Games won't launch on windows 8.1

Atef Toumi · Mar 13, 2014

Hi Everyone
well i just got my new laptop with Windows 8.1 starter, everything was great tell i tried to run some games, i did set up some games as i used to do on my previous pc which has a windows 7 but with windows 8.1 nothing works the games refuse to launch there is no error msg no anything i tried to run them with a previous windows compatibility but it didn't work either
here under the games that i tried up to now and didn't work
Call of Duty Black Ops 2 - Need for Speed Rivals - Need for Speed The Run
but RESIDENT EVIL 5 and PES 14 did work i don't know why.
by the way i have a Toshiba Satellite L50-A-1DG
Processeur Intel Core i7-4700MQ (Quad-Core 2.4 GHz / 3.4 GHz Turbo - Cache 6 Mo)
4 Go SDRAM DDR3,
LED de 15.6"(1366 x 768 pix)
NVIDIA GeForce GT 740M 2 Go dedicated
Microsoft Windows 8.1 64 bits

ModernWarfare · Mar 13, 2014

did you try Righ-clicking on the game and go to "Properties" and set "compatibility" to "Windows 7".

Atef Toumi · Mar 13, 2014

ModernWarfare :

thank you so much for the quick reply, yes i did tried but it didn't work, i have been searching over the web for a few days for a solution and i really don't want to install windows 7 i just need to know if windows 8.1 is the problem, cause i did set the games correctly as i always do what i don't understand is when i try to launch the game there is no error msg just nothing the cursor start circling just like the game is about to start and then nothing that's why i couldn't know where the problem came from

ModernWarfare · Mar 13, 2014

have you tried running as administrator?

Atef Toumi · Mar 14, 2014

yes i did try to run it as administrator but it didn't work neither. :??:

ModernWarfare · Mar 14, 2014

do you have the latest nvidia gpu drivers.

Atef Toumi · Mar 16, 2014

yes i do have it, i checked the latest drivers, so you don't think that i need to replace my windows starter 8.1 with 7 ?

ModernWarfare · Mar 16, 2014

my advise is to go back to win 7.

Al-Larry · May 23, 2014

Atef Toumi :

Hi Everyone
well i just got my new laptop with Windows 8.1 starter, everything was great tell i tried to run some games, i did set up some games as i used to do on my previous pc which has a windows 7 but with windows 8.1 nothing works the games refuse to launch there is no error msg no anything i tried to run them with a previous windows compatibility but it didn't work either
here under the games that i tried up to now and didn't work
Call of Duty Black Ops 2 - Need for Speed Rivals - Need for Speed The Run
but RESIDENT EVIL 5 and PES 14 did work i don't know why.
by the way i have a Toshiba Satellite L50-A-1DG
Processeur Intel Core i7-4700MQ (Quad-Core 2.4 GHz / 3.4 GHz Turbo - Cache 6 Mo)
4 Go SDRAM DDR3,
LED de 15.6"(1366 x 768 pix)
NVIDIA GeForce GT 740M 2 Go dedicated
Microsoft Windows 8.1 64 bits

Try downloading the windows 7 drivers

Blazeone8 · Jun 22, 2014

How do I go back to windows 7, I brought my laptop a "NOTEBOOK PC 2000 HP" windows 8 and upgraded to windows 8.1 and Ihave the same problem but I don't know how to install windows 7

David Bajracharya · Jul 5, 2014

Bro have u solved ur problem ? I am having the same problem. Photoshop etc works but even simple games doesn't work. Bought a new laptop with windows 8.1 and tried installing fifa 14 it didn't work so tried fifa 13 doesn't work....so any solutions ?

Zubair Rehman Burki · Jul 18, 2014

I Had the same issue And posted my issue here and solved it on my own...
go to device manager and uninstall your gpu plus remove all the driver files then
again install and update your driver... work done.. 100% Working solution
## My Post check here

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/answers/id-2223428/switch-gforce-740m.html#13742991

fino987 · Jul 25, 2014

I upraged windows 8 to 8.1. from properties (right click on game) back up the game. it takes some minutes and start it again.It worked for me in Nazi Zombie Army 2

bobicrogan · Jul 28, 2014

Zubair Rehman Burki :

what do you mean by all the drivers? should I only remove the gpu and sound drivers, or is there anything else? thanx

ashish mathur · Aug 12, 2014

David Bajracharya :

ashish mathur · Aug 12, 2014

these games are compatible to previous window versions lke 7 xp vista ........
only new games will run on windows 8 or their updates will......

strecker1969 · Aug 12, 2014

After upgrading to Windows 8.1, every time I try to start Saints Row IV a window pops up that says "Failed to start game (app already running).

Zubair Rehman Burki · Aug 26, 2014

uninstalling your GPU plus its drivers from device manager and then re-installing them will fix it.
refer to this
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/answers/id-2223428/switch-gforce-740m.html#13742991

jurrabi · Aug 29, 2014

IF YOU USE WINDOWS 7/8 N VERSIONS THIS MIGHT APPLY TO YOU.

I recently solve my issues with games (steam, PC and Metro interface games) not starting in Windows 8(.1) and I thought of sharing my experience just in case anyone else has the same config and issues.
I've used for some time N versions of the Windows OS. I know there are Windows 7 N and Windows 8 N versions. What the N means is that the version doesn't have Windows Media Player. It's a version that Microsoft is forced to provide in the European Countries, to avoid sanctions from the EU .
But this N versions have more things missing that just Media Player. Media tags in explorer also are not included (you can't see or change mp3 attributes form explorer, for example).

And also some media dlls used by some games must be absent.

So many games just silently won't work and close upon opening. This games usually, at install time run things like WMRuntimeInstaller.exe, to be sure this dlls are present in the system, but those kind of installers don't work with N versions.
To fix the issue you need to install from Microsoft sites the "Media Feature Pack for N and KN versions of Windows" for your version of Windows.

After installing that (in my case windows 8.1 x64 version you can find here: http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=40744) all games that didn't start before started working.
In my case this fixed, at least:
Where's My Mickey XL (Metro interface)
Reckless Racing (Metro Interface)
The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing (Steam)

I hope this helps more people out there.

obsidian_blade · Sep 6, 2014

got the update the other day (have been avoiding it for reasons such as this) had a sneaking suspicion what the problem was as soon as i tried locating a few files, ready for the answer your gonna kick yourself 8). 8.1 doesnt have a my documents folder just documents, go to
C:\Users\(your user name here) and create a my documents folder. problem solved hope this helps

Joni1013 · Sep 27, 2014

If you don't have it, download and install Games for Windows Live. Same thing happens to me as well as Fallout 3. Then it works like a charm.

Here is a link

http://www.xbox.com/en-US/live/pc/DownloadClient

Charis Theo · Oct 12, 2014

update the direct x, try compabilty with win xp serverpack 2, update gpu vga, check ram, check your anitivirus, check your frameworknet (win 8.1 provide 4.5, win under win 8.1 software need frameworknet 2 until 3.5)

QWERTY POIUY · Oct 21, 2014

Atef Toumi :

I have the same problem, when I click on the desktop item the curser turns to a circle but nothing else happens.
I had to re-download my steam folder cause I accidentally deleted the file with all my data

When I re-downloaded it actually started working again. I don't know if Windows 8.1 is the problem or Steam, but try re-downloading steam and your games, it might work.
And don't worry you don't loose your stuff as it should be saved into the steam cloud, unless you changed some setting to save it all to your computer.
Hope this helps!

vajs011 · Oct 26, 2014

Hi guys..please can any1 help.. I also have win 8.1 pro and i have installed battlefield 4, call of duty ghosts and these games run shows black screen and computer freeze..the only solution i have is to restart computer..while playing nfs rivals, call of duty 4 mp is everything OK..any ideas ? Thanks

Comp:
Windows 8.1 Pro 64-bit (6.3, Build 9600)
Processor: AMD FX(tm)-4300 Quad-Core Processor (4 CPUs), ~3.8GHz
Memory: 8192MB RAM
Card name: AMD Radeon R9 200 Series

hallo123 · Mar 8, 2015

jurrabi :

IF YOU USE WINDOWS 7/8 N VERSIONS THIS MIGHT APPLY TO YOU.

I recently solve my issues with games (steam, PC and Metro interface games) not starting in Windows 8(.1) and I thought of sharing my experience just in case anyone else has the same config and issues.
I've used for some time N versions of the Windows OS. I know there are Windows 7 N and Windows 8 N versions. What the N means is that the version doesn't have Windows Media Player. It's a version that Microsoft is forced to provide in the European Countries, to avoid sanctions from the EU .
But this N versions have more things missing that just Media Player. Media tags in explorer also are not included (you can't see or change mp3 attributes form explorer, for example).

And also some media dlls used by some games must be absent.

So many games just silently won't work and close upon opening. This games usually, at install time run things like WMRuntimeInstaller.exe, to be sure this dlls are present in the system, but those kind of installers don't work with N versions.
To fix the issue you need to install from Microsoft sites the "Media Feature Pack for N and KN versions of Windows" for your version of Windows.

After installing that (in my case windows 8.1 x64 version you can find here: http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=40744) all games that didn't start before started working.
In my case this fixed, at least:
Where's My Mickey XL (Metro interface)
Reckless Racing (Metro Interface)
The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing (Steam)

I hope this helps more people out there.

Standalone doesn,t allow to update media feature.
it says this update is not for your pc

Games won't launch on windows 8.1

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