Steam is a digital distribution platform that provides for purchasing and playing video games. It is developed by Valve Corporation, allowing video streaming, matchmaking, social networking services, and digital rights management as well. It also offers its users with installation and automatic updating of games. But users, at times, face steam missing file privileges error, which also shows the path to the mentioned file. This is minor error and the user will be able to get rid of it with the methods mentioned below.
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5 Ways to Fix Steam Missing File Privileges Error
Stopping igfxEm.exe module in Task manager
igfxEm.exe is an executable file and is a component of Intel Common User Interface developed by Intel Corporation. It is an Intel installation package provided while installing Microsoft Windows for Intel graphics card. It’s a middleware between Intel graphics and the user. It enables the display resolution settings to persist and remain saved even when it’s turned off.
igfxEm stands for Intel Graphics Executable Main Module. It brings no harm to your computer and is from a trustworthy source. It is stored in C:\\Windows\System32\igdxEm.exe. If this file is found somewhere else, then it is probably a Trojan or a malware and may be harmful to the computer. It’s digitally signed.
It has been observed by many users that stopping this module and restarting Steam have fixed the steam missing file privileges error. Being a non-core file, stopping it won’t affect the functionality of the system either. Hence, to stop this service, you need to follow the below-mentioned steps:
- Press Windows + R key and type ‘taskmgr’ in it. This will open the Windows Task Manager for you. Or you can press Ctrl + Shift + Esc simultaneously to open it.
- Under the Process tab, find igfxEm and select it.
- Then click on End Task.
- Relaunch Steam and run it as administrator.
Try installing or updating the game again and see whether the steam missing file privileges issue has been fixed or not.
Change Download Region
Steam content system is divided into different regions. It automatically detects the region in which you are operating via your network and sets it as default. Sometimes, due to technical glitches like overloading of the servers, or hardware failure, it fails to detect the correct region and hence the steam missing file privileges error occurs.
Thus, changing the download region has worked for many of the users and it may as well work for you. To change the download region, you need to:
- Open Steam. Click on Steam on the upper left corner. A drop-down menu will appear from which you need to select Settings.
- Click on Downloads and navigate to Download region.
- Select your region and click on OK.
- Restart Steam and try downloading or installing the game now.
Reboot Your System
Sometimes, you just need to turn off your system and then switch it on again. Solutions to difficult problems may lie in the simplest of ways, and rebooting your system to fix the steam missing file privileges error is one of them.
Steam, while downloading or updating a game, breaks its data into small parts of 1 MB each and assembles these pieces afterward, to allow them to perform their roles correctly. This is done in order to avoid downloading of corrupt files and also saving your bandwidth.
Thus, restarting your system will fix any issues that the computer is facing and which are creating trouble for Steam as well. Also, avoid running any other programs or software in the background while downloading or updating a game using Steam.
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Granting administrative access to Steam
Steam, in order to run smoothly, requires Read and Write access on your computer. The problem arises when your system treats it as a “Read-only” program. So, administrative access shall be provided to it, to make sure that it works optimally. No need to worry of any harm to your system, as Steam is digitally signed and all its programs are malware-proof.
Therefore, to grant administrative access to Steam, go through the following steps:
- Open Steam directory. You can find it in ‘C:/Program files/Steam’, or press Windows + R key and type ‘%ProgramFiles(x86)%’ in the dialogue box, followed by pressing Enter. Or you can simply browse to the location where you have installed Steam.
- Locate the Steam folder and right-click on it. Then, select Properties.
- Under the ‘Security’ tab, click on ‘Advanced’ in the bottom.
- In the table that is presented after performing d. above, you need to make sure that the first 4 rows are granted full control if not, you need to edit and do it. The last two rows are non-editable.
- To provide full control, select the row and click on Edit.
- A dialogue box will appear with various options.
- Check all these options, including full control for all the 4 rows. Click on Apply, and then close it.
- Right-click on Steam and select ‘Run as administrator’.
Granting administrative access will most probably solve the issue for you, and you’ll be able to download or update your game.
Repairing Steam Library folder and using Verify Integrity of Game Files
A corrupt or incorrectly configured Steam library folder may be the reason for steam missing file privileges error. Some game files may be corrupt or incomplete.
The Verify Integrity of Game will try to fix the issue and repair the corrupt or incomplete files. It also has the repairing files option which will refresh the files and help with the file/s that is unregistered. Therefore, for repairing the library folder, follow these steps:
- Open Steam. Click on Steam, given at the upper left corner.
- From the drop-down, select Settings.
- Click on Downloads and select Steam Library folders found at the top.
- A small window showing all the locations where Steam is installed will open. Right click and select ‘Repair Library Folder’.
Now we move on to using the Verify Integrity of Game:
- In Steam itself, click on ‘Library’.
- Right-click on the game giving the error and select Properties.
- Under the ‘Local Files’ tab, click on Verify Integrity of Game Files.
Hence, this method will ensure that all corrupted files are replaced and missing ones have been downloaded.
Steam is one of the largest digital distribution platforms, in terms of market share and users as well. Originally it was launched in 2003 to solve Valve’s problems with updating their games. But by 2005, it had started hosting third-party games, and by 2016 it was officially launched to perform such functions.
Missing file privileges is an error that has been irritating users. Reasons for this can be many, depending upon the users’ hardware and software configuration. But with the methods mentioned above, you will be able to solve the technical glitches and fix the steam missing file privileges issue.
I’m an engineer by profession and blogger by passion. In madly love with technology. When I am not reading novels, I am cooking or listening to Jay Shetty’s podcasts.
