Dark Souls won't start in Windows 8

[Jurge92]

Hi.

I just recently upgraded to Windows 8 Pro. I tried running Dark Souls with and without fix, and reinstalling it, but when the game starts, it just goes "DARK SOULS PREPARE TO DIE EDITION executable has stopped working!". It happens all the time. The game worked fluently on Windows 7. The only other game I have experienced some strange issues with are Borderlands 2, where the games from time to time freezes for (+-)one second. Does anyone know what's causing this and what can be done to get this fixed?

2500K
6870(Catalyst 12.10)
8GB

[SoupDujour]

Look at the "Sticky" Dark Souls General Faq here in the forums it has a possible solution to your answer. Under: Can I get Dark Souls To Run Under Windows 8?

[Jurge92]

Well that did not work for me...

[elpibepiola]

it works perfectly fine for me. its a bit trickier on windows 8.

uninstall the gfwl marketplace and cilent and reinstall from website running SETUP.EXE as admin, once installed, go to the folder (gfwl client) and run the .exe as admin as well.

the install latest dx drivers from ms website and net frame work 4.5 and finally run Darksouls.exe as admin.

this solved it for me, windows 8 64bit no issues at all

[Jurge92]

Originally Posted by elpibepiola

it works perfectly fine for me. its a bit trickier on windows 8.

uninstall the gfwl marketplace and cilent and reinstall from website running SETUP.EXE as admin, once installed, go to the folder (gfwl client) and run the .exe as admin as well.

the install latest dx drivers from ms website and net frame work 4.5 and finally run Darksouls.exe as admin.

this solved it for me, windows 8 64bit no issues at all

Did exactly as you wrote, but did not work. Same problem still...

[elpibepiola]

Originally Posted by Jurge92

Did exactly as you wrote, but did not work. Same problem still...

after you do all that, try disabling steam community for the game. right click on game, properties uncheck steam community option

[Jurge92]

Originally Posted by elpibepiola

after you do all that, try disabling steam community for the game. right click on game, properties uncheck steam community option

Nothing changes. Also, the game starts in windowed mode. Don't know if that might be a part of the issue.

[elpibepiola]

that is weird man,try using this one, uninstall all previous version so f gfwl. ♥♥♥♥ is ugged on windows 8, but try this version

and remember to run setup.exe as admin and then go to the program files folder and find the exe and run it as admin as well

gfwl win 8

[Jurge92]

Originally Posted by elpibepiola

that is weird man,try using this one, uninstall all previous version so f gfwl. ♥♥♥♥ is ugged on windows 8, but try this version

and remember to run setup.exe as admin and then go to the program files folder and find the exe and run it as admin as well

gfwl win 8

I really appreciate your help, but that did not work for me neither. However, I unplugged my 360 controller from the computer, and would you know it, the game started. The 360 controller was actually the problem all along. I feel really, really stupid.

But hey, I managed to bump over another problem once the game started(woho!...). I can't login to Windows Live(gotta love GFWL). GFWL won't accept my CD-key which I have redeemed before on GFWL the same way. Murphy's Law...

[Josemsar]

This is what worked for me at least :


1. Uninstall Dark Souls (You can make a backup) + All GFWL stuff
2. Download GFWL from Official webpage a,d install
3. Install Dark Souls
4. Start Dark souls, it will install its stuff and then will start playing

If this even work, you could try to open the GFWL marketplace app between 2-3, but his worked for me for every time I formateed my computer

[Joey Ravn]

Same problem here. Clocked 38 hours on the game (according to Steam) under Windows 7 Home Premium x64. Switched to Windows 8 Pro x64, the game doesn't even accept my GFWL CD-Key. It freezes as soon as I try to type it in and I have to force the program to close through the Task Manager.

I've tried everything said here and in the threads linked by various people to no avail... Could it be that the s***ty GFWL client doesn't work on Windows 8? Really?

[Aesandre]

Here's what I did to make Dark Souls work on my Win8 install, first time:

1) Install and Run Steam
2) Install and Run Dark Souls
3) Wait for any crash/messages
Note: DO NOT UNINSTALL DARK SOULS
4) Open Control Panel -> Programs & Features
5) Uninstall GFWL (Both parts)
6) Download and Install the latest GFWL version available on the GFWL website
7) Run Dark Souls
8) ???
9) Profit

Worked for me.


Edit: The reason GFWL doesn't work initially, is that it is probably installing an OLD version of GFWL. I con confirm that the latest version available from the GFWL website works just fine with Win8.

[Harley Gorillas]

Steam does install an old version of GFWL.

[Franpa]

Originally Posted by Harley Gorillas

Steam does install an old version of GFWL.

GFWL should still run... oh... yeah I see the potential problem now. Old version isn't running at all and thus won't prompt you to download the updated version.

[Joey Ravn]

Originally Posted by Aesandre

Here's what I did to make Dark Souls work on my Win8 install, first time:

1) Install and Run Steam
2) Install and Run Dark Souls
3) Wait for any crash/messages
Note: DO NOT UNINSTALL DARK SOULS
4) Open Control Panel -> Programs & Features
5) Uninstall GFWL (Both parts)
6) Download and Install the latest GFWL version available on the GFWL website
7) Run Dark Souls
8) ???
9) Profit

Worked for me.


Edit: The reason GFWL doesn't work initially, is that it is probably installing an OLD version of GFWL. I con confirm that the latest version available from the GFWL website works just fine with Win8.

Thanks for the tip, but it still doesn't work for me. Dark Souls boots up (windowed, oddly enough) to a black screen. The GFWL Guide appears and prompts me to insert the CD-Key, but the keyboard doesn't work at all. I can navigate the guide using my 360 gamepad. If I try to click anywhere with the cursor, the game stops responding and I have to close it with the Task Manager.

PS: By the way, I forgot to mention it, but it should be obvious that I'm not using any mods at the moment. I only used to play with Durante's DSFix, but I removed it to have a clean startup, at least till I can get the game working again.

Edit: Other games, like AoEO or Batman: Arkham City, work flawlessly, so I know the problem is not caused by my GFWL version...

Edit2: Wow, now it magically works. I didn't touch anything since the last time that I tried starting the game, but now it works. It doesn't recognize my 360 gamepad, though...