If you envy the impression of a steam deck or are looking for an alternative to Windows 11, you are lucky. You can install the Steam deck operating system, Steamos, on a game computer for free using the official image of Steamos Valve recovery.
Although Valve does not yet guarantee the operate of any computer, Steamos can operate in most AMD systems. It took me only an hour to run on my computer and you can do the same.
Before you start
There are a few things you need to install on your computer, and a few things you should know before trying it.
At the beginning, Steamos did not have a full computer release yet, so it is officially supported only on a few devices. You can still try to install it on computers that do not have official support, but as a rule Steamos works best with All-AMD systems. If you have a NVIDIA GPU or Intel processor, it is more likely that you come up with problems. In this guide I installed Steamos on a computer with AMD Ryzen 5 5600G processor and integrated Radeon graphics.
It should also be noted that Steamos is a linux distribution, which means that applications available only in Windows will not work on it. Most of the games that require antheat at the testicular level are also not compatible.
To install steam on your computer, you need an empty USB drive with at least 8 GB of space. I also recommend having a second storage device on hand, regardless of whether it is an external difficult disk or a USB drive to create a backup of the computer in advance.
How to install steamos
1. Copy make a backup copy of the computer
Installing Steamos requires wiping the disk with a computer, so first I recommend a backup of everything on the computer. I operate an external difficult disk to back up all my files, but you can operate any disk, including in the cloud. It is essential to save your files on a different disk than the one where you plan to install Steamos (do not operate a USB disk where you intend to place the image of Steamos Recovery).
If you have many disks on a game computer and you want to make sure that data on other disks is not wiped when installing steamos, a good idea is to physically remove these disks from the computer.
2. Download Steamos recovery image
After making a backup of the computer, download Official image of Steamos recovery. It contains the default version of Steamos, which it sends with a steam deck. It is intended to restore steam deck (or other compatible game computer, such as Legion Lenovo Go), if something happens with the original installation, but you can also operate this recovery image for the up-to-date Steamos installation. After downloading the ZIP file, separate it.
3. Flash the steamos recovery image for the drive of the USB thumb
The next step is to create starting multimedia using a Steamos recovery image and an empty USB drive. Make sure the used disk has at least 8 GB of memory and has no other files (the disk will be removed in the process of starting starting multimedia).
To do this, you need a tool for writing an image such as Balenaetcher Or Ruffus. I used Balenaetcher. With an empty USB drive connected, I chose “Flash from the file” and chose the Steamos recovery image separated from the zip file, and then chose the target USB disk. Flashing the Steam recovery image can take a few minutes. Close your computer after finishing.
4. Launch the BIOS on the computer and update the start priority
Then turn on the computer, but make sure you run the BIOS (not the operating system). If you do not know the BIOS key on your computer, you can find it by checking the motherboard user manual (or laptop). Removing and escape are typical BIOS keys. When the computer begins with a backup, press the BIOS key many times.
The BIOS looks different depending on the computer, but the setting that you must update is the priority of starting. This determines which first drive the computer’s shoes. Make sure you have a USB drive with a Steamos Recovery Image image connected and set it as the first option in the start priority. Save the changes and leave the BIOS (which will start the regular launch process).
5. Launch in the Steamos recovery image
After leaving the BIOS, the computer should try to run the drive with a steamos recovery image. Starting Steamos can take several minutes. At the beginning everything you see is the scrolling of the text line on the black screen – it is Linux that passes through the steamos startup list. After finishing, the screen will be black, potentially for a few minutes, while Steamos starts.
In the end there will be a stationary Steamos environment, but it may also take a few minutes, so leave the computer alone when it starts everything. When it is ready, the mouse and toolbar will appear on the screen, along with four icons at the top of the screen.
To install Steamos, double -click the icon marked “Wire device and install steamos”. You will receive a jumping warning that this process will permanently remove everything on your device. If you are sure that you want to continue the installation, choose “go”.
6. Let a couple of installation on your computer
After enabling the Steamos installation, the terminal will appear on the screen. Do not close it or try to change anything in it – this terminal works the Steamos installation. Do not try to do anything else in the computer environment when it works.
After completing the process, you will see jumping with the question of whether you want to continue restarting. Choose “Go” and let the computer start restarting. It may also take a few minutes, so do not press the power button or disconnect the system.
7. Restart and configure Steamos
After restarting, you should see the Steamos welcome screen. Review the steps on the screen to configure the computer. After completing, Steamos searches for updates, download them and restart them again. Then you should see the Steam login page. Log in and you’ll be ready!
Steamos will shoot in a vast Steam image mode, because it is intended for portable games for gaming, but you can move from mice and keyboard if you want (or controller). It also has a normal stationary environment outside Steam, where you can install other applications, such as Discord, and operate a computer for other normal tasks, such as browsing the network. To go from a pair to an ordinary stationary environment, select the menu button in the lower left corner, and then “Power”, and then “Switch to the computer”.
Tip: Epic Games and GOG do not have Linux application, but you can play compatible games from these applications on the Steamos computer using Heroic games launcher.
Can’t you install steamos? Try these alternative linux timetables
Steamos does not have a full version of the computer yet, so it will not work on every system. If you can’t start it with equipment, the best solution is to install another Linux distribution until Steamos receives the full version.
The first alternative I recommend Base. This is one of the best linux distributions for games, especially if you are up-to-date in Linux. Bazzite works even on portable game computers if you want to replace Windows 11 on your portable.
If Bazzite is not your cup of tea, beginner -friendly distributions such as FedoraIN UbuntuAND Mint They are also good options. Due to their popularity, it is effortless to find lend a hand in solving problems for these distributions and each of them can be configured to resemble Windows or MacOS if you want a more renowned stationary environment.
Stevie Bonifield is an independent technology journalist who wrote for IGN, PC Gamer, Tom’s Guide and Laptop Mag, covering everything, from non -standard keyboards to Linux games.
