Ok so after scouring the forums I got frustrated and decided to try reinstalling the source sdk … problem solved.
Here is where I found the info
So give it a shot. After you have reinstalled, select episode one:deathmatch and run hammmer. Assuming hammer runs ok, copy the studioCompiler.exe file back into the ep1/bin folder and run the app. You should get the AppId error. Open up sourcesdk/launcher/gameInfo.txt and deathmatch/hl2mp/gameInfo.txt files and comment out the toolsAppID line as per the instructions below. Rerun … fingers crossed … everything should work OK.
