Installing retail Left 4 Dead on Steam

Hello, guys. Got an interesting question for you all.

I've already got Left 4 Dead preloaded on my Steam. I played its demo, liked it, but did not know that Steam had already preloaded the entire game on my machine!

Nothing wrong with it, really, as I really like the game from the demo I played.

Now suppose I go out and buy a retail copy of Left 4 Dead(it is cheaper), and I want to install it on Steam. Will the installation actually take place, or will it simply recognize the fact that I've already got the game preloaded on my rig and just goes to the Product Key Code screen and lets me enter the key code, and that's that?

Any of you know?

Many thanks in advance.

I believe you can just open steam, go to the "games" menu, next to the file drop down menu, "Activate a product on steam".

Shelnutt2 said:

I believe you can just open steam, go to the "games" menu, next to the file drop down menu, "Activate a product on steam".

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It's actually at the bottom of the Steam window! Thanks for the pointer!

Hopefully, when I purchase a retail copy, entering the key code there will suffice!

Thanks again for the info! It's appreciated!

It should. You can probably toss the DVD when you get it, after you enter the key in Steam Once Steam has the key stored, you won't need the DVD anymore.

ya worse case you toss in the DVD and it tells you you need steam, opens steams checks it and done

petteyg359 said:

It should. You can probably toss the DVD when you get it, after you enter the key in Steam Once Steam has the key stored, you won't need the DVD anymore.

Click to expand...

Yeah, that's the advantage of owning games via Steam! Hope Valve will NEVER go under!

Mr.Guvernment said:

ya worse case you toss in the DVD and it tells you you need steam, opens steams checks it and done

Click to expand...

The worst case is still not that bad! There's a good chance that I will go the retail route, because the retailers will discount the price in a significant fashion several months from now.

As I said, from the demo I played, it is really a fun game!

Thanks for chiming in!

Man from what I'm reading, everyone's preload worked right.



Mine just started downloading a different file altogether... Well it's at 60% now, but at that speed I'll probably have to wait until tomorrow to play.

I think buying it from Valve also puts you on highspeed servers. I was getting it at 1100kb/sec.

Father and 2 brothers also got it quick.

Just a hunch.

Oh that's my ISP's max speed. I think it didn't work with the Preload because I bought the "Left 4 Dead 4 pack" instead of "Left 4 Dead".