Guild Wars 2

Since the update, whenever I log out of the game, I’ll receive an error message stating that the game is “Already Running” and that GW2 is unable to start because another copy is running or the copy has insufficient rights…

If I try to open the client again, the same message will popup. I then need to restart my PC for the client to work normally again, but when I exit the game again, the same error will repeat, and I need to restart again.

Did the patch break something, or what am I doing wrong?

When the game client restarts either from an update or losing connection to the server, the client process remains running making it unable to start a new instance of the client. I was only able to see that the client was still running through the task manager. Trying to open the client only adds a new gw2.exe process in the task manager without showing any indication that it is running. I have not tested to see if this occurs if you exit to desktop normally.

Same thing has been happening to me since the 1/28 patch. And it does happen even if I exit the client normally.

I’ve also noticed this issue, though it doesn’t occur every time I exit the client. I’m running windows 7 32-bit.

Having the same issue. Really annoying to have to bring up the task manager like that.
I was trying to buy stuff on the tp and the buy button was greyed out so I exited and then it wouldn’t come back up and then gave me “multiple copies” error and then I noticed it was still running.

It seems to be a common issue since the 28th Jan patch. To fix it without having to restart, simply bring up Task Manager (ctrl+shift+esc), click the “Processes” tab, select “Gw2.exe” and click end process. You should now be able to start the game.

Same issue here, too.

I recieve the same error. But what actually happens is when you’ve played the game and close it, it won’t actually close. You can check this by looking at the Windows Task Manager and click the processes tab. You will see the Gw2.exe proces is still running. So when you try and launch the game again, it will give you that error. This is a bug they have to fix. In the mean time, like Pandem said, you don’t have to restart your computer, just right click the Gw2.exe process and choose “End Process” after which you can launch the game again without the error.

I have the same bug. Does anyone know if playing in windowed fullscreen or fullscreen matters?

i’m having the same problem but when i exit it out of the task manager it’s still giving me the error. maybe it could be fixed or patched because the only way for mine to work is to restart my computer.

Jeffrey Vaughn.1793:

Opening the Windows Task Manager, and closing the GW2.exe process will save you from having to restart. We’re looking into it.

Same bug here. But this solution worked, so i don’t have to restart at least. We hope you can figure out what causes this problem. Thanks

Kendokarate.5806:

I have the same bug. Does anyone know if playing in windowed fullscreen or fullscreen matters?

I play in just windowed mode, I don’t think it matters.

Since the patch Tuesday I have to open my task manager and manually shut down Guild Wars 2 client activity. When I log out of the game it all looks normal, no errors or anything, but my computer continues to run and the fan stays on, as if the game were running. I open task manager (ctrl+alt+dlt) and manually shut down the program and everything goes back to normal. Is anyone else experiencing this? Just wanted to let someone know.

EDIT: was merged in, didn’t see this topic. Good to know its being addressed.

Just started getting same issue here too.

… when I choose to close to desktop. The .exe continues to run until I manually stop the process via the task manager. I started noticing this when I’d try to start GW2 and the application would appear to hang. I checked in the task manager and noticed two instances of GW2.exe. I’m not sure how to go about remedying the situation beyond a reinstall. I didn’t know if it was a known issue or something new. I thought I’d check first to be safe and, perhaps, save myself some time.

I have had the same problem for about a week. With the exception of yesterday, it has happened every time. I was able to alt tab and get a window that says it was unable to open * .

I am also getting this error a lot. This is in addition to an error I keep getting when trying to switch characters and keep getting disconnected.

i am also experiencing this, and it all started w jan 28th patch

I haven’t noticed any visible signs of it remaining running after closing. No errors in game or when closing or anything. But it does appear in my task manager and appears to still use a lot of processing. I really only looked when I was having serious hanging up issues in another game I was playing and noticed that gw2.exe was still running.

I am having the same issue. Not with double copies running, but whenever I log out of Guild Wars, the screen goes black as it prepares to log out, then becomes “Not Responding”. I always have to go to my Task Menu and manually end process. This happened after the Jan 28th patch.

also experiencing this issue since the jan 28 patch.

windows 7 64 bit.

So its not only me. I thought it was my laptop being a piece of crap as it always is.

Ditto.

Gw2.exe does not show up in the task manager as an application, but does show up in the process list.

Right after release, GW2 often did not shut down properly, but would hang my machine. I suspect this is just a continuation of the original problem.

Yes I also experienced the same problem. But that window task manager method help!

http://cl.ly/image/3G1m2Q180M1Z

I snapped a screenshot of the error. I can confirm this is a repeating issue on Windows 8, as I can reproduce it readily by closing the game through the escape menu, and no matter how long I wait to restart (overnight being the longest test I performed) the previous process does not terminate.

-[edit]-

Searching before posting really should be a habit I’m in. lol. At least now you know there’s at least one more person affected?

I haven’t played much in January but I believe it has only been happening since the recent patch.

Every time I close Guild Wars 2 through the menu->quit, I’ll discover that the process is still running in the background afterwards, eating up memory.

This happens to me every time I quit the game ever since last patch.

It doesn’t matter if I choose menu → Exit to Windows or menu → Log Out. In both cases the game’s exe will stay in memory eating around 700mb memory.

This also means I can’t start GW2 again until I go to task manager with ctrl+alt+delete and end the gw2.exe process manually. I can only imagine how much more frustruating this new bug is to people who don’t know how to mess with the task manager and are forced to restart their PC every time they want to play GW2.

I have found recently (being since the F&F patch, maybe recently before that as well) when I close the game, either by esc-exit, or by Alt-f4, the game does not completely leave memory. This was not an issue until just recently, as I said. This causes the game to sit there, taking up 700-900mb of RAM on my system, and also stops me from launching the game again, giving me the “hey, gw2 is still running somewhere” GW1 style box launcher screen. I have to open task manager and force close it.

Windows 8 Pro 64-bit, running through steam.
Just tested it without steam, it seems to close properly, but that’s after being open for 30 sec, not 4 hours. Also, not a passable excuse, as I have a system I use exclusively in Big Picture Mode, and this causes that system to have issues, obviously, as I do not keep a keyboard connected to it all the time, and it worked fine until just recently.

I have also seen this behaviour, but it only began when I started launching the game through Steam.

For a few days now, when I exit to desktop, the gw2.exe process doesn’t terminate. If I try to load the game later, I get a message saying the game is already running. I have to go into task manager and end it manually before it will let me load the game again.

Just wanted to say that I also encountered this bug. I am running Windows 7 on 64 bit, since GW2 works on 32 bit this could possible be a source of the problem.

Yeah, I’ve had this issue. I have Windows 7 (eek, I think it’s 64 bit) on a PC and a laptop and I’ve had the issue on both.

I tend to launch GW2 from steam as a shortcut (though I didn’t buy it through Steam)
but I have had the problem after launching from the desktop as well. I’ve noticed it more though as Steam won’t close with GW2 running.

I have had this too. The launcher exits, but the game client hangs around.

I also think this has a profund effect on the queues for WvWvW. It’s gotten really bad lately also, which make it more important to fix this. Guildies and I will test this a bit further today; form up a party and have one or two stay behind to confirm that our souls linger on in WvWvW.

Noxin.5602:

I also think this has a profund effect on the queues for WvWvW. It’s gotten really bad lately also, which make it more important to fix this. Guildies and I will test this a bit further today; form up a party and have one or two stay behind to confirm that our souls linger on in WvWvW.

That would be a different problem. Currently we see the game client lingering on our PCs while we are not aware it is still in memory.
Being still connected is something different. That should only happen if game or PC are crashing – no normal exit having been done. If you suspect, that the exit would not be done and that it is connected to this problem, that would be a new problem.

Everytime I try to log in. It comes up with ‘’ please verify this network ’’ I have done this many times now xD. Ive even hit rember me in the options. But to alas. No cigar.

I was having the same problem of the GW2.exe process lingering around after I closed the game. My friend suggested I unpin the game from my taskbar and open the game directly from the folder its installed in. That seems to have fixed the problem. I’ve repinned the game to my taskbar and it closes fine now. I imagine deleting the Steam shortcut and remaking it might fix the problem for those using Steam?

I don’t know what you would do if you have this problem and don’t have it pinned to the taskbar, but my friend suggested it might not be closing properly because “the shortcut could be funny [or] it could be stored in a location where it launches funny.” Something about the Windows permissions being changed or weird since the new update.

Or it could be that something is changed already. Today it closed without me having changed anything.

i’m still having this problem, but it’s not every single time now. sometimes it doesn’t do it, but it still does the majority of the time.

Having the same issue with Windows 7, 64-bit. Should we be posting our dxdiag reports for you guys or wouldn’t that be helpful?

Michael.4791:

Or it could be that something is changed already. Today it closed without me having changed anything.

There haven’t been any client updates since January 30th, so I doubt it’s been changed from ANet’s side yet.

I’m not sure if anyone else is experiencing this. I don’t think it’s my pc but don’t know for sure, gw2 when closed will keep running in the background. I have to constantly go to task manager and close it from there to reopen GW2. This happening to anyone else recently? started happeneing like around the end of January.

Edit: Didnt see this post, my question has been answered lol ty for merging me moderator ^^

Yep.

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/support/tech/Computer-thinks-game-is-running-when-it-isn-t/first#post1413713

Experiencing this as well.

I just found out that this problem and the TP not working properly ( … in the Gems area is a clear indicator of this with a blank sell screen) are directly related, if you have to completely exit out the game to fix that you have to end task the process. If the TP is working fine and you exit out completely, the game closes normally and you don’t have to end the process.

I have the same logout issue. I’m suspecting something about clearing cache and that’s leading to an answer why this bug related with the TP issues.

I have a similar situation, except I can’t terminate gw2.exe. I’ve ended up with 4 copies running at the same time, but the weird thing is this: gw2.tmp is used by Norton Internet Security.
I have no idea if this helps, but here’s an image:
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/23352181/GW2%20Derp.png

Perhaps this is a different issue, but when I exit my game client in fullscreen mode, it doesn’t actually exit, and I end up having to terminate the program via my Task Manager.

This doesn’t seem to happen in windowed mode, just fullscreen.

I have the same problem as everyone had in this topic. But the thing is that when i terminate the gw2.exe in my task manager the game doesnt start and it stays in the task bar without the launcher being executed. In fact i can no longer play the game since it doesnt start the launcher.
I have rebooted, terminated the gw2.exe, try to repair, try to uninstall and it doesnt work, it just simply doesnt want to initiate the launcher.

If anyone has the same problem and found a solution please help.

Ty.