Dragon Age Inquisition Starts Then Crashes – (How to Fix)

Dragon Age Inquisition is an epic fantasy RPG that allows players to explore the medieval land of Thedas while commanding the Inquisition forces. However, many PC gamers encounter frustrating crashing issues that prevent them from enjoying this immersive game.

If your Dragon Age Inquisition keeps crashing randomly or when loading saves, this guide offers proven solutions to resolve the problems and get back to adventuring.

Common Causes of Crashing in Dragon Age Inquisition

Before jumping into the fixes, let’s first understand what typically causes Dragon Age Inquisition to crash on PC.

Conflicts with Antivirus Software – Overzealous antivirus programs may detect game files as threats and block them from running properly. Adding exceptions can prevent this.

Outdated Graphics Drivers – Old GPU drivers often clash with newer games, resulting in crashes. Keeping your drivers updated is key.

Corrupted Game Files – Even a single corrupted game asset can cause crashes. Verifying file integrity fixes this.

Origin In-Game Overlay – The overlay that displays when you press Shift+F1 in-game is known to cause crashes for some.

Hardware Incompatibilities – Dragon Age Inquisition may not play nice with certain hardware configs, leading to instability.

Insufficient System Resources – Not meeting minimum system requirements for RAM, CPU, GPU can also induce crashes.

Now let’s go through various solutions to address these root causes of crashing issues.

12 Fixes for Dragon Age Inquisition Crashing on PC

1. Add Dragon Age Inquisition to Antivirus Exclusions

Antivirus software can often detect legitimate game files as suspicious and block them from running. This results in launch failures or mid-game crashes.

To prevent this, you need to add the DragonAgeInquisition.exe main executable file along with the full game installation folder to the exclusions list in your antivirus program.

Here are the steps for Windows Security:

• Open Windows Security and go to Virus & Threat Protection
• Click Manage Settings under Exclusions
• Click Add or Remove Exclusions
• Click Add an Exclusion
• Browse to the location of DragonAgeInquisition.exe and select it
• Also add the entire Dragon Age Inquisition install folder
• Click Save Changes

Now your antivirus will ignore the game files.

2. Update Your Graphics Drivers

Outdated graphics drivers often conflict with newer games, resulting in crashes on launch or when loading saves.

It’s good practice to keep your GPU drivers updated to the latest version offered by the manufacturer.

To update drivers, visit the Nvidia or AMD website, download the latest version and install it.

Alternatively, you can use a driver update utility like Auslogics Driver Updater which automatically detects and updates outdated drivers.

3. Verify Integrity of Game Files

Corrupted or missing game files can easily cause Dragon Age Inquisition to crash while loading assets.

You can scan for such errors and automatically restore any affected files through Origin’s built-in Verify function.

Here’s how to verify and repair Dragon Age Inquisition game files:

• Launch Origin and go to My Game Library
• Right click on Dragon Age Inquisition and select Repair
• The verification process will run, replacing any corrupted files

This will restore any crucial game files that have gone missing or become corrupted.

4. Disable Origin In-Game Overlay

The overlay that you can bring up with Shift+F1 while in-game allows chatting with friends, viewing achievements etc. However, this Origin overlay is known to cause crashes for some users.

Disabling the in-game overlay prevents this issue:

• Open Origin app and go to Application Settings
• Select Origin In-Game tab on left sidebar
• Uncheck the Enable Origin In-Game box

With the overlay disabled, the game should run smoother.

5. Run Dragon Age Inquisition in Compatibility Mode

You can set the DragonAgeInquisition.exe to run in compatibility mode for older Windows versions if you are on a newer OS. This tweak can potentially fix crashing issues.

Here are the steps to run it in Windows 8 compatibility mode:

• Right click DragonAgeInquisition.exe, select Properties
• Go to the Compatibility tab
• Check Run this program in compatibility mode for
• Select Windows 8 from the drop-down menu
• Click Apply then OK.

Try testing with different compatibility modes like Windows 7 or 8 to see which works best.

6. Reinstall DirectX and Visual C++ Runtimes

Two crucial dependencies for games on Windows are DirectX and Visual C++ runtimes. If these get corrupted, games can fail to launch or crash.

You can reinstall fresh copies of these libraries easily:

For DirectX

• Go to DragonAgeInquisition\__Installer\DirectX\Redist
• Run the DXSETUP.exe

For Visual C++

• Go to DragonAgeInquisition\__Installer\vc
• Run all the vc_redist exe files here

Reinstalling these crucial runtimes can potentially fix crashing issues.

7. Reset Overclocks

If you have overclocked your CPU, RAM or GPU to gain extra performance, it can potentially result in crashes if the overclocks are unstable.

Resetting your components like CPU, RAM and GPU to stock default speeds can help stabilize the game.

Use your BIOS settings or motherboard software like MSI Afterburner to reset the overclocks to default.

8. Perform a Clean Boot

Background processes from Windows services, startup apps and third-party utilities can sometimes interfere with games and cause instability issues.

Performing a clean boot prevents any non-vital processes from running in the background while you game:

• Press Win + R and type msconfig
• Go to the Services tab and check Hide Microsoft Services
• Click Disable All to disable other services
• Go to the Startup tab and disable unnecessary startup apps
• Restart your PC for changes to take effect

Now only core Windows processes should be running, allowing your game to run smoothly.

9. Set Graphics Settings to Default/Low

Dragon Age Inquisition may crash if you use Ultra graphic settings that your PC hardware cannot handle.

Setting the graphics options to Default or Low can enhance stability and reduce crashing.

Also disable unnecessary settings like Ambient Occlusion, Anti-aliasing etc. to ease the load on your GPU.

10. Run Dragon Age Inquisition as Administrator

Lacking admin privileges can prevent the game from accessing crucial hardware resources, resulting in crashes.

Granting admin rights is easy:

• Right click DragonAgeInquisition.exe
• Select Properties > Compatibility tab
• Check Run this program as an administrator
• Click Apply then OK.

Now launch the game normally and it should run with admin rights enabled.

11. Troubleshoot Compatibility

Rather than guessing which compatibility mode works best, you can let Windows automatically detect and set the optimal compatibility settings for Dragon Age Inquisition.

Here is how to leverage the Compatibility Troubleshooter:

• Right-click DragonAgeInquisition.exe > Properties
• Go to Compatibility tab
• Click the Troubleshoot Compatibility button
• Follow on-screen prompts as Windows tests settings
• Apply recommended settings if found

This troubleshooter often identifies compatibility tweaks to fix crashing issues.

12. Uninstall and Reinstall the Game

If you have tried everything else with no success, uninstalling Dragon Age Inquisition completely and re-downloading a fresh copy may be the nuclear option to fix persistent crashing.

This removes any corrupted game files or registry issues and starts you with a clean slate.

Follow these steps:

• Backup your saves externally first
• Uninstall the game through Origin
• Restart your PC
• Delete any residual files & folders of the game
• Re-download and reinstall the game through Origin
• Test launching the game

Hopefully a fresh install does the trick after all other methods have failed.

FAQ

Conclusion

Dragon Age Inquisition randomly crashing can certainly be frustrating and ruin the gameplay experience. Hopefully this guide has helped you understand what typically causes the crashes and how to troubleshoot the various issues on PC.

From adding exceptions to virus scanning, verifying game files, updating drivers, reinstalling dependencies, changing graphic settings and beyond – methodically trying the solutions above should help resolve your Dragon Age Inquisition crashing problems for good. Now get back to closing those demon-spawning rifts in peace!