Guild Wars 2

“therefore i think that this gw2 problem has cause my PC greater problems due to the fact that any .exe i run or browser or anything..its crushing after a while and today i got BSoD like 2 times..”

It doesn’t work that way.

There can be many causes for what you’re describing. Also, it sounds like a hardware problem. However, we need more information before we can start to have any idea of what is causing these issues:

CPU temperature?
GPU temperature?
crash logs?
Windows event viewer logs?
System specifications?

Run this for a few minutes while monitoring temperatures (a handy tool I use for stress testing) :

http://www.jam-software.com/heavyload/

Rktlchr.8495:

I think I am having the same problem. I haven’t tried much in the way of doing anything to software other than keeping my BIOS and GPU drivers up to date. I think I have had about 6 of these black screens just in the last month. Otherwise I have always been able to run at almost max settings anywhere in this game. The only time I lower my settings is for huge WvW fights so I don’t have a chance to lag during the fights.

I have recently re-cleaned the whole computer inside and cleaned off/reapplied new thermal paste to the CPU. I’ve performed stress tests on videocard and CPU and monitored the temps. GPU never went above 70-80 C during GW2 or stress test, CPU stayed at 89C during stress test but didn’t shut down the computer.

GPU: EVGA GTX460 Driver:337.88 (5/26/14)
CPU: i5 2500K 3.30 GHz (not currently overclocked)
Mobo: Z77X-UD3H
RAM: 8 Gb
Win 7 64 bit

Your CPU temperature is most likely the problem. The max operating temperature for that CPU is 72.6 degrees C. Anything beyond that temperature and the results will be unpredictable.

Your CPU specs:

http://www.cpu-world.com/CPUs/Core_i5/Intel-Core%20i5-2500K%20CM8062300833803.html

No need to reinstall the game. Simply copy it over to a backup drive (thumb/flash drive, whatever) and copy it back to the new hard drive.

The game will recreate the registry entries and file locations that it needs.

Now, I haven’t tested this in a while, but I do have GW2 backed up on my other desktop (copied over the network) and it started up and ran no problem. So…as long as Anet hasn’t changed something, it should still work just by copying the folder.

It will run fine, except for doing events with lots of people. Your framerate will take a nosedive then. Also, you’ll probably have to run with low graphics settings.

Sir Kaboomski.1508:

abomally.2694:

TerriBear.8034:

Beldin.5498:

crazy.9083:

ok, what’s weird is it’s letting you log into the forums so you must have a valid username (which is your email address – a lot of people make the mistake of using their display name as their account name and not their email address) and password.

^This

Loginname and password for the forums is the same as for the game.

If this were the case, why am I still unable to get past the launcher?

The pictures you posted don’t look legit to me; as in real Guild Wars 2 stuff.

I recommend that you don’t click the “recover account” link and enter anything. I’m not 100% sure, but I don’t believe that you can “recover” your account this way. Also, why would it want you to immediately “recover” your account if you enter an incorrect email and/or password? This just seems very fishy to me.

It is 100% legit. Open your launcher, type the wrong password and hit login and you will see the exact same screens as the OP posted.

Cool. I’ve never entered an incorrect password there, so wasn’t sure.

TerriBear.8034:

Beldin.5498:

crazy.9083:

ok, what’s weird is it’s letting you log into the forums so you must have a valid username (which is your email address – a lot of people make the mistake of using their display name as their account name and not their email address) and password.

^This

Loginname and password for the forums is the same as for the game.

If this were the case, why am I still unable to get past the launcher?

The pictures you posted don’t look legit to me; as in real Guild Wars 2 stuff.

I recommend that you don’t click the “recover account” link and enter anything. I’m not 100% sure, but I don’t believe that you can “recover” your account this way. Also, why would it want you to immediately “recover” your account if you enter an incorrect email and/or password? This just seems very fishy to me.

Anyway, make sure to do a full system scan for viruses and malware. Maybe there’s something out there that latches on to the GW2 process and tries to trick you into giving out your account info.

Also – if you can log into the forums, you can log into the game – unless there’s some type of malware infection preventing this or an internet “hijack” of some sort.

Edited to add:

I searched around a bit and I can’t find a web link for GW2 that allows you to recover your account. I’m pretty sure you are being redirected to a fake link intended to steal your account.

Be sure to check your email account and insure that your email hasn’t been compromised and change the password for it (preferably from a different computer) until you get this sorted out.

Your graphics driver is crashing. It could certainly be your graphics card.

In this case, I suspect a software conflict interfering with graphics. Disable ALL unneeded start-up programs and reboot your PC:

http://www.howtogeek.com/74523/how-to-disable-startup-programs-in-windows/

Update all of your drivers, especially the graphics driver.

Make sure Windows is fully updated, including Microsoft.NET 4.5.

“The jump in price passes my price range so is that extra ~$70 worth it?”

To sum up Avelos’ post – NO.

sirsquishy.8531:

Thats a good laptop for the cost. But I suggest going with a 860 or better gpu for longevity.

^
This.

I don’t recommend that people game on laptops, especially wireless. Your case is a bit different though. Also, always use a laptop cooling pad. Seriously, I have seen them reduce system temps by close to 20 degrees C.

1. Set your resolution to your monitor’s “native” resolution.

2. If it’s already set that way, there are numerous graphics settings in the game menu for detail, etc.

What are your temperatures when running the game?

http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/hwmonitor.html

Also:

—> System Memory <—
Physical: 4584MB/ 8078MB 56%
Paged: 11880MB/16154MB 73%
Virtual: 3481MB/ 4095MB 85%
Load: 43%
CommitTotal: 4274MB
CommitLimit: 16154MB
CommitPeak: 4493MB
SystemCache: 4470MB
HandleCount: 38672
ProcessCount: 135 <- That’s a ridiculous amount of stuff running in the background
ThreadCount: 1566

Please disable everything that you don’t need running at start-up. Then reboot and try the game again. Sometimes software conflicts can crash other software.

Here’s how:

http://www.howtogeek.com/74523/how-to-disable-startup-programs-in-windows/

Natsu Dragneel.1625:

Gw2 pushes my laptop to about 90-95C and on rare cases 99-100 (if I turn up my heat pump to warm up the room and are doing intensive stuff like teq fights etc) Its not really a problem for me, my laptop has an i5 3210m (not too bad, I got the laptop pretty cheap a few years ago) and its tjunction is 105C, so anything less then that is fine and I don’t really worry about it, and even then, most modern cpu’s have a shut-off temperature (which I think is around 110C + where it will automatically shut itself off to avoid damage, at least that’s what I have read)

Just look up your CPU and see what temperature ratings it has, really though, you should be fine.

Pushing your laptop that close to maximum ratings on a regular basis is going to shorten its life.

Both you and the OP should be using cooling pads – especially for gaming.

“Edit: I forgot to mention that ever since the new patch a file called “THIRDPARTYSOFTWAREREADME” has appeared on my computer. I’ll delete it but then it pop back up when I run gw2. It’s here again as I reinstall the game. Does anyone else have this and/or know what it is? I ran a scan on it and it’s benign.”

It’s just a text file regarding third party software that the game uses. It won’t do any harm and is, in fact, normal.

Free software is garbage? No it isn’t. There are some very good utilities out there that are completely free, some of which are open source.

I prefer Avast! (free). I also use Paragon Backup & Recovery (free, register to get key) and Macrium Reflect to image my hard drives. They both work perfectly and are free.

I could go on and on regarding free software and utilities, but, you get the point. Also (as you know), there is NO anti-virus program out there that can catch every piece of malware. One reason that I use Avast! is that it uses the lowest amount of system resources of any AV I’ve tried. Even on older machines, performance is not affected much, if at all.

It’s cool that you’re in IT. I’m an electronics engineering technician and have been repairing PCs since before Windows even existed (I used to use Norton DOS, btw).

I do agree with the rest of your post, however. I’m kinda’ surprised that people still use Teamspeak. In WoW, we used to use Ventrillo.

Good day.

It sucks because of the problems it causes with legit software (false positives).

Is this a joke?

Does your PC even meet the minimum game requirements? An AGP graphics card? Really?

I highly doubt your machine even meets the minimum requirements of the game. Even then, it’s gonna’ barely be playable. Good luck with that.

Avast! is currently best for free AV software. AVG sucks and has for a long time.

Irish Forestal.4168:

This IS an Arenanet issue. NOT Verizon. I am able to play every other game with no issue what so ever. We should have to find fixes for this problem when Arenanet is responsible for providing good customer service. I don’t care who you want to blame. Just FIX the issue.

Really?

By all means, please explain why I (and numerous others) are able to play without any problems.

Something is wrong with your PC.

I have no problems logging in or playing the game.

If your computer is crashing while merely attempting to repair files – it’s your computer that’s broken.

Of course, we can’t really help you if you don’t provide info about your computer or crash logs, etc.

derkluge.3851:

It has a fan (don’t all laptops??). Apparently it’s inadequate. What is a cooling pad?

ALL people gaming on laptops should use a cooling pad. They can make a huge difference in temperature. Here are some:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/laptop-accessories/regularcatpcmcat238900050004/pcmcat238900050004.c?id=pcmcat238900050004

You’re really concerned about a second or two delay opening the TP? Really?

I’d be happy if they removed the “error attempting to sell” nonsense item limit. It’s really annoying if you have a lot of items to sell.

Check your CPU temperature with Hardware Monitor:

http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/hwmonitor.html

Edited to add: If you are overclocking, remove the overclock and run at stock speeds.

Avelos is probably right, it sounds like a RAM problem to me. Technically, RAM doesn’t have “sectors”, but groups of memory locations are often referred to as pages.

That file is supposed to be there. The game saves it’s settings in a file called “local.dat” in the location you listed.

Also, that’s not a temp folder.

No, running GW2 on WINE is fine (judging by posts I’ve read from others running the game on Linux).

In order for the game to look right on your monitor, you need to set the resolution to match your monitor’s native resolution. If you go higher or lower, things probably won’t look right.

If your monitor only supports 1680X1050, that’s where you should set the game, although it isn’t “true” HD (1920X1080).

Have you checked the GPU temperature? That’s the best way to find out if it’s overheating.

Did you do an upgrade over Windows 7, or did you reformat the drive before installing Windows 8.1?

If it was the first, upgrades over an existing OS are known to have weird problems. You should always format the drive to install a new OS.

I’ve heard about those registry entries but have never tried them – so I don’t know if it works.

Anyway, those key values should be in HEX:

3c = 60 Hz
4b = 75 Hz

Tanith.5264:

I am also suddenly having problems with the game crashing due to the same error. My card is an NVidia GeForce 8800 GTX. Up until this morning I’ve had no trouble whatsoever with GW2, now I can’t even get the game to run.

My card is an Nvidia (EVGA) Geforce 8800GT and I have no issues with GW2. Your card could be failing. Could also be your power supply (or even motherboard, but that’s rare).

sirsquishy.8531:

AVG is garbage, has been since 2007. You all should be using Avast!

Source – http://www.av-comparatives.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/avc_factsheet2014_04.pdf

I completely agree. I’ve tried a lot of free AV’s and always came back to Avast.

“Someone wrote “Anet can’t control”, but hey, WHY I SHOULD take care about the way I connect to Anet servers?! Look, when all websites and Steam works well exept Arena, what do should I think?”

I see. So when you are having problems with the electricity in your house, do you call the plumber?

Try disabling all unneeded start-up programs, then reboot.

Info here:

http://www.howtogeek.com/74523/how-to-disable-startup-programs-in-windows/

1) Do us all a big favor and keep politics out of the tech forum.

2) I don’t believe for a minute that they did anything to affect SSD’s, much less that you talked to a “friend” that is an “Anet Dev.”

As far as your browser issue, you probably installed an add-on or toolbar that pegs your CPU usage or causes the browser to be unstable. You might want to check that out.

“Dunno why people keep yelling “NET NEUTRALITY DID IT” lately, it has nothing to do with net neutrality…”

It’s because they don’t know how the internet works; which, incidentally, is the same reason they blame Anet for this stuff or expect them to resolve it with Verizon. Anet has no way to directly resolve this – they have no control over Verizon!

You need to contact Verizon. Yes, I know, it’s not fair (etc.) – c’est la vie.

It doesn’t work that way – there is no such thing as “too much” CPU power. You should be able to run all cores at 100% for hours without overheating. This is a cooling system problem.

I recommend that you clean your fans and replace the thermal grease on your CPU. The only way to properly fix this problem is to repair the cooling system. If you are overclocking your CPU, removing the overclock will probably reduce the temperatures to a normal range.

queenfrostine.2537:

I am having a similar issue. I have not tried WvW since the update but the pavilion crashes my machine. I cannot get through a full boss fight without this happening. I ran a computer monitor program called speedfan and my cpu is getting to 81C during the new boss fights with around 90% cpu usage. During this my Gpu is not used as much and doesn’t heat up badly. I ran around the normal maps and noticed a 20C difference in cpu temp with around 25% usage; my gpu is used more during this. It seems to me that it may just be an optimization issue with the new content.

My setup:
Win 7 Ultimate x64
AMD A6-3650
8G RAM
GeForce GTX 560 2G

Your CPU is overheating due to a cooling problem.

The max temp for that processor is 72 C.

“Now, is this Verizon trying to strong arm NCSoft for more money or something? No, but this is the kind of thing we will get if Verizon wins the fight. That’s why I posted a number and called for those who are annoyed to complain, so it gets fixed.”

Nonsense.

It’s in Verizon’s best interest to properly provide service to their customers and they will fix it. These things happen from time to time and they will for the rest of your life. Taking the approach you outlined in your initial post solves nothing and is not a mature way of dealing with such problems.

Furthermore, Anet has no control over how Verizon operates. They also have no control over internet DNS problems or the route data takes to/from their servers to your computer – none.

As far as “net neutrality” goes; the internet already works that way and I certainly hope that a bunch of bureaucrats that don’t know the difference between a node and a packet don’t find a way to mess up a system that generally works pretty well.

Is the internet perfect? No. Nothing is.

I don’t have Dark Souls 2, but I do have the first Dark Souls and it is horribly optimized.

Besides that, MMO’s are different as they have to process tons of network data which isn’t present in single player games.

In my opinion, Castlevania Lords of Shadow 2 is one of the best optimized games for PC and looks great.

Ponzu.4570:

is anet even looking at the forums?

I’m sure they are.

However, when someone provides zero information regarding the connection issue, how is anyone supposed to be able to diagnose it?

Here’s one place to start:

https://help.guildwars2.com/entries/27698133-Connectivity

It’s fine. It will vary a bit depending on what’s happening, but it’s nothing to be concerned about.

Be very careful and make sure you have things backed up if you use Display Driver Uninstaller (in fact, the program warns you of this).

I have an Nforce chipset. Not only did it remove my graphics driver, it removed everything Nvidia related – so, no more boot up. Fortunately, I keep two images of my C drive and was able to restore everything easily; but it was an irritation.

It could be that your OS is corrupted – you may want to consider a re-install.

Have you updated DirectX and your graphics drivers?

Get DirectX here:

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=35

Nvidia makes the GPU chip, but they aren’t the card manufacturer.

Any time you run a component beyond specs it wasn’t designed for there is a possibility of instability. The card manufacturer is at fault here.

Why don’t you just send ladyoflight a message explaining the situation and ask for the gold back?

Properly designed and operating hardware will not overheat – even when run at 100% loads for hours at a time.

Sorry, but you are simply incorrect on this issue. If hardware is overheating, something is wrong with the hardware’s cooling system.

Yes, there are software programs that can modify the default hardware settings (overclocking, fan speed) – but games and benchmarking software doesn’t do this. However, hardware should never overheat when run at default settings.