How to prevent Civ 5 crash when clicking Load?

Question

The Problem

I click Single Player > Load Game and immediately see this dialog:

Microsoft Visual C++ Runtime Library
Runtime Error!
Program: ...apps\common\Sid Meier's Civilization V\Civilization.exe
This application has requested the Runtime to terminate it in an unusual way.
Please contact the application's support team for more information.

This problem affects many people. It's discussed widely in forums, but the proposed solutions don't work for me (or for many other people). Does anyone know of a solution?

I can load games with Steam is in Offline mode, but I want to save to the cloud, and also to stay online for other games.

The Setup

I've played Civ 5 for years on 3 other computers without this problem. I'm running under Steam on 64-bit Windows 7 Professional. The is a newly installed & brawny laptop.

The Non-Solutions

Drivers, etc.

• Use DX 9/10/11.
• Update display driver.
• Clean uninstall/reinstall of display driver.
• Update DirectX.
• Update Visual C++.

Video card

• Reduce graphics settings.
• Disable Crossfire/SLI.

Cache and save games

• Steam Library > Properties > Local Files > Verify Integrity of Game Cache.
• Copy saved games from a different (working) computer.
• Create a new game, save it, then try to load.
• Delete the Saves and Cache folders in My Games \ Civ 5.

Steam and Civ 5 Options

• Avoid building build lots of cities.
• Try loading from the Mods menu instead of the main menu.
• Run without mods installed.
• Play in full screen or windowed mode.
• Disable "Steam Community In-Game".
• Run Steam as Administrator.

Get out of the car then get back in

• Use a clean Windows installation.
• Uninstall and reinstall Civilization 5.
• Uninstall and reinstall Steam. [Given the time cost of reinstalling all games, don't want to do this unless it's a known fix.]

PROBLEM RESOLVED: NOTES

I resolved my crash by uninstalling Civilization 5, then uninstalling Steam, then reinstalling. I'm surprised this worked since the crash started happening initially on a fresh Steam and Civ installation on a new computer.

It's possible the reinstall alone didn't fix the problem, but fixed it in combination with some of the above attempts (I suspect the video driver was involved). But even so, the problem persisted after each of the above attempted fixes and was only resolved after I removed and reinstalled both Civ and Steam.

This was a last resort since it also involved uninstalling other Steam games. Following StarPilot's answer below you might be able to save your other games by:

1. Uninstalling Civ
2. Backing up your SteamApps folder
3. Uninstalling Steam
4. Reinstalling Steam
5. Restoring your SteamApps folder
6. Reinstalling Civ

But I didn't use those steps exactly, so I can't say whether that resolves the problem and/or preserves your other Steam games.

Answer 1

If you have up to date video drivers, then the most likely cause is a bad civ 5 install or bad Steam data on Civ5. I've had this sort of issue with Steam before, just not on Civ5 specifically.

• First order: make sure you have latest drivers.
• Second order: Verify integrity of Civ 5 installation via "Verify Integriy of Game Cache".
• Third order: delete Civ 5 off the box, reinstall from Steam.
• Fourth order: copy SteamApps data to temp space, delete steam, reinstall steam, copy SteamApps data back.

That's all the steps I've had to take in the past to get a broken steam game working. If none of this works for you, sorry, but this list has been all I've ever had to perform. Although I have had to do the first and second options repeatedly to fix a game.