Ever since Patch 2.6.6 went Live I’m experiencing an issue that occurred about a month ago during Season 17. The full details can be found in my thread: D3:RoS - Locks when entering game.
When it happened before:
There had been no Patch or game updates.
I had just updated to the latest NVIDIA driver 431.60.
This time it happened:
After Patch 2.6.6 went Live.
I updated my NVIDIA drivers to 436.02.
I went through all the steps I took to solve the issue last time. Unfortunately, nothing has worked yet.
In summary, this is basically what is happening:
I run D3 and find myself on the Game Menu. So far, all is good. If I press the Windows-key, the Start Menu pops up and I can see the Diablo icon on the Taskbar.
I click the “Play” button, but when I enter the game I cannot do anything. The game animations are still active, but I cannot move, cast Skills or select anything. If I press the Windows-key, the Start Menu pops up and the Diablo icon is no longer on the Taskbar.
I can right-click the Taskbar and open the Task Manager. Diablo III Retail is listed. I can right-click it and select “Switch to”. This brings back D3, working properly and the D3 icon is now on the Taskbar.
The same thing happens if I “Leave Game”. I return to the Game Menu, but I cannot select anything. Again, “Switch to” in the Task Manager will correct this.
And I also noticed this time, if I right-click my Character Portrait in-game to View Profile, the game crashes to my Desktop. There is no D3 icon on the Taskbar, but I can use “Switch to” in the Task manager to take me back to the Game Menu where I can now make a selection.
The last “Date modified” for my D3Prefs file is 08/20/2019 3:49 AM EDT. (Before Patch 2.6.6 was deployed).
Okay. I tried that. It didn’t work. Even though it appeared to, when I checked my D3Prefs file, it had not changed. I would have thought it would be modified or deleted. I then tried to run the game, but got the same issue.
I tried this and it worked… one time. And then I began having the same issue. But, at least that one time updated the D3Prefs file.
I reinstalled the 436.02 graphics driver. And I always select just the driver. I never install GeForce Experience. I also always select Custom Install and check the box to Perform a Clean Install.
After going back to the latest graphics driver, I tried running D3 again. The issue remained. This time I downloaded the Display Driver Uninstaller (DDU). I turned off my modem and ran DDU to uninstall the graphics driver. I was instructed to restart the computer. The modem was still turned off to avoid any automatic updates. I then reinstalled the latest driver, turned on my modem and let it boot up. I tried running D3, but the issue remained.
Finally, I uninstalled D3. Then, I uninstalled the Desktop App. I used Revo Uninstaller to make sure all traces were removed, including registry entries and ProgramData files. I reinstalled the Desktop App and used it to locate my other Blizzard games. Then, I reinstalled D3. And It’s working now. The problem is: It’s not creating a new D3Prefs file and it’s not saving my options.
So, I’m at a loss. I guess I’ll just have to reset my Game Options every time I run the game.
I tried that when I first had the issue a month ago. But, it didn’t make a difference. Besides, the game is running fine now. I just can’t get it to create a new D3Prefs file to save my Game Options. I think there’s something weird with my operating system and I don’t know how to fix it.
There are certain folders on my primary drive that won’t let me create, copy or move files to them. I just tested which folders are giving me problems and this is what I’ve discovered:
Folder
Accessible
3D Ojects
=
Yes
Desktop
=
No
Documents
=
No
Downloads
=
Yes
Music
=
No
Pictures
=
No
Videos
=
No
In other words, the only folders I can create, copy, move or save files to are my Downloads folder and my 3D Objects folder. I believe that’s why D3 can no longer create or save my Game Options. And I don’t know how to make those folders accessible again.
Delete Spybot-Search & Destroy (Free). It’s crap bloatware. Malware Bytes is all you need. I have a feeling some other program you are letting run with D3 is locking you up with a conflict.
What else are you running? Program updates can change the way things interact with one another. Just because something has always worked doesn’t mean it always will. I would start by stopping everything that isn’t D3.
If that works, you can enable things one at a time and possibly see what causes the problem if it starts back up.
On the "General" tab I always have "Selective startup" selected. I've never been able to change it. So, I unchecked the box for "Load startup items".
On the "Services" tab I checked the box to "Hide all Microsoft services" and clicked the Disable all button.
On the "Startup" tab I only have a link to "Open Task Manager".
On the Task Manager's "Startup" tab
I "Disabled" everything in the list one by one until they were all disabled.
On the "Processes" tab I clicked the End task button on everything that was still on the Notification Tray.
After ensuring nothing was running except Microsoft services and my internet, I checked to confirm I could now access all the folders I couldn’t before. I could. I ran D3 and the game loaded fine. I then opened the Game Options and set my Preferences. As soon as I clicked the Apply button the game locked up. Again, I had to use the Task Manager to exit the game.
I checked my D3Prefs file and it had not been modified. And I can no longer access those folders anymore.
So, I ran msconfig and set my computer to start normally. Of course I re-enabled all the startup items and processes I disabled earlier. And I doubt if I’ll reinstall Spybot.
I’m going to try one more thing and restart my computer in Safe Mode with Networking. I’m not even sure I’ll be able to run D3 in that mode. But, we’ll see.
This looks like a problem with permissions. If a right click and take ownership of those folders does not work then Google for fixes to get your permissions back for those folders. Also check into a corrupted user account. Try creating a new user account and see if that locks you out of those folders.
I don’t use Discord. I also never install GeForce Experience. I install the video drivers only. And I always do a clean install, which uninstalls previous versions before installing the latest version. I have game recording disabled in the Xbox App and the Blizzard Desktop App.
I rarely record my game-play, so I don’t have recording software running when I play. When I do record, I use OBS Studio.
I’ve checked permissions. They are set correctly. I’m beginning to think that something has changed in the system registry, but I don’t know where to look.
Creating another user account may be a good way to test if this corrects the issue. But, if it works on a new account, I wouldn’t know what to do to fix it on my account.
I think, when I have the extra time and energy, I’m just going to wipe my drive and reinstall Windows.
In the meantime, I just have to use the Task Manager to “Switch to” Diablo III every time I “Leave Game”, change “Game Settings”, “Switch Character” or “Start Game”.
Sort of unrelated to this issue, because I don’t think drivers are what’s causing this, but unless you are booting in safe mode and using a tool like DDU, you’re never actually doing a “clean install.” A lot of the files that come with drivers do not get removed by the driver install utility when trying to apply the latest version.
Back to your issue, I recommend trying a tool like Windows Focus Logger, which can tell you which app is stealing screen focus away from Diablo. I hope it works
I only mentioned this as an “afterthought” to “not installing GeForce Experience”. I believe that has options for video capturing and includes an overlay. (Although, not really sure, since I don’t use it).
Okay. I downloaded and ran Windows Focus Logger. When the program window opened I did the following:
I started the Windows Focus Logger recording.
I ran the Blizzard Desktop App.
I clicked “Play” for Diablo III (Desktop App exits completely).
I clicked “Start Game”. This is where the game locks on me (as seen in the video in the OP).
I pressed the Windows-key to bring up the Taskbar. I right-clicked it and selected “Task Manager”. I right-clicked “Diablo III Retail” and selected “Switch to”, which brought me back to the game. The game is now working.
I then brought up the Game Menu and clicked “Leave Game”. The game disappeared and left me on the Desktop.
I opened the Task Manager and switched to Diablo III again. The game came back up with my Character on the Game Menu.
I then started a game with the same results.
I brought up the Task Manager and switched to Diablo III, which brought the game back up with my Character in town.
I then exited the game and stopped Windows Focus Logger.
Unfortunately, I do not know what the Windows Focus Logger information means. The only things that are listed are 4 instances of “Diablo III64” and 6 instances of “explorer”:
If you mean through Blizzard Customer Support, no I haven’t. But, I believe this is more of a Microsoft issue than a Blizzard issue. I say this because I have at least 2 other programs that cannot access my Documents folder.
Tried this. No effect.
Would try that, but can’t. Windows Focus Logger and the Task Manager lists different programs running as you can see in this image:
I keep hoping it will correct itself. But, if it doesn’t, I’ll just reinstall Windows 10. It should only take a few minutes.
Hmm… I just thought: “Diablo III64” is listed in Windows Focus Logger. I wonder what would happen if switch D3 to 32-bit. Can’t hurt to try.
Well, 32-bit D3 didn’t work. When I clicked “Start Game” D3 completely locked up, still on the Game Menu. I could bring up the Taskbar, but when I tried to select the Task Manager, or anything else, it just brought me back to the Game Menu. I had to Ctrl+Alt+Del to restart my computer.
So, reinstalling Windows. Probably sometime this weekend.
I sat down at the computer this morning and went through my usual routine.
I ran Windows Update. None were available.
I checked for video drivers. I had the latest installed a week ago: 436.15.
I checked my system registry with CCleaner. No issues found.
I ran the Blizzard Desktop App and started D3. When I got to the Game Menu I clicked “Start Game”.
I was shocked! I heard sound. Lately, there is no sound and I can’t move my Character or select anything until bring up the Task Manager and click “Switch to” Diablo III. (As seen in the video in the OP).
I could also move my Character around. Everything was working properly. I ran Bounties for 2 Acts and then decided to stop for breakfast. Instead of exiting the game I selected “Leave Game”. On the Game Menu I was getting the tooltip popups and could select options.
After breakfast, I ran D3 again with no issues.
I’m going to mark this issue as solved. It doesn’t happen often and seems to correct itself in time. If it ever happens again, I know the workaround and will just wait until it clears up.
