Or are you?

I've been using Win7-64 on the desktop I play games on since one of the developer previews a couple months before the retail release of it, and I've never, ever had any problems with alt-tab and Source Engine games. That's not to say that it doesn't happen for some people, but it's certainly not a universal thing.

 

[DazZ.]

Skype call that threw me out of a round of L4D2

I know in L4D2 under the fullscreen options theres fullscreen/borderless/windowed. If you go to borderless it'll act as a window that looks fullscreen, so if its all you're running you wont tell the difference and if skype comes up being a prick it'll just go on top of the game and not even minimize it. Meaning you ca just click behind skype to quickly get back in.

Should never happen again.