Launcher Won't Open

Lord_Wrath · June 2014

I played fine the other day, but today my launcher simply will not start up. I have the quick launch button by my start menu. It highlights like it should when you click a program down there, and then it goes away as if it canceled itself.

I get no error message, and im on Windows 8.1 Pro

I have tried:
- Rebooting PC
- Running ESO as administrator
- Facebook page suggested to someone with same problem to do this:
Open the game installation directory “Zenimax Online”
Open the folder named “Launcher”
Inside the “Launcher” folder, there is a folder named “ProgramData”
Delete the “ProgramData” folder
Open the launcher and download update
Click “Play” --- Still, launcher will not open, and ProgramData will not come back.
- Re installation - Cancels itself when downloading uninstaller.

AngryWolf · June 2014

Reboot your computer.

Lord_Wrath · June 2014

Tried it, didn't work.

Ragnar_Lodbrok · June 2014

I have the same issue I get in after clicking where the play button would be if it loaded all the way

jonmlindseyub17_ESO · June 2014

I am having the same problem. Clicking on the launcher icon is running something (shows as an icon for a few minutes and then vanishes) but the launcher itself never appears on my screen. I tried all the past suggested fixes from early April, but none of them made any difference. I could open the game with trhe .exe file, but then I wouldn't have the new patch downloaded, so that's no good. Any new ideas?

Lord_Wrath · June 2014

Perhaps a mod knowledgeable in this could provide some support?

ArielleJureaux · June 2014

Same issue here. I had to completely uninstall game client, refresh my computer to factory defaults, re-download game client then it's ok, with the exception of the "CriticalData(artdata) Data load failure" box keeps popping up forcing me to "Ignore once". Sometimes the screen comes back, other times it kicks me back to the log-in screen. I have a ticket in now about it.

ZOS_JasonI · June 2014

Hey there, @Lord_Wrath. Can you see the launcher in your Task Manager?

Also be sure to try running the launcher as Administrator, and adding ESO and Bethesda.net_Launcher.exe as exceptions to any firewall protection that you may have.

Lord_Wrath · June 2014

ZOS_JasonL wrote: »

Hey there, @Lord_Wrath. Can you see the launcher in your Task Manager?

Also be sure to try running the launcher as Administrator, and adding ESO and Bethesda.net_Launcher.exe as exceptions to any firewall protection that you may have.

Hi, it does not show up in Task Manager, however if I click on the launcher again after the highlight disappears I get a pop up saying "Only a single instance of this app can run".

Running as Administrator had no effect, and I cannot find Bethesda.net_Launcher in the firewall list, so I manually added it and it still would not show up on the list.

I recently edited my main post and mentioned a reinstall would be a last resort, but I think thats what im going to do now. However I will not be able to report back until 8-9 hours later from now (work).

g4m5t3r_ESO · June 2014

I've been troubleshooting this for a couple days with no results, but here is everything I've dug up on win7/8

1. run as admin
2. allow through / temporarily disable your firewall
3. go to your Control Panel > Network and Internet > Internet Options and click on the Connections tab, now click on LAN settings and make sure all boxes are unchecked, click ok. Next go to the Advanced tab and click the Reset button once or twice. You may need to Reboot for settings to take effect.
4. Try running it in compatibility mode.
5. Download a fresh installer, re-install.
If using the eso.exe allows you to bypass the launcher and play then you might only want to re-install the launcher. To do so, backup the depot and vo_en folders found in your game directory Zenimax Online/The Elder Scrolls Online/. Uninstall, run the new installer, wait for the launcher to start patching and stop it, put the depot and vo_en folders back where your found them, repair using the client, play.

Hope that helps you.

Lord_Wrath · June 2014

I have already uninstalled, and tried reinstalling from the website. I select english and whatnot, it starts download DirectX...and then the launcher says 'Installing Uninstaller' until it makes itself disappear again. I expected it to take forever again to reinstall, but now im back in boat one, except now the game isn't installed.

Im getting a bad feeling, kind of like the Taco Bell feeling but worse...

Cously · June 2014

Maybe your launcher is configured to start minimized on boot. If you have hidden icons on Windows taskbar you might not be able to see it. Click on it if is there and should work. Had same problem, clicked shortcut and same instance app ***, I said *** it, what the *** is going on, ***, ***, ***, and then I realized it was already been running on background since it was set to start with my system.

ZOS_JasonI · June 2014

Thanks for the update, everyone. We've escalated this so our support team can look into what's going on. We'll provide an update as soon as we can. In the meantime, we've created help tickets for all of you.

ZOS_JasonI · June 2014

Hey again, @Lord_Wrath. In the meantime, have you tried running selective startup mode? You can do so by trying the following steps:

Click Start and type msconfig in the search box
Right click on the msconfig.exe program and choose "Run as administrator"
On the General Tab at the top, click on the Selective startup radio button
Uncheck "Load startup items"
Click on the Services tab and check the "Hide all Microsoft services" box
Click the "Disable all" button at the bottom
Click Apply, then click OK
Restart your computer

Once complete, you can test to see if the launcher will now open. You'll also want to turn selective startup back off. This is done by opening the msconfig window again and selecting the Normal startup radio button. Click Apply, then click OK, and restart the computer again. Rest assured, if you're still having any problems, our Support Team will still be reaching out to you via email.

85flyingbrick_ESO · June 2014

I'm tossing my hat into this as well. I did the most recent update about 4 days ago and haven't had a chance to log back in until today. The Play button works, but then i get the error 11 pop up box with a feedback space. I played with the suggestions above and none have worked. Additionally, i tried to start the PTS server and that worked just fine.

Lord_Wrath · June 2014

@ZOS_JasonI - It opened, got it reinstalled but once those settings went back on msconfig it is not opening. Not sure if that was intended as a fix, but I will let support know of this when I get an email, thanks!

g4m5t3r_ESO · June 2014

Lord_Wrath wrote: »

@ZOS_JasonI -Not sure if that was intended as a fix

That was a clean boot, this goes to show that one of the applications or services, that run on startup during a normal boot, is interfering with your launcher.

This should help you determine what's causing the issue.

Lord_Wrath · June 2014

@g4m5t3r_ESO‌ - Aha! Didn't take long when I left a suspicious looking 'SupraSavings64' and 'vxlsnyaiet64" unchecked and restarted. Got rid of SupraSavings and about to look into this other one, but it looks like I got it figured out, thanks!

ZOS_JasonI · June 2014

We're glad to hear it, @Lord_Wrath!

katta.chatb16_ESO · October 2014

Had the same problem, and asking dad (since he installed this for me), he found out that the laucher was in one directory called launcher, but the shortcut on my desktop pointed to a program that didn't start the launcher. Im not sure of the tech terms, but thats sort of the gist of what he told me. Sorry for my lame explanation, but what I know about tech stuff is how to turn on and off the computer *facepalm*

Hope this helps?

Lord_Wrath · October 2014

katta.chatb16_ESO wrote: »

Hope this helps?

Thanks for trying to help but this has been solved a few months ago. You'll see the post date under peoples names.

katta.chatb16_ESO · October 2014

Sorry...I'm so lame

I will shut up and start reading instead. Thanks for telling me and not being angry with me.

Wild_Monk · February 2016

Game not starting, I see message on display - Host_SingleInstance