Diablo 2 won't launch, access violation c0000005

Legacy Games Tech Support
1

Long story short, Diablo 2 won’t launch (big surprise). I originally had the game installed on my PC on one hard drive which had Windows 7. Several years later, I got a new hard drive which I then installed Windows 10 on. The old hard drive is still connected, but Diablo 2 wasn’t launching, complete with all the typical errors. After a rigorous series of attempts and attempted fixes, the only way I was able to get the game to launch (barring running windowed with no sound) was by creating a new admin user.

Obviously, I’m not satisfied with this solution, so I’m trying to get it properly fixed. The most seemingly relevant post I’ve found about this claims “there’s something going on with the registry of [my] old account which messed up [my] permissions” and to “move [my] files to the new account and delete the old one,” but I’m not clear on what exactly that means or how to do it. I’ve used ioBit Uninstaller to wipe out the relevant registry files more than once to no avail, so I don’t know what could still be going on at this point.

2

It’s likely something conflicting with the game that is loading under your user account and not the other newly created account, and it could be any number of things. It could be a corrupted registry key. It could be something as silly as a system tray app that is loading. It could be simply because a program is outdated. It could be a program that needs to be reinstalled. You’re grabbing at straws on this one. It could require extensive debugging to figure out what is causing the problem, or moving your data to a new user account as a last resort.

WARNING: Read through the following instructions thoroughly before proceeding. If you’re not familiar, don’t understand and/or are not comfortable with the below tasks, then I don’t recommend trying, as you could accidentally cause further issues with your system.

The first thing I’d try is to disable all startup applications.
Winkey+X, T to open the Task Manager. Click the startup tab, go through and disable all startup applications, then reboot. If Diablo 2 works afterward, you can go through and enable 50% of the disabled applications, reboot and then try running the game again. Once you isolate which one caused the problem, you can reenable the rest.

The second thing to try is to try disabling all non-Microsoft services, as one could also be the cause of the problem.
Winkey+R, msconfig, “services” tab. Check the “hide all Microsoft Services” box, disable all. Reboot. Try to run Diablo 2 again. If it works, you’ll have to do the same as above re-enabling half of the disabled services, rebooting and running the game again until it starts having problems again until you can isolate the service(s) that are causing the problem. Just make sure to always check the “Hide all Microsoft Services” box, because it is unchecked by default.

Tip: To save yourself a bit of time, you can disable all of the startup applications AND non-Microsoft services first, reboot, and see if they have any effect solving the problem with Diablo 2. If it works, re-enable all services, reboot, try again. If it doesn’t work, disable 3rd party services again, then enable all startup applications, reboot and try again. If it still doesn’t work, then you’re looking a something that could be very annoying and time consuming to resolve. Don’t forget to re-enable the 3rd party services and startup applications afterwards.

Isolating the cause of program conflicts can be a real headache.

Also a side note, I recommend staying away from anything ‘ioBit’. If you want a good uninstall utility, look up “Revo Uninstaller”, they have a free version. Also only use these type of uninstallers as a last resort option.

I’m hoping that D2: Resurrected becomes a reality. Problems like this will hopefully become a thing of the past.

Massive number of edits trying to structure this the best I can to be understandable.

3

Thanks for the detailed reply, but neither of these worked. The second method had already been tried as well.

What’s wrong with ioBit and uninstallers?

4

Ahh well, I tried. Too bad you didn’t get it to work.

Their software is mostly ad-driven garbage that promises performance (for a price), or overexaggerates the seriousness of problems to get you to pay, and most of the time the REMOVAL of their software speeds your system up. I’ve seen numerous programs of theirs get “drive by installed” on peoples systems that were infected.

Avoid ioBit like the plague. Another garbage company to avoid is iolo. (System Mechanic)

End rant.

5

I see. Why should it only be a last resort though?

6

Although rare, there are scenarios which using an uninstallation utility to remove one program can cause problems with other programs. One example: Using an uninstaller utility to remove a program that when it was installed loaded DLL files in the Windows directory which are also being used by other programs. If the DLL files are removed, other programs that depend on the removed DLL files stop working.

Since this is a Blizzard game technical support forum, I don’t think it’s appropriate to continue this discussion, so I will not be responding to any more inquiries that aren’t directly related to troubleshooting problems with Diablo 2. I’m not trying to be rude, just trying to keep to the forum rules.