Just bought a new laptop and none of my games work [SOLVED]

[The Happiest Camper]

Most of them will try doing the "first-time setup" where they try to install Microsoft DirectX and then nothing happens. I've searched everywhere and I really have no idea what I should be doing. This is a brand new laptop that has DirectX 12 as a part of Windows 10. I've tried using the redist but that doesn't seem to work. Someone help.

[Brujeira]

Let’s start with the basics. Have you run Windows Update to make sure that you’ve got all necessary system updates?

Might also help if you tell us which brand of antivirus you are using.

[SpunkyJones]

Also brand new laptop doesn’t necessarily mean a laptop that play games. Specs?

[The Happiest Camper]

Here is my system information:

Computer Information:
Manufacturer: LENOVO
Model: 81UH
Form Factor: Laptop
No Touch Input Detected

Processor Information:
CPU Vendor: GenuineIntel
CPU Brand: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-9750H CPU @ 2.60GHz
CPU Family: 0x6
CPU Model: 0x9e
CPU Stepping: 0xa
CPU Type: 0x0
Speed: 2592 Mhz
12 logical processors
6 physical processors
HyperThreading: Supported
FCMOV: Supported
SSE2: Supported
SSE3: Supported
SSSE3: Supported
SSE4a: Unsupported
SSE41: Supported
SSE42: Supported
AES: Supported
AVX: Supported
CMPXCHG16B: Supported
LAHF/SAHF: Supported
PrefetchW: Unsupported

Operating System Version:
Windows 10 (64 bit)
NTFS: Supported
Crypto Provider Codes: Supported 311 0x0 0x0 0x0

Video Card:
Driver: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060
DirectX Driver Name: nvldumd.dll
Driver Version: 26.21.14.3063
DirectX Driver Version: 26.21.14.3063
Driver Date: 5 5 2019
OpenGL Version: 4.6
Desktop Color Depth: 32 bits per pixel
Monitor Refresh Rate: 143 Hz
DirectX Card: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060
VendorID: 0x10de
DeviceID: 0x1f51
Revision: 0xa1
Number of Monitors: 1
Number of Logical Video Cards: 1
No SLI or Crossfire Detected
Primary Display Resolution: 1920 x 1080
Desktop Resolution: 1920 x 1080
Primary Display Size: 13.54" x 7.60" (15.51" diag)
34.4cm x 19.3cm (39.4cm diag)
Primary Bus: PCI Express 16x
Primary VRAM: 6143 MB
Supported MSAA Modes: 2x 4x 8x

Sound card:
Audio device: Speakers (Realtek(R) Audio)

Memory:
RAM: 16303 Mb

Miscellaneous:
UI Language: English
Media Type: Undetermined
Total Hard Disk Space Available: 975484 Mb
Largest Free Hard Disk Block: 849673 Mb
OS Install Date: Dec 31 1969
Game Controller: None detected
VR Headset: None detected


And yes my computer has updated automatically but I will check to see if there are any manual updates I can perform that might fix the problem.

[The Happiest Camper]

Escrito originalmente por Brujeira:

Might also help if you tell us which brand of antivirus you are using.

I'm using McAffee Antivirus which comes with this laptop. Also I have been able to get Half Life 2: Lost Coast to work successfully and previously have gotten Hitman Blood Money to work although it no longer runs anymore.

All of my games are downloaded directly onto this computer from Steam. No backups were used.

[The Happiest Camper]

Escrito originalmente por Spawk:

Try downloading and installing the latest version of Microsoft Visual C++ and the latest Nvidia drivers.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/2977003/the-latest-supported-visual-c-downloads
https://www.nvidia.com/Download/driverResults.aspx/150300/en-us


Also, McAfee has been a bit of a trouble child when it comes to Steam compatibility.

https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=4361-MVDP-3638

I uninstalled McCafee and downloaded the latest nvidia drivers and the visual studio x64 in the link provided. Same problem. And I should note that not all the games that have this problem use Nvidia so I very much doubt it's an issue with that. If anything, it's got to be a DirectX issue, but I'm not sure how to solve it.

EDIT: Scrap that last statement, I just tried playing VVVVVV and it doesn't work, yet it seems certain other games do. Right now I'm going to reinstall all my games to see which ones work and if I can't figure it out from there I'll update this post or delete it and make a new one.

[Yoshimi]

What's your Windows 10 build and version?

[The Happiest Camper]

Escrito originalmente por Yukino:

What's your Windows 10 build and version?

Windows 10 Home version 1809 with build number 17763.678

[Yoshimi]

Escrito originalmente por The Happiest Camper:

Windows 10 Home version 1809 with build number 17763.678

Well... have you tried running Steam as Admin?

[The Happiest Camper]

Escrito originalmente por Spawk:

What are you running the games on besides the Nvidia card then?

If it's a DirectX 12 issue, and it's not resolved by reinstalling an older version of DirectX, then the most practical option is to check for Windows updates, as DX12 can not be separately downloaded. It's updated through Windows updates. Otherwise you're looking at a Windows 10 repair upgrade, which is a fair bit more involved and carries the risk of changed Windows settings or other issues.

I'd make sure you're running Steam and the game as administrator first.

Since not all of my games are being affected by this issue I know the issue can't be something that would effect every game like a graphics card problem or something. I've already checked for updates and installed everything I was missing, but that didn't help. I'll try running steam as an administrator, but I'm not sure how that will fix anything.

[Brujeira]

Escrito originalmente por The Happiest Camper:

Escrito originalmente por Spawk:

What are you running the games on besides the Nvidia card then?

If it's a DirectX 12 issue, and it's not resolved by reinstalling an older version of DirectX, then the most practical option is to check for Windows updates, as DX12 can not be separately downloaded. It's updated through Windows updates. Otherwise you're looking at a Windows 10 repair upgrade, which is a fair bit more involved and carries the risk of changed Windows settings or other issues.

I'd make sure you're running Steam and the game as administrator first.

Since not all of my games are being affected by this issue I know the issue can't be something that would effect every game like a graphics card problem or something. I've already checked for updates and installed everything I was missing, but that didn't help. I'll try running steam as an administrator, but I'm not sure how that will fix anything.

Hardware problems won’t necessarily affect all games in the same way. My last PC had issues with a board game of all things. The demo version worked fine - the full version made my PC lock up.

Did some digging and found that the vast bulk of my games worked perfectly and maybe 8 or 10 locked up. Turned out that both my graphics card and hard drive were failing.

Why didn’t it affect everything? I don’t know. Just don’t discount any possibilities just yet.

[The Happiest Camper]

So running Steam as an administrator is currently doing nothing to help. I have started validating the caches of whatever games I try just in case it will magically make them work, but that hasn't done anything so far. Checked the official steam support page and a lot of the links they give seem outdated with references to Internet Explorer of all things but I'll still take their advice into consideration. And with this being a brand new laptop there isn't really any unessential software installed that would interfere with downloads besides the antivirus that I've already uninstalled.

Right now I just want to see how many of my games actually work. If it turns out that most of them work and I just got unlucky the first few times then I'll stop panicking but I really doubt that's the case.

[The Happiest Camper]

I just bought a new laptop and some of my games don't seem to work

I'm making this as an updated version of a discussion from yesterday since I found out that only about 8 or 10 games are actually having trouble running and I don't want anyone to be confused by the title.

The problem seems to relate to games not being able to find DirectX files. Normally if a DirectX file is missing it would be easy to reinstall it but when I try running DXSETUP it does nothing because all the files are already installed. I've heard that it might also be an issue with my video card but I've already installed the latest GeForce driver and beyond that I'm really not sure what to do.

Since someone asked about it in the last discussion and it might be important, I'll post my system information in the comments. If anyone thinks they can clarify anything for me or has an idea for what to do, please let me know.

[The Happiest Camper]

Computer Information:
Manufacturer: LENOVO
Model: 81UH
Form Factor: Laptop
No Touch Input Detected

Processor Information:
CPU Vendor: GenuineIntel
CPU Brand: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-9750H CPU @ 2.60GHz
CPU Family: 0x6
CPU Model: 0x9e
CPU Stepping: 0xa
CPU Type: 0x0
Speed: 2592 Mhz
12 logical processors
6 physical processors
HyperThreading: Supported
FCMOV: Supported
SSE2: Supported
SSE3: Supported
SSSE3: Supported
SSE4a: Unsupported
SSE41: Supported
SSE42: Supported
AES: Supported
AVX: Supported
CMPXCHG16B: Supported
LAHF/SAHF: Supported
PrefetchW: Unsupported

Operating System Version:
Windows 10 (64 bit)
NTFS: Supported
Crypto Provider Codes: Supported 311 0x0 0x0 0x0

Video Card:
Driver: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060
DirectX Driver Name: nvldumd.dll
Driver Version: 26.21.14.3602
DirectX Driver Version: 26.21.14.3602
Driver Date: 8 16 2019
OpenGL Version: 4.6
Desktop Color Depth: 32 bits per pixel
Monitor Refresh Rate: 143 Hz
DirectX Card: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060
VendorID: 0x10de
DeviceID: 0x1f51
Revision: 0xa1
Number of Monitors: 1
Number of Logical Video Cards: 1
No SLI or Crossfire Detected
Primary Display Resolution: 1920 x 1080
Desktop Resolution: 1920 x 1080
Primary Display Size: 13.54" x 7.60" (15.51" diag)
34.4cm x 19.3cm (39.4cm diag)
Primary Bus: PCI Express 16x
Primary VRAM: 6143 MB
Supported MSAA Modes: 2x 4x 8x

Sound card:
Audio device: Speakers (Realtek(R) Audio)

Memory:
RAM: 16303 Mb

Miscellaneous:
UI Language: English
Media Type: Undetermined
Total Hard Disk Space Available: 975484 Mb
Largest Free Hard Disk Block: 688828 Mb
OS Install Date: Dec 31 1969
Game Controller: None detected
VR Headset: None detected

[The Happiest Camper]

Apparently running games in Big Picture mode gets them to work? Ok not sure why that is but I guess the problem was more steam itself than any missing or corrupt files. Funny how that works.