G4WL crashes upon launch.

Games for Windows Live.

The installation goes just fine, but when I try to launch it - I get a dialogue box that says that it has stopped working.

Any tips on how to fix would be greatly appreciated.

 

Hm... haven't touched GFWL in ages, but I'll see what I can do to help anyway.

Start by giving us the full error message, if you have it. Also, what OS are you in, and is it GFWL itself, or games you try to play through it? What firewall and antivirus are you using, and do you get any messages from them when GFWL crashes?

 

Windows 7 64-bit.

It's just G4WL.

I'm also having trouble with Paint.net, it does the same thing - but it's the installer that won't work.

I'm using Norton 360 Premier Edition (or something like that).

And it doesn't leave any messages, it just closes out. I get the little box with the G4WL name and logo, but then that's when the dialogue box comes up.

 

So it's the client itself then... Try temporarily disabling your Norton 360 and then launch the client. If that works, then we'll know that Norton is blocking some part of it, and that will give us a starting point.

Do you have anything saved on GFWL that you don't want to lose? If you do, back up those folders before trying what I'm about to suggest next. Note that you have to back up individual save folders for each game if you have them and also (VERY IMPORTANT!) that you have to back up your GFWL settings folder, or your other data won't restore properly. The settings folder is usually in this location: C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\Microsoft\XLive

After you have everything backed up, uninstall the client and do a reboot to make sure it completes and gets rid of everything. Then temporarily turn off Norton and reinstall the client by right-clicking on the installer and choosing "Run as Administrator...". Turn Norton back on as soon as possible.

Working now? Still not working? Let me know.

 

Didn't work, still the same thing.

 

1. Ouch. That sucks.

2. Let's not give up just yet. Are you on cable connection or wifi? Does your router have a firewall? If you installed it with full Admin rights and no security software interfering with the installation then we can rule that out, but sadly that means it should work now.

Based on your first post, it sounds as if you installed it, and it's never worked. Is that right? If not, can you think of any change at all that you did to your PC before it stopped working?

 

Actually, I think I accidentally deleted some stuff in C:.

Do you want me to post pics of the stuff in recycle bin?

 

That only works if you can make them large enough to be readable... too often, attached screenshots have the print too small. But sure, give it a try.

Out of curiosity, what kind of "stuff"? Not everything on C:\ is vital...

 

I had highlighted a bunch of folders (Program Files and such), and switched to Firefox - and was trying to input this code on Bungie.net.

I somehow switched to the folders and pressed shift + del, I'm guessing.

 

A lot of what was deleted looks to be shortcuts, but anything that is a "file folder" you should probably restore. If nothing else, removing a program by deleting the folder instead of running the uninstaller doesn't get rid of it fully and leaves all sorts of messes behind. At the very least, restore your GFWL folders!

Actually, restore everything that's not a shortcut, just to be safe.

Out of curiosity, why do you have an ESET folder if you have Norton 360?

 

That was when I was trying to remove some malware.

Anyways, I'll do that and post results.

 

The problem still remains.

Am I supposed to restore items that already have another copy?

 

No, if you already have a copy, don't worry about it.

Are you absolutely sure the malware is gone?

 

Yeah.

Absolutely gone.

I think it has something to do with the things I deleted, but even when I restore them - it still won't work.

Even when I had the malware, G4WL still worked, though.

 

Okay, I did some more digging... let's see if any of this helps.

Update your .NET framework and DirectX to the very latest. Double-check that your graphics drivers are the latest. Out of curiosity, if you temporarily create a new Windows user account, can you launch the GFWL client there?

Have you made changes to the regional/language settings in your Windows installation?

 

Updated .Net and Direct X.

Still nothing.

I made another account but it does the same thing.

 

I hate to admit it, but I am out of ideas. It doesn't help that I don't have GFWL installed on my PC and that I would rather switch to gaming exclusively on the Wii than reinstall it either...

GFWL does have a very large forum community though. Have you tried there? They will know the client a lot better than I do and will be able to help you.