Most Games are Crashing, Don't Know why, Haven't found any answers!

[✠ schattenmonster ✠]

Hi all,

Recently, starting about two days ago (the change occurred overnight, it seems) I have not been able to play the majority of my owned games on Steam. Most games don't work at all anymore. Two days ago, after Steam running fine for me just the day previously, only a few games work. Games not working (for example) are Batman: Arkham City, Skyrim, Fallout 3 GOTY, Garry's Mod, TF2, Universe Sandbox, Portal, Gunpoint, and Hitman: Blood Money. Only working games tested so far are the original Half Life, FTL: Faster Than Light, and Sleeping Dogs.

Sleeping Dogs working fine seems to show there is no graphics problem, but I reinstalled all my drivers and things anyway, to no avail. In addition, none of Valve's troubleshooting tips work, e.g. Games crashing after "Preparing to Launch". I've spent hours trying to find out what, from general to individual games but nothing.

When I try to launch Batman: Arkham City i get this message:


---------------------------
Message
---------------------------
Fatal error!



QA_APPROVED_BUILD_JANUARY_2011 424000 11-04-2012 15:05.24 (Wwise: 2011.1.0 #3886) Game

Address = 0x5a8368e2 (filename not found) [in C:\WINDOWS\system32\igdumdim32.dll]

Address = 0x5a839f45 (filename not found) [in C:\WINDOWS\system32\igdumdim32.dll]

Address = 0x5a83aafe (filename not found) [in C:\WINDOWS\system32\igdumdim32.dll]

Address = 0x5a804b41 (filename not found) [in C:\WINDOWS\system32\igdumdim32.dll]

Address = 0x60accd6d (filename not found) [in C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\nvumdshim.dll]

Address = 0x60ad4600 (filename not found) [in C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\nvumdshim.dll]

Address = 0x6289dc03 (filename not found) [in C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\ddraw.dll]

Address = 0x6289d550 (filename not found) [in C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\ddraw.dll]

Address = 0x6289cff7 (filename not found) [in C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\ddraw.dll]

Address = 0x62895d22 (filename not found) [in C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\ddraw.dll]

Address = 0x628a020e (filename not found) [in C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\ddraw.dll]

Address = 0x63060b61 (filename not found) [in C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\gameoverlayrenderer.dll]

Address = 0xba6f57 (filename not found) [in C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Batman Arkham City GOTY\Binaries\Win32\BatmanAC.exe]

Address = 0xba71bb (filename not found) [in C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Batman Arkham City GOTY\Binaries\Win32\BatmanAC.exe]

Address = 0xba71bb (filename not found) [in C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Batman Arkham City GOTY\Binaries\Win32\BatmanAC.exe]


----------------

I have no clue what's going on there except that files are for some reason not found by the program. With Skyrim, I just click "play" on the launcher and after that a black box appears (underdeveloped skyrim) and says "Skyrim has Stopped Working" etc. that always happens when a program fails to respond. Most games just crash themselves right after preparing to launch. Universe Sandbox gives this report though, but nothing stated here works.

---------------------------
Universe Sandbox
---------------------------
An error has occurred while starting Universe Sandbox.

- If you've just updated and continue to receive this error please reinstall Universe Sandbox to fix this problem.

- If you're trying to run Universe Sandbox for the first time your computer may not meet the necessary requirements.

- In some rare instances restarting your computer can solve this problem.

Either way... please send the error report (from the next window) and include your email address so we can follow up.

-------------

Well, I've restarted computer, done all troubleshooting I've seen, reinstalled games and veryfied steam files. Closest I ever got to a solution was the file verifier telling me that there was 1 validating error and it would redownload something to the game, but nothing ever downloads.

I have a Windows 8 Dell Inspiron 17R Special Edition 7720, 2gb dedicated nvida video card and 8gb ram. Never had any problems with games before, now I can only play a select few.Non-Steam applications work normally, so I can still play Minecraft .

Thanks in advance for your help and advice!

[✠ schattenmonster ✠]

Ok, I just found out one thing: it seems my computer is blocking Steam from getting into files. When starting up War Thunder it said it did not have access, and I believe I may have seen this before. Hope this helps, I'll conduct more research myself!

[SicilianCapo]

You can try running Steam as Administrator in order to see if it is something, like you said not having access, blocking it.

[✠ schattenmonster ✠]

Just tried that again, right clicked and said run as administrator on actualy steam application even, not shortcut. No avail.

SicilianCapo eredeti hozzászólása:

You can try running Steam as Administrator in order to see if it is something, like you said not having access, blocking it.

[SicilianCapo]

Verify your game cache for one of your games. See if it has to download anything.

[SicilianCapo]

Have you done any messing around with your file system lately?
I ask because it's referencing system DLLs, which their location should never change.

[✠ schattenmonster ✠]

It says "1 files failed to validate and will be reaquired" but does nothing.

SicilianCapo eredeti hozzászólása:

Verify your game cache for one of your games. See if it has to download anything.

[SicilianCapo]

And you're getting the error message repeatedly?

[✠ schattenmonster ✠]

Only thing I did was remove SteamApps and put it back in after reinstalling Steam (problem already present). At one point I switched off read only and back when files still didnt work and I was following a troubleshooting of Valves.

SicilianCapo eredeti hozzászólása:

Have you done any messing around with your file system lately?
I ask because it's referencing system DLLs, which their location should never change.

[✠ schattenmonster ✠]

SicilianCapo eredeti hozzászólása:

And you're getting the error message repeatedly?

Yes, whenever I try to launch one of the apps I mentioned. The others just crash or don't open.

[SicilianCapo]

For others reading this thread:
According to Steam FAQ, it is intended by the developer, and is not related to the issue (Most likely).1 files failed to validate and will be reacquired

[SicilianCapo]

What do you remember changing before the issue started happening?

[✠ schattenmonster ✠]

Something I'm going to say again because it's so strange: The Original "Half Life", "FTL: Faster Than Light", and "Sleeping Dogs" still all work fine.

[✠ schattenmonster ✠]

SicilianCapo eredeti hozzászólása:

What do you remember changing before the issue started happening?

I didn't interfere with any steam files. I had played Skyrim that very day with no issues.

[✠ schattenmonster ✠]

Next, day, seeminly overnight things didn't work in the morning.

[SicilianCapo]

Games can be setup very differently from each other, which can be the reason why some games work, and some don't.