Hello, i just purchased diablo 2 and LOD from you guys and every time i try to JOIN game it goes to load screen and game crashes…
ANy help would be amazing.
i have the same problem!!
It is a DirectX video error.
Diablo 2 Shortcut → Properties → Run Compatibility Troubleshooter within the Compatibility tab.
Use Windows XP service pack choice for Compatibility first in order from the oldest (closer to Win95) to newest (Vista/7), if you have to / wish to manually change it. XP should be your only choices as the game was released and primarily patched for those times.
If that fails, try using Run As Administrator (rightclick shortcut or the Diablo II.exe in Directory/Diablo II folder). REMOVE THE COMPATIBILITY SETTING BEFORE ATTEMPTING. This is to make sure you know which problem exists: A) DirectX cannot run properly because it is an older game for your video drivers, or B) DirectX cannot run properly without administrator privileges because it is an older game for your computer. Then try that along with administrator program privileges. If both together are what works, you can set the shortcut in a tick box within Compatibility Tab towards the bottom to permanently set it.
Re-run d2vidtst.exe Video Test and select a different option; it can crash or lag in D3d. Or try updating your Video Drivers. Websearch the manufacturer of your iGPU or video card for how to update drivers if you don’t know how.
If you cannot find d2vidtst.exe, or it was deleted during a Windows 10 update or patching to 1.14, you can reinstall the game (at a lower patch if using the Blizzard Online installer) and copy the d2vidtst.exe to any different location on your computer to run it by itself without deletion within the Directory/Diablo II folder when/if something goes wrong during an Update or a game Patch.
If done properly, it should also remove latency and frameskip or delay. You can also go into NVidia Control Panel or AMD Center programs to manually reset all graphics options to OFF for ideal compatibility with older DirectX games. You may run Diablo II in either DirectDraw -or- Direct3d if fixed. Worst-case scenario is you forcibly changed the DirectX rules for Game.exe to run Diablo II.exe. To forcibly change the DirectX mode, you need to add to your Diablo II.exe shortcut’s Target Path: “Directory/Diablo II” the -d3d or -ddraw tagline beyond the quotations. Or Edit the registry to reset or fully manually override because the shortcut cannot be given administrator privileges.
If this does not work, you need to websearch how to edit the registry keys for Diablo II manually within Registry Editor for Windows. I can try to write a small guide on how.
- Windows key (or Win+R if not Windows 10) and type in “RegEdit”, hit enter
- There can be two folders containing Diablo II Video settings with registry key values.
One is HKEY_CURRENT_USER → Software → Blizzard Ent. → Diablo II
and the other is
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE → Software → WOW6432Node → Blizzard Ent. → Diablo II - It should be labeled as Video Config; you do not need to touch any other registry key. Each Setting should have a Value. You should Rightclick → Export (save) whatever Config registry keys you have in case you forget or accidentally “break” something, or Windows errors something.
- Ideally do not attempt to edit or delete any other keys anywhere if you can help it but you can copy everything if you needed to, and save it to a backup just in case.
- Most/all settings are unlabeled but are present in the game’s OPTIONS menu in the ESC MENU, where you Save and Exit. You can edit a description yourself for later if you wish.
- If you have both of the two Blizz Ent. / Diablo II / Video Config registry folders, attempt to make their settings identical if or when they have matching settings (i.e. DirectX mode). Not all settings are available. Not all settings are desirable to change (do not edit server stuff). Not all settings matter.
YOU MAY CHANGE THESE SETTINGS ANY WAY YOU WISH WITHOUT FRYING YOUR COMPUTER OR DIABLO II INSTALLATION. You may change these settings independently, one at a time, in either Registry Folder Directory, without causing errors. Make an exported backup of your original and your final so you do not forget or create a permanent error.
- One of the options is a DirectX mode override. There are 5? different choices, and I believe the order is DirectDraw/value 0, Direct3d/value 1, DirectX New/value 2, Voodoo3d 3dfx/value 3, Experimental/Debug mode/value 4. This is what you want to change manually to fix crashing or lag, usually. Sometimes without Compatibility options you may need to change the AutoMap setting from Fade/2, or out of MiniMap/2 back to default/0 or 1 so you don’t crash or lag.
You may import backup Registry Keys for any part of your Registry from the Top Left Option “File” in the main RegEdit.exe window. It is easy, simple and safe for many or any registry keys. If you have a major problem because you booboo’d it, I suggest using System Restore, Reinstalling Windows or using another program or support website with a registry cleaner.
Part of the reason why anything goes wrong or happens in the Registry is because a ‘Parent’, or Top-Level ADMINISTRATOR, account with highest User Account Controls settings over all Windows installations exists, and disallows the video game from changing the Registry, regardless of running programs in Administrative Mode on an Administrator Account. It is uniquely a Windows 10 problem as far as I know, and a lot easier to fix if it actually does occur with Windows 7 or XP.
Some Registry key settings will crash the game when set incorrectly. Some are hexadecimal values (0x00016f) rather than Integer (One-Two-Three-Four) values. Websearch “Hexidecimal to Decimal conversion” to understand the values.
Each setting can be edited with a specific value, and the values are not necessarily used by the Game.exe in an ordered “Worst to Best” or any sensible order. If you know how many options it has, Zero/0 can be either ‘Default’ or ‘OFF’, One/1 can be DISABLED or ON/Maximum and the maximum value given will be equal to the number of choices you have (i.e. Cheap/Low/High lighting values become 0/1/2 - Cheap is only comptaible for low-end or OLD (20+ year now) graphics chips with very low memory bandwidth or old DirectX drivers).
There is also an FPS_MAX framerate limiter, which only works on non-local servers because the internal server processes occur per-frame. It overrides DirectX or Control Panels’/Centers’ settings to comply with higher refresh rate CRT or Gaming Monitors.
Some values are obsolete or developer version-only settings which do nothing or only within the first 2 or 3 values (0/1/2/…) .
Other values such as GAMMA and CONTRAST will have a 0-99 value for percents. This operates the slider bars even when greyed out because of a Program Override of DirectX driver properties (the original error-causing problem in Reply#1) regardless of what option you choose.
Depending on your GPU and Control Panel/Center, it will attempt an override from old DirectX rules on the in-game settings and disallow changing them. There may also the ability to “Gray out” or DISABLE certain options, by my own memory as a Secondary Option (usually above them and not below).
The map settings and everything else is included as well. It will be changed regardless of DirectX mode chosen or how it was designated (Target Path override or D2 Video Test registry editing).
I do not have the labeling of registry keys myself but re-launching Diablo 2 after trying each in single player will show you what is what quickly. To speed up the process, you may want to add “-w” to that “Target Path” or tick-box the Windowed Mode at Start Options under the Diablo II.exe shortcut Properties. for faster load times while troubleshooting. You cannot change individual hotkey settings through the Registry, it is saved somewhere on your computer and I don’t know where it is pulled from. This particular problem (also Windows 10) is because of the XBox Game mode and Windows VirtualStore; it saves certain files in non-temporary but separate directories in case you uninstall the game, and effectively VM’s the files necessary for Diablo II to run in compatibility mode after a 2018(?) Windows 10 update unless you have the most recent Windows 10 Upgrade from 2021.
Repeatedly reinstalling older video games that have registry keys requirements will cause a false or minor form of Registry corruption due to the Admin. Privileges or Compatibility Installation Windows 10 error(s). This will break the game in many ways and I don’t have a full solution for it.
If something does go wrong or you think it can, do the following:
- Create backup(s) of your Registry Keys in a safe directory
- Create OFFLINE and/or CLOUD backups of any important files, photo/video, messages, game data, or anything. Microsoft and Google have some, and it is $20 or less to buy 64GB flash drives from good manufacturers.
- Create multiple of both System Restore and Recovery Points on your computer, on a regular basis if you can (1 per week and month, or bi-weekly and 3/6 months). Make sure you do both, because both have data limits for what data is preserved when deleted or removed through an update. You can only reserve so much memory on an SSD or HDD (1TB+ drives ideal). One works only for updates and program changes, the other works as a pseudo backup recovery tool.
Look up ‘checkdisk / chkdsk’ and ‘system files checker / sfc’ to understand how to fix fragmentation or core program errors using your own Windows installation’s programs. Some programs that are free for Registry fixes, backup and general computer errors are not bad, but I have no recommendations. It may help with your Diablo installation as well.