[WORKAROUND] STEAM games updater for Windows before 10

[PowerGod]

STEAM client is still working on Windows before version 10, but it's not updated anymore.

Some changes happened anyway on newer versions of the client that created some issues:

• The client itself could have issue to start without some legacy parameters added
• Game updates results corrupted most of the time (probably a change in the protocol used), making impossible to update games with the client

In my particular case the first issue could be solved launching the client with the sandbox disabled:

Steam.exe -nochatui -nofriendsui -cef-disable-sandbox

Updating games instead will require the external official tool SteamCMD (downloadable from Steam site), that has some compatibility flags, but it's not simple to use and requires some scripting with all the game IDs to check ...
also Steam Client must be closed before updating games in this way ...

So, I made a Batch to do all the work for me:

1. Check and download updates for ALL the Steam games installed
2. Launch Steam client with custom parameters

Requirements:

1. SteamCMD (downloadable from Steam site), just put it in a folder and run once the executable, it will create all its needed structure
2. A junction link to substitute the "appdata" folder of SteamCMD with a redirection to the STEAM Client "appdata" folder
   Example command to create it:
   mklink /D "C:\SteamCMD\steamapps" "C:\Program Files\Steam\steamapps"
3. Update the "VARIABLE DEFINITIONS" section of the Batch with your installation Path of SteamCMD and Steam Client, your Steam username
   and optionally the custom parameters to launch the Steam Client after the game updates (so to launch Steam you just run this batch)

Spoiler: LEGACY_STEAM_UPDATER.bat

@ECHO OFF
SETLOCAL EnableExtensions EnableDelayedExpansion

REM ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
REM LEGACY STEAM UPDATER for all the games found installed in the steamapps folder
REM ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
REM ver.1.0 (PowerGod 2026)

REM To make this work the "steamapps" folder of SteamCMD MUST BE a symlink to the STEAM "steamapps" folder,
REM so to have direct access to the "*.acf" files (games installed) and the STEAM "downloading" folder.
REM Also STEAM must be closed before running this script, as them works on the same library.

REM Example,
REM if the SteamCMD folder is "C:\SteamCMD"
REM and the STEAM folder is "C:\Program Files\Steam"
REM the command to create the link is this:
REM
REM          mklink /D "C:\SteamCMD\steamapps" "C:\Program Files\Steam\steamapps"
REM
REM To remove the link (if, for example, must be recreated for another STEAM library)
REM
REM          rmdir "C:\SteamCMD\steamapps"




REM ---------------------------------
REM -- VARIABLE DEFINITIONS        --
REM ---------------------------------

REM Steam username
SET SteamUserName=MySteamUserName

REM SteamCMD executable folder
SET SteamCMDPath=C:\SteamCMD

REM Steam installation folder
SET SteamCLIPath=C:\Games\Steam

REM FLAG for VALIDATE downloaded and installed contents to repair corrupted contents
REM 0 = OFF
REM 1 = ON (slower)
SET SteamValidateFL=0

REM Steam launch command (can contain compatibility parameters)
REM If used, it will launch Steam client after updating all the games
SET SteamLaunch="%SteamCLIPath%\Steam.exe" -nochatui -nofriendsui -cef-disable-sandbox"

REM ---------------------------------
REM -- END OF VARIABLE DEFINITIONS --
REM ---------------------------------




SET SteamAPPPath=%SteamCLIPath%\steamapps

SET "ValidateParam="
if "%SteamValidateFL%"=="1" set "ValidateParam=validate"

ECHO.
ECHO Starting connection to Steam for forced update games on OLD systems
ECHO.

cd %SteamCMDPath%


tasklist /FI "IMAGENAME eq steam.exe" /FO CSV /NH | findstr /I /C:"steam.exe" >nul

if not errorlevel 1 (
    echo.
    echo WARNING: Steam.exe is running.
    echo Close Steam before starting this script.
    echo.
    pause
    exit /b 1
)


for /f %%C in ('dir /b /a-d "%SteamAPPPath%\appmanifest_*.acf" 2^>nul ^| find /c /v ""') do set /a remaining=%%C

echo Installed Games found: !remaining!
echo.

for /f "delims=" %%F in ('dir /b /a-d "%SteamAPPPath%\appmanifest_*.acf"') do for /f "tokens=2 delims=_" %%N in ("%%~nF") do (

    for /f "tokens=2 delims=    " %%A in ('findstr /C:"installdir" "%SteamAPPPath%\appmanifest_%%N.acf"') do (
        ECHO.
        ECHO.
        ECHO --------------
        ECHO -- UPDATING -- "%%~A"
        ECHO --------------
        ECHO.
    )

    REM Remove "validate" to make the update process faster (but potentially less precise)
    @ECHO ON
    steamcmd.exe -overrideminos +login %SteamUserName% +app_update %%N !ValidateParam! +quit
    @ECHO OFF

    set /a remaining-=1

    ECHO.
    echo [!remaining! Games left ...]
)

ECHO.
ECHO.
ECHO ---------
ECHO COMPLETED
ECHO ---------
ECHO.

REM Execute SteamLaunch only if contains steam.exe
if defined SteamLaunch (
    echo(!SteamLaunch!| findstr /I /C:"steam.exe" >nul

    if not errorlevel 1 (
        echo.
        echo Launching Steam Client:
        echo !SteamLaunch!
    start "" /b !SteamLaunch!
    )
)

pause

You can also create a shortcut to the Batch in the Desktop and change its icon with the one of Steam Client ... double click and enjoy.