Specific game crashes (FIXED)

[DaPandaInDaSuit_]

Has anyone encountered a problem where a specific game does not open? Like for me, I've noticed L4D1, L4D2 and Portal 2 are not opening for me. Weird part is that they are games made by Valve, but TF2 and Portal 1 are working just fine, as well as games made by other devs. I've reached out to Steam Support and they said that their help for limited game crashes are limited. This is what happens: first, I open the game via the desktop shortcut or the Steam Library, then it will say it's running but no instance of the game will open, after a few seconds, the game stops running in Steam Library. I don't know what happened, this just started happening one time and now I can't seem to fix it. I also don't know if it's a problem with my portable drive because I use one since my laptop's storage is too small to handle larger games. If someone has any solutions that can resolve this problem, I'd be happy to hear it. Thank you.

Possible solutions down below, but this is how I fixed mine
-Go to: C:\Windows\SysWOW64\wbem
-Find the file named fastprox.dll
Click Properties then to Security and give yourself permissions to the file (if you log-in via a Microsoft account, you have to put the name of the folder you have on your Users folder on Windows and then click Check Names)
-Rename fastprox.dll to fastprox.dllold
Source: https://old.reddit.com/r/l4d2/comments/q6bvle/how_to_fix_l4d2_not_booting_up_on_windows_10/

[Lavie]

Hi!

A possible solution here:
https://steamcommunity.com/app/620/discussions/0/517142892055693415

Some other thing to check here:
https://help.steampowered.com/en/faqs/view/5814-D9A3-BE42-62DF

[DaPandaInDaSuit_]

Good day. Unfortunately, I tried every solution on the discussion but nothing has worked. Thank you for replying though and I appreciate you trying to help.

[Lavie]

Try if you can found a log a the error via the Event Viewer.
https://www.howtogeek.com/123646/htg-explains-what-the-windows-event-viewer-is-and-how-you-can-use-it/

More details found on the net if that can help you with that:

Try opening the Windows Event Viewer by right clicking the start button and selecting Event Viewer from the menu (third from the top option on my machine). From there, expand Windows Logs and select Application. The middle pane should contain a list with columns named "Level, Date and Time, Source, Event ID, Task Category" and so on (the specific columns may differ on your computer).

Portal 2 crashing should result in Windows writing an entry with level Error and source Application Error to this list. To find the entry corresponding to the crash, locate entries matching those values (using the Date and Time column as a guide), and click to display details in the lower middle pane. The entry corresponding to Portal 2 crashing will list the Faulting application name as portal2.exe. Once you have found an entry, note the Faulting module name and Exception code; these will provide a clue as to what is ultimately causing the problems.

[Lavie]

This thread look a bit like you issue...
https://steamcommunity.com/discussions/forum/1/3801649759595473532/

Maybe you can try what is proposed if that work better for you:
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=35

[DaPandaInDaSuit_]

Hi. I tried your solution for Event Viewer. I now have the Faulting Module Name and Exception Code. What do I do with it?

[Lavie]

Can you write here the exact error message?

Edit: Also have you tried the DirectX End-User Runtime Web Installer?

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

[DaPandaInDaSuit_]

Yes, I have tried the DirectX End-User Runtime Web Installer. It unfortunately didn't work. Here are the information Event Viewer showed me.

Faulting application name: left4dead2.exe, version: 0.0.0.0, time stamp: 0x6318b4f8
Faulting module name: shaderapidx9.dll, version: 0.0.0.0, time stamp: 0x6446ddff
Exception code: 0xc0000005
Fault offset: 0x000374b6
Faulting process id: 0x26a8
Faulting application start time: 0x01d9ace0bbc2f820
Faulting application path: D:\SteamLibrary\steamapps\common\Left 4 Dead 2\left4dead2.exe
Faulting module path: D:\SteamLibrary\steamapps\common\Left 4 Dead 2\bin\shaderapidx9.dll
Report Id: fba260c1-fad5-4790-bedc-835f9553793e
Faulting package full name:
Faulting package-relative application ID:

[Lavie]

Something to try here...

Hi, after 3 months of trying, i have found the fix on my L4D2 not launching, being stuck on Preparing to launch and never booting up, i have tried every fix suggested, including one from a guide that had a similar error to mine however they didn't work, today i went to the Event Viewer because i remembered that it also shows what happens to applications.
Turns out L4D2 will not boot up because of a file named "shaderapidx9.dll", this crash has also been documented on another VALVE games.
Anyways to fix it do the following:
-Go to: C:\Windows\SysWOW64\wbem
-Find the file named fastprox.dll
Click Properties then to Security and give yourself permissions to the file (if you log-in via a Microsoft account, you have to put the name of the folder you have on your Users folder on Windows and then click Check Names)
-Rename fastprox.dll to fastprox.dllold

This works with any VALVE game that has the same issue btw!!!

Source: https://old.reddit.com/r/l4d2/comments/q6bvle/how_to_fix_l4d2_not_booting_up_on_windows_10/

[DaPandaInDaSuit_]

Yo, thank you so much for your help. I appreciate your assistance. I can now open the games. I will keep this discussion up so it could help those encountering the problem.

[Iceira]

Shader is GPU releated issue with the game part of vulkan driver, you might want to talk with GPU support,

L4D2 is seen as well tested and game devs do not go back and fix that game, RELEASE DATE:17 Nov, 2009, only things change in all that time is GPU Driver's and the way it handle it.