Wicther 3 won't launch

[Christav2009]

When i press play in the REDlauncher it just closes the tab an steam somehow thinks its running. ( its running in. checked it in task manager, but i cant see it on screen or on my task bar. anyone else had this issue. And yes, i have the minimun specs to run, probably more than needed

[Dragon Fire]

REDLauncher isnt starting

Hello everyone,
I wanted to play the Witcher 3 again so i downloaded it 2 days ago, after starting the game the REDLauncher opened and i just tried to run the game an DX12 even tho my Pc is kinda old. So the game crashed and i tried starting it agian, but this time nothing happend the icon for the Game/Launcher appeared at my Taskbar, but it didnt start it was just invisible. So i reinstalled the game again, it didnt start again. Then i just tried unistalling the REDLauncher from the APPData folder, after this the Launcher worked this time i set it to DX11 wich worked i played for ~2 hours. Today the Launcher didtn start again, until i deleted the folder once more, but it cant be the solution to delete the CDRed folder everytime i want to play.

So now i want to know is there a way to solve this, i know many people just skip the launcher but then the game starts at DX12 and that doesnt work for me. Or is there a way to move the CDRED folder from my C: to my E: hard disk, because my C: is kinda full and maybe thats an issue.

Hope someone can help me

[cheshirm]

try looking in folder
c:\users\yourWindowsLogin\appdata\local\programs\cd projekt red\redlauncher\logs
try REDlauncher.log but may be an error msg in the others

if you are technically inclined, run windbg then launch the redprelauncher.
launcher appears on my machine and the list of loaded .dll libraries in windbg.
maybe an error msg would appear for you

[cheshirm]

if the launcher does not appear try looking in folder
c:\users\yourWindowsLogin\appdata\local\programs\cd projekt red\redlauncher\logs
try REDlauncher.log but may be an error msg in the others

game needs to create folder
Documents\The Witcher 3
to store your graphics settings in .settings files and save files in the gamesaves folder

is the folder there? if not check windows security/controlled folder access. if on add exceptions for the game launcher and game

also check your antivirus log. might be blocking game launcher/game

running Windows One Drive? I do not use one drive so cannot not offer advice.
windows one drive was released in 2007. VERY many websites with
tutorials/manuals/movies/youtube videos written by experts devoted to
One Drive/synching files/using steam, etc.

if after trying all the above and the game still fails, go to the steam game folder then the bin folder.

run x64/witcher3.exe for the dx11 version
run x64_dx12/witcher3.exe for the dx12 version
maybe the game works but just the launcher has issues.

[Dragon Fire]

There is an error msg in the REDlauncher.log im gonna write it here:
"Failed to back-up storage before upgrade: Error Message: Failed performing an operation upon the file 'C:/Users/yourWindowsLogin/AppData/Local/Programs/CD Projekt Red/REDlauncher/config'- Specific Reason: Could not copy to C:/Users/yourWindowsLogin/AppData/Local/Programs/CD Projekt Red/REDlauncher/config.old; Error code 2
Stack Trace" .
So idk if someone knows what exactly that means, or how i can fix this Error.

[cheshirm]

perhaps post 4-5 lines before that error so I can compare to my working log

[tflaigjr]

i had same problem,, i have 2 hard drives and needed to make sure it was installed where it was originally

[Dragon Fire]

I copied every Line that was in the same block with the Error Msg, hope thats enough for you too compare to your log, so maybe you can figure out what the problem is.

2024-07-22 20:17:31.035 [Information][ (0)] [TID 10740][red-launcher]: Log started. Application version: 2.20.0.37 (2024-05-20 13:56).
2024-07-22 20:17:31.040 [Information][ (0)] [TID 10740][red-launcher]: Operating system: Windows 10 10.0 (Build 19045) (IA32)
2024-07-22 20:17:31.040 [Information][ (0)] [TID 10740][red-launcher]: Platform identification: win10 64-bit
2024-07-22 20:17:31.044 [Information][ (0)] [TID 10740][red-launcher]: Current working directory: 'C:/Users/yourWindowslogin/AppData/Local/Programs/CD Projekt Red/REDlauncher', filesystem: 'NTFS'.
2024-07-22 20:17:31.068 [Information][ (0)] [TID 10740][red-launcher]: Starting data migration from 0.0.0.0.
2024-07-22 20:17:31.069 [Information][ (0)] [TID 10740][red-launcher]: Copying file 'C:/Users/yourWindowslogin/AppData/Local/Programs/CD Projekt Red/REDlauncher/config' to 'C:/Users/yourWindowslogin/AppData/Local/Programs/CD Projekt Red/REDlauncher/config.old'.
2024-07-22 20:17:31.682 [Error][ (0)] [TID 10740][red-launcher]: Failed to back-up storage before upgrade: Error Message: Failed performing an operation upon the file 'C:/Users/yourWindowslogin/AppData/Local/Programs/CD Projekt Red/REDlauncher/config'.
Specific Reason: Could not copy to C:/Users/yourWindowslogin/AppData/Local/Programs/CD Projekt Red/REDlauncher/config.old; Error code: 2

[Dragon Fire]

Originally posted by tflaigjr:

i had same problem,, i have 2 hard drives and needed to make sure it was installed where it was originally

What was not installed on the original hard drive, the game itself or the launcher? I have two hard drives aswell, C: where the launcher was automatically installed, where i have little space left and E: where Steam and the game itself are installed.

[cheshirm]

my steam is in c:\program files(x86) and my games are on D: drive. everything works.

my win 11 log is the same for the first 4 lines then nothing is the same.
I do not have Starting data migration from 0.0.0.0.
2024-07-22 20:17:31.069 [Information][] [TID 10740][red-launcher]: Copying file 'C:/Users/yourWindowslogin/AppData/Local/Programs/CD Projekt Red/REDlauncher/config' to 'C:/Users/yourWindowslogin/AppData/Local/Programs/CD Projekt Red/REDlauncher/config.old'.
I do not have any files called config or config.old.

someone else with a running game on win 10 would have to post.

meantime see if the game itself works. go to the steam game folder then the bin folder.

run x64/witcher3.exe for the dx11 version
run x64_dx12/witcher3.exe for the dx12 version
maybe the game works but just the launcher has issues.

[Dragon Fire]

Yes the game itself works, like everytime i delete the Launcher folder i can start the launcher once and from there i can start the game wich works fine. Have been playing over 5 hours yesterday, but its really annoying over time.

[cheshirm]

add to steam game launch options
--launcher-skip
to skip the launcher for now. maybe at some future date/update, things will resolve.
or somebody can look at their win 10 log and tell you what is going on

[Dragon Fire]

The problem with that is if i skip the launcher the game starts in dx12 and then the game crashes, i need dx11.

[cheshirm]

https://steamcommunity.com/app/292030/discussions/0/6126615404779495660/