Solutions For Steam Problems After The 9/23 Update

A large user group of Valve's Source games have experienced problems after the latest Steam update which prepares for the Day of Defeat: Source activation today at 3pm PDT. These problems include lock-ups, crashes and hangs as well as performance problems. Click the headline for a few steps that Valve would like you to try.

When you start your game and it locks up at the loading screen, try the following:

For those using Firewall software, you need to manually re-add C:\Program Files\Valve\Steam\SteamApps\username\half-life 2\hl2.exe to your exceptions list. Once the game exe has been updated on your Firewall you should no longer lock up at the Loading screen.