Multiple games crash on start (not all games)

[Zander the Lion]

At first I thought this issue was isolated with Killing Floor 2 but now it's happening in multiple places. This is why I'm posting this here because I have no idea where to ask for help since this is no longer isolated to a single game.

1-2 months ago I started having issues with launching KF2. I would start the game, get the initial launch screen (the one before the main window pops up), and then the game window would pop up for about 2 seconds and then close, with Steam eventually changes 'running' to 'Play'. I have tried the following:

• Verifying game files
  
• Re-installing the game
  
• Installing game on different drive
  
• Re-installing steam
  
• Updating Graphics Drivers
  
• Updating Windows
  
• Changing multiple settings
  
• Refresh .ini files

I have yet to install Windows, but I have no reason to think this is a Windows issue (which is strange because Windows is trash). When this first happened, this was only an issue with KF2 as every other game I had installed would start.

And then...the issue stopped happening. The game started just fine. No updates, no new installs, I did nothing between the last time I tried starting the game up and failing to it working again. I could play the game again. So I moved on and started playing again.

That was a few weeks ago. I last played KF2 on Wednesday of this week for a good 2 hours, no issues. I go to play today, and the issue started again. I started going through a similar process of debugging. "Oh hey, update drivers. Windows is good, integrity is good, let's try other games...what?" And now, Payday 2 has a similar issue. I click 'Play' and it never starts. But here's the kicker: I was playing Payday 2 just fine earlier TODAY. It only started having issues after KF2 started having issues again. But...other games are still working fine? As far as I can tell, it's currently only KF2 and Payday 2 but...they are made by different developers. I am at a loss of what to do without re-installing Windows, which I shouldn't have to do when the games were just working.

Specs:

• ASUS Pro WS WRX80E-SAGE SE WIFI AMD Threadripper Pro EATX workstation motherboard
  
• AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 3955WX 16-core, 32-thread desktop processor
  
• PowerColor Red Devil AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX Graphics Card
  
• PowerColor Red Dragon AMD Radeon™ RX 6800 XT Gaming Graphics Card with 16GB GDDR6 Memory, Powered by AMD RDNA™ 2, Raytracing, PCI Express 4.0, HDMI 2.1, AMD Infinity Cache (for multiple screens)
  
• Kingston Server Premier 8GB 2666MT/s DDR4 ECC CL19 DIMM 1Rx8 Server Memory Hynix D - KSM26ES8/8HD
  
• Samsung 980 PRO SSD 2TB PCIe NVMe Gen 4 Gaming M.2 Internal Solid State Hard Drive Memory Card, Maximum Speed, Thermal Control, MZ-V8P2T0B

I have tried looking for solutions when it was isolated to just KF2 but with it also happening to a second unrelated game I have no idea where to start.

[Spanky]

First off.

Windows and Steam are seperate entities so when you have an issue with one it's important both know.

Secondly,

If you run Windows but you're not an advanced user you should seek tech support.

Third,

Booting Steam is a Windows thing, and Booting Games is a Steam thing that works on the Back of Windows Components.

So like checked that steam is running well by checking if Steam is installed right. Try beta, or reinstall it. You may even find that moving the Library location, temporarily, to see if the Steam client installs right may help you.

Check Windows updates as the Steam Installer only supports the most up to date DirectX and VS runtimes etc.

Run for yourself a virus scan with windows defender or something else.

Check that at launch the steam client is running properly by checking the task manager for it's extra services it needs to launch. There should be a couple services like 4 or more Steam WebHelper programs nested under the main client program.

In all, you need to be an advanced user to understand that it's actually a problem with... If you can't understand what is happening. take it into the Tech shop and have the OS looked at.

[Zander the Lion]

1) I understand they are separate entities. But the statement "so when you have an issue with one it's important both know." doesn't make any sense. Important to know both Windows and Steam?
2) Define advanced user. I'm pretty knowledgeable but I understand there's a lot that I don't know. I tried a dozen different things before searching online, tried so many other solutions to no avail. It started working again with KF2 and then now KF2 and Payday 2 are both having issues.
3) As I stated in the OP, not only have I reinstalled the games, I've reinstalled steam. And tried different drives and directories to install to. Same with windows and graphics updates. There are no Windows Updates from today but I did install the latest AMD drivers to no avail. I've done multiple defender quick scans (all clean) and other deep scans showed no issues. I'm even currently running another full scan just to be on the safe side but I doubt that's the issue. There are 5 Steam programs running: 1 that is just steam and 4 that are the WebHelper.
4) It's actually a problem with what? You just stop. I have no reason to believe that it's Windows so having the OS looked at seems like a waste of time and money. No other programs have any issues. As far as I have found so far its only 2 games that launch through steam. All other games that I've tried seem to be launching and playing just fine.

[Spanky]

well, break it down.

From start to finish.

Did steam boot at sign in? yes or no?

Did Steam launch correctly or was there an event? Yes or No?

Did the Steam client immediately try to install an update to it's SDK or a game? Yes or No?

Does window shave a Corrupt System file? Yes or No?

Did you check the Drive for errors, optimisations, and garbage or TEMP files? Yes or No?

Does your internet work? Yes or No?

Did you change anything and the Windows OS booted into a previous shadow copy to restore the data? Yes or No?

Etc.

You have to figure out if it's the OS or Steam. only the Operator can figure it out. Just saying a game won't launch means you've concluded that Steam ins't installing the game right.

[Zander the Lion]

Does my internet work? Yes?

There were no changes made. Payday 2 was working today, and then it wasn't. No update. No reinstall. It just stopped working. Same as KF2. No other issues in Windows. Updating everything didn't help. I am not just saying the game won't launch. I've tried reinstalling. Moving folders. Drives. Reinstalling steam. Updating drivers. Validating. I didn't just try one thing. Other games are not having the issue.

[Torreka]

Im also having the same issue on linux, not a few hours ago i was playing ksp, tried downloading dcs, then most of my games didnt worked

EDIT: ive found some games like gmod work

[Zander the Lion]

And all of a sudden, both games start up. Nothing changed. No game updates (that I can tell, but both updates at the same time?). No graphics driver updates. No windows updates. No re-installs since I've asked for help. Nothing. Cool. I guess my internet works now.