If your Gear Tactics keeps crashing back to the desktop or is unresponsive when you launch it, this article is for you. There are a few possible problems you should sort out. We’ll be guiding you through the different steps to making Gears Tactics launch on Windows 10.

Have a Look at Your System’s Configuration

Every PC video game has a list of required hardware and software components on which they can run. If your computer does not have the minimum requirements for Gears Tactics, it will not start the game. If you did not take this into consideration before installing the game, you should check now. You can find a list of all the requirements for Gears Tactics below as well as the steps to check your system for them.

Minimum Requirements

Operating System: Windows 10 (64-bit)

CPU: Intel i3 Skylake; AMD FX-6000

System Memory: 8 GB RAM

GPU: AMD Radeon R7 260X; NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750 Ti

DirectX: Version 12

Network: Broadband Internet connection

Storage: 45 GB available space

Sound Card: DirectX compatible

Operating System: Windows 10 (64-bit)

CPU: Intel i5 Coffee Lake; AMD Ryzen 3

System Memory: 8 GB RAM

GPU: AMD Radeon RX 570; NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970

DirectX: Version 12

Network: Broadband Internet connection

Storage: 45 GB available space

Sound Card: DirectX compatible

The following steps will guide you through checking the specs of your system:

  1. On the taskbar, right-click the Start button and choose Settings from the Quick Access menu to open the Settings application. You can launch the app faster with the Windows + I keyboard combo.
  2. After Settings appears, click on the System label.
  3. Once you see the System page, go to the left pane, scroll to the bottom, and then select About.
  4. Now, move over to the main window (the About tab) and check your system’s specs under Device Specifications. This is where you’ll see your CPU’s make, model and architecture, and your RAM size, among others.
  5. If you want to check how much storage you have, double-click on This PC on your desktop and navigate to Devices and Drives.
  6. To check details of your display adapter, follow these steps:
  • Go to the taskbar, right-click the Start icon, then select Run from the menu.
  • After Run opens, type “dxdiag” (without the quotes) into the text box and click on the OK button or hit the Enter key.
  • After the DirectX Diagnostic Tool window appears, you’ll find your DirectX version under the System Information section in the System tab.
  • Go to the Display tab and check details of your graphics card such as its make and model and its driver version.

After you’ve checked and confirmed that your system meets the minimum requirements to allow Gears Tactics run on it, you can go ahead with applying the solutions we have outlined in this article.

Stop Your Antivirus Program from Blocking Gears Tactics

It is not uncommon for protection suites to mistakenly categorize games as security threats and consequently block them. In some cases, the game could be deleted right after installation by the antivirus program. You should check that your game isn’t being blocked by your security program.

If it is, you can stop it by including the game’s installation folder in the program’s exceptions. It shouldn’t be hard to find this feature as most antivirus programs use names that are easily recognizable. It could be Exclusions, Exemptions, White List, Safe List, or something similar.

To use this feature, you have to get into the preference or settings environment. If you’re not sure how to do this, you can find a guide on the website of the antivirus’ developers. That should help you find it.

The following guide will show you how to include the game’s folder as an exception in the Virus & Threat Protection tool of Windows’ native security program:

  1. Go to the Start menu and click on the cogwheel next to your username to launch the Settings application. To summon the app, using your keyboard, press the Windows logo and I keys simultaneously.
  2. Once the home screen of the Settings app shows up, go to the bottom of the window and click on the Update & Security icon.
  3. After the Update & Security page appears, navigate to the left pane and click on Windows Security.
  4. Switch over to the right pane and click on Virus & Threat Protection under Protection Areas.
  5. The Virus & Threat Protection page of the Windows Security suite will now appear.
  6. Scroll down to Virus & Threat Protection Settings and click on the Manage Settings link.
  7. After the Virus & Threat Protection Settings interface shows up, go to the Exclusions section and click on “Add or remove exclusions.”
  8. Click on “Add an exclusion” once the Exclusions window opens, then choose Folder from the context menu.
  9. Once the Browse dialog window appears, navigate to Gears Tactics’ installation folder and select it.
  10. Now, check if the game can run again.

Note: If you have to reinstall or update your system protection program, you have to include Gears Tactics as an exception again.

Run Gears Tactics as an Administrator

Usually, when a game is not allowed access to certain resources like protected folders and files in the system, it may fail to launch. By running it as an administrator, you can grant it access to those resources. For a lot of gamers, this was the fix to their problem with launching the game.

Remember that you have to be on a user account that has admin privileges before you can launch the game as an administrator. Seeing as you launch Gears Tactics on your system via Steam, you will need to make manual adjustments to its features. This will prompt Windows to run it as an administrator anytime it is launch from the client.

You can locate the EXE file and apply the fix you need with the steps below:

  1. Launch a File Explorer window by right-clicking the Start button and selecting File Explorer from the Quick Access menu. There are other ways to launch File Explorer, including using the Windows + E keyboard combo and clicking on the folder icon in the taskbar.
  2. Once File Explorer opens, go to the left side of the window and click on This PC.
  3. Return to the main screen and open the Local Disk C under Devices and Drives.
  4. After the drive opens, open the Program Files (x86) folder.
  5. Under the Program Files (x86) folder, double-click the Steam folder.
  6. Next, open the Steamapps folder.
  7. After the Steamapps folder opens, go to the Common folder and open it.
  8. Now, locate the installation folder of Gears Tactics and open it.
  9. If you didn’t install Gears Tactics in the default path for Steam games, follow the steps below to locate its installation directory:
  • Go to the Start menu, search for Steam and launch the client.
  • After the program opens, go to the top of the window and click on Library.
  • Once you see the list of games on your Steam account, go to Gears Tactics, right-click it, and then click on Properties.
  • After the Properties page opens, switch to the Local Files tab.
  • Go to the Local Files tab, then select Browse Local Files.
  • The game’s folder will now appear.
  • Once you locate the EXE file of Gears Tactics, right-click it and select Properties from the context menu.
  1. After the Properties dialog window appears, go to the Compatibility tab.
  2. Under the Compatibility tab, check the box beside “Run this program as an administrator,” then click on the OK button.
  3. Launch the game and the startup issue should be resolved.

Verify There Are no Issues with the Game’s Files

Problematic games files are another possible cause of launch issues in Gears Tactics. If some installation files that are involved in the start-up process go missing or get broken, Gears Tactics will fail to run. Without these files, the game will not work. There are plenty of reasons why your game files may get corrupted or might go missing. Malware may have affected them. However, a sudden system shutdown may also damage them. Whatever the case may be, the Steam client can be used to authenticate the integrity of your game files.

Basically, the client will compare the files on its servers to the ones on your computer to find any issues or irregularities. If it does find any, it will automatically replace them.

To use the Steam client to find and automatically replace game files that have issues, use the following steps:

  1. Press the Windows and S keys together or click on the magnifying glass icon in the taskbar, then search for the Steam client in the search text box. Launch the app once it shows up on the results list.
  2. If you have a desktop shortcut, you can double-click it.
  3. After the Steam client surfaces, click on Library at the top of the window, then click on Games if a context menu drops down.
  4. Once you see the list of games attached your Steam account, go to Gears Tactics, right-click it, and then click on Properties in the context menu.
  5. Now, navigate to the left side of the screen and click on Local Files.
  6. Under the Local Files tab, click on the “Verify integrity of game files” button.
  7. The Steam client will now begin to compare your game’s files with those on its servers. Any problematic file that it finds will be replaced automatically.
  8. The duration of the verification process will depend on the size of the files that have to be downloaded, your PC’s speed, and the strength of your Internet connection.
  9. Once the process is complete, restart Steam, then launch the game and check for the problem.

Launch Gears Tactics on Your Dedicated Graphics Card

In order to conserve power, systems that have their GPUS integrated with discrete display adapters will most likely make applications run on the integrated card. This usually only occurs in Windows. However, you can make the game run on the card dedicated for it. We’ve included the steps to do that using NVIDIA control panel, AMD Radeon settings and Windows settings application.

NVIDIA Control Panel

  1. Right-click on your Desktop and select NVIDIA Control Panel in the context menu.
  2. After the NVIDIA Control Panel window opens, navigate to the left pane and click on Manage 3D Settings under 3D Settings.
  3. Go to the main window and remain in the Global Settings tab.
  4. Click on the Preferred Graphics Processor drop-down and select High-performance NVIDIA Processor from the options.
  5. Next, switch to the Program Settings tab.
  6. Expand the Select a Program to Customize drop-down menu and click on Gears Tactics.
  7. If the game isn’t listed in the drop-down menu, click on the Add button, then navigate to its installation folder and double-click its executable file.
  8. After adding and selecting the game, go to the drop-down menu for “Select the preferred graphics processor for this program” and choose High-performance NVIDIA Processor.
  9. Now, click on the Apply button and launch Gears Tactics to check for the launching issue.

Using AMD Radeon Settings

  1. Right-click on your Desktop’s empty surface and click on AMD Radeon Settings once the context menu appears.
  2. After AMD Radeon Settings appears, go to the top-right corner of the window and click on System.
  3. Once the System interface shows up, go to the top-right corner of the window, and click on Switchable Graphics this time.
  4. You’ll see the Running Applications view once the Switchable Graphics interface appears.
  5. If you don’t see Gears Tactics on this page, navigate to the top-right corner of the window and click on Running Applications under Switchable Graphics.
  6. Next, click on Installed Profiled Applications to display all the programs that AMD Radeon Settings can detect.
  7. Locate Gears Tactics, click on its arrow, and then select High Performance.
  8. If the game still doesn’t appear in this view, then you have to add it manually. Go to the top-right corner of the window and click on Browse.
  9. Once the Browse dialog window opens, go to the installation folder of Gears Tactics and double-click its EXE file.
  10. You can now change the game’s Switchable Graphics mode to High Performance.

Using the Settings App

  1. Use the Windows + I keyboard combo to summon the Settings app.
  2. After the home screen of windows Settings shows up, click on the System icon.
  3. Once the System interface appears, go to the bottom of the Display tab and click on the Graphics Settings link.
  4. After the Graphics Settings screen opens, go to the “Choose an app to set preference” drop-down menu and select Classic App
  5. Next, click on the Browse button under the menu.
  6. After the Browse dialog box shows up, navigate to the installation folder of Gears Tactics and double-click its EXE file.
  7. Once the game’s icon appears on the Graphics Settings screen, click on it, then click on the Options button.
  8. The Graphics Specifications dialog will now appear, displaying details of both GPUs. Your integrated card is the Power Saving GPU and your dedicated card is the High Performance GPU.
  9. Click the radio button for High Performance and click on Save.

Check that Your Graphics Card Driver Is Up to Date

If your GPU driver is not up to date, you have to download and install its most recent version. Your card’s driver may have problems and could be the reason you have launching issues with Gears Tactics. There are various options for updating your graphics card driver. You can download the update from the manufacturer’s website or use Windows.

If you recently installed and updated your graphics card driver, there is a possibility you may not have done it right. You can follow the methods below to ensure you install your driver the correct way.

Update Using Windows

In addition to its primary task of installing updates for the operating system, Windows Update also downloads and installs updated versions of various device drivers. These devices include the network card, audio card, graphics card, and more.

Usually, your system gets automatically updated by the Windows Update utility if it is connected to the Internet and the connection is not limited. Still, you should check occasionally to ensure the Windows Update utility gets it done.

Use the following steps to find and install updates:

  1. Press the Windows and I keys simultaneously to open the Settings application.
  2. After Settings opens, go to the bottom of the page and click on Update & Security.
  3. After the Update & Security interface opens, click on Check for Updates under Windows Update.
  4. The utility will now check for updates and begin to download those that are available for your system.
  5. Click on the Restart Now button once the utility downloads the updates.
  6. Your system will now restart and Windows will begin to download the updates.
  7. After the process completes and your system boots up normally, run the game and check if it fails to launch again.

Update with the Device Manager

With the Device Manager, you can look for updates online or install straight from your computer. You have to download the updated driver from the manufacturer’s website in order to install directly from your system. The most effective option, however, is to let the Device Manager automatically search and install the updated driver. The steps below will show you how to do so:

  1. Open the Device Manager and expand Display Adapters
  2. Right-click on your graphics card and click on Update Driver.
  3. After the Update Driver window opens, click on the “Search automatically for updated driver software” option, then allow Windows to search for your latest graphics card driver and install it.

Use Dedicated Software

Using the Windows Update utility and Device Manager, successfully downloading and installing an up to date version of your graphics card is tied to the release schedule for Microsoft. If there is no driver update published on its servers, it will not be possible for the Windows update utility and Device Manager to download and install them.

You don’t have to wait for Microsoft’s schedule. You can use a third-party application like Auslogics Driver Updater to avoid the stress. You won’t have to search for updates. This tool only downloads and installs drivers that have been officially signed. Once an issue with your graphics card is detected, it will automatically find and update your graphics card driver.

To download, install and use Auslogics Driver Updater, use the following steps:

  1. Download Auslogics Driver Updater.
  2. Run the setup file once your browser downloads it, then click on Yes in the User Account Control dialog.
  3. After the setup wizard shows up, choose your preferred language, specify the installation directory of your choice, and then enter other preferences, such as creating a desktop icon, allowing the program to launch after Windows starts, and sending anonymous reports to the app’s developers.
  4. Once you’ve entered your preferences, click on the “Click to install button”.
  5. After the installation process completes, start the tool and click on the Start Scan button.
  6. Once the scan is complete, you’ll find all the problematic drivers on your system. If your graphics card driver is on the list, click on the Update button to allow the tool download and install its latest version.
  7. Restart your system once the process is complete, then check if the game crashes again.

Conclusion

If you have followed the methods outlined in this article, your game should be able to launch without problems. If that isn’t the case, consider reinstallation. It is unlikely, however, that you would need to do that as the solutions above have worked for a lot of gamers. Feel free to give us feedback or ask questions in the comments section below.