Randomly switching to the desktop

[Zhaid Zhem.6508]

Hello,

 

This isn't new, I have this issue since 1~2 years on my computer ; i thought it was windows 10, d3d9 or something; but it's worse and worse.
My game is randomly switching to the desktop during gameplay or loading.  Sometimes the laptop even restarts by itself.

 

I have dx12, windows10, nvidia up to date. I have tried -repair with no result. I have tried without arcdps, same.
This isn't a heat issue on the laptop; the issue occurs only on GW2 (not on CP2077, mass effect for example) and  very quickly after launch.
The solution I've read  : the windowed fullscreen. It's much better but not perfect + imps drops.
 

Any idea ?
I would like to avoid a full reinstallation of the game.

Edited December 11, 2021 by Zhaid Zhem.6508

[Zaviamoon.4569]

Do you by chance have your windows update set to where updates will download, install and if needed restart your computer without you doing anything?  That is the only thing I can think of that would cause pc to restart on its own. I keep mine on check for updates but let me decide what to download and install and only I can restart the pc after update so as not to interfere with gaming. 

Edited December 11, 2021 by wolfsbayne.2653

[Ashantara.8731]

10 hours ago, Zhaid Zhem.6508 said:

Sometimes the laptop even restarts by itself.

Overheating.

[Zaviamoon.4569]

My old pc would overheat and it just shutdown it never restarted. I thought most computers shut down when they overheat.  I bought this computer to replace the one that overheated at times, and when I bought it the update setting was set so that it would download, install and restart without notifying me. My computer did the same as yours it would go from full screen to windows and then restart randomly so I went into advance settings on windows update and changed restart this device as soon as possible when a restart is required to install a update from on to off and it has not happened since. But you may have a different issue idk . Good luck figuring it out.

[Zhaid Zhem.6508]

This morning after ~30 minutes (I have tried with Nvidia Gfore Experience) :
"Guild Wars 2 a rencontré une erreur irrécupérable de pilote de graphiques et doit s'interrompre".
(Guild Wars 2 has encountered a fatal graphics driver error and has to stop)

 

Operating System: Windows 10 Famille 64-bit (10.0, Build 19043) (19041.vb_release.191206-1406)
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-6700HQ CPU @ 2.60GHz (8 CPUs), ~2.6GHz
Memory: 16384MB RAM
DirectX Version: DirectX 12
Chip type: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970M Driver Version:  497.09 (12/01/2021)

 

GW2 graphic options :  https://i.imgur.com/fDBndnF.jpg

[Ashantara.8731]

5 minutes ago, Zhaid Zhem.6508 said:

This morning after ~30 minutes (I have tried with Nvidia Gfore Experience) :
(Guild Wars 2 has encountered a fatal graphics driver error and has to stop)

Did you check temperatures? As my previous post already suggested, it could be an overheating issue. Most laptops are not really meant for gaming.

10 hours ago, wolfsbayne.2653 said:

when I bought it the update setting was set so that it would download, install and restart without notifying me.

Yes that could be an issue as well. Apart from the settings that Windows offers, I recommend the Windows Update Blocker for advanced users (who don't forget to frequently update manually).

Edited December 12, 2021 by Ashantara.8731

[Zhaid Zhem.6508]

It's not overheat.
I've tried CP2077 right now with full graphics, laptop was a lot hotter than GW2, like NPC got bikinis in 10 FPS, no issue, no restart.

I've read it could be directx12 (as it's already useless with 970m) but I have no idea how to downgrade it.  Dx9  or dx10 Installation won't overwhrite the present directx12.

Or may be it's a graphic option; processing, aliasing or something ?

Edited December 12, 2021 by Zhaid Zhem.6508

[Leo.3428]

@Zhaid Zhem.6508 Have you tried enabling the DirectX 11 beta in the GW2 settings?

It could be that your GPU doesn't like GW2's way of using DirectX 9 for some obscure reason.

[Nyth.6714]

I don't really know much about laptops - but my guess would be (especially if you are running on high/max settings for GW2) that it is your CPU.
Since GW2 is a CPU heavy game, and your CPU is a base speed of 2.60GHz  (but can be boosted to 3.50GHz) I would suggest this is partly the issue. I mean 2.60GHz isn't bad, but if running on high / max settings then your CPU isn't gonna like you much. 

Have you tried reducing the settings to see if it helps? 

[Teratus.2859]

My wife used to have the same issue on her laptops as well, even her gaming laptop.
Only way she could stop it happening was to put it on this fan platform thing she bought that would help keep the laptop cool.

We've never had this issue on any of our Desktop PC's so I would say it is definitely a overheating issue with your laptop.

[Andy.5981]

By heck you are punishing your computer with those settings!

Few things to try.

Shadows - set them to either low or none. You will get some quite large performance gains, particularly in busy areas and tbh you really won't notice any difference having them set to off or low. Having them set to Ultra is overkill. You will give your computer a bit of breathing space by doing this.

Reflections - set it to Terrain and Sky.

LOD - set it to High.

Character Model Limit - if you've done the above experiment with it. At the moment you are set to Highest, see if High makes a difference - again you're not going to miss much by setting it one setting lower than you currently have.

Also do you have any things like Google Drive or cloud based backup drives on the machine and are they set to backup stuff at set periods? Reason I'm asking is I've had some programs  and GW2 drop to the desktop bar and when I've done a little bit of investigating the Google Drive had updated something. Somehow the "focus" of the machine was switched from GW2 which was running in full screen mode.

See how you go with the changes to the settings above.

 

Edited December 14, 2021 by Andy.5981

[Ashantara.8731]

On 12/12/2021 at 12:18 PM, Zhaid Zhem.6508 said:

It's not overheat.

What are your CPU's and GPU's temperatures when you're running GW2?

Also, this is a good question, too:

22 minutes ago, Andy.5981 said:

do you have any things like Google Drive or cloud based backup drives on the machine and are they set to backup stuff at set periods?

It's worth, Zhem, to take a look at what tasks are running in the background.

[Zhaid Zhem.6508]

I've deleted folders and reinstall game. It seems to work correctly; no switch to dekstop or crash.
I think it could be overlays with old files as I also got error from d3d9 or else some times.

Edited December 15, 2021 by Zhaid Zhem.6508