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Crowbar can read Steam’s installation layout to locate your games and their SDK tools without you having to type every path by hand. When you register one or more Steam library folders, Crowbar learns where each game lives on disk and can substitute short library macros (like <library1>) into game profile paths. This keeps your profiles portable across machines and prevents broken paths if you ever move a Steam library to a different drive.

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Steam Executable Path

Crowbar stores the path to Steam.exe so it can locate the primary Steam installation. The default value is: 
C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\Steam.exe
If you installed Steam to a non-default location, you must update this setting. Click the Browse… button next to the Steam executable field in the Set Up Games tab to navigate to the correct Steam.exe.
The Steam executable path is stored in the SteamAppPathFileName application setting. It is also counted in each library entry’s Use Count column if the path begins with a library macro, so you can see at a glance how many paths depend on each library entry.

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Steam Library Paths

Steam can distribute your game installations across several drives or folders — for example, one library on your system drive and another on a secondary SSD. Each such folder is a Steam library. Crowbar maintains its own list of these folders, independent of Steam’s own configuration, so you can register the exact locations you want Crowbar to know about. Each library entry in Crowbar has four columns:
ColumnDescription
MacroA short placeholder token like <library1>, <library2>, etc. When set in a game profile path, Crowbar substitutes the real library folder at runtime, keeping all paths valid even when drives change.
Library PathThe full path to the Steam library root folder, e.g. C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam or D:\SteamLibrary.
BrowseA button in each row that opens a folder browser so you can navigate to the library root instead of typing the path manually.
Use CountThe number of path fields across all game profiles (plus the Steam executable path) that currently start with this library’s macro. A count of 0 means no profiles reference this library yet.

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Common Steam Library Locations

LocationTypical path
Windows primary (default Steam install)C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam
Windows secondary library driveD:\SteamLibrary
Windows secondary library, alternate nameE:\Games\Steam
The primary library is always under the Steam install folder. Secondary libraries are wherever you directed Steam when you added them — check Steam → Settings → Downloads → Steam Library Folders to see the list Steam itself knows about.

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Configuring Steam Library Paths in Crowbar

1

Open the Set Up Games tab

In Crowbar, click the Set Up Games tab. The Steam settings panel is in the lower section of this tab, below the game profile fields.
2

Set the path to Steam.exe

Locate the Steam App field. Click Browse… and navigate to your Steam.exe. On most Windows systems this is:
C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\Steam.exe
If your Steam install is elsewhere (e.g. on a secondary drive), browse to that location instead.
3

Review the default library entry

Crowbar automatically creates one library entry (<library1>) pointing to C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam. If your primary Steam library is at a different path, click in the Library Path cell of that row and type the correct path, or click the Browse button in that row to navigate to it.
4

Add secondary library paths

If you have additional Steam libraries on other drives, click Add to create a new library entry. Crowbar automatically assigns the next macro (<library2>, <library3>, and so on). Click the Browse button in the new row and navigate to the root of that Steam library folder (e.g. D:\SteamLibrary).
Example multi-library setup:
<library1>  →  C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam
<library2>  →  D:\SteamLibrary
<library3>  →  E:\Games\Steam
5

Apply macros to game profiles

Once library paths are configured, right-click any row in the library table to access macro commands:
  • Set Macro in Selected Game Setup — replaces the matching literal path prefix with the macro in the currently active game profile.
  • Set Macro in All Game Setups — applies the replacement to every game profile at once.
  • Clear Macro in Selected/All Game Setups — expands macros back to their full literal paths.
  • Change to This Macro in Selected/All Game Setups — replaces whatever macro is currently in a path with this library’s macro.
After applying macros, your game profile paths look like:
Before: C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\left 4 dead 2\bin\studiomdl.exe
After:  <library1>\steamapps\common\left 4 dead 2\bin\studiomdl.exe
6

Verify Use Count

Check the Use Count column. Each library entry should show a non-zero count if game profiles reference it. A count of 0 after applying macros suggests the library path doesn’t match any profile paths — double-check that the library path is the correct root folder.

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Removing a Library Entry

Click Delete to remove the last library entry in the list. Crowbar enforces two constraints:
  • The first library entry (<library1>) cannot be deleted — at least one must always exist.
  • The last entry can only be deleted if its Use Count is 0. Remove or update any game profile paths that reference the macro before deleting the library entry.
Deleting a library entry while game profiles still reference its macro will leave those paths with an unresolved macro prefix. Crowbar will be unable to find those files at runtime until you update the affected paths.

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Portable Profiles and Macro Substitution

Library macros make game profiles portable. If you back up your Crowbar settings XML file and restore it on another machine — or after reinstalling Windows — you only need to update the library paths in the Steam Library table. All game profile paths that use macros will resolve correctly without editing every profile individually.
If Crowbar cannot find a game automatically, or if you work with a non-Steam installation (such as a standalone Source SDK or a custom game build), you can always type or browse to the exact absolute path in any game profile field without using macros at all. See Game Setup for a full walkthrough of configuring a game profile manually.

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