[SOLUTION] HOW TO RUN NFS UNBOUND ON WINDOWS 11

[Изумрудный]

The solution is for everyone, the game starts without error, and ea does not collapse.

Go to the root of the folder, via steam. The folder of the game is called "Excalibur", look in the same place NeedForSpeedUnbound.exe , open the exe properties and go to the "compatibility" section. Check the box to run the program in compatibility mode: Windows 8. And hooray, the game starts

[DjCalvin]

Or you could just allow it to communicate through the windows defender firewall. no need to set compatibility mode when all it's looking for is to talk to EA.


You just need to allow NeedforSpeedUnbound.exe through your defender firewall.
Start>Windows Defender Firewall>Allow an app or feature through windows defender firewall>change settings> Add NeedforSpeedUnbound.exe from your steamapps\common\Excaliber directory.

[EvilMonkey]

Per Grok's analysis of my log file, which the combination of solutions finally worked for me:

Crash Analysis
The critical part is at lines 1398-1399 (timestamp [2025-03-16T03:21:54.848Z]):
Event: "Game session was too short: [9] seconds due to [CRASH], game process exit code=[-300]"

OS Event Log:

Faulting application name: NeedForSpeedUnbound.exe, version: 1.0.8.2549
Faulting module name: MpOav.dll, version: 4.18.25010.11
Exception code: 0xc0000409
Faulting module path: C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows Defender\Platform\4.18.25010.11-0\MpOav.dll

What this means:
MpOav.dll is part of Windows Defender’s real-time protection (specifically its on-access virus scanning).

Exception 0xc0000409 is a stack buffer overflow—a security fault where a program writes beyond its allocated memory, often triggered by anti-cheat or antivirus interference.

The crash happened 9 seconds into gameplay, likely during initialization or an early check (e.g., anti-cheat or file verification).

Why It Won’t Launch Now
After the crash, the EA app or game might be in a bad state:
The log shows repeated "user token" errors (eax::WinUtils::getUserImpersonationToken), but these are common noise in EA app logs when not running as SYSTEM—they’re not the core issue.

Line 1416 ([2025-03-16T03:21:54.985Z]) logs the crash exit with "end_reason":"CRASH", and subsequent cloud sync completes fine (lines 1451-1452). No explicit launch attempt is logged after this, but your "can’t launch anymore" suggests the EA app or Steam integration got stuck, possibly due to leftover crash data or Defender still interfering.

Fix Steps
Since MpOav.dll (Windows Defender) caused the crash, and you got it running for 20 minutes earlier with admin mode and firewall exceptions, let’s focus on neutralizing Defender’s interference and resetting the launch pipeline.
Exclude Game Files from Windows Defender
Open Windows Security > Virus & Threat Protection > Manage Settings > Add or remove exclusions.

Add exclusions for:
Q:\SteamLibrary\steamapps\common\Excalibur\NeedForSpeedUnbound.exe (the game executable).

C:\Program Files\Electronic Arts\EA Desktop\EADesktop.exe (EA app).

C:\Users\...\Documents\Need For Speed(TM) Unbound (save data folder, as Defender might scan it).

This stops Defender from hooking into the game’s process and triggering MpOav.dll crashes.

Reset EA App State
Close Steam and EA app fully (Task Manager > end "Steam," "EA Desktop," "EA Background Service").

Open EA app as admin (right-click EADesktop.exe > "Run as administrator"), go to the three-line menu > "Help" > "App Recovery" > "Clear Cache."

Restart your PC, then launch Steam as admin, followed by NFS Unbound.

Verify Game Files
In Steam, right-click NFS Unbound > Properties > Installed Files > "Verify integrity of game files." The crash might’ve corrupted something Defender flagged.

After, in EA app (as admin), go to "My Collection," click the three dots on NFS Unbound, and select "Repair."

Update Windows Defender
Your Defender version is 4.18.25010.11 (timestamp 0xbe11da13, roughly Jan 2025). Open Windows Security > Virus & Threat Protection > Check for updates. A newer version might fix compatibility with NFS Unbound’s anti-cheat or file checks.

Disable Defender Real-Time Protection (Temporary Test)
If exclusions don’t work, test with real-time protection off: Windows Security > Virus & Threat Protection > Manage Settings > toggle "Real-time protection" off. Launch the game from Steam (as admin). Turn it back on after testing—this confirms Defender’s the culprit.

Reinstall EA App (If Needed)
If it still fails, uninstall EA app (Control Panel > "Uninstall a program"), restart PC, reinstall from EA’s site, and set it to run as admin permanently (right-click EADesktop.exe > Properties > Compatibility > "Run as administrator").

[Изумрудный]

Originally posted by DjCalvin:

Or you could just allow it to communicate through the windows defender firewall. no need to set compatibility mode when all it's looking for is to talk to EA.


You just need to allow NeedforSpeedUnbound.exe through your defender firewall.
Start>Windows Defender Firewall>Allow an app or feature through windows defender firewall>change settings> Add NeedforSpeedUnbound.exe from your steamapps\common\Excaliber directory.

Initially windows defender was disabled in my windows build. But the game not run

[Lardo]

Originally posted by Изумрудный:

Originally posted by DjCalvin:

Or you could just allow it to communicate through the windows defender firewall. no need to set compatibility mode when all it's looking for is to talk to EA.


You just need to allow NeedforSpeedUnbound.exe through your defender firewall.
Start>Windows Defender Firewall>Allow an app or feature through windows defender firewall>change settings> Add NeedforSpeedUnbound.exe from your steamapps\common\Excaliber directory.

Initially windows defender was disabled in my windows build. But the game not run

Install a normal "build" then, or don't complain when games don't run on your "debloated" hack job version.

[Изумрудный]

Originally posted by Lardo:

Originally posted by Изумрудный:

Initially windows defender was disabled in my windows build. But the game not run

Install a normal "build" then, or don't complain when games don't run on your "debloated" hack job version.

Lol, firstly, no one is complaining and secondly I shared how to fix this problem, because it helped me.

[Lardo]

Originally posted by Изумрудный:

Originally posted by Lardo:

Install a normal "build" then, or don't complain when games don't run on your "debloated" hack job version.

Lol, firstly, no one is complaining and secondly I shared how to fix this problem, because it helped me.

If compatibility mode makes your butchered OS work better, good for you.