Steam loading times have increased over time.
Steam loading times have increased over time.
Did steam operate already at the time you attempted to open it from the desktop shortcut? If not, it needs to be launched first before the game can begin.
Hey there, important point: I think your HDD is working well. Just a reminder, have you divided your HDD so your OS, app installations, and data storage stay separate? This improves performance and longevity. I’m guessing you’re using Windows 7? Either way, this can slow things down in any Windows version because of how Steam shortcuts are managed. For details, read the explanation before asking more questions. In short: shortcuts take longer since they have to meet extra requirements than a direct launch from Steam. That’s why app loads often feel slower—about five seconds more. Explanation: When you make a desktop shortcut for an app from Steam, it always asks to open Steam first. This is due to the fact that the actual executable files are meant to run through Steam’s system and specific folders, not independently (because of DRM). So when you start the app via the shortcut, it has to go through this extra step: double-click → verify Steam is running → confirm login → ask Steam to run the app → check if online mode is needed → launch from its own directory. In a typical DRM-free shortcut, the process is simpler (if you’re logged in as admin, which triggers a UAC prompt): double-click → run app directly in its folder. When you open an app directly inside Steam, you bypass many of those checks: just click “play” or “open,” and Steam handles online mode verification automatically. The usual reason for the slowdown is twofold: 1) Windows remembers frequently used shortcuts because it’s indexed faster, remembering that prior checks were successful. This gets cleared when you shut down or restart (Fast Startup in Windows 10 fixes this). 2) Some HDDs store commonly accessed data—like shortcuts—in cache, which speeds things up. But if other files get priority or the drive is defragmented, overwritten, or formatted, their use becomes more noticeable. Over time, Windows or your HDD will start recognizing these shortcuts for quicker access. If you want, just open them from Steam. That should help. Let me know if you have more questions.