Using Activation Key To Download Game Previously Had On Disc

If you only see Install, select it to start your download and installation. The app or game might not have a product key. If you don't see Install, select the product name. It will take you to the product page. If the button that was previously labeled Buy is now Install, select it. We'll automatically download and install your app or game. I was clearing some space in my computer and I accidentally erased spore, so I tried reinstalling but I lost my disc (which had the manual with my key) so I can't reinstall. Is there a way to download spore from EA or something, I still have my account and which has spore and spore creature creator in my games list (so that means I bought. Does UPlay have a list of older games it can accept CD keys for, like with Steam / Origin? I bought one in Ubishop, I've received a key with link to download the game but key does not work with uplay. That's bizzare. You can activate older games on UPlay BUT only games you bought recently since the generated key for the older games in.

  1. Using Activation Key To Download Game Previously Had On Disc Drive
  2. Using Activation Key To Download Game Previously Had On Discount
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I bought Modern Warfare 3 at retail, and after putting disc 1 in it installs Steam then asks for the CD key. After that it then starts downloading the game via Steam.

Using Activation Key To Download Game Previously Had On Disc Drive

I have the disc but it refuses to install the game from it. There is no other .exe for the installation besides the Steam setup.exe.

How do I install the game from the disks?

I have a slow line and a limited download cap, so I cant afford to download the entire game.

Meridian

migrated from superuser.comDec 3 '11 at 14:19

This question came from our site for computer enthusiasts and power users.

3 Answers

I had the same problem, and I really have no idea why it happens or how to fix it. I have, however, found a workaround. I tend to just do this from the get-go instead of actually using the setup, because of weird issues like this.

  1. Don't run the disc setup; instead, activate your CD key manually, and abort the actual installation process.
  2. Open the backup window (SteamBackup and Restore Games…).
  3. Select Restore a previous backup.
  4. Browse to the drive letter of the installation disc.
  5. Steam should tell you that it found a backup of Modern Warfare 3. Click next.
  6. The game will install from disc.

This has worked for me with MW3 specifically, and other games.

Note that you can't entirely avoid downloading it; you'll still have to download the latest patches to bring your game up to date.

a cata cat

You can install it from the retail discs via this method.

Download
  1. Log in to Steam and click on Library.

  2. Right-click on the game, select Delete local content, and confirm.

  3. Insert the first disc into your computer.

  4. Close Steam (Steam > Exit).

  5. Press Win + R to open Run

  6. In the Run window type:

    Replace E: with the CD/DVD drive you are installing from if is not correct.
    Replace C:Program FilesSteam if your Steam installation is not in the default location.

  7. Press OK. Steam will launch and ask you to sign in if you do not have your password saved. Your installation should continue from the disc.

Using Activation Key To Download Game Previously Had On Discount

It's the official Steam method of installing a game from retail discs that would normally install via Steam, so it works for any game in this category, including many Call of Duty games, most Valve games, and other Steam-enabled games like Civilization 5.

Using activation key to download game previously had on disc game

However, note that there have been several patches to Modern Warfare 3 since launch, which you will have to download and install via Steam before you can play the game online.

Download games for windows 7

Playing online is also likely to require a fast internet connection and a decent amount of bandwidth towards your cap, so keep that in mind if want to do anything mulitplayer with it.

agent86agent86

I had same issue. Every time I tried to install from disk it said 'Servers are too busy to handle your request..' and started to download whole game from Steam.

Dunno if it's a bug in the installer but then I tried setup.exe a second time and clicked 'reinstall' and it installed the game just fine from the disk. :D

SupremeTrooperSupremeTrooper