Q: Black Screen / Not responding on startup

A: To solve this issue, try one of the following solutions

• If you have a Nvidia GPU, disable the overlay (see picture). Disable any other overlays as well (Discord, FPS Counters, Recorders, Steam, etc.)
• Rightclick iw4x.exe, click Properties, go to the Compatibility tab and enable compatibility mode for Windows 8.
• Turn off fullscreen mode by editing /players/iw4x_config.cfg and changing the line that says set r_fullscreen "1" to set r_fullscreen "0" and set r_noborder "0" to set r_noborder "1". Alternatively, run this batch file in your game folder: fullscreen_0.bat
• Disable DEP. Run this batch file as admin: dep_disabler.bat

Q: (0xc000005) Fatal Error on Launch

A: To solve this issue, please replace your IW4x.dll with this one: here.

Q: (0xc000007b) Fatal Error

A: To solve this issue, try one of the following solutions

• Download and run the following program (Installs/repairs runtimes)
• If you downloaded any individual DLL's from Google sesrch results and placed them in your folder then YOU NEED TO REMOVE THEM! They can cause this error and are also used to spread malware
• Try disabling your antivirus / Add an exception for IW4x
• Make sure Windows is completely updated
• Reinstall a clean version of Windows as a last resort

Q: Failed to download Mod List

A: Contact the server owner and inform them of the problem (Suggest a server restart).

Q: XUID doesn't match the certificate

A: Close IW4x, and delete players/guid.dat from your game folder.

Q: Couldn't load image 'AnyImageNameHere'

A: Run our repair guide.

Q: Low amount of servers

A: To see more servers, try the following solutions

• Open the ingame console and check the values for net_serverQueryLimit and net_serverFrames
• Lower them both, step by step, until the amount of servers rise. (Alternatively, set them to their minimum and increase them one by one until your server amount goes up.)
• As a last resort you can try entering the following command into the console while at the main menu /addnode 74.91.119.236

Q: No servers

A: Download and place nodes.dat into your players folder, overwriting the existing one.

Q: Entry Point Not Found - (DirectSound)

A: Review and follow the Repair Guide.

Q: Zone Version is not supported

A: Review and follow the Repair Guide.

Q: My controller isn't working on IW4x

A: Follow the Controller Guide.

Q: Stuck on Increasing Security Level

A: Wait patiently, grab yourself a cup of tea while you wait. 🍵

Q: Menu unresponsive / black screen with music on disconnect

A: To solve this issue, try the following solutions

• Open the in-game console via the tilde key on your keyboard and enter the following command /reloadmenus
• Another option is to simply close the game and relaunch it

Q: Error during initialization: Couldn't load fileSysCheck.cfg

A: Review and follow the Repair Guide.

Q: System Error: mss32.dll was not found

A: Review and follow the Repair Guide.

Q: System Error: d3dx9_40.dll was not found

A: Install DirectX 9.0, you can do so from the pre-packed installer that comes with MW2, It's located at: Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2\Redist\DirectX\DXSETUP.exe, simply run the installer and restart your PC to resolve the error.

If you don't have the redist folder you can download the installer manually. (Run directx_mar2009_redist.exe extract to a location of your choice then run DXSETUP.exe): DirectX End-User Runtime Web Installer

Q: System Error: binkw32.dll was not found

A: Review and follow the Repair Guide.

Q: Crosshair is missing

A: To restore the crosshair, try the following solutions

• Open the in-game console via the tilde key on your keyboard and enter the following command /ui_drawcrosshair 1
• Alternatively you can manually edit your configuration file (iw4x_config.cfg) located in players folder of your MW2 folder and edit the line /ui_drawcrosshair and set it's value to 1

Q: Minimap is missing

A: To restore the minimap, try the following solutions

• Open the in-game console via the tilde key on your keyboard and enter the following command /hud_enable 1
• Alternatively, you can manually edit your configuration file (iw4x_config.cfg) located in players folder of your MW2 folder and edit the line /hud_enable and set it's value to 1

Q: FPS drops, choppy frames and ghosting

A: To solve this issue, try one of the following solutions

• Disable the Nvidia overlay
• Disable any recording software / overlays / external fps counters
• If you have IW4x set to fullscreen mode try switching it to borderless windowed mode
• Restart your PC (The good old turn it off and back on method)

Q: Demo playback - Lost connection to host

A: Currently, there is no solution to this issue due the demo code in IW4 being experimental and not compatible with laptop based killstreaks. To read more on this issue see the github issue report The only workaround is to not use laptop based killstreaks if you plan to playback your gameplay without issue

Q: Stuck on awaiting gamestate

A: To solve this issue, try the following solutions

• If you are recieving this issue in a private match, the cause results from your in-game name containing invalid characters. Please make sure to remove any symbols / non english characters.
• If you are recieving this issue in a public match, the issue is related to your network. Try restarting your pc and router. Failing that, try switching to a wired connection if you are on WiFi or try another network if one is available.

Q: Server disconnected

A: To solve this issue, try the following solutions

• If you are recieving this issue in a private match, the cause results from your in-game name containing invalid characters. Please make sure to remove any symbols / non english characters.
• If your name does not contain invalid characters, it may be due to you having the same guid as someone else. Delete players/guid.dat

Q: Hours played in Steam shows an excessive amount of time

A: To fix this issue, try the following solutions

• The simplest solution is to exit Steam prior to lauching IW4x. IW4x will see steam is not running and not attempt to launch steam integration. This prevents MW2 hours being recorded.
• A second solution is to launch IW4x with the -nosteam parameter. This will disable steam intergration while Steam is open in the background. To add the parameter right click IW4x.exe and select Create Shortcut. This will create a new file called 'iw4x.exe - Shortcut' right click this new file and select properties. Then in the target field add the -nosteam parameter. Example target field: C:\Games\MW2\iw4x.exe -nosteam

Q: Challenges not unlocking

A: In order to start progressing a challenge, you must view it once from within the barracks menu, to remove it's New status. Your challenges should now unlock as normal.