Unable to run Starcraft 2 after Windows 11 upgrade

When attempting to start the game, this error is thrown:
The graphics device is not available at this time. Try to restart or contact Blizzard Technical Support.

Root Cause: DSR factors previously configured in nvidia control panel are broken after a windows 11 upgrade. Reinstalling the nvidia driver does NOT fix it. But removing , saving, and re-apply the DSR factors in nvidia control panel does.

Steps to reproduce:

  1. On Windows 10, Set up DSR factor configuration on Global Settings tab of in nvidia control panel
  2. Run and Configure games to use high resolution DSR factor
  3. Use Microsoft Windows 11 Installation Assistant to upgrade Windows 10 to Windows 11. Reboot multiple times as needed.
  4. Note that Starcraft 2 and similar games fail to start. Error is screen is not available. Starcraft 2 doesn't work on Windows 11 / graphic card error
  5. Reinstall / Upgrade GeForce graphics drivers for Windows 11.
  6. Note that it does NOT resolve the issue.

This is a Windows 11 defect in the GeForce Control Panel and GeForce drivers.
To resolve it, you need to do the following:

  1. On Windows 11, Open the Nvidia Control Panel
  2. Under DSR Factors, remove all DSR Factors
  3. Apply.
  4. Under DSR Factors, re-enable the DSR Factors configured in Step #2.
  5. Apply
  6. Open games and note that they work now.
    Reproduced on Windows 10 with all windows updates (May 2022) and Windows 11 with all windows updates (May 2022)

I have submitted this as a bug report against the GeForce graphics drivers.

3 Likes

The Kim Komando site reported that the latest W11 update broke some functions in .NET 3.5. Maybe this is the source of the problem in the drivers.

Iā€™m up-to-date on Windows upgrades and NVidia drivers. I have also tried your steps and could not resolve it. It might be true that the latest windows update somehow just blocked it.

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