Borderlands 2 crashes after mod install

[Yasper Moglot]

About six months ago I installed Borderlands 2-5, played for a few days without problems, but then the game stopped starting. Crashes after 2 seconds of launch (2K intro).

I tried to fix it, it didn’t work and I gave up. Today I downloaded the game again, same problem. Even deleting the mod didn't help.

[Adino]

Try verifying files. Worked for me when my game crashed because of mods.

[Radiowavehero]

Usually Borderlands 2 crashing like that is caused by a corrupt INI file , it's easy to fix though , Go to C:\Users\YOURNAME\Documents\My Games\Borderlands 2\WillowGame\Config look for the file named WillowGame.ini , delete it or move it out of the folder to another spot , then simply try to start the game like normal. Verifying won't fix this because it doesn't check the documents folder files.

When you start the game again it will detect the missing config file and create the default one.

If the game works again it means the INI was corrupt, so don't move the old INI back , just delete it , and unless you specifically modified the INI with tweaks it shouldn't matter that it is reset back to default, I think the only in-game setting that might be changed is field of view and maybe physX so check those if they seem different.

If you are still trying to use the mod and you have reinstalled borderlands 2 you need to hex edit your borderlands2.exe again.

Use a more recent hex edit tool , the ones from 2020 no longer work properly affter the UHD patch , this one should work(I used this one myself) https://www.nexusmods.com/borderlands2/mods/54

Also make sure you are NOT using the UHD patch , the updated textures can cause crashes but most likely if the game is consistently crashing right at the start it is the INI problem.

It's probably not the mod causing the crashes at start but it is possible that the mod caused a crash during play and that crash corrupted the INI and now the corrupted INI causes the crash on start , I've used borderlands 2.5 and experienced a few random crashes but never the constant type so if you still want to use the mod it is probably fine just make sure you hex edit and follow the instructions from the mod page and don't use other mods at the same time as they might be incompatible.

[Yasper Moglot]

Originally posted by Adino:

Try verifying files. Worked for me when my game crashed because of mods.

Tried it a few times, but it didn't help

[Yasper Moglot]

Originally posted by Radiowavehero:

Usually Borderlands 2 crashing like that is caused by a corrupt INI file , it's easy to fix though , Go to C:\Users\YOURNAME\Documents\My Games\Borderlands 2\WillowGame\Config look for the file named WillowGame.ini , delete it or move it out of the folder to another spot , then simply try to start the game like normal. Verifying won't fix this because it doesn't check the documents folder files.

When you start the game again it will detect the missing config file and create the default one.

If the game works again it means the INI was corrupt, so don't move the old INI back , just delete it , and unless you specifically modified the INI with tweaks it shouldn't matter that it is reset back to default, I think the only in-game setting that might be changed is field of view and maybe physX so check those if they seem different.

If you are still trying to use the mod and you have reinstalled borderlands 2 you need to hex edit your borderlands2.exe again.

Use a more recent hex edit tool , the ones from 2020 no longer work properly affter the UHD patch , this one should work(I used this one myself) https://www.nexusmods.com/borderlands2/mods/54

Also make sure you are NOT using the UHD patch , the updated textures can cause crashes but most likely if the game is consistently crashing right at the start it is the INI problem.

It's probably not the mod causing the crashes at start but it is possible that the mod caused a crash during play and that crash corrupted the INI and now the corrupted INI causes the crash on start , I've used borderlands 2.5 and experienced a few random crashes but never the constant type so if you still want to use the mod it is probably fine just make sure you hex edit and follow the instructions from the mod page and don't use other mods at the same time as they might be incompatible.

Thank you for your answer, unfortunately I tried deleting INI file, but it didn't help, game keeps crashing

[Radiowavehero]

Right click borderlands 2 in your steam library , click properties , click DLC , make sure you do not have the UHD ultra HD texture pack installed.

There is another thing that can cause crashes , having certain non english characters in your profile name can cause problems with the bifrost.dll .

There are a couple of things you can try to test if this is the problem.

First you can just try running your borderlands 2 exe in administrator mode , this is the easiest thing to test just go to :\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Borderlands 2\Binaries\Win32 right click the borderlands 2 exe , go to compatibility and click the check box at the bottom to run it as administrator.

If windows User Account Control stops you from doing this you can try other things , first off turning off the UAC (right click windows button , click search , type UAC , click on it and slide it to the bottom)

If you don't want to disable UAC you can try Deleting the Bifrost.dll (it's in the same win32 folder as the borderlands2.exe) then verify your files using steam , this will re-download the bifrost.dll , UAC should then prompt you next time you run borderlands , make sure you accept.

The most extreme thing would be changing your user name to only use english characters so I would try everything else before that. More information here https://old.reddit.com/r/Borderlands2/comments/sgb5a0/borderlands_2_crashing_on_startup_cannot_get_to/

[Yasper Moglot]

Originally posted by Radiowavehero:

Right click borderlands 2 in your steam library , click properties , click DLC , make sure you do not have the UHD ultra HD texture pack installed.

There is another thing that can cause crashes , having certain non english characters in your profile name can cause problems with the bifrost.dll .

There are a couple of things you can try to test if this is the problem.

First you can just try running your borderlands 2 exe in administrator mode , this is the easiest thing to test just go to :\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Borderlands 2\Binaries\Win32 right click the borderlands 2 exe , go to compatibility and click the check box at the bottom to run it as administrator.

If windows User Account Control stops you from doing this you can try other things , first off turning off the UAC (right click windows button , click search , type UAC , click on it and slide it to the bottom)

If you don't want to disable UAC you can try Deleting the Bifrost.dll (it's in the same win32 folder as the borderlands2.exe) then verify your files using steam , this will re-download the bifrost.dll , UAC should then prompt you next time you run borderlands , make sure you accept.

The most extreme thing would be changing your user name to only use english characters so I would try everything else before that. More information here https://old.reddit.com/r/Borderlands2/comments/sgb5a0/borderlands_2_crashing_on_startup_cannot_get_to/

1. I don't have UHD texture pack at all
2. Tried running the game as administrator, didn't help
3. Deleted bifrost.dll and redownloaded it through verifying files, didn't work
4. Changed my windows user name to only english characters and rebooted pc, didn't help as well

[Radiowavehero]

Damn , sorry this is giving you so much trouble. I'm going down the list of all the things that have worked for other people who had the same type of crash at start but I'm running out of ideas , I am seeing several people in the steam comments who just bought the game and can't get it to run , maybe something changed recently that screwed it up for certain systems.

Well I still have a few ideas but they are longshots.

Firstly If the game keeps crashing at the 2k intro lets try skipping the damn opening cutscenes (sounds dumb but who knows at this point) Right click borderlands 2 in steam library , click properties , on the general tab you should see Launch options cut and paste this into the launch options

-nostartupmovies

If that doesn't work there are more drastic things you can try. like editing the INI file to stop the movies from playing , they patched borderlands 2 awhile back and put Advertisements into the main screen, maybe those are screwing it up, you can follow this guide to try removing them https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=122676733

If that doesn't work either you can try to completely uninstall borderlands 2 , I know you tried that before but this time check the steam folder to make sure all files are gone and then most importantly go to your documents folder C:\Users\YOURNAME\Documents\My Games\Borderlands 2 and rename the borderlands 2 folder to BACKUP or something. If this works , later you can move the save files from here into the new folder.

After that try reinstalling and starting the game , if it still crashes with a fresh install AND fresh documents folder then it means the problem is most likely not the game itself.

It could still be windows blocking user permissions. It would be weird, considering the game did work before but maybe a windows update screwed something up.

So you can try moving your steam folder out of Program files x86 to a folder that doesn't have "system protections" to avoid all those problems , just make a Games folder or something on C drive , don't make it in Documents because that is also a default protected system folder.

Shut steam down , check task manager to make sure it's completely exited all steam programs , go to your steam folder in program files X86 and cut the steam folder (the main one right at C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam) , now paste it in the new location you chose.

Run steam.exe (your desktop shortcut will need to be remade since it is still pointing at the old spot) , steam may think that you are logging in from a new location and ask for you to verify with your email but after the first time logging in it will work as usual.

[Yasper Moglot]

Originally posted by Radiowavehero:

Damn , sorry this is giving you so much trouble. I'm going down the list of all the things that have worked for other people who had the same type of crash at start but I'm running out of ideas , I am seeing several people in the steam comments who just bought the game and can't get it to run , maybe something changed recently that screwed it up for certain systems.

Well I still have a few ideas but they are longshots.

Firstly If the game keeps crashing at the 2k intro lets try skipping the damn opening cutscenes (sounds dumb but who knows at this point) Right click borderlands 2 in steam library , click properties , on the general tab you should see Launch options cut and paste this into the launch options

-nostartupmovies

If that doesn't work there are more drastic things you can try. like editing the INI file to stop the movies from playing , they patched borderlands 2 awhile back and put Advertisements into the main screen, maybe those are screwing it up, you can follow this guide to try removing them https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=122676733

If that doesn't work either you can try to completely uninstall borderlands 2 , I know you tried that before but this time check the steam folder to make sure all files are gone and then most importantly go to your documents folder C:\Users\YOURNAME\Documents\My Games\Borderlands 2 and rename the borderlands 2 folder to BACKUP or something. If this works , later you can move the save files from here into the new folder.

After that try reinstalling and starting the game , if it still crashes with a fresh install AND fresh documents folder then it means the problem is most likely not the game itself.

It could still be windows blocking user permissions. It would be weird, considering the game did work before but maybe a windows update screwed something up.

So you can try moving your steam folder out of Program files x86 to a folder that doesn't have "system protections" to avoid all those problems , just make a Games folder or something on C drive , don't make it in Documents because that is also a default protected system folder.

Shut steam down , check task manager to make sure it's completely exited all steam programs , go to your steam folder in program files X86 and cut the steam folder (the main one right at C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam) , now paste it in the new location you chose.

Run steam.exe (your desktop shortcut will need to be remade since it is still pointing at the old spot) , steam may think that you are logging in from a new location and ask for you to verify with your email but after the first time logging in it will work as usual.

1. Already turned off intros through ini file
2. Deleted game, checked steam folder, renaimed folder in Documents
3. I have steam installed on D drive, not C

I appreciate your help, It's shame to me thats nothing seems to work for some reason.

[Yasper Moglot]

Alright, very odd thing. I've downloaded *free non-steam* version and it works flawlessly. Maybe some of my files from steam version is corrupted and steam can't restore it correctly. I would like the game to work on steam (achievements, playtime), but if there's no way in fixing it then I would play as I can at the moment.

Again, thanks for all your help

[Radiowavehero]

Damn that really sucks , sorry nothing helped but I'm glad that other version is working , I guess that means it really is a problem with steam or the steam version.