Steam is a digital video game distribution service. It provides the user with automatic game installation and update, as well as community features such as friend lists and groups, cloud backup and in-game voice and chat functionality In today’s article, we will look at the potential causes, then the possible solutions that you can try to resolve the Steam service installation error that you may encounter on Windows 10.
When you try to launch the Steam client on Windows 10, you may receive one of the following error messages:
To properly run Steam on this version of Windows, the Steam service component does not work properly on this computer. Reinstalling the Steam service requires administrator privileges.
OR
To properly run Steam on this version of Windows, the Steam service component must be installed. The service installation process requires administrator privileges.
The problem is related to the Steam service which is vital for the Steam app to work properly.
The main cause of the Steam service error is that Steam simply does not have sufficient permissions to perform a certain action or access a certain file.
Another reason for the error may be due to the fact that the Steam service simply does not work when it should and the service may be interrupted and you will need to repair it.
Fixed Steam Service component error
If you are faced with a Steam service installation error, you can try our recommended solutions below in no particular order and see if that helps to fix the problem.
- Run Steam as administrator
- Make sure the Steam service starts automatically
- Repair Steam customer service.
Let’s take a look at the description of the process involved in relation to each of the solutions listed.
1]Run Steam as administrator
Recent Windows or Steam updates may have changed something regarding the permissions of the Steam executable and it may not be able to access all of the folders it was able to access before the updates. day. Therefore, you can try running the Steam program as an administrator and see if it helps.
Here’s how:
- Locate the Steam executable on your computer. If it’s on your desktop as a shortcut, just right-click the shortcut and choose the Properties in the context menu. Otherwise, you will need to locate its installation folder on your computer. If you changed the default folder during installation, be sure to access it.
- Go to Compatibility in the Properties window.
- Under the Settings section check the box next to the Run this program as an administrator option.
- Click on Apply > Okay for the changes to take effect.
Check if the problem persists. If so, try the next solution.
2]Make sure the Steam service starts automatically
The Steam service must work for Steam to function properly. This service should start every time Steam is launched, but sometimes it just isn’t. To resolve this issue, you need to make sure that this service starts automatically on your computer.
Here’s how:
- Press Windows key + R.
- In the Run dialog box, type services.msc and press Enter.
- Scroll and locate the Steam customer service in the list of services and right click on it and select Properties in the context menu.
If the service is started (you can check that right next to the service status message), you must stop it by clicking on the Stop button in the middle of the window. If it has already been stopped, leave it as is (for now).
- Make sure the option under the Startup type in the properties of Steam customer service is set to Automatic and confirm any prompts that may appear when you set the startup type.
- Now click on the Start button under the Service status section.
You may receive the following error message when you click Start:
Windows could not start Steam client service on the local computer. Error 1079: The account specified for this service differs from the account specified for other services running in the same process.
In this case, follow these steps to resolve the error:
- Press Windows key + R.
- In the Run dialog box, type services.msc and press Enter.
- Scroll and locate the Cryptographic services in the list of services and right click on it and select Properties in the context menu.
- Go to To log in tab and click on the Browse … button.
- Under the Enter the name of the object to select , enter your account name, then click Check names and wait for the name to be recognized.
- Click on Okay when you are done and type the password in the Password box when prompted if you have set up a password.
- Click the Start button again. The service should now start without error 1079.
You can now open Steam by double-clicking on its icon and see if the Steam service error still appears. If so, go to the next solution.
3]Repair Steam Customer Service
Steam customer service can sometimes break, which can trigger the Steam service installation error. This solution requires that you repair Steam customer service by running a simple command at the command prompt. Here’s how:
First, you need to find the root folder of your Steam installation that will be needed to run the command. You can find the full path by right clicking on its shortcut on the desktop and choosing Open file location in the context menu.
Now press ALT + D key combination and then press Ctrl + C key combination to copy the file path to the Clipboard. The default path must be:
C:Program Files (x86)SteambinSteamService.exe
Now press the Windows key + R.
In the Run dialog box, type cmd then press CTRL + SHIFT + ENTER to launch the command prompt in administrator mode.
In the command prompt window, copy and paste the command below and press Enter.
C:Program Files (x86)SteambinSteamService.exe /repair
Once the command is executed, launch the Steam client and see if the problem is resolved.
I hope this helps you!