This is nicer than your other post asking for help.

So, let's start from the beginning. I feel like you should at least have some idea of the basics, since your account is years old and you have over a dozen games on it, but maybe not.

So to start, you'll need to be sure you're on a PC running Windows 10 or newer, Linux, or MacOS 10.15 or newer. You can't run it on your iPad or your phone. That should be obvious, but from what I've seen it's apparently not always.

Next, you need to actually have the Steam Client installed. Steam is a website, yes, but it's also a piece of software you run on your computer that handles your account, your game library, and all the updates. If you haven't installed the client, you'll need to. On the Steam website, click the green "Install Steam" button. Now click the blue button to download the installer. Run it, and it will install the actual Steam client on your computer. Now you'll need to log in with your user name and password. I also recommend you set up the Steam app on your phone. This will allow you to use 2 factor authentication for added security, and you'll be able to log in on your computer by just scanning a QR code. (As mentioned, this won't allow you to play the games on your phone, but Steam is very feature rich and there's a lot to it. Maybe later you can learn to Stream games running on your computer over to your phone or tablet, but that's another topic entirely.)

With the actual Steam client installed, logged in, and running, you'll see what basically amounts to the Steam website. That's because the client is basically a web browser, but that's besides the point. At the top you'll see some tabs for "Store", "Library", "Community", and your user name. These give you access to different Steam features. For now, click the "Library" tab.

In the library, assuming you're logged in to the correct account, you'll see a side bar with a list of all the games you own on Steam. Click the game you want, then click on the blue "Install" button that appears. The game will begin to download. When it's done, the "Install" button will become a green "play" button. Now it's as simple as clicking that button to launch your game. If everything was done properly, it should just run. You can now enjoy.

Whoever gave you that game as a gift, maybe they can be of further assistance. They clearly knew enough about how to use Steam to gift you a game. I would call on their assistance next time you run into a snag. Steam Support isn't there to offer general assistance like how to install a game. They're really there for if you have a problem with your account. They're not like 1 on 1 tech support.

Thank you for your detailed reply. Yes, I've been here for years, and yes, I have Steam installed on my computer, and yes, I've downloaded and installed a bunch of games on my computer. In fact, just the other day I installed "The Room", which is proving to be quite the great puzzle game - I love it! However, the other game, the latest Nancy Drew game that was a gift, that one I can NOT install. The install button is grayed out and I cannot figure out why, which is something I would expect Steam Support to help me with. I'm trying to understand why this one game is the only one that will not install. My daughter, the one who sent me the game, has no idea why it won't work. I even tried buying the game myself, and the system told me that I already have the game as a gift and shouldn't bother buying it. However, it still won't install it on my computer. This is the reason for my frustration, my reason for wanting to contact tech support. When something does not work right I would expect them to be there to help in a situation like this.

Oh, there is also the play button, which I can click on, but then I get an error message saying the game can't play. So, as I said, I need help from tech support. I don't think I'm asking all that much.

Oprindeligt skrevet af drwhoar:

The install button is grayed out and I cannot figure out why

Interesting. I can find a few reasons why this might be happening after a cursory Google search. If you're able to answer the following questions, that will help me narrow things down:

What are your PC specs and operating system?

Have you ever been able to play or install the game, or has that install button been greyed out from the beginning?

Does your daughter (who gifted you the game) share your computer at all on her own account?

And a possible quick fix. A stab in the dark really.
Try clearing your download cache. Steam(top left corner) >Setting >Downloads >Clear download cache. This will require you to log in again.

Like I said, Steam support are not tech support, so for this kind of problem you're really going to be reliant on your own troubleshooting skills and help from the community.

Most likely your hardware. You mentioned "The Room" and that game is quiet old and has low system requirements while Nancy Drew is a lot newer and needs higher specs to run.
Mainly it needs a DirectX 11 compatible graphic card while "The Room" only needs DirectX9.
So its possible you have a graphic card or integrated graphic chip that does not support DirectX 11 which would prevent the game from running at all.

But all of that is just speculation and like Haruspex already wrote, it would be useful if you could post your system specifications, like your operating system, CPU, RAM and dedicated graphic card if you have one.

Also from 13 years of experience its completely pointless to contact Steam Support with technical problems related to any individual games. Thats not what they are for.
They can help with account and billing problems but thats about it.

I tried to clear my cache, but that doesn't work. I can get to the download tab in settings, but I don't see anything to click on to clear it.

Well, no luck with anything more. Can't clear cache, can't install game, can't run game. I think I'll tell my daughter to go ahead and ask for her money back. As you've all made it clear to me, Steam does nothing to help in these situations. So, we'll just give up. I mean, this is getting ridiculous, I'm spending more time just trying to install a game, and thus make a sale for these people than I will actually playing it. Been playing Room though, got pretty far, but now stuck, so I think I'll look on the discussion boards for a clue to help me. Anyway, thanks so much to everyone who tried to help, but it's clear this is pointless. I'm also thinking of just getting out of Steam altogether. I mean, come on, if they're not even going to TRY helping people with their products, what's the point of staying here? I worked for Disney for a while, and man, they take HUGE pride in their efforts to insure guests are satisfied. If Steam doesn't give a crap about us, what's the point in staying here?

Oprindeligt skrevet af drwhoar:

So, we'll just give up. I mean, this is getting ridiculous,

If Steam support was equipped to provide general tech support, you realize one of the first things they would ask you for is your system specs and your operating system, right? You have several knowledgeable users here ready and willing to provide you support, but you haven't answered any of the questions we need to be able to assist you.

PC gaming sometimes requires just a bit of knowledge, ability to read and understand things like system requirements, or at least patience and willingness to learn so you can properly troubleshoot and tinker to get things working when they don't. Perhaps you should get out of Steam. Get yourself a console, like an Xbox, a Switch, or a Playstation, where there's no tinkering needed at all. Just launch the game and play.

Since you haven't told us anything, we can only guess. Since you've told us "The Room" works fine, but Nancy Drew does not, I'm guessing your PC doesn't meet the system requirements. I don't think you have a Mac since The Room doesn't have a Mac version on Steam, so you must be running Windows. The Room was designed for Windows XP computers and requires a minimum of 2 GB of RAM and a video card with at least 512 MB of VRAM. This is absolutely ancient by today's standards, and I expect you have at least this. Nancy Drew requires a much newer PC, but nothing crazy. Still, it needs something closer to a "gaming" PC, so if you're trying to run it on an old laptop or some cheap Facebook machine of a desktop, that would explain why it won't run. It requires Windows 10 or newer, a CPU from about 10 years ago or newer, and a fairly powerful dedicated graphics card also from about 10 years ago or newer. It will probably also do fine on relatively new integrated graphics on a modern APU, but something tells me you don't have that.

Since your install button is greyed out, I'm guessing you are running an older 32 bit version of Windows. Perhaps Windows 7, or maybe even Windows Vista. I'm guessing 7 since I think Steam will refuse to run on Vista these days, though a few people are still running 7 even though Steam support for that OS ended in January 2024.

So do yourself a favor and get yourself a console, or even a tablet. There are plenty of adventure games to play on tablets, and you won't need to worry about whether or not your system meets the requirements so much.

Her Interactive appears to offer support on their website.[www.herinteractive.com] Maybe they will be more accommodating to your unique challenges, though you'll still need to be able to answer questions like what operating system you're running. They also have a support email at techsupport@herinteractive.com.

Good luck to you.

Okay, well, I've made progress. I was actually able to download and install the game. Frankly, I have no clue HOW I did it as it just seemed to happen, but it IS on my computer now. However, I still can't play it! I can open the game, start a new one, set the level, and then I get the opening screen. That's as far as it goes. It keeps telling me to right-click to select something, but it doesn't do any good. The picture sure is pretty: a cathedral somewhere, but it does make for a boring game when nothing else happens. Oh well, again, many thanks to everyone who tried to help. Clearly this is going nowhere.