Why cant I refresh game servers on Steam?

[Panchu]

Hi to all fellow gamers, I am facing very unusual problem while playing online using Steam. I have a computer which was previously running on Windows XP which I then upgraded to Windows Vista. I used to play online regularly using Steam when I had Windows XP but after the changing the Operating system to Windows Vista I am not able to play online using Steam. I dont understand Why cant I refresh game servers on Steam? Whenever I click on refresh servers, it gets stuck up there. When I installed Windows Vista on the system, I also installed Norton security software on the system. Therefore I am not sure what is causing the problem. Therefore if anybody else is facing the same problem with Steam. Please help.

[supernoob]

Steam uses lots of bandwidth while online gaming. It is possible that the internet connection is not proper and therefore steam is not able to refresh any game servers. Hence I would suggest you to check the Internet connection first as slow Internet connection can be the reason behind the problem. You can test your Internet connection by visiting websites like Speedtest and Pingtest which provide online tests which can be used to check the Internet connectivity. After the tests the websites also grades the connections if it is suitable for gaming or not.

[Mario2]

Whenever the operating system on the computer is upgraded the files of the previous operating system are replaced by the files of the new operating system. If the files which are replaced are required by any application to function properly and is found missing due to OS upgrade then the application will either give problems while running or will not work at all. Find and replace the files which are required by steam to run properly and then see if you are able to refresh the game servers or not.

[robodude]

The files associated to the Steam client must have got corrupt due to which you are facing the problem. The files of the applications which are needed to work on Internet are prone to get corrupt due to many reasons. If such files of the application get corrupted then the application does not work properly. Hence to make the application work properly you will have to uninstall the application and remove all the files related to the application from the computer. Remove the keys which are related to application from the Windows Registry using Regedit. Once all the traces of the applications removed, Install the application again and then see if you are able to refresh the servers or not.

[Mr. Boo Bear]

Firewalls and security software's create lot of nuisance while online gaming. The basic tendency of the security software's is to block any incoming or outgoing traffic from the computer. It is possible that the security software's which you have installed is blocking the traffic coming or going from Steam and hence you are not able to refresh the game servers. Move the process of Steam and all the games added to Steam to Known processes of the Firewall and all the security software so that the applications will not block any traffic coming or going from the process. You can also disable the all the security software's and check the performance of the Steam online.

[Hitman22]

Which version Windows Vista have you installed? The applications which are installed on the Windows Vista operating system differ depending on the type of the operating system which you are using. The applications for 32bit operating system are different than the applications which are available for 64bit operating system. If you have installed Windows Vista 64 bit operating system then you will have to download and install Steam 64bit application and then install it on your computer. Once correct version of the application is installed, you will be able to refresh the servers.