Legality Question

I bought Orange Box on steam, but its like 9GB to download and my download limit is 12GB. So anyway I was complaining to my friend how on telstra internet it should be usage free for steam downloads. So he tells me he has a cracked version, so I am wondering if I extract these files to my steam directory (without the crack of course) will steam recognize them? and save me downloading 9GB or will steam see them as illegal and ban my account?

EDIT: Added print screen for proof of purchase

If he has a cracked version which uses the same .gcf files as steam and you place those in your steamapps folder, it is 100% legal.

There are different releases of cracked versions though, some dont use the gcf files.

I suppose it may recognise the localised content and only download what it needs, reducing your DL size and time, and I dont see any reason why, seeing as you brought the game legit, it should matter whose files you use.

However, I really cant say for sure what will happen, you'll just have to cut down on DLs for a bit afterwards.

Your question has nothing to do with legality since you've bought the game.

The only thing that's iffy is whether steam will recognize the game files. I'm not sure whether steam checks if you've downloaded HL2 before allowing you to play. In other words, you have to make sure that steam does not check that you're trying to start up HL2 even though you've never downloaded the contents of the game through steam. If it does, then it might raise a red flag and get your account banned.