Cant install Counter Strike Source

[liamha]

Well i hope someone can help me with this one since i finally have a computer that can play source, but it wont install.
Im not a computer guy so all i really know is my computer is a toshiba laptop with windows XP.
I put in the first disc for the install and as soon as it starts downloading the couter strike source shared.gfc an error message comes up which says.

Error 1335. The cabinet file 'css.cab' required for this installation is corrupt and cannot be used. this could indicate a network error, an error reading from the CD-ROM, or a problem with this package.

It is a brand spankin new copy of source so i doubt its the disc. Also a few weeks back i tryed to install DOD source which is a seperat disc and it would not install because of a similar error. Maybe the two problems are linked? Hell i dont know.
Any and all positive help is appreciated.

[Sintra]

Register the cd keys to your steam account and download the content.

[liamha]

You cant register the CD key until you download the game i thought. Thats how its worked for all the other steam games. Plus i already have a CD key in use for 1.6, i thought you just had to download the game, no registering. I dont know how to even register a cd key there doesnt seem to be an option for it when i go through the install procedures. Thanks for the help though Sintra.
Ive tryed 5 more times and i get the same message, so any help is still appreciated and needed.

[Sintra]

Hmm I was pretty sure you could register the cdkeys and then download the content.
You see, I also paid for hl2 and source came with it. At the time, I installed the game from the cds since my connection was very weak back then. Now, I have the option to just download.
-> Games tab, choose activate a product.
Press next/agree a couple of times and then it should ask you for your cdkey. Enter your hl2/source cdkey that comes with your dvd.

[liamha]

OK well of course you can add a CD key without installing. As i said i really know dick all about computers. Anyway it still wont install, but now i dont get that error message. It starts installing the counter strike source shared.gcf, but it doesnt go any further. I can hear the disk spinning and the progress bar is moving, but i waited 45 minutes and nothing. I tryed three times and nadda.
Thanks again for the help though.

[Sintra]

Dude, just add the cdkey. Then go look at your games tab and source should be there in gray letters (or something like that) in the "Not installed" section. Double click it and it should ask you if you want to download the game. Download it! It should take some time, depends on your connection.
With this method you DON'T use your dvd, you just download all the content (content being the actual game files you need to play) from steam servers. So, there's no installation as commonly known.

I'll explain it further: the things you need to play any steam game are 1st - a cdkey which you must register to your account using the activate game product; 2nd - you need the game content, which comes in gcf files. These gcf files can be transfered via steam (downloading content), or can be installed via a DVD or even be given to you by a friend who has the game (all he has to do is copy the gcf files to a DVD and give it to you).

I don't know how to make this any simpler.

This can be done, other people have done it, so you can too.

[liamha]

I had registered the CD key and i tryed doing it the way you said, but it was giving me similar issues. It would get stuck at 53% and then close steam.
Anyway i tryed agian to install it with the disks just for the hell of it and for some reason it worked.
BUT, i now have the same issue as the people in this thread.

[link="http://csnation.totalgamingnetwork.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=24351"]http://csnation.totalgamingnetwork.com/...hreadid=24351[/link]

'The instruction at "0x10033e2c" referenced memory at "0x0e39a1a0" The memory could not be "read"'

Sorry im a moron Sintra, im a mechanic and even though anything made after 88 pretty much has a computer in it, i still dont know what the hell im doing. Thanks again for your help.

[Sintra]

Well it's not actually your fault. Valve takes a long ass time to make things work. Steam still has flaws (which can be very annoying) and it's been around for long.
What you did should have worked like no problem.

Gah, memory problems...
I have only once had a problem like that and it was due to playing around with virutal memory.

OK, so [link="https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=1274-UOHK-5653"]THIS[/link] is what steam support has to say about the issue. Try to follow it as closely as possible and just post whatever you don't understand.

First of all, I'd advise to do the gcf check. Right click the game, select properties and go to the Local files tab. Select verify integrity of game cache. I don't know how long it takes (never done it before).
Secondly, make sure your computer can handle source. Something like a 2800+MHz processor, 500+MB ram and a geforce 6600+ should be ok.
Is this a recent computer? Any chance your drivers might be outdated?

If you could post your computer specifications it would be great.

P.S.: even though nowadays most things have a computer, there really isn't anything like good old manual work
Lost count of the times I'd like to smash a monitor in...