24H2 PC crashing when loading games

Hi Mark Robson3

Welcome to Microsoft Community.

Based on your description, I understand that after you updated to 24h2, you've had problems loading most of your games, sometimes the screen freezes and crashes, and even a couple of dxgi_error_device_removed errors. I understand very well how you feel!

As far as the information is known, it seems to be a freezing issue during game rendering or transferring to the game, a situation that could be related to the 24h2 update, driver compatibility issues, or underlying hardware/software interactions.” The specific error “DXGI_ERROR_DEVICE_REMOVED” strongly suggests that there is something wrong with the graphics card or its driver, but it could also be related to other factors.

I will give you some options and hopefully solve your problem successfully! However, the first reply may not be able to solve your problem successfully due to the different aspects of troubleshooting required for this issue, so please understand and provide more information (pictures would be better!) in your reply. Thank you very much!

Option 1: We try to perform a different operation on the graphics card driver.

1. Reinstall the latest version of the graphics card driver.

We need to completely uninstall the currently used graphics driver with the help of DDU (Display Driver Uninstaller). Then download the latest version of the driver from the official website of the graphics card brand and install it manually.

The reason for using DDU tool is to make sure that no files and registries remain after uninstalling the graphics card driver, otherwise it may lead to driver conflicts or problems may still exist.

2. Reinstall an older version of the graphics card driver with better compatibility and stability.

The steps are basically similar, but we need to make sure that the driver is completely uninstalled with the help of DDU tool.

Option 2: You seem to have installed 24h2 before the problem occurred, so I wonder if it's possible that some system files were corrupted or lost during the installation process that caused the problem.

We have tried to completely repair the system in two ways to at least ensure that the problem is not due to corrupted system files.

1. Scan and repair the system from the command line.

Click “Windows Logo Key” to open the search bar -> Enter “cmd” in the search bar and open it with administrator privileges -> Please enter the following command

DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /ScanHealth

DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /CheckHealth

DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth

SFC /Scannow

Please note: The above commands need to be repeated 5~6 times to ensure the completeness of the scan!

2. Please try the non-destructive repair.

The steps are:

(1) First download the ISO image file of Windows 11 via the following link.

The link is: Download Windows 11

(2) After the ISO file is downloaded, double-click it to open and run “setup.exe”.

(3) Under the “Install Windows 11” screen, select “Change how the installer downloads updates”.

(4) Under the “Get Updates, Drivers, and Optional Features” screen, select “Not Now”.

(5) Follow the instructions to continue.

Please note: If you are prompted to enter a key, the downloaded ISO image file does not match the current system version.

(6) Under the “Select what to keep” screen, please make sure to select “Keep personal files and applications” so that the contents of your computer will not be affected or lost.

(7) Start the non-destructive repair.

Option 3: Please try to clean boot your computer.

Since clean boot only uses a limited set of files and drivers, it can help us to effectively troubleshoot the possibility of problems caused by third-party applications, driver conflicts, etc.

You can refer to Clean Start for more information: How to perform a clean boot in Windows - Microsoft Support

After clean boot, please slide down the webpage after opening the link and find “How to determine what is causing the problem after you do a clean boot” This is a dichotomy that can help us pinpoint the service that is causing the problem and disable it!

Disclaimer: A “clean boot” starts Windows with a minimal set of drivers and startup programs. It helps to determine whether a background service is interfering with your game or program and to isolate the cause of a problem. These steps of "clean boot" might look complicated at first glance. However, to avoid any trouble for you, please follow them in order and step-by step so that it will help you get back on track.

Option 4: We try to update the latest version of BIOS and chipset drivers provided by the motherboard manufacturer.

Sometimes the dxgi_error_device_removed error may be caused by the BIOS or chipset driver not being fully compatible with the system.

Assuming that the problem still exists with the latest versions of BIOS and chipset drivers, we can also try some older and more compatible versions.

Option 5: We try to check the CPU, GPU and RAM usage, temperature and performance curves of the computer in real time by using temperature and performance checking tools developed by hardware brands or third parties.

See if there are any bottlenecks or temperature spikes in the temperature and performance curves before and after the problem occurs.

Option 6: If you revert to a previously working operating system, you will have a smoother experience and no game crashes. Then it makes sense to revert to the previous OS version.

Sometimes it helps to wait a few months until the development team resolves known issues with the latest update.

However, before attempting this step, you need to make sure that you back up all your important data to avoid data loss!

In addition to that, assuming you were using 23h2 before and can't find the image at the moment, you can also refer to what's in the following thread.

The link is: Download iso of windows 11 that is older than the newest update (a - Microsoft Community

I sincerely hope that the above solution will solve your problem. Please feel free to contact me if you have any problems or still can't solve them. (Photos related to the question would be great!).

I look forward to hearing back from you. 

Best Regards

Arthur Sheng | Microsoft Community Support Specialist

Hey Arthur

Thanks for this, ive attempted the "easy" ones first,

I don't run an overclock on either my GPU or CPU

Ive uninstalled DDU and reinstalled it (the same issues occur with games crashing after a minute of play, requiring a hard reboot)

Uninstalled new drivers and reinstalled old drivers (same)

Completed DISM and SFC, (once I started the BITS service) it reported errors on the first run then was clear every run afterwards (same issues game crash)

During all of the failed game runs I watched the heat and power use and neither the GPU nor CPU ran hot (between 76 and 86 c). The clocks look good until the hang-up where they drop back to idle

I ran the Furmark benchmark in Gl and Vulk five times each back to back and the clock, power usage, and temps all looked perfect with zero issues.

Ive also run 3D mark time spy and Port Royal and both have completed perfectly with expected scores temps and FSP for my rig

I completed a full 20 loops of 3d marks steel nomad stress test with again temps and clock speed on both the CPU and GPU in their normal ranges (the monitoring was an almost straight line at 97%)

My PC is an HP Omen, so it comes with a bunch of assistance software. I've run them all, and both CPU and GPU are reporting as perfect.

My Bios is up to date as are all other HP-managed drivers and software

Ive run a passed a Windows Memory Diagnostic tool test

I think we can remove a hardware issue from the list of possibilities

This time around however Dying Light 2 also crashed after about A minute of play in the same way as all other games, I did have this with Mech Warrior as well, where the first time I played it it worked for a few hours then the next time I tried playing the fault accrued.

I guess this means I will have to reinstall my OS from a backup (I think I have one I created a few months ago that should still be 23h2, or I will have to wait for MS to fix this broken update.

As it was working perfectly before I updated, but as it has already been over a month since I've been able to use my main gaming rig, and the idea of waiting for an unknown period for a fix that may never come isn't filling me with happy feelings.

How can MS let something like this happen, from searching for a fix to this I noticed there are a lot of people with the same or very similar issues as I am having, I'm very disappointed

Thank you for your response.

I apologize that the previous solution did not meet your expectations, it was very important to me to resolve your issue.

I appreciate your patience and feedback, and I am sorry to read your feedback as I know we are still in the process of working on it, and I hope that our communication and my efforts have provided you with some kind of help and direction.

I know it must have been very upsetting for a while, especially on your carefully configured PC, to suddenly experience this constant crashing. As a highly configured gaming PC, you should be enjoying the game to the fullest, not getting caught up in these technical issues. You're supposed to be taking it easy and having fun, not spending time constantly dealing with issues.

I completely understand how helpless you feel about waiting for a fix, especially after watching the problem drag on for so long with no progress. You've really done a great job with so much troubleshooting and testing, and a lot of people probably aren't as patient and meticulous as you are.

In this case, reinstalling to the previous stable version is probably the most practical solution, and while it would be a bit of a hassle, it would at least prevent more game crashes if you can get back to normal. I understand that waiting for a fix can feel a bit frustrating, but it's not a permanent solution.

Unfortunately I'm only a support staff member and can only offer you some troubleshooting options or solutions through the current situation, and I'd like to be able to fix the problems everyone is experiencing if I can.

Assuming the problem persists after back to 23h2, perhaps we need to troubleshoot the possibility of the problem in other ways.

Have fun with your game!

Maybe I found a workaround. My problem was that windows were freezing not crashing. But after I enabled wsl2 I had one month without freezing. After that I uninstalled wsl2 and the freeze again happened. The simplest potential workaround is the following command in cmd as admin:

wsl --install

After that only open Ubuntu app finish the setup. You don't need anymore to open Ubuntu and with luck no freeze no crash.

Thanks for taking the time to reply with your idea. Sadly, that has had no effect. I installed Ubuntu and created my user access, then restarted. As I believe you meant, I didn't run it; I just went on to run a game. Sadly, the same thing occurred, and after a minute or two, the game froze, Trying to kill the task hard locked the system, and I had to hard restart.

Hey Arthur

Just to keep you in the loop, I found my old thumb stick with a restore from last August, and I've reinstalled it with that, so far so good, I've just had a solid hour of Stalker 2 with zero issues.

I've noticed I'm not even being given the option to update to 24h2 now (thank god) think ill give it six months before i try that again,, now i have the fun of finding and reinstalling two years' worth of programs and bits and bobs.

Thanks for your support

Mark

May i ask if the same problem occurs with other systems currently installed?

Sorry only one of them has a GPU my other system is a low-powered PC I use as a fileserver/Plex, but I can't see that now on my network, because that has 24h2, and I know the two won't mesh, and ill have to tray and back that out, but that's a project for another day.

Path of Exile 2 randomly freezes my complete system since the update to 24H2, it seems to be a known issue.

It sounds like the same issue I had, if you can still roll back to a point before you installed 24H2 I would do that because otherwise, it's a full reinstall with an OS with 23H2, as that's what I had to do.

It's funny, after doing that I can't even see 24h2 as an option