Windows 10 - Core isolation: Fixed a game that was crashing.

[b1k3rdude]

So a game that I play called The Darkmod (its free and opensource) was consitantly crashing when loading a level.

• OS - Win10 22H2
• CPU - Amd 5900x
• GPU - RTX 4080
• RAM - DDR4-3733 (4x8GB CL17)
• SSD - Sabrent Rocket4 plus 2TB

I then went through the following tests -

• Memtestx86 from USB stick for 2hrs, no issue/s found.
• Winows 10 built-in memory test, no issue/s found.
• did a full virus scan of the PC, no issue/s found.
• Wiped the machine and did a fresh install of Windows 10, game crashes
• Wiped the machine and did a fresh install of Windows 11, game does NOT crash

Replicated the steps to reproduce the crash, on another machine -

• OS - Win11 23H2
• CPU - Intel i5-4430
• GPU - GT 730
• RAM - DDR3-1333 (4GB)
• SSD - Samsung 850 evo 512gb
• Game does NOT crash on this machine.

So then on the main PC (Amd) I had just created another user account, but before I logged into that user account something made me think to look into the security section of Windows 10 settings. Where upon I enabled core isolation and rebooted, and suprisingly turning that features ON, prevented the game from crashing.

A collegue suggested that I might have a root-kit virus or some other malicious software, but response to that was -

• I was getting the crash after wiping the SSD (Sabrent 2TB) and doing a fresh install of win10.
• the game is very niche(not that many people play it).
• why would said virus/malicious software only effect this one game and NO other programs on the computer.

The only thing/s that are of import right now are -

• Core islation has to be enabled to stop the game crashing on Win10 22H2 on my Amd based pc.
• Core isolation does NOT need to be enabled on Win11 on either the Amd or Intel machine. The game does NOT crash on either, under that OS.

So what the hell is going on that Core isolation is somehow stopping the game from crashing under Win10?

 

[Klemc]

You should tell all that things to the dev instead, no ?

The Dark Mod - Stealth Gaming in a Gothic Steampunk World | The Dark Mod

THE DARK MOD is a FREE first person stealth game inspired by the Thief series by Looking Glass Studios. Download and play hundreds of missions for free.

www.thedarkmod.com

 

[b1k3rdude]

I have been we still arent sure why the game is only crashing under Win10 or why enabling core isolation fixes it.