Orange Box not a good idea because of steam issues?

I was gifted HL2 earlier today..... and steam WILL NOT launch this game. I've tried everything including posting on steam forums.....

If I were to buy the orange box, how would I be certain it would work? I'll but the retail version, but I can't see myself buying it if there's a chance I won't be able to enjoy the games. Check this out:

HL2 Demo: Won't launch

HL2: Won't launch

HL2 Lost Coast: Launches fine

HL2 Deathmatch: Launches fine

HL2: EP1: Launches fine

Would all of the other orange box games work?

I never said I haven't played it yet.... I've played it plenty of times.... I have the Xbox port.

100% done downloading, I try to run it, steam window comes up saying "preparing to launch Half-Life 2"

My screen goes blank for a second, then returns to desktop, then goes blank again, finally coming back to the desktop without an error message.

Absolute BS.

Buying the retail version won't change your situation at all. You still need to validate and update your game through Steam. If (as previous poster asked) your game is 100% downloaded and ready to play, you may want to try restarting Steam. It can sometimes get cranky, but restart generally clears this up. Notice that "exiting" only minimizes Steam to the system tray down in the lower right by your clock. You need to right click it there and choose Exit again to actually restart it.

Ouch. Are drivers (esp. video) up to date? Here's a thread on HL2 crashing on launch in Vista with some additional suggestions.

Ouch. Are drivers (esp. video) up to date? Here's a thread on HL2 crashing on launch in Vista with some additional suggestions.

giantraddish

THANKS! Apparently I needed to launch it in windowed mode, works great!

Playing this game on the Original Xbox compared to my new PC is night & Day..... I'm gonna replay the game!

[QUOTE="giantraddish"]

Ouch. Are drivers (esp. video) up to date? Here's a thread on HL2 crashing on launch in Vista with some additional suggestions.

gotcha455

THANKS! Apparently I needed to launch it in windowed mode, works great!

Playing this game on the Original Xbox compared to my new PC is night & Day..... I'm gonna replay the game!

yahoo! good for you. enjoy it as it was meant to be enjoyed! :)

Just a note for next time: Maybe you can be a little more descriptive in your original post. Post your system spec and the error msg and it's alot easier to help. It's hard when the first step is pulling information out of the person that needs helpTeamR

My specs are in my sig, you're not on Gamefaqs so I assume you overlooked them. But we weren't talking about specs....

Also, there was no error message. That was the biggest puzzler for me.