Steam is a free service. You pay for games(digi downloads). I payed €17 for Killing Floor yesterday. The best thing is that it doesnt need such a high spec pc to play.
Really cheap compared to X360 games.
you can find your account again mate aslong as u have ur old email address and cds are no longer needed you can download cs an hl all free aslong as u got ur old account username/ email address.