How To Fix Diablo 4 Crashing on Startup With a Client Lockup Error on the PC

As the Diablo 4 beta access is live on PC, it has been plagued with performance issues, particularly in the form of game crashes. The most common issue is Diablo 4 crashing on startup. Once the game crashes, the Battle.net client also locks the game, displaying a message that it is unavailable.

To resolve this issue and get back into the beta, players have to restart both the client and the game, which can be time-consuming and inconvenient.

In this article, we have explained tested workarounds to fix crashing issues on Diablo 4.

How To Fix Diablo 4 Keeps Crashing on Startup With a Client Lockup Error on the PC

Follow the below-mentioned tips to get back in the game.

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1. Check System Requirements

The first thing that should come to your mind is the lack of sufficient hardware to play Diablo 4. o if you deal with startup crashing issues make sure your PC meets system requirements.

Minimum

  1. OS: 64-bit Windows 10
  2. Processor: Intel Core i5-2500K or AMD FX-8100
  3. Memory: 8 GB RAM
  4. Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660 or AMD Radeon R9 280
  5. DirectX: Version 12
  6. Storage: SSD with 45 GB available space
  7. Internet: Broadband Connection

Recommended

  1. OS: 64-bit Windows 10
  2. Processor: Intel Core i5-4670K or AMD R3-1300X
  3. Memory: 16 GB RAM
  4. Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 or AMD Radeon RX 470
  5. DirectX: Version 12
  6. Storage: SSD with 45 GB available space
  7. Internet: Broadband Connection

2. Modify DisableChromaEffects File

Here is a possible fix suggested by Redditor Notaworgen actually did find a fix. So go to my PC > Documents. There you should be able to find a folder for diablo 4 with a .txt called “localprefs.txt“. Once open find the “disablechromaeffects” when you open it, it should say 0, change that to 1. Save and play Diablo 4 on PC.

3. Upgrading the Graphics Card Driver

Most of the time Diablo 4 crashes on startup because of an outdated graphics driver installed on your PC. Make sure you have updated your GPU drivers to their latest version.

Although NVIDIA and AMD release game-specific updates that you can download and install on your PC it takes time.

Also updating the graphics card drivers is a time-consuming task, and if you are a newbie you can end up installing the wrong drivers.

So we recommend downloading Driver Easy software on your PC. This program is a professional system driver updater that automatically scans a PC’s old driver and updates them instantly.

The Driver Easy is an N0.1 software updater tool in its field and for 12 years users are using it to fix their PC errors.

So download Driver Easy and let it deal with all the system drivers.

4. Use a Dedicated GPU

If your computer has both an integrated GPU (which is built into the motherboard) and a dedicated GPU, there may be instances where a game or program becomes confused about which GPU to use. In order to avoid this issue, you may need to disable the integrated GPU from your computer’s Device Manager.

To do this, you can follow these steps:

  1. Press the Windows key + X on your keyboard to open the Quick Link menu.
  2. From the Quick Link menu, select “Device Manager”.
  3. In the Device Manager window, expand the “Display Adapters” category.
  4. You should see two different GPUs listed here – the integrated GPU and the dedicated GPU.
  5. Right-click on the integrated GPU and select “Disable device”. Confirm any prompts that appear.
  6. Once the integrated GPU is disabled, the dedicated GPU will be the primary graphics processor used by your computer.

Note that disabling the integrated GPU may cause your computer’s display to go black temporarily. This is normal and should only last for a few seconds.

5. Allow Diablo 4 on Windows Defender Firewall

The Windows firewall in most cases prevents games from running. If you are dealing with Diablo 4 crashing on startup and battle.net client lockup error then follow the below steps.

  1. Press the Windows key on your keyboard and type “Windows Defender Firewall” in the search bar. Select the “Windows Defender Firewall” app from the search results.
  2. Click on the “Allow an app or feature through Windows Defender Firewall” option located on the left-hand side of the window.
  3. Click on the “Change settings” button at the top of the screen to enable editing of the settings.
  4. If the game is not listed, click on the “Allow another app” button and then click on the “Browse” button to locate the Diablo 4 game executable file.
  5. Once you have located the game executable file, select it and click on the “Add” button.
  6. Ensure that both the “Private” and “Public” checkboxes are ticked for the Diablo 4 game in the list of allowed apps.
  7. Click on “OK” to save the changes you’ve made.

6. Verify the Integrity of the Game File

In most cases, corrupt or broken game files can also cause crashing issues on startup. So it’s best to check the game files and if required to repair them.

  1. Open the Battle.net launcher and select the game whose files you want to verify from the list of games.
  2. Click on the options icon (gear-shaped) located above the game icon, and then select “Scan and Repair” from the dropdown menu.
  3. Click on the “Begin Scan” button to start the scan.
  4. The launcher will start scanning your game files to ensure that they are all intact and complete. This process may take some time depending on the size of the game and the speed of your computer.

7. Play Diablo 4 in Windowed Mode

There are chances that if you play the game in Windowed Mode the Diablo crashing issue on startup might go away. So if you re playing diablo using battle.net follow these steps to force the game to run in windowed mode.

  1. Open Battle.net and navigate to the game you want to play.
  2. Click on the game’s Options menu.
  3. Under the Video section, select Windowed Mode.
  4. Click Apply or OK to save the changes.

8. Disable Exploit Detection

If you don’t want to uninstall or turn off BitDefender, then the fix seems to be to disable Exploit Detection.

Go to the Protection tab > Advanced Threat Defense > Settings > Turn off Exploit Detection then launch the game.

9. Prevent Overheating

When the Diablo 4 Beta keeps hard crashing on your system and after that PC fans get turned to full blast then it is an overheating symptom.

Try running a temp monitor tool to check the PC temperature. You can also check the CPU thermal compound and if needed replace the thermal paste.