Fix: Hearthstone Crashes on Launch

Hearthstone is a free to play digital cards collectible game. It was developed and published by Blizzard Entertainment in 2014 for MacOS and Windows. The game is quite popular due to its unique play style and offers compatibility for Android and iOS as well.  However, quite recently, a lot of reports have been coming in of users who are unable to launch the game as it crashes at startup. According to our information, this problem was seen only for Windows users.

What Causes Hearthstone to Crash at Startup?

After receiving numerous reports from multiple users, we decided to investigate the issue and devised a set of solutions that solved the problem for most of our users. Also, we looked into the reasons due to which this error is triggered and listed them below.

Now that you have a basic understanding of the nature of the problem, we will move on towards the solutions. Make sure to implement these in the specific order in which they are provided to avoid any conflicts.

Solution 1: Granting Administrative Privileges

If the game hasn’t been granted Administrative Privileges by the administrator it might face issues during the launch process. Therefore, in this step, we will be granting Administrative privileges. For that:

1. Navigate to the game installation folder.
2. Right–click on the game’s executable and select “Properties“.

   

3. Inside properties, click on the “Compatibility” tab and check the “Run as Administrator” option.

   

4. Click on “Apply” and then on “OK“.
5. Launch the game and check to see if the issue persists.

Solution 2: Verifying Game Files

If important game files are missing or have been corrupted the game might face issues during the startup process. Therefore, in this step, we will be verifying the game files through the blizzard client. For that:

1. Open the “Blizzard Battle.net” application.
2. Click on the “Hearthstone” icon in the left pane.

   

3. Click on the “Options” button below the title of the game.

   

4. Select the “Scan and Repair” option and then click on “Begin Scan“.

   

5. Wait until the scanning process is finished.
6. Launch the game and check to see if the issue persists.

Solution 3: Resetting In-Game Settings

In some cases, the in-game configurations might be conflicting with the system’s hardware or software. Therefore, in this step, we will be resetting the configurations to their system defaults. For that:

1. Open the “Blizzard Battle.net” application.
2. Click on the “Options” button and select “Game Settings“.

   

3. Select “Hearthstone” from the list of game and click on the “Reset In-Game Options” button.

   

4. Click on “Reset” and then on “Done“.
5. Launch the game and check to see if the issue persists.

Solution 4: Changing Virtual Memory Configurations

If the Virtual Memory settings have not been properly configured by the system, you might face issues during the startup of Hearthstone. Therefore, in this step, we will be changing the Virtual Memory configurations. For that:

1. Press “Windows” + “S” to open the search bar.
2. Type in “Advanced System Settings” and select the first option.
3. Click on the “Settings” option and then click on the “Advanced” tab.

   

4. Click on the “Change” option and uncheck the “Automatically manage Page Filing Size” option.

   

5. Check the “Custom Size” option and type “2048” as the “Initial Size” and “3072” as the “Maximum Size“.

   

6. Click on “Set” and then on “OK“.
7. Restart your computer in order for the changes to take effect.
8. Launch the game and check to see if the issue persists.

Solution 5: Initiating Clean Boot

In a clean boot, all unnecessary Windows services and third-party applications are disabled. Therefore, any interference with the game during the startup process will be prevented. In order to initiate a clean boot:

1. Press “Windows” + “S” simultaneously to open up the search bar.
2. Type in “System configurations” and select the first option.
3. Click on the “Services” tab and uncheck the “Hide all Microsoft Services” option.

   

4. Click on the “Disable All” option and select “Apply“.

   

5. Close the window, press “Ctrl” + “Shift” + “Esc” keys simultaneously to open up the task manager.
6. Click on the “Startup” tab and click on any application listed there.

   

7. Click on the “Disable” option to disable the application from launching automatically at startup.

   

8. Repeat this process for all the listed applications and restart your computer.
9. Launch the game and check to see if the issue persists.

Solution 6: Updating Graphics Card Drivers

If the graphics card drivers are not updated to the latest version the game might face issues during the launch process. Therefore, in this step, we will be checking to see if any updates are available for the drivers.

For Nvidia Users:

1. Click on the Search bar on the left-hand side of the taskbar
   

   

2. Type in Geforce Experience and press enter
3. Click on the first icon to open the application
   

   

4. After signing in, Click on the “Drivers” option on the top left.
5. In that Tab, Click on the “Check for Updates” option on the top right
6. After that, the application will check if new updates are available
   

   

7. If the updates are available a “Download” button will appear
   

   

8. Once you click on that the driver will begin to download
9. After the Driver is downloaded the application will give you the option for “Express” or “Custom” installation.
10. Click on the “Express” installation option and the Driver will automatically be installed
11. After the installation is completed, run the game and check to see if the problem persists.

For AMD Users:

1. Right–Click on the Desktop and select AMD Radeon Settings
   

   

2. In the Settings, click on Updates in the lower right corner
   

3. Click on “Check For Updates”
   

   

4. If a new update is available a new option will appear
5. Click on the option and select Update
   

   

6. The AMD installer will start, click on Upgrade when the installer prompts you to
   

7. The installer will now get the package ready, check all the boxes and click on Install
   

8. This will now download the new driver and install it automatically
9. Restart your computer and try to run the game.