Three ways to install SteamOS

The SteamOS installation process is fairly streamlined, but not as simple as installing a Windows programme.

At the very least, you should know how to change the boot priority in the Bios. More importantly, you should be prepared to spend time browsing the official SteamOS discussion forums for answers.

Here are the minimum hardware requirements from Valve:

Intel or AMD 64-bit processor;

At least 4GB of RAM;

250GB hard disk space or more, 1TB for Default installation;

Nvidia, AMD, or Intel graphics card; and

USB port or DVD drive.

You should prepare a USB flash drive with at least 4GB of free space. This drive must be formatted using the FAT32 file system. If you are using the Default installation method, name the USB drive "SYSRESTORE" during the format.

There are currently three methods of installing SteamOS.

Do note that the first two methods described here will erase all data on the computer's hard drive. You should also back up your data before trying the third dual-boot method, because selecting the wrong option (and ignoring the warnings) will delete all the data.

The first two methods require a motherboard that supports UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface). This is an improved version of the BIOS that initiates the boot-up process on PCs before the operating system takes over. This technology is used by Windows 8, so PCs that are less than three years old should be UEFI-capable.

Even if your system is not UEFI-ready, you can still install SteamOS using Method 3.

Method 1: Default installation

The easiest way to get SteamOS, also known as Default installation, restores a disk image of SteamOS to the system's hard drive.

It is similar to system recovery on a laptop or resetting a mobile device to default settings.

The compressed SteamOS disk image takes up 2.6GB of space and Valve requires that your PC have a 1TB or larger hard drive.

Step 1: Download image file from store.steampowered.com/steamos/download /?ver=default.

Step 2: Unzip the contents of the image file into the USB flash drive prepared earlier.

Step 3: Plug the USB drive into your PC's USB port and restart the computer.

Step 4: Interrupt the start-up process by hitting a special key (usually Del, F11 or F12) to enter the Bios. This key varies according to the motherboard and is displayed momentarily on the screen when the computer is first turned on.

Step 5: Change the boot priority so that the system will boot up using the USB drive. The entry should be listed under "UEFI Hard Disk BBS Priorities" or something to that effect.

Step 6: Select "Restore Entire Disk" when the option appears after booting from the USB drive.

Step 7: Once the restore process is complete, the system will shut down. Remove the USB drive, turn the system on and it should boot into SteamOS.

Method 2: Custom installation

The second custom installation method requires more work as you are actually installing the Linux operating system (Debian) underlying SteamOS instead of restoring it from an image.

The installation file is smaller (around 965MB) and you do not need a 1TB hard drive.

Step 1: Download the custom SteamOS file from store.steampowered.com/steamos/download/ ?ver=custom.

Steps 2 to 5: Follow the same instructions as in Steps 2 to 5 in Method 1.

Step 6: Select "Automated Install" when the option is available. The installation should then proceed automatically.

Step 7: Once the Linux installation is complete, remove the USB drive and turn on the computer. It should show a login screen. Select Gnome and log in using "steam" for both user and password.

Step 8: Install Steam by clicking on the icon on the desktop and accept the terms of use agreement that appears.

Step 9: Click on the Steam icon at the top right corner and log out of the session. Select Gnome again and log in using "desktop" for both user and password.

Step 10: Click on the Activities tab at the top left corner, select Applications and open the Terminal app.

Step 11: Type "~/post_logon.sh" into the Terminal app window. Enter "desktop" for the password. The system will reboot to create a recovery partition and you will be prompted to continue by hitting "y". When this is completed, the system will reboot into SteamOS.

Method 3: Dual-boot installation

This third and last method is a recent addition that lets users dual-boot SteamOS without wiping their Windows installation. It works with older PCs that do not support UEFI. The installation file is an ISO image file that can be burned onto a DVD for installation.

This method requires more effort, but allows the most customisation. It should be attempted only by tech-savvy users.

Step 1: Download the ISO image from repo.steampowered.com/download/ SteamOSDVD.iso.

Step 2: Create a bootable USB drive image with the downloaded ISO file using UNetbootin or other similar utility. If you are installing from an optical drive, burn the ISO image to a blank DVD. Step 3: On the Windows PC that you wish to dual-boot SteamOS, go to Control Panel >Administrative Tools >Computer Management >Storage >Disk Management and allocate free space in your hard drive for SteamOS by shrinking your existing hard drive partition.

Set aside around 50GB to 100GB of space if you can spare it. While you can do this later during the SteamOS installation, I recommend doing it in Windows unless you are familiar with the partitioning tool.

Step 4: Change the boot priority on your PC to start the USB drive (or the optical drive if using a DVD) first (refer to Steps 4 and 5 in the Default installation above).

Step 5: When it boots up from the USB drive (or DVD), select Expert Install.

Step 6: Follow the guided installation process to set up the language, time zone and other settings, until it reaches the Partition Disks section.

Step 7: Locate the free space on the hard drive allocated earlier (Step 3) and create a new partition for the base SteamOS installation with around 10GB of space. Select "Ext4" and "/" for "Use as" and "Mount point" options respectively.

Step 8: Create another partition (swap) for temporary data with around 10GB of space. Like the previous step, select "swap area" for the "Use as" option.

Step 9: Create the recovery partition that will restore SteamOS if it becomes corrupted. Similarly, assign 10GB of space and select "Ext4" for the "Use as" option. For the "Mount point" option, enter "/boot/recovery".

Step 10: Create a partition for your games and other data. Use up all the remaining free space. Select "Ext4" for the "Use as" option and "/home" for the "Mount point" option.

Step 11: Select "Finish partitioning and write changes to disk" to start the installation.

Step 12: An option will appear to ask if you wish to install the GRUB boot loader. This loader lets you boot either SteamOS or Windows during start-up. Select Yes.

Step 13: When the Linux installation is done, remove the USB drive or DVD and reboot the system. Follow the instructions listed in steps 7 to 11 from the Custom installation to finish installing SteamOS.

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