Installing windows games on Steam deck

[Maximo101]

I have a couple windows games I want to intall on my new steam deck. There is an .exe file and a .bin file. I have saved the files on my sdcard in the downloads folder.
I tried 'bottles' to install the game, but at the start of the install after running the exe file, it asks me where the rest of the files are. I found the dowload folder and pointed to it, but the steam deck doesn't seem to see the bin file, or continue to install.
Bottles instructions are pretty generic, can someone point me to guides or tell me what I'm doing wrong?
I understand linux can run windows executable files.
Thanks for any help.

 

[Maximo101]

wow. all these answers to sift through...

so you copy the game folder(s) to your internal drive on the steam deck or the micro sd card you are using in the deck. You can also install files from a plug in usb drive, I used a Sandisk extreme ssd with usb-c plugged into a hub on the deck. This saves deleting the install files afterwards off the micro sd card or internal memory.

Open the Steam app in desktop mode. Go to Games at the top pull downand & use 'add a non-steam game to your library'. Browse to your setup.exe file and add it. Then highlight it in your library list (usually at the bottom in 'uncatagorized'). Click on the gears icon, go to campatibility in the pop-up window, and force the use of proton when using the file. I use proton - experimental, but some of the others also work on various games. [X] out of the window, and go run the setup executable in the library. It should start to install the game and ask you where to put the files. I like to use the SSD card under a 'games' folder. Make sure you can find the install folder. Using default C:/ can lead to problems afterwards in most cases.

After the game installs, find the game exe file where it was installed by similarly using Games pulldown, and add non-steam game to library, and forcing it to use proton again. Like above. You can also remove the setup file from your library, you won't use it again. I put the game exe, if it works ok, into my steam library favorites to make them easier to find among 2,000 game emlation files.

Some games won't work properly without C++ libraries or DirectX, which don't stay installed on linux. Use protontricks to solve this issue.

 

[ExceptionFatale]

wow. all these answers to sift through...

so you copy the game folder(s) to your internal drive on the steam deck or the micro sd card you are using in the deck. You can also install files from a plug in usb drive, I used a Sandisk extreme ssd with usb-c plugged into a hub on the deck. This saves deleting the install files afterwards off the micro sd card or internal memory.

Open the Steam app in desktop mode. Go to Games at the top pull downand & use 'add a non-steam game to your library'. Browse to your setup.exe file and add it. Then highlight it in your library list (usually at the bottom in 'uncatagorized'). Click on the gears icon, go to campatibility in the pop-up window, and force the use of proton when using the file. I use proton - experimental, but some of the others also work on various games. [X] out of the window, and go run the setup executable in the library. It should start to install the game and ask you where to put the files. I like to use the SSD card under a 'games' folder. Make sure you can find the install folder. Using default C:/ can lead to problems afterwards in most cases.

After the game installs, find the game exe file where it was installed by similarly using Games pulldown, and add non-steam game to library, and forcing it to use proton again. Like above. You can also remove the setup file from your library, you won't use it again. I put the game exe, if it works ok, into my steam library favorites to make them easier to find among 2,000 game emlation files.

Some games won't work properly without C++ libraries or DirectX, which don't stay installed on linux. Use protontricks to solve this issue.

I created an account just to thank you for your help. I was having trouble installing Aura Kingdom from the websites installer now that it's not on Steam, and every Google answer was "Download the installer and install!" which was the catalyst for a few forehead dents that now decorate my wall

With headache, but undeterred, I soldiered on searching for an actual answer. Like an oasis in a desert I found your post, quite fortuitous it seems, as it's a real information desert out there. After reading that it was as simple as adding the setup.exe to Steam then running that installer through Steam, I felt a little bit silly as it seems pretty obvious once you know what the answer is, but oh well. Anyways, just wanted to let you know you helped me out big time and I appreciate it

 

[Maximo101]

You are welcome! I just wish Steam would run more pc games...

Which pc games were you able to get Steam deck to run without issue? I might add some new games to my SD!!

I can run Spider-man, COD WW2, Sine Mora, Robocop, Streets of Rage, and a few more...

 

[ReacH18]

You are welcome! I just wish Steam would run more pc games...

Which pc games were you able to get Steam deck to run without issue? I might add some new games to my SD!!

I can run Spider-man, COD WW2, Sine Mora, Robocop, Streets of Rage, and a few more...

DQ 11 DE, Ender Lilies, Witcher 3, Prey (2017), Bioshock 1-3, Dave The Diver, FF 14, Spongebob : The Cosmic Shake, Tormented Souls, Eyuden Chronicles Hundred Heroes, Graveyard Keeper, Persona 4, Persona 5 Royal, Sakuna Of Rice and Ruin, Monster Hunter Stories 2, Bloodstained Ritual of the Night, Sleeping Dogs, Sandland, Elex, One Piece Odyssey, Bravely Default 2, Suikoden Remaster, Fallout 3, Final Fantasy XII, Final Fantasy X.. and some more

 

[rcpd]

You are welcome! I just wish Steam would run more pc games...

Which pc games were you able to get Steam deck to run without issue? I might add some new games to my SD!!

I can run Spider-man, COD WW2, Sine Mora, Robocop, Streets of Rage, and a few more...

Lets say we accidentally installed a Windows EXE file to the C: drive. Where is it? Everything I've found says it should be in the compdata folder, but I only have 2 folders in there and zero have that program I installed. So now my question is, how the heck do I uninstall it and reinstall it to anywhere but the C: drive in Proton?

Thanks a bunch! You helped me get a few Windows apps installed. I just got stupid and forgot not to install this one in the C: drive.

 

[Maximo101]

I did this once. I don't recall how I found the folder, but it was in some insanely long folder like 'Qare45ktodmceldsjwidlgkjdjrigoifsjsjfnnskdl' buried on the main ssd several levels down.

I my have run a search on the drive, but I found the game uninstall file and was able to run it. Try searching the main drive with the name of a file you know was installed. Maybe you can get the path that way. And good luck.

FYI, after I set up the very first install to point to the proper drive, every game after that defaulted to that drive.

 

[Taleweaver]

home/deck/.steam/steam/steamapps/compatdata

Is the folder. Every time you use steam to 'add a non steam' game, it creates a new folder with a seemingly random number (meaning: open the most recent one). There's a "c-drive" folder within, with windows like structuur. So if your exe is an installer, you'll find the installed files within.

Edit: also worth noting: if you remove a non steam game, it'll delete that extra folder under compdata.
Ive gotten games to work by first installing the installer, copy the game files from within to sd, then removing the installer, then adding the program exe from sd as a non steam game. I doubt this'll work on something more than standard, though (gog files are fine, but things using cracks... I doubt it'll do much)

 

[Maximo101]

So I was just able to successfully install PIA - my vpn/proxy onto my Steam deck. It took bunch of tries, but it works well. If anyone is interested, I can post how I was able to install it through Konsole.

FYI, I tried to install it 3 times with the original 64Gb drive my Steam deck came with and it didn't work. I changed to a 1Tb and it installed.

 

[bonkmaykr]

PIA should provide a native client or some kind of Wireguard/OpenVPN profile for you to use. I don't think running your proxy inside of WINE would be very effective (neither is PIA to begin with).

 

[Maximo101]

PIA should provide a native client or some kind of Wireguard/OpenVPN profile for you to use. I don't think running your proxy inside of WINE would be very effective (neither is PIA to begin with).

Nah, it was a linux app that they gave me. Thing is, it would't install until I upgraded the ssd, so I thought maybe at first it didn't work on the SD. Also had to use sudo to temp 'root' since the root file system is RO. That's another reason it didn't go through after trying again. I used konsole to run it. Works great, starts every time I use SD, and I can point to anywhere in the world and all my traffic is vpn'd... Good for watching sports on the little screen...

 

[Maximo101]

PIA should provide a native client or some kind of Wireguard/OpenVPN profile for you to use. I don't think running your proxy inside of WINE would be very effective (neither is PIA to begin with).

Hey, windows 10 is about to expire next month, I have a few pc's that won't run 11, do you think the SD OS would be a good change? Mostly for web surfing and streaming vid from NAS. I like Arch Linux and the SD interface I'm getting used to. Not awful...

 

[Taleweaver]

Hey, windows 10 is about to expire next month, I have a few pc's that won't run 11, do you think the SD OS would be a good change? Mostly for web surfing and streaming vid from NAS. I like Arch Linux and the SD interface I'm getting used to. Not awful...

'expire' isn't the right woord. It just won't receive further updates unless you play extra, look into a microsoft account or something. But then it's just delayed for a year.

The actual steamos(still) isn't available for everyone, though that follow up from holoiso (i forget the name) is it decent.
I've switched to Linux mint myself, and don't miss windows at all(how can I? I see it at work each day)

 

[bonkmaykr]

Hey, windows 10 is about to expire next month, I have a few pc's that won't run 11, do you think the SD OS would be a good change? Mostly for web surfing and streaming vid from NAS. I like Arch Linux and the SD interface I'm getting used to. Not awful...

I wouldn't use SteamOS as your daily driver due to it's immutable setup but CachyOS is pretty close.

I personally just use arch or a heavily tweaked EndeavourOS with NsCDE or windowmaker

 

[Maximo101]

I have a bunch of pc's around the house, including a couple stick pc's behind my not-so-smart tv's...

Arch Linux works, and so does Mint, as Taleweaver has said above, both are free, I believe.

I know micro$oft will keep win 10 alive for extra $$$ for a year. Or, if you are a student, aka Rodney Dangerfield in 'Back to School', you can get it much cheaper.

I'm worried about virus protection mostly, but it's probably cheaper to get a 3rd party VP than another new laptop.

I do have 1 Razer blade pro that did transition to 11. Nice, since I bought in in 2019...

Are all those non-transitioned pc's good for tranferrable windows 11 update for free? Each has it's own activation code for windows. Don't throw them away?

 

[Maximo101]

Does anyone know - If I take a pc game I installed to an ssd on my gaming laptop and moved it over to my Steam Deck and 'added a non-steam game', forced the game.exe file to load with proton, would it run?

I'm interested in trying this on a smaller pc game...

 

[XRTerra]

Does anyone know - If I take a pc game I installed to an ssd on my gaming laptop and moved it over to my Steam Deck and 'added a non-steam game', forced the game.exe file to load with proton, would it run?

I'm interested in trying this on a smaller pc game...

Yes, I've done it many times and it works just fine.

 

[Localhorst86]

alternatively, you can use tools like

- heroic games launcher
- lutris
- bottles

to install windows games into their own "prefix" (essentially a separate windows sandbox). Personally, I use heroic to install some old abandonware titles, like BLUR. It's often even easier than trying to get an older game running on linux than it is on Windows.
You can automatically have the games added to steam, and it allows for convenient installation of additional runtimes into that prefix via protontricks.

And when you remove a game, you can have it wipe the entire prefix, i.e. remove the game without leaving any residual files.

 

[XRTerra]

alternatively, you can use tools like

- heroic games launcher
- lutris
- bottles

to install windows games into their own "prefix" (essentially a separate windows sandbox). Personally, I use heroic to install some old abandonware titles, like BLUR. It's often even easier than trying to get an older game running on linux than it is on Windows.
You can automatically have the games added to steam, and it allows for convenient installation of additional runtimes into that prefix via protontricks.

And when you remove a game, you can have it wipe the entire prefix, i.e. remove the game without leaving any residual files.

Steam does that as well when you click on remove game from steam with a non steam game. Bottles is very useful for it's ability to actually "fully" sandbox environments meaning if you have any suspicious software you can throw it in and your install will be pretty much a-ok

 

[Latiodile]

alternatively, you can use tools like

- heroic games launcher
- lutris
- bottles

to install windows games into their own "prefix" (essentially a separate windows sandbox). Personally, I use heroic to install some old abandonware titles, like BLUR. It's often even easier than trying to get an older game running on linux than it is on Windows.
You can automatically have the games added to steam, and it allows for convenient installation of additional runtimes into that prefix via protontricks.

And when you remove a game, you can have it wipe the entire prefix, i.e. remove the game without leaving any residual files.

heroic frequently fails to install games with no error for me

also some abandonware games might also be borderline impossible to get working on linux because the "correct" crack is impossible to find, like FUEL, most of the cracks available are for the securom launcher, and the only one that'll actually work on linux is for the actual exe itself
i managed to contact a reddit user that still miraculously had the correct crack