If you’re like me, then you spent a lot of your childhood playing video games. But I’ve spent even more of my adult life doing the same thing. You know what really grinds my gears when I try to play video games? Crashes.
Unfortunately, crashes seem like an inevitable part of being a PC gamer. But that doesn’t mean you have to sit down grumpily in your office chair and accept it. Instead, try troubleshooting your PC games with these five easy solutions.
5) Update your game
Games ship with plenty of bugs and glitches. Some games have fatal crashes right out of the box. Others have some obscure problem that makes them impossible to play on certain types of systems. In any case, no game developer is perfect, and that’s why they patch their games on a regular basis.
Try updating your game to fix any crashing problems you encounter. In fact, this should be the first thing you do. Not only will you iron out any bugs and glitches, but you could also gain access to new in-game content (if the game developer is nice and likes to give stuff away for free).
Look for patches to your PC games on the game developer’s website. Or, if you’re playing through a platform like Steam or Origin, you can search for updates or update your games automatically. If that doesn’t fix your problem, move on to the next step.
4) Update your graphics drivers
Your next job is to check for updates to your graphics drivers. If you’re using an Nvidia graphics card, check Nvidia.com for driver updates for your card (most modern cards have a single graphics driver that they all use).
If you’re using an ATI/AMD card, visit AMD.com and search for drivers. Run the .exe file you just downloaded, restart your computer, and see if that fixed your problem.
Even if graphics driver updates didn’t fix your problem, they’ll have a profound impact on performance. You should notice an increase in frames per second and you may even be able to bump your graphics settings to the next level.
3) Check your memory for problems
Your computer won’t work without memory. If your memory is having problems, then your PC games won’t work either. And since today’s latest PC games demand a high amount of memory, you might only notice memory problems when you’re in-game.
To check if you’re having memory problems, first run the Windows Task Manager and open whichever game you’re trying to play. Check the Task Manager to see how much RAM is being used as you start up the game. If it’s close to 100%, then you may need to upgrade your RAM.
However, RAM problems can sometimes be more serious. To check if your RAM is in proper working condition, download a free tool called Memtest and run it. If your memory has any errors, it will let you know. Then, you’ll have to order a new stick of RAM, which isn’t too expensive.
2) Update DirectX
DirectX helps your graphics card communicate with your computer and create the PC games we know and love. It’s a fundamental part of any PC gaming experience and it has been for many years.
Normally, DirectX is updated automatically by Microsoft Update and by PC games themselves. But this isn’t always the case. It never hurts to download the latest update copy of DirectX. To find the latest version of DirectX, visit this site.
1) Update Windows
The final step on your path of upgrades is to update Windows. Windows Update can search for the latest updates from the Microsoft server. There might be several dozen important updates to download. These updates range from minor security patches to full-blown program improvements. Whatever the case may be, open your Windows Start bar, search for Windows Update, then let the program go to work.
Still not working?
If you’ve tried all of the steps listed above, then we’ve clearly failed to fix your PC problems. We’re sorry. But here are a few other tips that might be able to help:
-Make sure your PC rig has the minimum recommended requirements to run the PC game.
-Check if your PC is keeping cool while the video game runs by using a program like CPU-Z. If heat is a problem for your computer, the PC game will generally crash several minutes into gameplay as opposed to immediately on startup.
-Google your problem to see if anybody else is experiencing the same issue. In most cases, you’re not alone.
-Run an antivirus scan to see if that could be the problem
-Exit out of all other programs and applications that aren’t directly necessary to the PC game. That includes any desktop theme software, music players, and applications that run in the background.
