Is there a free trial?

Yes. The 30-day free trial gives you full access to all Pro features: unlimited game protection, auto-detect new installs, GPU Pinned, and everything planned for future platforms. After 30 days, your card is billed at the Pro rate unless you cancel. You can cancel at any time before the trial ends.

Is there a free version?

Yes. The free plan protects one game permanently. No trial period, no credit card required. Upgrade to a paid plan for unlimited game protection, auto-detection of new installs, GPU Pinned (NVIDIA settings save and restore), and all future platform support.

Which platforms does GamePinned support?

Steam, Epic Games Store, and Riot Games. Newly installed games are detected and protected automatically across all three platforms. GOG, Battle.net, EA App, and Ubisoft Connect are planned for future releases.

Can users still play games and download updates?

Yes. GamePinned only prevents deletion. Launching, updating, and patching all work exactly as before. Users will not notice anything has changed unless they attempt to remove a protected game.

What happens when someone tries to uninstall a protected game?

The game stays installed. On Steam, the game reappears in the library within seconds. On Epic Games, the uninstall reports a failure and the game remains. On Riot Games, the files stay on disk. Opening the launcher and clicking Install re-registers the game instantly with no re-download.

Can users stop or disable GamePinned?

No. Standard users cannot stop the service, change its configuration, or access the management panel. Windows service permissions are hardened so that only administrators can stop or modify it. An admin password is required for any changes.

How does GamePinned prevent game uninstallation?

GamePinned locks game files using Windows file system permissions built into the OS. When a blocked account tries to uninstall a game, Windows denies the deletion. The launcher receives a permission error and the uninstall cannot complete. No third-party drivers or kernel hooks are used.

How do I block game uninstalls on Steam, Epic Games, and Riot Games?

GamePinned blocks game uninstalls by locking game folders at the Windows file system level. Install GamePinned, select the games you want to protect, and click Lock. Users can still play and update those games. Only uninstallation is prevented. It works on Steam, Epic Games Store, and Riot Games (Valorant, League of Legends, and more).

Does it work in gaming cafes, PC bangs, and internet centers?

Yes. GamePinned is built for shared-PC environments: gaming cafes, PC bangs, warnets, comshops, cyber cafes, esports arenas, and any Windows setup where multiple users access the same machine. It blocks all standard Windows accounts by default, covering every customer account.

How do I uninstall a game as an admin?

Enable Maintenance Mode from the GamePinned dashboard. Protection pauses immediately, allowing you to uninstall or swap games freely through Steam, Epic Games, or Riot Games. Disable Maintenance Mode when done. Protection resumes.

Can I use GamePinned at home to stop family members from deleting games?

Yes. GamePinned works for personal use too. Protect your game library from siblings, kids, roommates, or anyone else who uses your PC. The free plan protects one game permanently at no cost.

Home/Blog/Game protection

How to Protect Valorant from Being Uninstalled on a Shared PC

April 2026·4 min read

Valorant sits around 40 to 55 GB installed. Reinstalling it is a pain for two reasons. First, the download itself. On typical cafe or home connections that is one to four hours. Second, Vanguard, the Riot Games anti-cheat, fully redeploys as a kernel driver every time, which means another UAC prompt, another reboot requirement, and another round of antivirus double-checking.

On a shared PC, one Uninstall click by the wrong person costs the next player their whole evening. This guide locks Valorant so that click fails.

What this guide does: GamePinned writes Windows file-level protection on the Valorant install folder. Riot Games cannot uninstall it. File Explorer cannot delete it. The game still launches, patches, and plays normally.

How Riot Games stores Valorant

Riot Games keeps metadata per game at C:\ProgramData\Riot Games\Metadata\valorant.live\. The actual game install path is listed inside, typicallyC:\Riot Games\VALORANT on default installs. GamePinned protects both locations.

GamePinned reads the YAML, resolves the actual install subfolder (Valorant, TFT, LoL, LoR all live under the same root with different subfolder names), and applies NTFS deny-delete to each game's real folder separately. Locking Valorant does not lock League. Locking TFT does not lock Valorant. Each is independent.

Steps

1. Install GamePinned

Download from gamepinned.com. Admin elevation is required because NTFS permissions are a privileged operation. Install takes under a minute.

2. Open the Riot Games tab

Launch GamePinned and click the Riot Games tab. It reads the Metadata folder and lists every installed Riot Games game. Valorant, League of Legends, Teamfight Tactics, and Legends of Runeterra appear if installed.

3. Click Lock on Valorant

Locking takes a few seconds. GamePinned applies file-level protection to the Valorant install folder and the Riot Games metadata file. All standard user accounts are blocked. There is no per-user configuration for Riot Games titles.

4. Test it

Go to Windows Settings, open Add or Remove Programs, find Valorant, and click Uninstall. Nothing happens. Try deleting C:\Riot Games\VALORANT from File Explorer. Windows refuses. Launch the game. It starts normally, Vanguard loads, matchmaking works.

Vanguard anti-cheat considerations

Vanguard is a separate component installed at C:\Program Files\Riot Vanguard. GamePinned does not lock Vanguard, because Vanguard is managed separately by Riot Games and updates itself as a service. Locking it is not needed to prevent Valorant uninstalls. If Valorant's own files are locked, the game stays installed regardless of Vanguard state.

Valorant patches (every two weeks for new acts/content) apply normally. Patches write and modify files. Deny-delete only blocks deletion.

What about big patches that replace files?

Riot Games patches occasionally do large file replacements, which is technically a delete followed by a rewrite. GamePinned detects when Riot Games is actively patching and temporarily pauses protection for the duration. Protection resumes automatically within seconds of the patcher going idle, with no admin action needed.

For known-long downloads on slow connections (full reinstalls, act transitions) the admin can enable Maintenance Mode to suspend protection explicitly and avoid any chance of interruption.

How you uninstall Valorant yourself

Using Add or Remove Programs does not work for anyone, admin or not. The uninstall silently fails and the game stays intact.

To uninstall as a Windows administrator: delete the C:\Riot Games\VALORANT folder directly from File Explorer. Windows will ask for your admin password. Enter it and the folder deletes normally.

To uninstall from a non-admin account: open GamePinned, go to the Riot Games tab, click Unlock on Valorant, then delete the folder or use Add or Remove Programs. The Unlock button requires the GamePinned admin password set during first-run setup.

Maintenance Mode (Settings tab) suspends all protection at once if you need to remove or move multiple games at the same time.

Common questions

Can an admin account still uninstall Valorant?

Partially. Using Add or Remove Programs fails for everyone, including admins. To actually remove the game as an admin, delete the game folder directly from File Explorer. Windows will prompt for the admin password and the deletion proceeds. Standard accounts cannot do this regardless of method.

Does this protect League of Legends too?

Yes, if you lock it from the Riot Games tab. Each Riot Games game is independent. You can lock Valorant and leave LoL unlocked, or vice versa, or lock all of them. Free plan protects one game total (across all platforms); paid plans cover everything.

What if someone uninstalls Riot Games itself?

Uninstalling the Riot Games does not delete the game folders. Reinstall Riot Games and it finds the existing Valorant folder and re-adopts it. GamePinned protects the game files directly, not the launcher.

Will Vanguard flag this as tampering?

No. NTFS deny-delete is a standard Windows permission, not a kernel hook or memory patch. Vanguard, which scans for cheat drivers and process injection, has no reason to care about file ACLs. GamePinned has been tested with Valorant and Vanguard on live ranked matches with no flags, no bans, no issues.

Does this affect ping or gameplay performance?

No. NTFS permission checks run inside the Windows file system driver and add negligible overhead per file operation. In-game performance, frame rate, and network latency are identical to an unlocked install.

Does this cost anything?

Free plan locks one game permanently. Unlimited protection is on the paid plans with a 30-day free trial.

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