How to Fix Roblox ‘Initialization Error 4’

Some Roblox players are seeing the ‘Initialization error 4‘ every time they attempt to launch the game. This problem is not exclusive to a certain Windows operating system since it’s confirmed to occur on both Windows 7 and Windows 10.

After investigating this problem, it turns out that this problem can occur due to several different causes. We made a list of instances where the ‘Initialization Error 4’ can occur:

Method 1: Disabling overprotective AV or whitelisting Roblox (if applicable)

As several different affected users have reported, you can expect to encounter the Initialization error 4 with Roblox if you’re actively using an overprotective AV suite or 3rd party firewall.

F-Secure is most commonly reported to be the security app responsible for causing this problem. This happens due to a security protocol that treats Roblox like a potential security threat and blocks the connection with the game server.

If you find yourself in this scenario, there are 3 ways to fix this problem:

• You can either disable the real-time protection of your AV or firewall
• You can uninstall the overprotective AV or firewall suite
• You can whitelist Roblox in your AV / Firewall settings

A. Disabling the real-time protection of AV / Firewall

This is only a temporary fix, but some affected users have managed to get this issue fixed by disabling real-time protection before launching the game in order to prevent the overprotective security suite from blocking the Roblox executable.

Of course, the steps of doing so will be different depending on which 3rd party suite you’re using, but in most cases, you will be able to do this directly from the tray bar icon of your AV/firewall.

Once the real-time protection is disabled, launch Roblox, and see if the error code is resolved.

B. Uninstalling overprotective AV suite

Keep in mind that just disabling the real-time protection might not be enough if you’re using a system-level firewal – Even if you disable the real-time protection, chances are the same security rules will still remain in place.

If this scenario is applicable, the only thing that will allow you to determine whether your firewall is to fault for the Initialization Error 4 in Roblox is to uninstall it temporarily and restart to see if the problem is resolved:

1. Open up a Run dialog box by pressing Windows key + R. Inside the text box, type ‘appwiz.cpl’ and hit Enter to open up the Programs and Features window.

   

2. Once you’re inside the Programs and Features menu, scroll down through the list of installed programs and locate the security suite that you think might be interfering with Roblox.
3. When you locate the problematic AV suite, right-click on it and choose Uninstall from the newly appeared context menu.

   

4. Once you’re inside the uninstallation screen, follow the on-screen prompts to complete the operation.
   Note: if you want to be extra sure that you remove every bit of remnant file left behind by the security suite that you just uninstalled, there are some steps you can take to deep clean your AV directories.
5. Restart your computer and see if the problem is now fixed.

C. Whitelisting the main Roblox executable

In case you are attempting to run a modified version of Roblox and you are getting a security warning that your firewall is blocking the connection, it’s clear that the built-in Windows firewall is to blame for this behavior.

If this scenario is applicable, you should be able to fix this problem by whitelisting the main Roblox executable from Windows Firewall. Here’s a quick guide on how to do this:

1. Press Windows key + R to open up a Run dialog box. Next, type ”control firewall.cpl’ inside the text box and press Enter to open up the classic interface of the Windows Firewall.

   

2. Inside the Windows Defender Firewall menu, use the left-hand menu to click on Allow an app or feature through Windows Defender Firewall.
   

   

3. Once you’re inside the Allowed app menu, click on the Change Settings button. Then, click on Yes at the UAC (User Account Control) prompt to allow admin access to the app.

   

4. Once you are granted admin access, scroll down through the list of applications and see if Roblox is present inside the list of items. If Roblox is already here, check the Private and Public boxes associated with the launcher before saving the changes.
5. After Roblox has been successfully whitelisted, launch Roblox again, and see if the problem is now fixed.

In case you still end up seeing the same Initialization Error 4, move down to the next potential fix below.

Method 2: Preventing every other app conflict

Even if you’ve cleared your 3rd party antivirus from any blame regarding this issue, that doesn’t mean this problem is not occurring due to a different type of conflict that is affecting the launch of Roblox.

According to affected users, the best way of taking care of this problem is to configure your computer to start in clean boot mode.

This will ensure that no 3rd party processes and services are allowed to run and interfere with the launch of Roblox.

Here’s a quick guide on achieving a clean boot state on your Windows computer:

Note: The steps below will work on Windows 7, Windows 8.1, and Windows 10.

1. Open up a Run dialog box by pressing Windows key + R. Next, type ‘msconfig’ inside the text box and press Enter to open up the System Configuration menu.

   

   Note: When you see the UAC (User Account Control), click Yes to grant administrative privileges.

2. Once you’re inside the System Configuration menu, go ahead and click on the Services tab fro the top of the menu, then ensure that the box associated with ‘Hide all Microsoft Services‘ is checked.

   

   Note: After you do this, all essentially Windows services will be removed from the list so you don’t run the risk of disabling a Windows component that’s important to the stability of your system.

3. Now that you’ve successfully excluded all essential services from the list, go ahead and click on Disable all button to prevent any 3rd party service from being started at the next machine startup.
4. Next, click on the Startup tab from the horizontal menu at the top, then click on Open Task Manager from the newly appeared screen.

   

5. Once you’re inside the Startup tab of Task Manager, go ahead and select each startup item before clicking the Disable button at the bottom of the window. Do this until every 3rd party item is disabled.

   

   Note: This operation will ensure that no startup item will be called the next time you restart your computer.

6. Restart your computer in order to allow your PC to boot in clean boot mode. Once the next startup is complete, launch Roblox and see if the problem is now fixed.Note: If this operation was successful and you just managed to launch the game without issues, you’ve just confirmed you’re dealing with a software conflict. If you have the time, you can determine the culprit by systematically re-enabling every disabled 3rd party process and service.Note 2: Regardless of the outcome of this method, you should reverse engineer the steps above and re-enable the services you previously disabled to avoid a clean boot at every computer startup.

If you the problem is still not resolved as you’re still seeing the Initialization 4 error when attempting to launch Roblox, move down to the next potential fix below.

Method 3: Using the UWP version of Roblox

If you’re encountering this issue on Windows 10, you can probably avoid the Initialization 4 error altogether by using the UWP (Universal Windows Platform) version of Roblox instead.

This workaround was confirmed to be effective by several different users that were previously unable to launch the conventional version of Roblox.

If you’re on Windows 10 and you have access to the Microsoft Store, follow the instructions below to use the official Roblox app on a Windows 10 computer:

1. Start by accessing the official page of Roblox UWP and click on the Gen button to begin the download on your computer.

   

   Note: You can also do this by opening the Windows Store locally and searching for ‘roblox’ using the search function in the top-right corner of the screen.

2. Once the download is completed, you should be automatically be redirected to the Microsoft Store window.

   

3. Once you have successfully launched the UWP version of Roblox, go ahead and log in with your Roblox account.

   

4. Once you are successfully signed in with your Roblox account, make your way to the Game tab and see if you can successfully avoid the Initialization error code.

If the same problem is still occurring, move down to the next potential fix below.

Method 4: Reinstall Roblox and clear the Roblox folder

If none of the methods above have worked for you, it’s overly likely that you’re seeing this error due to a Roblox update that ended up corrupting a couple of registry keys belonging to the game. This issue is quite widespread among players that were using the desktop launcher.

Fortunately, you can fix this problem by reinstalling Roblox in order to force a refresh on the current registry keys. On top of this, you should also clear the Roblox folder to ensure that no corrupted data is affecting the launch and causing the Initialization error 4.

Folllow the instructions below to reinstall Roblox and clear the Roblox folder:

1. Press Windows key + R to open up a Run dialog box. Next, type ‘appwiz.cpl’ and press Enter to open up a Run dialog box.

   

2. Once you’re inside the Programs and Files menu, scroll down through the list of installed applications & games and locate your Roblox installation.
3. When you locate the Roblox installation, right-click on it, then choose Uninstall from the newly appeared context menu.

   

4. Next, follow the on-screen prompts to complete the uninstallation operation, then restart your computer.
5. Once the next startup is complete, open File Explorer and navigate to the Roblox folder:

   C:\Users\*Your Windows Username*\AppData\Local

6. Inside the Roblox folder, press Ctrl + A to select everything inside, then right-click on a selected item, and choose Delete to clear any leftover data from the previous Roblox installation.
7. Visit the official Roblox website again, sign in with your account, then follow the instructions to download the game’s dependencies again.
8. Launch Roblox once again and see if you’re now able to get past the Initialization error.