Tell me more ×
Arqade is a question and answer site for passionate videogamers on all platforms. It's 100% free, no registration required.
up vote 4 down vote favorite

I know this has little to do with gaming, but more to do with lack of gaming. On both my Vista PC as my Windows 7 laptop, Burnout Paradise crashes 9 times out of 10 just a few frames after going in-game.

The odd thing is that it happens on both machines (PC has a nVidia 8600 GTS, laptop has an ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3650). The game was downloaded via Steam on each machine separately. Disabling anti-virus (MS Security Essentials) or, via Steam, defragmenting, verifying and redownloading has no effect.

At first, I only ran the game on my laptop. Correspondence with EA promised a patch for Windows 7 after several e-mails, but it regularly crashes on my PC as well.

A list of about 15 other Steam games run without hitches on either machine. Has anybody run into such an issue with Burnout Paradise?

share|improve this question
Burnout Paradise needs to log into EA before the game loads, could your firewall be blocking it? – Delameko Aug 18 '10 at 13:30
No, it (usually) logs in okay, although sometimes it crashes even before it gets that far. Other games log in without any issues. – Paul Lammertsma Dec 6 '10 at 11:07

3 Answers

up vote 2 down vote

I had this issue on Burnout Paradise on Win7 64 installed via Steam with an ATI(AMD) 4850 with latest drivers. It worked fine when I first installed it and then, when I came back to it after a long period, crashed immediately on start-up. After a bit of research I saw people had similar problems caused by incompatible web-cam drivers. As I'd just installed a web-cam I uninstalled the web-cam drivers, rebooted, re-verified the game and it has worked fine since.

I can't say whether this would help you, but if you have a web-cam try uninstalling it and seeing if this helps.

share|improve this answer
I suspected the webcam might be the cause, but when the game still worked, it worked with the webcam and I've never changed the firmware. Moreover, disabling the webcam functionality in the configuration tool has no effect; the game crashes nonetheless. I'll try uninstalling the driver and giving it another swing when I have the opportunity. – Paul Lammertsma Dec 6 '10 at 11:05
up vote 1 down vote accepted

I haven't experienced any problems on my Vista machine since updating Games for Windows Live. It could be coincidence, but I thought I'd leave this behind nonetheless.

Edit: I have noticed that the problem definitively disappeared after removing Internet Explorer 9 from my Vista machine, following problems with GTA IV. I'm fairly sure this was the cause of the problems, as both games use an in-game browser.

At the time of posting this question, I believe I had the first beta of IE 9 installed, but the problems are still there when using the released version. Only by uninstalling and rebooting have I found both games to work again.

share|improve this answer
up vote 0 down vote

I have Windows 7 64 bit Ultimate, nvidia 8500GT along with Microsoft Security Essentials. Downloaded Burnout Paradise from Steam and have not encountered any issues.

Try the latest nvidia drivers. Also check whether your router or internet connection might be a problem. When you start the game, it pings the server and connects to the Burnout Paradise Network and maintains the connection throughout your play. Please disconnect your internet connection and try whether it works.

share|improve this answer

Your Answer

 
discard

By posting your answer, you agree to the privacy policy and terms of service.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.