# [SOLVED] Steam crashes and won't start up again



## The B (Feb 13, 2012)

Recently I've started having problems with Steam. It will randomly crash during a gaming session, and then any attempts to start it up again will not work. Sometimes it doesn't even need to crash, it just won't go at all.

It will show the "verifying installation" window for a few seconds, if at all, and then vanish. If I try to start a game up from the desktop, it will do the same thing.

It does not seem to be exclusive to one game.

So far, I've tried:

Restarting (obviously)
Running in aeroplane mode
Searching for steam.exe in task manager (steam bootstrapper seems to
come up for a few seconds before it closes)
Antivirus scan
Deleting a variety of recommended files in the installation folder, eventually the entire thing apart from the launcher 
Reinstalling (worked for about five hours of game time)
Running as administrator (worked once, but later in another session it crashed and the same problem remains)
Re-running the steam installer without uninstalling (again, worked for one session)
Doing steam://flushconfig

My specs:
Lenovo Ideapad Z510
Windows 8.1
Core i5
4GB RAM
Nvidia GForce (don't have the exact number to hand, will update if required)

Thanks in advance!


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## BowHunter41 (Apr 19, 2015)

*Re: Steam crashes and won't start up again*

I would try the reinstall again, but this time delete the core STEAM folder in C/ProgramFilesx86. Also you can try a system restore to a time when it was working correctly. This does a few things. It takes your system back to that time, and it also might highlight to you ... any system changes you might have made after that time ie. something you might have installed, an update you did, driver you might have updated, or a program you might have installed that conflicted with STEAM.


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## Masterchiefxx17 (Feb 27, 2010)

*Re: Steam crashes and won't start up again*

See this here:

https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=9609-OBMP-2526


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## BowHunter41 (Apr 19, 2015)

*Re: Steam crashes and won't start up again*



Masterchiefxx17 said:


> See this here:
> 
> https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=9609-OBMP-2526


That link is only partially correct 


Need to delete the folder out of the X86 directory. I have been using STEAM since it was released -- if that helps.


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## The B (Feb 13, 2012)

*Re: Steam crashes and won't start up again*

Thanks for the advice everyone, I'm following through on it. I've been given some other advice from elsewhere that it may be a hardware issue - which I'm investigating as well.

Transferring my steamapps folder takes about 16 hours each way, you'd think Valve would actually add an option to uninstall everything but that. Then again, my expectations have never been high for them...

*Edit: Oh goodness I left it going overnight last time for nothing, the estimation dropped to just under 2 hours.


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## The B (Feb 13, 2012)

*Re: Steam crashes and won't start up again*

So I've tried both a system restore and a proper reinstall and neither worked for more than a few hours (although I'm not sure about the restore being at the right time yet).

I trawled through the event logs after it crashed again and found these. The crash happened somewhere between 14:33 and 14:36.

Microsoft-Windows-Application-Experience/Program-Compatibility-Assistant
14:30:

```
Compatibility fix applied to C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamerrorreporter.exe.
Fix information: RunAsAdmin, {f5ac3378-b8e4-4f9b-aa9a-d839e5b1ef06}, 0x40102.
```
This exact same process is repeated two minutes later.

Microsoft-Windows-Diagnostics-Performance/Operational
14:32:

```
The Desktop Window Manager is experiencing heavy resource contention.
     Reason	:	CPU resources are over-utilized.
     Diagnosis	:	A sharp degradation in Desktop Window Manager responsiveness was observed.
```


```
The Desktop Window Manager is experiencing heavy resource contention. 
     Scenario	:	The Desktop Window Manager responsiveness has degraded.
```
Microsoft-Windows-Diagnosis-DPS/Operational
1432:

```
Diagnostic module {282396b2-6c46-4d66-b413-70b0445df33c} (%SystemRoot%\system32\diagperf.dll) detected a problem for scenario {186f47ef-626c-4670-800a-4a30756babad}, instance {5c798837-175a-49e4-a9ed-669bcb208264}, original activity ID {00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000}.
```


```
Diagnostic module {282396b2-6c46-4d66-b413-70b0445df33c} (%SystemRoot%\system32\diagperf.dll) started troubleshooting scenario {186f47ef-626c-4670-800a-4a30756babad}, instance {5c798837-175a-49e4-a9ed-669bcb208264}, original activity ID {00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000}.
```


```
Diagnostic module {282396b2-6c46-4d66-b413-70b0445df33c} (%SystemRoot%\system32\diagperf.dll) finished troubleshooting scenario {186f47ef-626c-4670-800a-4a30756babad}, instance {5c798837-175a-49e4-a9ed-669bcb208264}, original activity ID {00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000}.  It set resolution {4d21da64-fd02-4b82-a0a5-783266e430ab} for user Everyone in session 0 with expiration date ‎2015‎-‎09‎-‎21T13:32:48.992416400Z.  The resolution was queued to start later.
```
Microsoft-Windows-SettingSync/Debug
14:34

```
SettingSyncEngine coclass has shutdown.
```


After I try to start Steam from the desktop at a later time, this comes up:

```
Exe: C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\Steam.exe

ResolverName: CrashOnLaunch
```


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## Masterchiefxx17 (Feb 27, 2010)

*Re: Steam crashes and won't start up again*

Even though you're reinstalling Steam, it might still be leaving things behind.

Use the 30 day trial of this here to uninstall Steam with:

Revo Uninstaller Pro - Uninstall Software, Remove Programs easily, Forced Uninstall, Leftovers Uninstaller, Portable Uninstaller

It will make sure nothing is left behind.


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## The B (Feb 13, 2012)

*Re: Steam crashes and won't start up again*

Thank you, I tried it out and used the advanced feature to get rid of everything.

But unfortunately...

I reinstalled it, but the same problem occurred. It would crash every time I tried to launch it.

I was, however, able to launch it in safe mode (with networking), and after that it now launches. However, I've done this before and the same problem happens after a while.

I suppose the only options left are either a hardware problem or driver problem, but I have no idea how to assess either of those.

Thank you and I know this must be frustrating!


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## The B (Feb 13, 2012)

*Re: Steam crashes and won't start up again*

Well nobody has really been able to give me any help on why this was happening, including Steam support, Steam forums and various other places. However I solved the issue by finding steam.exe.old, removing the .old, and then using that as a shortcut. I don't know why this works, but it does.


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## Masterchiefxx17 (Feb 27, 2010)

Very interesting how that file was left behind after Revo.

If it does stop functioning again, please return here and let me know.


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