F5F Stay Refreshed Software PC Gaming Half Life 2 is freezing. Need assistance!

Half Life 2 is freezing. Need assistance!

Half Life 2 is freezing. Need assistance!

L
149
11-04-2019, 02:48 PM
#1
Hello Everyone, I’m facing a really annoying problem with any game that runs using hl2.exe (Half Life 2, Portal, etc.). When the game starts, I hear about 2 to 3 seconds of audio but there’s no video at all—usually just the man tapping his head. Then the game freezes and I’m forced to close it via Task Manager. I’ve already reported this with Steam support, but they only provided a list of launch commands to try. So far I’ve done the following: updated all operating systems and drivers, cleared Half Life 2 from the registry, removed all leftover Steam files, reinstalled the game (note this issue also affects Portal), used different launch options in Steam (-windowed, -32bit, etc.), selected the “Wait for program to respond” option when it freezes, and optimized settings through nVidia Control Panel (though it didn’t help). I also tried installing the games on another PC with older specs but the same Windows 10 build, which works perfectly. My system details: CPU Ryzen 5 3600, NZXT Kraken Z63 motherboard, Gigabyte Aorus B450, 32GB RAM, Cosair Vengeance LPX at 3000MHz, RTX 2060, 8GB SSD, Samsung 860 Pro 2TB. Any assistance would be really appreciated since this is one of my favorite games.
L
le_marseillais
11-04-2019, 02:48 PM #1

Hello Everyone, I’m facing a really annoying problem with any game that runs using hl2.exe (Half Life 2, Portal, etc.). When the game starts, I hear about 2 to 3 seconds of audio but there’s no video at all—usually just the man tapping his head. Then the game freezes and I’m forced to close it via Task Manager. I’ve already reported this with Steam support, but they only provided a list of launch commands to try. So far I’ve done the following: updated all operating systems and drivers, cleared Half Life 2 from the registry, removed all leftover Steam files, reinstalled the game (note this issue also affects Portal), used different launch options in Steam (-windowed, -32bit, etc.), selected the “Wait for program to respond” option when it freezes, and optimized settings through nVidia Control Panel (though it didn’t help). I also tried installing the games on another PC with older specs but the same Windows 10 build, which works perfectly. My system details: CPU Ryzen 5 3600, NZXT Kraken Z63 motherboard, Gigabyte Aorus B450, 32GB RAM, Cosair Vengeance LPX at 3000MHz, RTX 2060, 8GB SSD, Samsung 860 Pro 2TB. Any assistance would be really appreciated since this is one of my favorite games.

S
Squirmyyy
Junior Member
32
11-04-2019, 11:43 PM
#2
Click the game's executable file and attempt to launch it using compatibility settings for Windows 7 or XP.
S
Squirmyyy
11-04-2019, 11:43 PM #2

Click the game's executable file and attempt to launch it using compatibility settings for Windows 7 or XP.

H
HubixCube
Member
166
11-19-2019, 09:27 PM
#3
No success. Identical problem occurs again. This seems quite unusual.
H
HubixCube
11-19-2019, 09:27 PM #3

No success. Identical problem occurs again. This seems quite unusual.

S
SolitudeFX
Member
131
11-20-2019, 11:09 PM
#4
Attempt a fresh installation of the game, but check the file location on another storage device.
S
SolitudeFX
11-20-2019, 11:09 PM #4

Attempt a fresh installation of the game, but check the file location on another storage device.

E
Ezmoth
Member
62
11-21-2019, 12:23 AM
#5
I just checked again and found it’s the MSi Afterburner overlay. As soon as I shut it down, Half Life 2 launched instantly! That’s wild!
E
Ezmoth
11-21-2019, 12:23 AM #5

I just checked again and found it’s the MSi Afterburner overlay. As soon as I shut it down, Half Life 2 launched instantly! That’s wild!

J
Javacake25
Junior Member
37
12-11-2019, 04:29 AM
#6
Wow, great discovery! Thanks for the confirmation!
J
Javacake25
12-11-2019, 04:29 AM #6

Wow, great discovery! Thanks for the confirmation!