bioshockfreezesBioShock 2 was just launched (a bit later than the pirated copies, unfortunately) but reports from gamers all over the world are already pouring, with users complaining of BioShock 2 crashes and freezes. Although these game crashes, freezes and error messages don’t appear to be widespread, there are still a number of gamers that get them and we’re trying here in the Unigamesity to find a fix for all these BioShock 2 problems.

So… how to fix the BioShock 2 crashes and freezes? First of all, make sure that your drivers are updated and your computer meets the required system specifications to run the game. Also, if the game tends to lock-up while playing or have problems with the frame rate, try reducing the graphics to minimum levels.

Amongst the problems I’ve seen posted by gamers on the BioShock 2 forums, I’ve noticed a strange one:

“BioShock2.exe – Entry Point Not Found
The procedure entry point _except_handler4_common could not be located in the dynamic link library msvcrt.dll.”

Apparently this problem is caused by the surround sound, so it might work out if you switched to stereo mode!

Apart from that, users with Windows 7 seem to have the most problems with BioShock 2, with the game crashing to the desktop after the intro movie loads, with the error message: “Bioshock 2 has stopped working” For now, we weren’t able to find a possible solution to this problem, but we’re searching.

What about you? Did you encounter any problems/freezes/crashes while running BioShock 2. If so, did you manage to find a fix? Please share your experience with our users, maybe you’ll help them fully enjoy a great game!

UPDATE: It appears that some of the BioShock 2 crashes to desktop come from the usage of DirectX 10. Apparently, running the game in DirectX 9 mode will solve your crash problems. Here’s what you have to do in order to run BioShock 2 in DirectX 9 (for Vista and Windows 7 users only!):

Click Start. Select Games from the right hand side (should list documents music and games). A new window will open with the icon for Bioshock 2 inside. Right click this icon and select Bioshock2 (DX9).

If you have classic view enabled, Click Start, Select Games, Select Games Explorer and a new window will open with the BioShock 2 icon. Right click it and select Bioshock2 (DX9). Hope this helps, will keep you updated if any other fixes are found!

2nd UPDATE: Thanks to our great readers, especially Hoper, we have another fix that is said to work. Here’s what to do:

Delete everything in here”
C:\Users\*Username*\Documents\Bioshock2

Or whatever folder you have saves in, and then start the game. It will work!

92 COMMENTS

  1. Hi i just bought the game and i instaled and started….i chosed new game and it loading, then i press space and the screen turns black and freeze out what should i do? pls help

  2. Well the DX9 start diden’t work so well for me, now i can’t even see the main menu anymore when i do this instant crash after the splashscreens… Guess i’ll just have to wait for some more information.

  3. There is no option for me to launch the game in DX9 ( Windows 7 Proffesional).

    Is there any other way to launch the game in dx9 apart from the fix that is written here?

  4. When I started the game it was working okay for about 15 minutes, after that when I wanted to save it crashed. Now every time after intro cinematics are over it crashes and gives this damn error. I’m using windows xp.

  5. The ones getting the crashes are the people using the pirated stolen copies, everybody I know that actually bought and played the game have had no problems, just delete your nuked torrent file and go buy the game, scrubs.

    • i just bought the Game and it worked for about like 15 mins too and then i cant even get it past the 2k credits!! Yes i have the system requirements and i tried it with direct x9…. Why isnt working??

  6. Actually, QUIT, your wrong. I went out and bought the retail version and my game crashes immediately, without fail, after the first cut-scene. My friend, who has a pirated copy, does not have nay problems with the game.

    Retards, we all know one….

  7. TRY THIS!
    Computer>Games>Bioshock2>MP>Builds>Binaries
    use the Bioshock2Launcher and the game starts without any problems for me.

    i hope i helped.

  8. Just to be clear I have retail version, and it happened to me. Anyway, here is solution I found.

    Delete everything in here.
    C:\Users\*Username*\Documents\Bioshock2

    Or whatever folder you have saves in.

  9. I’m running Vista x64 and the DX9 solution worked for me, played it for about 2 hours with no problems. Just follow the instructions that Th3 Jacke1(post Nº 5) wrote. I had the crash to desktop problem before that, played it for about 20 mins and bam crash.

  10. i got the retail copy, not the torrent, and mine doesnt work either, IMPOSSIBLE ??? TRUE !

    got over min specs, running vista 32bit. tried dx9, DOESNT WORK. same crashes.

  11. I went out and bought it from the store.
    I tried DX9 thing. Didn’t work. Tried the Computer>Games>Bioshock2>MP>Builds>Binaries thing, didnt work. Nothing working. Any help?
    got over the min specs. have windows 7…
    every time go on, click play single player, then Live tries signing in, then it freezes on me and “Bioshock 2 has stopped working”

  12. “Delete everything in here.
    C:\Users\*Username*\Documents\Bioshock2
    Or whatever folder you have saves in.”
    I just tried that. It works. :D thank youuuu hoper

  13. No problems for me running Windows 7 64-bit with BS2 retail version. I do notice that the game pauses when I use the electro plasmid – maybe too much going on but it does it even with the graphic settings at their lowest.

    I’ve also discovered a keybinding bug: When using the hack tool, you have to press the Use key. If you’ve changed the binding from ‘F’ to ‘E’ (like it was in Bioshock I believe), it doesn’t work.

  14. My version of Bioshock 2 locks up my xbox. So far, only during multiplayer, but I haven’t played much yet.

    Realize this is a PC forum, but wondering ifthe problems are related.

  15. Mhmm, Retail here too, game crashes after clicking “Press Space to Continue” after loading the first level, cannot delete saves because I don´t have any yet, -dx9 doesn´t work. I´m using Win7 64. What is the fracking problem here?

    • I have the same problem as you with bioshock 2, I chose new game and it loads, then I press space and the screen turns black and freezes. what should I do? pls help

  16. hi, guys turn of “reverb” in audio options and crash during the game will be gone. you dont have to play in DX9. it realy works for me. sorry for my english. im from czech :)

  17. I did the dx9 thing and it seemed to work, downside is the graphics went all haywire in close quarters fights, I can’t play like this. I’d rather have crashes every 30 min.

  18. Game ran fine for 10 mins or so under 64-bit Windows 7 and CrossFire X (HD4870s) but then locked my computer up completely. Tried the game with DX9 but the graphics got glitched, didn’t crash or freeze though. Disabled CFX and ran game again in DX9. No problems. Haven’t tried single card in DX10..

  19. Hi guys, i had crash problem with bs2 retail..Disable the audio reverb and crashes gone..runs perfect now..BTW i am playing DX10..
    (Win 7 Ultimate x64 and gtx295,SB Audigy)

  20. hello guys i tried evrthng you advised , running dx9, reverb sound setting, starting as win2000, everything however none of theese solved my problem. Game crashes just after the startng videos. I realized that when videos play on pressing “home” button then sing out my gfw account game plays on and i see the game menu. But after that if i sing in unfortunately game crashes again. I’m using win7 x64. Any other solution do you have?

  21. My rig is rock solid, its has to be.
    I had completed bioshock 2 without any hitches.
    Decided to play through it again and my machine crashed the worst i have ever seen.
    During gameplay about a hour into the game Lost video, music looped.
    When i tried to hit the reset switch my machine would not respond.Thats REALLY wierd
    My fireface 400 , was flashing my machine was making the worst noise ever.
    I quickly held in the power button and it shut down.
    Strange stuff, never had my machine behave like this.
    As i said, its rock solid.

  22. Hi guys,

    Bioshock 2 crashes when loading Dionysus Park. Up until now everything worked fine. Even tried both Razer and Reloaded exe’s. No go.

    If anyone have a fix or a workaround please help

    Thanks
    PloX

  23. Hey, i deleted my save folder and im runing in dx9 and i turned of reverb, and then the problem with crash after first schene where gone, but now it sometimes crash when i press M for more information about item or pressing esc for menu, doesnt happen all the time i do those things but sometimes and its pretty irritating becouse of my sucky network i been downloading this from steam in 3 days now and i finally got the game and now its crashing -.-

    • i have problems when i hit esc to go to menu it doesnt have options to save or load it goes all the way to first screen to choose single or multiplayer and my game is lost. It does this about 1 out of every 5 times i go to save and sometimes it will be 3 or 4 times in a row. Anyone else having this issue?

  24. Hey guys i just got the game was playing fine unit l turn off Direct 10 detail surfaces in the graphic option, it just crashed from there and from since then I’ve been crashing ever since. i cant even start up the game the bioshock logo comes up then i get a message: Bioshock 2 has stopped working is there anyway i can fix this? :S

  25. QUIT – You should do what your name says. I bought the collectors edition for £60 and you have the cheek to sit there and call me a scrub and that I’ve got the pirate version? FU nonse.

    • Same, bought the special edition. Great stuff in the box by the way. If only the game would work without constantly crashing. Updated everything and all that crap, and game runs smoothly at max graphics / sound. Dunno what to do, it’s ticking me off.

  26. This works….Its all in the video movies…Just move the following movies to a backup folder and the game works.
    Just move these videos in SP>Content>BinkMovies
    attractMovie
    bio2_sp_mp
    Genebank_Static – Gene Banks graphic
    Genebank_Static2
    Genebank_Static3
    Map – Map graphic
    PlasmiTonicNow – Plasmid Graphic
    TwoLogo – The logo, don’t know for sure if it causes a problem
    VendAmmo – Vendors
    VendCircus
    VendGarden
    VendWeapon
    prelude_intro – Intro of the game ( After Loading – Hit Space thing )
    waterfall – The ingame menu (Ingame – ESC – Menu )

    • Thanks, this worked. Before for some reason the FPS went crazy on any in game menu for some reason.

  27. I am running Win7 x64, I put the Bioshock2.exe and Bioshock2Launcher.exe in the “C:\Program Files (x86)\BioShock 2\SP\Builds\Binaries” folder in compatibility mode for WinXP SP3 (Right click file, properties,Compatibility) , and all crashes disappeared. It was crashing 5 mins in, then a few mins. in and then randomly, All drivers updated, and turning off settings. I put it in compatibility mode, and now I run it with SLI enabled, DX10, 1080 res, everything on HIGH and it has not crashed once since.

  28. after intro movie (eleanor taken by lamb) the game freeze and crash out to desktop and the messages tray appear “AMD device driver service stopped”
    how can I fix this?

  29. This is the third GFW game I own that will not run properly while logged in to GFW. I hit HOME during startup and log out and now BS2 no longer crashes after intro cut scenes. The down side is that I lost my save game file and have to start from the begining again

  30. thanks for your help frank…
    but, last day I’ve bought a new card (HD3650) but.. the messages still appears…
    is there anyone can help me out of here?

  31. So this is the oddest fix I have ever heard of yet it worked for me and a buddy.

    Problem: audio cuts in and out or just out totally, sound loss during heavy game play.

    Solution: plug anything into the mic input. I used headphones, played for 3 hours, no sound crash.

    RIG: Q9450 quad core
    8gigs corsair dominator xms2-8500
    2x Nivida 8800GT
    EVGA 750i ftw (using the realtek onboard sound)
    1x ocz SSD 128gig drive
    Thermal Take 1000watt power supply
    running it in DirectX 10
    Full specs, turned off reverb in audio settings in BS2

    I had all sorts of crashes, sound issues.. And crazy sounds issues where the sound would totally cut out, wait 1-3min, then slowly fade back in.. I tired adjusting the channels in the .ini file and nothing worked until I plugged headphones into my mic jack. No audio problems. I do get better audio performance in stereo mode over 5.1 for some reason.. Both work, but 5.1 sounds tinny and flat. Not a huge deal.

    I also had some crashing happen when I first got the game. The entire came would crash either during load screen or just at random. Tired all the fixes here, only one worked and that was going into my Nvidia control panel and forcing AA off. Did that and it goes 3hours no problems yet.

    Hope this helped anyone.. I’ve spent about 20 hours fixing the game and 5 hours playing it! :) Damn you 2k!

  32. you better yellin’ at 2k games, I’ve spent a lot of money for their games (Bioshock,Bioshock2,Borderlands,etc) but none of their games has no bug… always a bug everywhere… sounds,graphical,ctd, and much more… I’m disappointed…

  33. irving,

    I am 100% with you on my extreme displeasure of 2k games. My bioshock1 actually ran good, had bugs but nothing as bad as bioshock 2. Ya in 1 sometimes a enemy would just hover in mid air, sure sound might be a little off and not in sync, but bioshock2 just crashed and crashed and crashed. Still tho, ever since I put headphones into my mic jack its been almost perfect.. had it crash after 4hrs of play but I think it was my video cards fault and it was just running to hot.

  34. colby,

    my bioshock1 got an error when tryin’ to get out from the bathysphere in bioshock intros… there’s only 2 characters outside that freezes and no sounds…

    and my bioshock2 had an ctd with my radeonhd3650 after the directx10 enabled…

  35. I’ve read a lot of people have issues with Direct X10. I don’t tho. I did install Directx11 and I know its not using it but maybe it updated 10 somehow? I’m just angry with 2k, all this time spent on this game and its buggy as hell.

  36. I am running windows 7, with the right specs, and I still had trouble with this. I did the Direct 9 thing, and it worked but I had no sound, and with a game with so many sound clips that help you to understand the complexity of the game, that sucked, but I saved the game after I got out of the first area (which had some very odd graphic problems) and I ran the game normally with DirectX 10, and it has worked just fine for me ever since. I hope this helps.

  37. Casey,

    this problems also happens in the older sequel of the game “Bioshock” somebody says that our Soundcard is the problems… but anyway, that’ll be better if you use the directx 9 to jump over the buggy areas, then close your games and run it on directx 10. before you close the game, make sure that your game saved safely…
    *this bug was never been announced by 2K

    alternate: you better dual-boot your machine if you want to play this game without the bug present. run it on XP ServicePack 2.0 or newer, but you’ll lost your DirectX10 Ability…
    thanks.. I hope this post will help you

  38. casey,

    plug a mic in or headphones into your mic input and see if your sound problems go away. I have onboard realtek and it works fine with audio ever since I plugged in headphones to the mic input. soon as i take them out, it starts acting up.

  39. My problem is this. Until i encounter a window with the ocean behind it, games plays fine. Than i look at the ocean in the window and sudenly the frame rate drops to unberable. Once the whole computer shut down and I had to wait few minutes before it would start again( assuming overheating my vid card)
    Ill try the going back to DX9 but i have no hope.

  40. None of the above worked for me. Figured out the issue for me was Comodo Defense+ needed to be disabled to play the game. I read that it used to do the same for Demigod so maybe it’s a bug that will get fixed. Worth trying if you do have comodo installed.

  41. I don’t know if this is a big echo, but the game won’t allow me to fight big sisters, I had to pass the first level using my friends save and ever since, I never fought a big sister and I think I’ve missed a lot, anyone got a solution (when I fight a big sister, screen won’t change but I still hear her beating me in the background)

  42. Mohmmad: what video card are you running? and what are your PC specs? have you tired any of the fixes listed? I’ve never seen the issue your having so more info and I might be able to help.

  43. Hey I need some help…

    I just installed the new update for windows life for Bioshock2 and another update for Bioshock 2 but now when ever I try to log into my windows life account wile I am in the main menu the game CTD’s and I can’t get back into it.

    Now I have tryed uninstalling the game fully and try to run it from the start and the problem still happens when ever i try to log back into my account wile I am in the main menu of Bioshock 2 the game crashes back to Desktop with the normal windows error message.

    Please help ASAP.

    Thanks
    Giancarlo

  44. Can’t start it?

    Launch “Games for Windows Live” first, sign in close right after you are on. Launch and you should be fine, problem solved for me – game runs great no problem.

  45. Ok my problem is the game crashes after the little Bioshock 2 trademark (thingy), A window opens in the background and then is crashes.

    This only happens in Single player. I can open multilayer jut fine and even play it with no problems.

    System:
    XP SP3
    Intel Quad Core Extreme 9550
    ATI Radeon HD5850
    4GB Ram
    1.3 TB HDD space
    Creative SB X-Fi Sound card

  46. I have a fix for you: ^^

    Run the game in offline mode if it still crashes uninstall the game and DO not update it play it in offline mode only!!!.

  47. I fixed it for me, if you use a asus video card… you got gamerosd and smart doctor, unistal those 2 program and the games will work. Work for crysis too.

  48. My game crashes after the firs loading- I press new game and after it loads it says I press press spacebar to continue and when it, it crashes and says that bioshock 2 has stopped working.
    Could you help me?

  49. Hello.

    Bioshock 2 is crashing everytime in loading screen after it says “Press space to continue” It always crashes there!! Im trying to figure out on the internett, but no solutions working!

    Please guys, help a blinded soul!

  50. BIOSHOCK 2
    I love this game, apart from the inexplicable lags when more than two enemies are in the room with you, and the following problems:

    I have a recurring, and VERY ANNOYING problem. It happened sometimes before, but now seems to happen a lot (I am in Dionysus Park)…
    When I press escape, to go to the menu where I can save, the game sometimes takes me to the very first menu instead, where you choose Single Player or Multiplayer, effectively deleting everything I just did. Originally, I was saving every ten minutes just to be sure, but now it seems to happen 90% of the time. WHY IS THIS??

    Another error I seem to get, which is not critical but definitely peeves me, is that when I specify a particular order for the plasmids, to give me the best research ability (swarm followed by shock followed by incinerate followed by telekinesis if I feel like it..) the game gives me the finger and puts them in a random order. the only solution I’ve found is to slowly unload and then reload EVERY plsmid in the order you want before leaving the gene bank, and even this doesn’t always work. Obviously this is utterly pointless when you press escape to go and save directly after and the game takes you to the initial menu again. AAAARRRGGGHHH

    Add to this the relatively insignificant fact that ‘next weapon’ actually gives you the previous one and you have one beautiful but heavily bugged game.
    I tried loading the recent patch, but the game simply crashed straight after the videos, or shortly after loading ever time with added increased lag issues so I wiped it off and installed the original version again instead.

    I have the retail version (don’t care much for downloads, I like my discs and boxes) and my computer exceeds the specifications required.
    Running XP 32bit SP3 with constantly and officially updated drivers.

    As for people who experience crashes after the videos, I remember having the same problem with Deus Ex 2, and Unreal 2 – both of which worked fine on older computers I’d owned – sorry, no ideas – I had to resign both to history :(

  51. I had a very similar issue but come to find out that I had a corrupt saved game.
    Solution was to delete the last saved game: C:\Users\user_name\Documents\Bioshock2\SaveGames

    Description of my problem:
    Game would launch and either the screen would go black after all of the advertisements or if it did come to the selection screen it would crash.

    • Thank you so much! that worked for me, and i really cant thank you enough, thanks for taking the time to post the fix when you found out. What a bro.

  52. I have another problem, the plasmids just stop working and there is nothing I can do about it, not even restarting the game helps, wtf?

  53. I think i got it finnaly no crash and freeze simple turn off all the things in video settings and in sound put it to default and reverse off.

  54. Okay WTF? i reinstalled it three time, looked at files for it and guess what…. only file file in there is save nothing else. After I press play it goes through the cursors then it stops loading and does nothing. tried it again still nothing after i hit play when you put the disc in. Either this game was setup to fail, corrupts after reinstalling, or the disc somehow lost all files but the one called save!

  55. Here is what I did, which preserved your progress.
    Go to the documents>Bioshock 2>Savegames.
    Arrange them by date modified.
    Delete EVERYTHING but the file which is most recent, and has no qs in its name, with a .bsb suffix.

    This should fix the crashing issue, and preserve your most recent progress.
    The issue seems to be Dionysus Park being quicksaved.

    • The save Game Fix def Fixed My Issue, I thought It was Strange After Finishing Up The Park, For Those Who Don’t Know How To Back Up Saves… First Learn That Before Deleting Game Folders. lol QS are prob never really needed, Just an old regular save. :)

  56. Thanks for the tip regarding the save game folder…I was having continual crashes – so I moved the saved game files (found as mentioned above in my documents/bioshock2/saved game….) into another directory. Then I started the game….alt tabbed to desktop, moved the most recent file back, and all worked ok….

    Not sure what the problem is but maybe its linked to saved files getting corrupted – very odd

  57. i tryed all the tips given but it still wont work i have the requirements but the game crashes at a certain point can anyone help

  58. Found a fix guys i was having the problem when i start games for windows live and sign in it would freeze or kick me out.. i found out the when you install the game tooo a different folder the problem goes away.. now i can log in and save at the same time with no problms.. alos im running dx windows 7 ult.. but bioshock 2 has other errors as well but im not even gona get in to those.

  59. I’ve been looking all over the place, but my LEGAL copy (downloaded from Steam) doesn’t even start. I get through all the opening credits and short little clips, but right after the 2K Marin, China, etc. scene with the little sister and the blocks, the screen goes black, and the only way I can get out is ctrl+alt+delete then I see the message “BioShock 2 has stopped working”. I am running Windows 7 Home Premium with an Intel i5-2410m CPU, 6GB RAM and an NVIDIA GeForce GT 525m graphics card with all the latest drivers. Also there is no option for me to run the game in DX9 like everyone says there is. I follow the instructions to the dot and there’s no such option.

  60. Wouldn’t deleting Bioshock2 delete your saves? I love my saves. They are my babies and I want to save them. I want to save my saves. Is there any way to get it to work without deleting your sweet, sweet save babies?

  61. Open the C:\Users\[UserName]\Documents\Bioshock2\SaveGames folder. If there’s a zero-length file in there with a .bsb file extension and your MS Games user name in the root delete it. I lost all of my saves in the last chapter I was playing, but I didn’t loose everything.

    How a developer uses a file without checking it’s attributes is beyond me. I always check for a valid size, report and error to the user, and then delete the file and try to recover if the user wants me to. Damned lazy development in my opinion.

  62. I did all those steps but it still crashes. I’ve looked for gryphon’s solution over there but I don’t understand what a zero-length file is supposed to be. Even when I started the game after deleting the file in “Documents”, it still crashed…This is getting so frustrating that I think i’ll just pass this game.

Leave a Reply to Frank Cancel reply

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here