Game won't start. Keeps exiting without prompting

[Ishmael.3642]

I will start up the game and maybe get as far as the loading screen when it just shuts down. I don't know what's causing this. Please help

[Zaviamoon.4569]

I had this happen to me a couple of days ago and after a few attempts  I finally just restarted my pc and my modem and routier to see if it helped and it did. I have had no issues since. So if you have not tried restarting  those things maybe try that.

[Ishmael.3642]

47 minutes ago, Zaviamoon.4569 said:

I had this happen to me a couple of days ago and after a few attempts  I finally just restarted my pc and my modem and routier to see if it helped and it did. I have had no issues since. So if you have not tried restarting  those things maybe try that.

I can't I'm trying repair mode to see if that works

[Zohane.7208]

1 hour ago, Ishmael.3642 said:

I will start up the game and maybe get as far as the loading screen when it just shuts down. I don't know what's causing this. Please help

This has happened to me a few times as well, and then it has invariably been a problem with ntdll.dll.

Whenever I have this kind of problem I always look in the windows system log to see if there's entires for that module, and if it is I take a bunch of actions, as described in some of the many many websites dealing with this problem. (Don't fall for the "install this free software to solve the problem"; I've never seen one that actually solves the problem and/or is free...)

Usually it boils down to some or all of the following:

• SFC /SCANNOW
• Some versions of the DISM command
• REGSVR32 /u ntdll.dll followed by REGSVR32 ntdll.dll

This what usually helps me, but your mileage may vary.

[Ashantara.8731]

I am going to expand on Zohane's post:

1. Try to see if your Windows has corrupt files and let it repair them. To do so:

• Press Windows key + Q
• Type: CMD
• Select "Command Prompt" and right-click "Run as Administrator"
• In the Command Prompt Window, type the following and wait for the scan to finish:
  SFC /scannow

2. If corrupt files were found and repaired, you could also validate the health status of your Windows installation:

• Repeat steps 1-3 from above
• In the Command Prompt Window, type the following and wait for the scan to finish:
  DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth

Restart your computer.

3. Cleanup Windows:

• Press Windows key + Q
• Type: Disk Cleanup
• Select your Windows partition (drive C) and wait
• In the next window, click on "Clean up system files" at the bottom left
• Select your Windows partition (drive C) and wait
• In the next window, check all the boxes [✅] and click "OK"
• Wait for the cleaning process to finish

4. Clean up your Guild Wars 2 installation:

I. Clearing the Game Cache

• Open your Windows Explorer (Windows key + E)
• Paste this into the address bar (replace "username" with your actual PC user name) and press Enter:
  C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\Temp
• Delete all files starting with gw2cache-{
• Also delete any add-on remains you might find there (if you are using any), like ReShade etc.

II. Deleting the Local.dat

• Open your Windows Explorer (Windows key + E)
• Paste this into the address bar (replace "username" with your actual PC user name) and press Enter:
  C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\Guild Wars 2
• Select the Local.dat file and delete it (if you don't see it, you might need to configure your Windows Explorer to show hidden files)
• Note: deleting the Local.dat will reset your login information as well as your sound and graphics settings; keyboard binds and general options will not be reset

5. Run a Guild Wars 2 client repair:

• Create a shortcut of your Guild Wars 2 executable (Gw2-64.exe) on your desktop
• Right-click the shortcut and select "Properties"
• Locate the Target line and add -repair to the end (example: "C:\Games\Guild Wars 2\Gw2-64.exe" -repair)
• Confirm with "OK"
• Double-click the shortcut and wait for the repair process to finish

6. Last, but not least, make sure you have not installed the game under C:\Program Files\. If you did, move it to a separate folder (e.g., C:\Games\Guild Wars 2\), or even better to a folder on a separate partition if you have one (e.g., D:\Games\Guild Wars 2\).

Should your issue persist, please contact the GW2 Customer Support for further assistance: help.guildwars2.com
 

Edited September 21, 2022 by Ashantara.8731

[Ishmael.3642]

Turns out I just needed to update my computer (go figure) it's working albeit kinda slow, but it works. Thank you all for the help, it is greatly appreciated 🙂

[Ashantara.8731]

3 minutes ago, Ishmael.3642 said:

it's working albeit kinda slow

Your system might require some maintenance. Why didn't you try anything I suggested? You really should.

[Ishmael.3642]

The comp is just old and never ran the game very well anyway, I need a new comp

[Lucienna.1479]

On 9/9/2022 at 9:56 AM, Ashantara.8731 said:

I am going to expand on Zohane's post:

Hey, I just want to say thank you for this awesome step-by-step explanation. I've been having the same issues since a few days, could only get the game to run if I disabled pretty much everything I usually use at the same time (OBS, plugins) and used the -repair command before each run. 

Did all of your steps (just to be safe) and it runs perfectly again. A heartfelt THANK YOU. I saved your post for future reference xD 

[Ashantara.8731]

4 hours ago, Lucienna.1479 said:

Hey, I just want to say thank you for this awesome step-by-step explanation. I've been having the same issues since a few days, could only get the game to run if I disabled pretty much everything I usually use at the same time (OBS, plugins) and used the -repair command before each run. 

Did all of your steps (just to be safe) and it runs perfectly again. A heartfelt THANK YOU. I saved your post for future reference xD 

Aww, thank you! Happy to hear I could be of help solving your issue. 😃

[hugoasb.1483]

What's the issue of having the game installed in Program Files?

Also, why delete Local.dat file?

[Ashantara.8731]

50 minutes ago, hugoasb.1483 said:

What's the issue of having the game installed in Program Files?

Program Files is a system-created folder and can cause user rights-related access issues.

50 minutes ago, hugoasb.1483 said:

Also, why delete Local.dat file?

Because it can get corrupted, and deleting it might solve a problem you encounter with the game -- the GW2 Support suggests this as a possible solution. It doesn't do anything bad, so it's worth giving it a shot when a client repair didn't do the trick.
 

Edited December 11, 2022 by Ashantara.8731

[Chaba.5410]

2 hours ago, Ashantara.8731 said:

Program Files is a system-created folder and can cause user rights-related access issues.

Ah thanks for the technical explanation! I asked a similar question elsewhere.

It didn't make sense to me why a program meant to get installed in a default location would "not like" that location.

I can see if someone was changing default user rights and security settings though that could cause issues.

[hugoasb.1483]

I did all the steps except the last one and Local.dat and this error occurred again....

 

Now I deleted the Local.dat file. Let's see how it goes... Haven't tried reinstalling the GPU driver though.

[hugoasb.1483]

Well, tried GPU driver uninstaller and reinstalled and it has worked so far! *fingers crossed* 😄