Cleanup is going to take awhile, so the site is back up but editing has been disabled.

From HalfLife 2 Knowledge Base

Q: I have a desktop with a hard drive holding all my documents and operating system, and another additional hard drive for select files. Is it possible for me to install Steam and Half Life 2 to my additional hard drive?

A: yea, its ezy, when you install it will ask for a destination, most likly C:\hl2 or something, just selece the drop down list and choos your other drive, and then what file in that drive you want it in

Q: Why can't I change the installation directory during setup from my CD/DVD copy of Half-Life 2?

A: If you previously installed Steam, the installation forces the install directory to be the same as your Steam Directory. To change this, you first need to uninstall Steam, then run the CD/DVD setup again, which will then install Steam and Half-Life 2 in the directory of your choosing.

Q: I tried installing Half-Life 2 without installing Counter-Strike: Source, and I got an error (CAB File error, Fatal Disk Error, etc.). What should I do?

A: Cancel the current installation, and reinstall. This time select Counter-Strike: Source and install it as well. If you do not want to keep Counter-Strike: Source on your PC AFTER INSTALLATION, you can remove it using the instructions below:

   * After HL2 has been successfully installed, open up the Steam client.
   * Select the Play Games list
   * RIGHT click on Counter-strike: Source and select Properties
   * Select "Delete Local Content."

Q: How to I install the 64bit version of Half-Life 2?

A: There are small list of aditional hardware and software requirements to even obtain access to Half-Life 2 64bit.

   A 64bit Processor such as an AMD64 or an EMT-64 enable CPU
   64bit version of windows such as Windows XP Professional 64, Windows Server 2003, Windows Vista 64.

In a 64 bit windows you'll notice that there are 2 "Program Files" folder. Program Files is for 64bit programs and "Program Files (x86)" is for 32bit programs. When installing Steam its important to install it into the the "Program Files" folder or any folder other than the "Program Files (x86)" as the (x86) breaks the file paths for source apps. After you have installed steam and have downloaded Half-Life 2, run Half-Life 2 and it should update. After the Update restart steam and you'll notice that Half-Life 2 is re-downloading from 0%. When it its finish, run Half-Life 2 and you should now see a tab on the top of the screen that will say "64bit Mode Enable".

Q: Why am I having delay difficulties authenticating Half-Life 2?

A: The high volume of everyone installing the game on release day or shortly thereafter is causing excessive traffic to the Steam authentication servers. Your best bet is to keep trying, as the servers should settle down to normal operation over the next few days.

Q: I thought my video card was supported, but when I try to run Half-Life 2, I have problems. What gives?

A: Although the cards listed below are listed as DirectX 7 Compatible, they are not supported for Half-Life 2:

   3DLabs Wildcat VP560
   XGI Volari V8 Ultra
   Matrox P750
   Matrox G400-550
   SiS Xaber 400

Q: What are the minimum requirements for me to be able to install Half-Life 2? Problem: Half Life 2 – System Requirements

A: Minimum System Requirements:

    1.2 GHz Processor
    4.5 GB HD Space
    256MB RAM
    DirectX® 7 graphics card
    DirectX® 9.0b
    Windows® 2000/XP/Me/98
    Mouse
    Keyboard
    Internet connection
    CD-ROM Drive (for Half-Life® 2 Standard Edition); DVD-ROM Drive (for Half-Life® 2 Collector"s Edition)

    Recommended System Requirements:
    2.4 GHz Processor
    512MB RAM
    DirectX® 9 graphics card
    DirectX® 9.0c
    Windows® 2000/XP
    Mouse
    Keyboard
    Internet connection
    CD-ROM Drive (for Half-Life® 2 Standard Edition); DVD-ROM Drive (for Half-Life® 2 Collector"s Edition)

You also need to have Administrator rights to install / run Half-Life 2 (WinXP and Win2000)

Q: After the installation checks for DirectX 9.0c, and I click Next, the install does not continue. How can I get it to continue?

A: This happens usually due to not enough free space on the hard drive you are trying to install Half-Life 2 to. Make sure you have at least 4.5GB of free space to install the game. If you still have problems, try running a disk cleanup / disk defragmenter utility on the drive. You can do both of these from Start... Programs... Accessories... System Tools menu.

Q: I tried installing Counter-Strike: Source to an existing installation of Half-Life 2, because I didn't select it when I originally installed Half-Life 2. It did not work. How can I install Counter-Strike: Source?

A: You can do one of two things: You can uninstall Half-Life 2 and Steam and reinstall everything all over again, this time selecting Counter-Strike: Source during installation, OR download Counter-Strike: Source through Steam instead of reinstalling everything with your CDs / DVDs.

Q: I tried entering the CD/DVD key during installation and I get an Invalid CD/DVD Key error. How can I get my key to work?

A: Make sure you are entering the key exactly as it is displayed on the packaging. It should be five groups of five letters and numbers. You MUST include the dashes (-) between each of the 5 character entries in the key.

    Example Key Entry:  5AB34-1234A-2ABCD-XYZ3X-A2B34

Q: I just want Half-Life 2 on my computer, and I want to get rid of Steam, Can I do this?

A: Unfortunately you need to have Steam installed on your computer in order to have Half-Life 2 on your computer. If you want Steam off of your computer at all costs, you need to uninstall Half-Life 2, then you will be able to uninstall Steam.

Q: Do I need to register Half-Life 2 before playing the game?

A: You don't need to register the program to play Half-Life 2, and you can cancel that option if you prefer. You must still authenticate your CD/DVD Key through Steam before launching the game for the first time. To clarify the difference, registering includes your Name, Address, Phone Number, etc. whereas authenticating only involves the CD/DVD Key on your packaging.

Q: I'm having installation error during the installation process of Half-Life 2 other than the items mentioned above. Is there anything else I can try before contacting support?

A: If your installation has an error (for example -1335) during the installation process, you can try these items:

• 1) Make sure all of your disk(s) are clean. If they appear dirty, use a soft cotton cloth and wipe the disk in a straight line from the center outward. DO NOT WIPE IN A CIRCULAR MOTION.

• 2) Try installing from a secondary CD/DVD drive on your machine.

• 3) Verify that your CD/DVD firmware drivers are up to date with your system / drive manufacturer.

• 4) Use the selective startup option in MSCONFIG. to do this, at the desktop and click on Start... Run... and type msconfig in the text box, and click OK. When the menu appears, click on the General tab. Under Startup Selection, select Selective Startup and UNCHECK the selection Load Startup Items. Click Apply and then OK. Reboot the computer and retry. You can always return the system to normal startup by going back into MSCONFIG and selecting the Normal Startup option on the General tab and checking Load Startup Items.

• 5) Ensure that you have cleaned out your temporary directories. To do this, double click on my computer, right click on the appropriate hard drive and left click on properties. Click on the Disk Cleanup button ensure temporary files are checked and proceed to clean up these files.

• 6) Ensure that your hard drive is not fragmented. To defrag your hard drive, click on Start... Programs... Accessories... System Tools... and select Disk Defragmenter, select the appropriate drive and click Defragment. Please be aware that this process, depending on the size of the drive, may take up to and over an hour to complete.

• 7) Try copying the content of all of the game CDs/DVD to a folder on the hard drive and running the installation from this location (If you receive a an overwrite prompt select "Yes to all".). Note: You will need approximately 3.5 GB of free space on the hard drive to apply this option. Once all of the content of the CDs/DVD has been copied to the hard drive, double-click on the setup.exe file to start the installation.

If you are still encountering an error during installation, it is most likely due to one or more of the disks being either damaged or defective, and it is recommended that you obtain a complete program replacement. Please refer to the Half-Life 2 documentation for information regarding disk replacement.