Thanks for restating this solution, I forgot about it and have been using the EXE renaming method, which is fairly cumbersome.
Only change I have is not having Geforce Experience installed.
I have used the Test.exe too by now but I’ve also had crashes but possibly from launching through Bnet so I’m not willing to state that renaming the exe doesn’t work.
Guess I could try some competitive and see. The Blizzard support told me I could play Quick play to try but I’m not interested in playing useless games. I’ve played some arcade but that too feel like garbage. I want to play competitive but I don’t want crashes and I don’t want to get punished for doing so.
I have put my memory OC back somewhat in that I run DCOP + 3200 MHz with 1 volt SOC but that’s been pretty stable before but yeah as is my memory controller is running out of spec (not because that caused the problem before but because running it without spec doesn’t remove the crashes anyway so …)
It seems I crash less like this when I have it in fullscreen. Though I usually play Windowed Fullscreen and that seemed to have caused those crashes.
Hey, so this might be a little off topic but since Wednesday I’ve been experimenting this kind of crashes with my GTX 1080Ti. I’ve tried a lot of different solutions without finding a way to fix it. I updated my drivers, reinstalled the game two times, did the paging file thing, put every of my GPU settings to default ect… Renaming the .exe file did allowed me to play like 4 games but my game crashed again. By the way the game was working pretty well before the day of the first crash.
I have a 2080 and I’m seeing many reports around the forums or Reddit that others have the same issue as well.
My game screen just freezes but everything else is still open and works.
Got thrown out of a ranked match yesterday, and could not even rejoin because it wouldn’t let me restart without holding down the power button.
Tried uninstalling the unnecessary Nvidia Suit and just have the Driver on now with a clean install.
Reposting this for visability. If we had any more information for you we’d certainly share it, but for now the options are to use the rename method and if that DOESN’T work, you want to contact us directly for individual troubleshooting. The quote above explains why this is.
2 Likes
My card is an 2070 RTX…
I feel I’ve played enough now to be able to claim that renaming the exe to something else than Overwatch.exe and then run it so Nvidia doesn’t screw with it do indeed work.
As for me trying other things before doing so and how terrible that was: You can’t be serious if you expect me to read 600 posts and look for and try whatever single solution. I just had the problem too and went with the headlines and tried what I stumbled upon and could think of as possible solutions.
Anyway the problem is Nvidia software not the graphics card or the game or unstable overclock.
Wanted to chime in and say I am having the same issues. RTX 2070, the only game that crashes is Overwatch. Seems to have started happening with the last OW update or Nvidia driver update.
Seeing as how long this is taking to fix. I would be nice to have a “remember me” option when you login from outside the launcher. Like wow had before the launcher was created.
I’ve a 2080 RTX and hasn’t crashed since the rename.
I still crash even using the renamed exe to launch. Seems like it happens less often though, I was able to play one whole day without a crash. Before the rename trick I crashed 2-4 times a day. Using 2080 ti. I also deleted whole Overwatch profile from nvidia drivers, didn’t make a difference.
This isnt just an RTX issue, I am getting this error since the last two nvidia drivers on a GTX 1060. I am thinking this is a driver issue. This was a driver/overwatch issue about a year or so ago.
Just a side note on the EXE renaming method: I found that the renaming EXE method only works for me if I don’t open the Blizzard Launcher. If I open the launcher, I have to go to the Overwatch directory and delete my renamed EXE and rename the newly created, originally named EXE.
Either way, this is sort of a mess considering the length of time this has been an issue and the lack of discussion about a timeline for a potential fix from official people. We are all essentially just sitting in the dark waiting for someone to turn the light on, but we have been sitting there for months.
Hi Folks!
I want to tell the new one among us again that there is still a registry fix. I already described it here [EDIT - This work around was removed, see next blue post for information.]. Since then I can start and play the game without any problems. It is worth a try, trust me 
However, the entry disappeared after a major update from Microsoft, so simply create a new one and continue playing.
See you in OW,
JumpKickz
1 Like
This is a huge problem for me as well. I have a RTX card. I can no longer play the game effectively because I keep crashing. Unfairly, I am getting penalized in game for “leaving the match” when it is the crash that prevents me from enjoying the game. The tricky part is that it crashes so inconsistently, sometimes in a row, sometimes more intermittently, there is no practical way to predict it.
Blizzard must stop deflecting the problem, grab the bull by its horns, and find a way to fix it. Overwatch is the only game with which I have this problem. I already tried tweaking NVIDIA control panel settings, clean uninstalling and reinstalling with different drivers, increasing virtual memory, etc., any suggested solution that you can readily find on the Internet. None of them work. No effective workaround presently exists, nor should we rely on it. This is not a problem that we, Blizzard’s faithful customers, should fix when so many of us are having the same issue specifically with your IP but not others.
EDIT: I will try the “renaming .exe” method and report back. That said, Blizzard should figure out a more permanent solution, as any band-aid type of workaround can’t be considered a real solution.
With this method, can you still use the original EXE as well as the Blizzard Launcher? I am getting tired of manually typing in my authentication codes. Thanks for reminding us of this fix!
JumpKickz,
I removed your registry modification post to prevent players from accidentally damaging their systems with it. Timeout Detection and Recovery delay should not be modified in most cases, as that is Windows’ built in protection to prevent damage of your hardware or windows-level crashes. Longer TDR delays open the window for actually breaking your graphics card.
If you’re using this as a work around, I advise reversing it.
2 Likes
This cannot be considered a fix. You’re putting your computer at a greater risk with such a registry modification.
One consistent thing I can report with certainty is the following: After a crash, when I click NVIDIA control panel, the 3D image of rotating green NVIDIA logo and the PhysX feature disappear from the control panel altogether. Only after a shutdown and reboot, and after some time of inactivity, they return.
The “OverwatchTest.exe” method DOES NOT work for me. This is very frustrating for someone who really loves Overwatch. It was fine the first few hours, and now it crashes again. As someone who recently upgraded his computer with a RTX from an old potato to play Overwatch at a higher performance/quality, I find this whole situation incredibly frustrating and irritating.
1 Like