How to Fix Call of Duty MW2 Keeps Crashing?

Call of Duty Modern Warfare II crashes can occur due to various reasons. This includes the graphics drivers installed on your computer, the third-party apps interfering with the game, and overclocked components.

You might experience a crash while trying to get into the game menu or during a game match. The constant crashes can ruin your in-game experience. Therefore, we have mentioned several methods below that you can implement to stop your game crashing issues. Let us get started right away. 

1. Use Fullscreen Exclusive Mode

Most games use Fullscreen Borderless as the display mode by default. This has become a standard over the years for modern games due to its ease of tabbing out. However, this can, at times, cause crashing issues with specific games.

Modern Warfare 2 is no exception here. Therefore, when you start troubleshooting the crashes, your first step should be changing your display mode. Fullscreen exclusive is the normal fullscreen mode that should fix the issue in case borderless is causing it. To do this, follow the instructions below:

1. Open Modern Warfare II and navigate to the Settings menu.
2. From the Settings menu, choose the Graphics option.
3. In the Graphics settings, change your Display Mode to Fullscreen Exclusive.

   

4. Apply the settings and then see if the game crashes. 

2. Disable In-Game Overlays

The overlays you use while playing COD Modern Warfare 2 can cause your game to crash. Even though these overlays can be helpful, they interfere with your game which causes it to crash at times. 

If you use any in-game overlays, you should turn them off in such a scenario. We have noticed Discord and GeForce Experience are primarily causing the issue, so we will show you how to disable them. However, if you have other third-party apps that come with in-game overlays, ensure to turn them off. 

Follow the instructions below to turn off the in-game overlay.

For Discord

1. Start by opening the Discord client on your computer.
2. On the Discord client, click on the Settings icon next to your username.

   

3. Afterward, switch to the Game Overlay tab on the left-hand side in the Settings menu.
4. There, click the Enable in-game overlay slider to turn it off.

   

For GeForce Experience

1. To turn off the GeForce Experience in-game overlay, start by opening the application on your PC.
2. Once GeForce Experience is open, click on the Settings icon in the top-right corner.
3. Use the In-game Overlay slider on the General tab to turn off the overlay.

   

4. With that done, restart your game and see if the issue persists. 

3. Uninstall NVIDIA Broadcast (if applicable)

NVIDIA Broadcast allows users with RTX GPUs to enhance the quality of their microphones and webcams with the help of AI. The app removes any background noise and echoes from your microphone, along with additional features for your webcam and speakers. Since the app interferes with your microphone, if you’re using the application, it can cause MW2 to crash.

If this case applies to you, you will have to uninstall NVIDIA Broadcast from your computer to resolve the issue. Follow the instructions below to uninstall the application:

1. First, open the Control Panel by searching for it in the Start Menu.

   

2. In the Control Panel window, click on the Uninstall a program option. This will take you to the list of installed applications on your computer.

   

3. From the list, locate NVIDIA Broadcast and double-click on it.

   

4. Follow the on-screen prompts to uninstall the application.
5. After uninstalling the application, launch the game to see if the crashing problem has been resolved.

4. Disable Xbox Game Bar

Windows has a dedicated application for Xbox that allows you to chat with your friends across the Xbox console and more. However, in the process of doing this, the application interferes with the game process, which can cause it to crash. 

If this scenario is applicable, you will have to disable Xbox Game Bar in your Windows Settings. To do this, follow the instructions given down below:

1. Start by pressing the Windows key + I on your keyboard to open the Settings app.
2. In the Settings app, switch to the Gaming tab on the left-hand side.

   

3. There, click on the Xbox Game Bar option.

   

4. Finally, use the slider next to Open Xbox Game Bar using this button on a controller option to turn it off.

   

5. With that done, play the game and see if the problem still occurs. If you still experience the issue, move to the following method below.

5. Change MW2 Launch Options

Modern Warfare 2 only supports DirectX12. This means you cannot force the game to use any other version of DirectX. However, we have found that editing your launch options to include DirectX11 fixes crashing issues in multiple scenarios. 

Therefore, this is worth trying, and it might also help you. To do this, follow the instructions below.

For Steam

1. Open the Steam client on your computer and navigate to your Library.
2. Right-click on Call of Duty Modern Warfare II and choose Properties from the drop-down menu.
3. Afterward, on the General tab, add -d3d11 to the Launch Options area.

   

For Battle.net

1. Start by opening the Battle.net client on your system.
2. Once Battle.net is running, click on Call of Duty Modern Warfare II. 
3. Afterward, click on the gear icon next to the Play button. Choose Game Settings from the menu that appears.

   

4. Once you do that, tick the Additional command line arguments checkbox.
5. Follow it up by adding the -d3d11 command line argument.

   

6. With that done, see if the game crashes anymore.

6. Reinstall Graphics Drivers

The graphics drivers installed on your computer are significant, especially when it comes to playing video games. This is because video games rely heavily on your graphics card, and the drivers facilitate the communication between the game and the graphics card. 

If you are using a NIVIDA graphics card, there is a good chance your graphics drivers might be causing your game to issue. Specific versions of the graphics drivers have been causing crashing issues with the game, such as version 526. If this scenario is applicable, you can resolve the issue by reinstalling the drivers on your computer. The latest drivers are known to have fixed various problems with the game. 

Follow the instructions below to reinstall your graphics drivers:

1. Start by downloading the Display Driver Uninstaller (DDU) utility from its official website here.
2. Once you have downloaded it, extract the files to your desired location and then navigate to it.
3. Inside the directory, open the Display Driver Uninstaller.exe file.
4. You will be shown a General Options window when DDU opens. You can go through the additional options available, but they are not needed. Click the Close button.

   

5. Afterward, choose GPU from the Select device type drop-down menu.

   

6. Follow this up by choosing your manufacturer from the Select device drop-down menu.

   

7. Finally, click the Clean and restart button to uninstall your graphics drivers.

   

8. After your PC boots up, head to your manufacturer’s website and download the latest drivers available for your graphics card. Install the new drivers and see if that fixes the issue. 

If installing the latest drivers does not resolve the issue, we recommend downgrading your drivers to an older version, like version 516.59. To do this, use the above instructions again to uninstall the drivers and download the old version mentioned. See if that fixes the issue for you. 

7. Repair Game Files

The problem can also occur in some scenarios due to your game files. If you are missing some game files or there is damage to the game files on your computer, MW2 will not be able to work correctly, and thus, you will face crashes. 

You will have to repair your game files to resolve the issue in such a scenario. This can be done quickly via Steam’s verify integrity game files feature. On Battle.net, you will be using the Scan and Repair functionality. 

Follow the instructions below to do this on your respective client.

For Steam

1. Start by opening the Steam client.
2. Navigate to your Library and right-click on Call of Duty Modern Warfare II. Select Properties from the drop-down menu.
3. On the Properties window, switch to the Local Files tab.

   

4. There, click on the Verify integrity of game files option.

   

5. Wait for the scan to complete. Check if the issue goes away.

For Battle.net

1. Open the Battle.net client on your computer.
2. Click on Call of Duty Modern Warfare II once Battle.net is open.
3. Afterward, click on the gear icon next to the Play button and select Scan and Repair from the menu that appears.

   

4. Wait for the scan to finish, and then run the game to see if it is still crashing. 

8. Update BIOS

Updating our BIOS firmware is something we usually neglect. However, BIOS is a vital part of your computer, and it needs to be updated. In some specific scenarios, having an outdated BIOS version can result in game crashes. This can especially happen when you are overclocking the components on your motherboard.

In such a scenario, to keep the components stable, you should keep your BIOS firmware up to date. In addition, the process is easy and quick now since almost every manufacturer offers a utility that can update your BIOS firmware automatically. 

You will need to find your motherboard’s model to update the BIOS. Once you know your manufacturer, head to their website and download the latest BIOS firmware available. Use the BIOS update utility offered by your manufacturer to update your BIOS. See if that fixes the issue. 

9. Disable XMP Profile

Overclocking your components is an excellent way of getting the most out of them. For RAMS, XMP profiles remove the cap from your memory speed so that the max speed can be used.

In some scenarios, using XMP or D.O.C.P (if you have an AMD CPU) profiles can make your RAM unstable, leading to specific games crashing on your computer. If this scenario is applicable, you will have to disable the XMP or D.O.C.P profile in your BIOS configuration to resolve the issue. 

Once you have disabled these overclocking profiles, check if Modern Warfare 2 is still crashing.

10. Perform a Clean Boot

Finally, if none of the above methods has resolved the issue for you, it is likely that a third-party program running in the background may be causing the issue. You can perform a clean boot to verify your suspicion in such a scenario.

Many third-party applications have been known to crash MW2, such as Logitech G Hub, MSI Afterburner, and more. However, the list is not limited to only these applications; in your case, a different application may be causing it. 

Therefore, performing a clean boot will allow you to verify this hunch. If you are unaware, clean boot starts your Windows with only the required services running in the background. This means all the third-party applications are not started on boot. Thus, if the game works fine in a clean boot, it will be evident that a third-party application is causing the issue. 

In such a scenario, you can enable the services one by one to find out the culprit. Follow the instructions below to perform a clean boot:

1. Start by pressing the Windows key + R on your keyboard to open the Run dialog box.
2. In the Run dialog box, type in msconfig and hit Enter. This will open the System Configuration window.

   

3. Switch to the Services tab and click on the Hide all Microsoft services checkbox.

   

4. After that, click the Disable all button and follow it up by clicking Apply.

   

5. Once you do that, switch to the Startup tab and click on the Open Task Manager option.

   

6. On the Task Manager window, select the apps listed one by one and use the Disable option to prevent them from running on startup.

   

7. With that done, restart your computer. 
8. After your PC boots up, check to see if Modern Warfare 2 is crashing.