Potential fix for "ESO has stopped working" immediate crash after hitting Play

gcook725

Helped a friend of mine figure out how to fix this a few days ago.

Symptoms of this crash appears to be the game launching to a black screen for a brief second and then crashing with no error code beyond "eso has stopped working" in the crash report.

An example crash report is in the spoiler below.

===================================================================
eso has stopped working.
====================================================================

[reporter]
version = 0.01


[extra]
ProductName = eso
Version = eso.live.2.7.5.1408964
branch = live
client.executablebits = 64
client.mode = startup
client.renderertype = D3D11
client.session_start_timestamp = 2017-02-09T02:25:50.351Z
client.time_since_load = 0
client.timestamp = 2017-02-09T02:25:55.108Z -frme 55-
client.uptime = 4.8
computer.name = omitted
computer.user = omitted
cpu.arch = 9
cpu.count = 4
cpu.level = 6
cpu.type = 8664
data.depotid = 4000
data.dir = C:/Program Files (x86)/Zenimax Online/The Elder Scrolls Online/
data.syncm = databuild
data.version = 4000.win.1408989.live.1408964
exe.buildnum = 1408964
exe.opt = release
exe.reltype = public
exe.type = client
gfx.description = 9.17.10.3190
gfx.deviceid = 358.1342969770.9
gfx.driver = Intel(R) HD Graphics 4000
gfx.vendorid = 32902
mem.system_physical = 3818
mem.total_current = 585
mem.ws_current = 531
mem.ws_peak = 534
os.osbits = 64
os.platform = windows
os.version = 6.1.7601.Service Pack 1
ptime = 4892
reportfield.ver = 3
version.major = 2
version.patch = 7
version.subpatch = 5

One thing I noticed from other users who were experiencing this crash was that their graphics device/driver was an Intel(R) HD Graphics 4000.

We attempted the following to fix the crash, all with no success:
1) Use the repair tool in the launcher
2) Run in various compatibility modes
3) Manually modify the graphics settings file for ESO to run on the absolute lowest settings possible (Basically, I just set my settings to that on my computer and copied the part of the file that changed over to my friend's version of that settings file)
4) Force Windows to run the updater (still had no updates regardless since it had automatically updated about a week before)
5) Force install the latest drivers for the Intel(R) HD Graphics 4000
6) Uninstall and then Reinstall Elder Scrolls Online

All of these were met with failure. After continuing my research in a state of ZZZQuil-induced half-asleepness I decided to try one last thing: Uninstall the drivers for the integrated graphics entirely. After reinstalling the basic drivers from Intel (instead of the drivers from Lenovo, the manufacturer of her laptop), somehow -- miraculously -- ESO didn't crash after clicking Play. It actually worked.

Now, I cannot guarantee this will work for you, especially if you have a different integrated graphics card/driver than the Intel(R) HD Graphics 4000. Regardless, here are the steps we performed to reach a state where the game did not crash.

1) Open up Device Manager
2) Click the '>' next to "Display Adapters" to expand that section
3) Right-click Intel(R) HD Graphics 4000 and then click Properties
4) Click on the "Driver" tab and then click Uninstall
5) Follow all instructions and prompts to uninstall the driver
NOTE: YOUR RESOLUTION WILL PROBABLY LOOK REALLY MESSED UP FOR THE NEXT PART
6) Restart the computer
7) IF your computer doesn't auto-detect and install drivers for your graphics, then go to the next step. If it does auto-detect and install then try to see if ESO will crash
8) Open up device manager and click the icon along the top row that looks like a magnifying glass on top of a computer monitor. This should cause your computer should attempt to detect hardware changes and install the correct drivers.
9) If the device manager still doesn't detect the Intel(R) HD Graphics 4000 and installs it with that step, then follow this link and run the utility there: http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/detect.html?iid=dc_iduu

After running the utility from Intel it installed basic drivers for the integrated card and then allowed her to launch the game without any crashes.

I hope this post helps you guys. Good luck and have fun.

Moonserou

thank you, but on my intel hd graphic 4600 i dont uninstall drivers, just update it in device manager and it fix the problem

drmurphay

reinstalling worked for me. thank you very much

Equidorious

Thank you for this. It finally works... I had tried everything but this... nice one mate..

parkham

Holy guar droppings batman, I'm going to check this out on the laptop when I get home.

Djem

This did not work for me as HP laptops have their own custom Intel drivers. Had to reinstall my drivers through HP's own website.

parkham

OK, did it work after you reinstalled through HP?

Djem

parkham wrote: »

OK, did it work after you reinstalled through HP?

Nope. I tried a whole lot of different things, nothing worked. I gave up on fixing it myself (until I eventually get a better PC at least) so I check these forums every now and then to see if Zenimax has rolled out a patch fix yet

parkham

I got it to work on my laptop! I'll post steps when I get to a computer!

GinGix

Thanks dude! This worked for me!

parkham

@gcook725 I took it a step further and completely removed the existing driver.

This worked for me. edit: (This is for my HP Envy laptop which has two displays, one is Intel and the other is Nvidia - using Intel(R) HD Graphics 4600)

It may not work for you.

You agree that I take no responsibility for any problems with your computer as a result of taking these steps:

I did this:

Download the Intel display driver from Intel's website here for convenience: https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/26563/Graphics-Intel-Graphics-Driver-for-Windows-15-45-?product=80939

Save it to your desktop. Another way is to download the zip file and install the drivers manually once in safe mode - see below

Go to device manager (how to start device manager if you don't know) http://www.mcci.com/mcci-v5/support/howtos1.html
Expand Display Adapters, find the Intel display driver, right click, uninstall

**The computer screen will more than likely go black after you do the following**

A box pops up. Check the "delete the driver software for this device" section. Click OK.

If you can still see your desktop, then reboot normally. If the screen is black, hold the power button down until the computer powers off.

Power up the computer and then start Windows in safe mode. http://support.eset.com/kb2268/?locale=en_US

After safe mode starts up, log into your computer and run the installer that you saved on the desktop. Follow the installer and reboot when it says to.

After I did this, the computer booted back up and ESO worked without a hitch.

If you don't feel comfortable doing this, ask a good tech about it or have him/her advise / do it for you.

faeilersb14_ESO

I just want to thank everyone for sharing your experiences. It gave me hope that maybe i did not need a new graphics card as support said i did.
Uninstalling and automatically reinstalling the gpu driver was very helpful and really has affected my gamma settings, unlike using the intel tool to update the driver.
However, what finally worked for me (running i73770 + HD 4000) was to download a new install from eso (this was much larger than my old one). Uninstall the game and reinstall. I left a lot of the residual files in the folder; the uninstall only removed the game folder, so I did not have to spend much time downloading, thankfully because my ISP caps my internet usage.

HudilLumz

I know this thread is a bit old but for anyone with a Intel HD4000 card this is still relevant information. I just want to say that I just had to remove the driver from device manager then reinstall it again simply by hitting F5 in device manager (think it is the "search for hardware changes" feature). Didnt have to restart or download anything from intel, I could simply start ESO thereafter, no crash.

l0wolfeyez0l

I just wanna say, this is still relavent. I have an HP ProBook 4540s with the Intel HD 4000, and followed @parkham's steps- worked like a charm.
THANKS GUYS!!