I have a problem that, for whatever reason, causes my wireless adapter to disconnect completely from the computer and reconnect after a short while. If this occurs while I'm downloading a game through Steam (the dis-/reconnecting problem happens fairly often), Steam crashes outright and without any error message. The fact that I have to manually re-open Steam after a crash is a real pain, because it prevents me from being able to download larger games like GTA IV and Fallout: New Vegas overnight, at a time when I can consume the entirety of the bandwidth.
I can't run out and go drop $15 on a new adapter right now, so is there some way I can prevent Steam from crashing when it loses connection, in the meantime?
Best Answer
I recommend a complete refresh of your installation, because Steam should not crash if you lose connection:
https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=3134-TIAL-4638
If this does not help, there is more wrong than just your wifi adapter. I have wireless too and if mine is disconnecting for whatever reason, Steam just stops downloading.
As a further workaround, you can use this batch script:
Put it on your desktop in a textfile and save it as "check_steam.cmd" and run it before you leave your computer. Make sure you have fileendings on, so you really remove the .txt ending and save it as .cmd. The icon should change to a window with some cogs.
It simply checks if Steam is running and if not, it relaunches it. You can cancel the script at any time by pressing Ctrl-C in the black window that it opens and answering the question with Y.
For further problems with your computer that do not involve any gaming related software, I recommend asking on superuser, which is a site of Stack Exchange.