Troubleshooting games

As complex as computers these days are, it's unrealistic to expect a game or a piece of software to perform flawlessly on everyone's computers all the time. Fortunately, for a majority of users games usually work well enough that no major issues crop up. Despite this, you will run into a situation where a game just isn't performing the right way, and it requires some troubleshooting. With the advent of the internet, there are numerous resources available to help you troubleshooting errors with your game.

PCGamingWiki

Seeing as you're already here, it's a great idea to try looking here first for the game and issue you are looking for. Simply search for the game, and see if we have an article available. Then, simply search for your issue and see if we have a fix available, or if your problem is one of the known but not fixed problems. If we don't have a fix, there are other things to consider.

Common Problems

When it comes to problems with a game, there are several common situations that you should look into before going further. First, it is wise to make sure that it is the game that is broken, not your computer itself. Examine your rig and all its part, and see if hardware isn't the cause. If you are convinced it is still software related, perform these steps to see if any of these items fix your problems:

• Close all background programs. This includes any hardware overclocking utilities.
• Install the latest patches.
• For Steam games, Verify Integrity of Game Cache.
• Install the latest drivers (especially Graphics drivers) available for your computer.
• Install the latest DirectX End-User Runtimes.
• Install the latest NVIDIA PhysX System Software.
• Reinstalling any redistributables or software that was installed with your game.
• Turn down the graphics settings.
• Disable any in-game overlays (e.g. Steam Overlay).
• Disable Windows Game bar.
• Run a virus scan and a malware scan.
• Make sure you have a good amount of hard drive space free.
• Backup your saved game and reinstall the game. You may need to delete any files and folders left over before reinstalling.

If none of these solve your issue, you may have to do a little more heavy lifting to get to the bottom of your issue.

Error Messages

Google is your friend. If a game is throwing an error message at you, try googling "(game), (error message)" to see if any other people have run into your issue. Chances are pretty good that they have. They may or may not have found a solution to the error, but if not you may find some other fix to try or related issues to research.

Developer's forums

If a game is relatively new and none of the other methods have helped, try posting about your issue on the game/developers official forums. Most official forums provide a place for troubleshooting, and can help get more eyes focused on your issue. Simply make a new post outlining your issue, computer specs, what steps may cause the issue, as well as steps you have already attempted to try and solve the issue.

If a game is older or doesn't have an official forums, try searching out an active fan forums and seeing if they can't help.

Some services, such as Steam, host forums for individual games. If you cannot locate a proper forum or find help anywhere else, you can often check with those forums.

Final Thoughts

Hopefully after all the above steps, you have been able to find a solution to your game problem. If you have, please add the problem and the fix that worked for you to the games article here on the wiki. Your diligence in mentioning these fixes could save fellow PC gamers hours of hair pulling frustration.