Windows 10 Issues, game won't launch

[The Fightin' Hemingways]

Hey guys, I have a little over 200 hours in the game but have run into a problem now where it won't launch. I am running Windows 10 (I know, I know) and have tried downloading mods like DSfix again, deleting all mod files, and even uninstalling and installing the game again vanilla. Nothing seems to be working, including opting in and out of betas or disabling the Steam overlay.

Any tips for the fix?

[Lord Zapharos]

I'll assume that you have verified your computer can run Dark Souls and that you have tried updating graphics drivers, etc. If not, get on that first. You may also want to verify that your antivirus software isn't blocking DS for some reason.

You should try the Windows compatibility options (right-click the exe, go to properties, and adjust compatiblity from there). Try running under XP, 7, 8, etc. with and without administrator.

If none of that works, the next likely bet is that some 3rd-party software is interfering with your game. In the task manager, take a look at the startup, processes, and details sections and see what's running. Try disabling "extra" services that don't strictly need to be running (but make sure you know what a service does before ending it!).

Examples of such extra services include: Microsoft Office "helper" processes, game controller remapping software, keyboard/mouse software (e.g. Razer Synapse), Skype applications, headset software, non-Steam cloud services, etc. Disable these processes one-by-one until the game starts working -- it should then be trivial to figure out which process is actually responsible for the problem.

If you really want to get fancy, you can also check out Black Viper's Windows 10 tweaks, which involve disabling certain Windows processes via services.msc. But it's far more likely that 3rd party software/bloatware, rather than Windows itself, is causing the problem.

For one of my friends on Windows 8.1, the problem was a combination of the Razer Naga software, some keyboard lighting software, and a Skype enhancement of some sort. He had to disable all those services AND run the game as administrator under Windows 7 compatibility mode to get the game working.

Good luck!

[Jogando na conta do Fallen]

I'm using windows 10 pro x64 build 15002 and it works perfectly. Try reinstalling Direct X9 and it could fix.

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

[The Fightin' Hemingways]

Originally posted by Lord Zapharos:

Good luck!

Thanks for all of the tips. I messed around with them but it still wasn't working, so I ended up just manually deleting all of my DaS files and any mods associated with it, then re-installing on my C: drive. Now it works perfectly. Very odd, I know I've had it working on my other HDD before, but I'll take it.

[disco]

disable the game overlay on discord, that broke mine

[(Edgy) Asriel Dreemurr]

If you use DSFix, you have to disable Anti-Aliasing in-game, or else it will crash.