Can't start the game/launcher from my desktop and steam; bootstrapper error

[Kerim_77_xD]

I can’t start the game when pressing on play in steam or double LMB clicking on the desktop icon.

The game did run before but after I wanted to start playing after several months, I first got a database connection error.
The error message said that I should delete and/or delete the file launcher-v2.sqlite and then try to start the game again.
Because of that error I wasn’t able to play the game and it crashed after I tried to save a new empire.
I did what the error message said but that didn’t help.

I reinstalled the game to see if that fixes it, but it didn’t.
After that I deinstalled all the mods I had installed and tried again but again it didn’t help.

I reinstalled the game again (this time without mods) but now I wasn’t able to start the launcher anymore and got the error (see attached pic):

Bootstrapper Error
Couldn’t start launcher!


I did a "clean" reinstall (deinstalled stellaris through steam; deleted all stellaris related files from Documents and the steamapps; installed stellaris and let it verify) today to see if that helps but it didn't help. Still having the Bootstrapper error.

Additional information:
App-ID: 281990
Build-ID: 7783125
Date of update of the installed content: 28. Dez. 2021 14:16 (CET)
DLCs: Anniversary Portraits; Arachnoid Portraid Pack; Digital OST; Horizon Signal; Utopia; Nemesis; Apocalypse; Federations; Leviathans Story Pack; MegaCorp; Synthetic Dawn

 

[AndrewT]

That is usually an antivirus app getting in the way. What antivirus app do you use? You need to make sure all these apps are in its exceptions lists:

stellaris.exe and dowser.exe (in the Steam EU4 folder)
C:/users/<UserName>/AppData/Local/Programs/Paradox Interactive/launcher-v2.2021.10.1/paradox launcher.exe
C:/users/<UserName>/AppData/Local/Programs/Paradox Interactive/bootstrapper-v2.exe

 

[Kerim_77_xD]

That is usually an antivirus app getting in the way. What antivirus app do you use? You need to make sure all these apps are in its exceptions lists:

stellaris.exe and dowser.exe (in the Steam EU4 folder)
C:/users/<UserName>/AppData/Local/Programs/Paradox Interactive/launcher-v2.2021.10.1/paradox launcher.exe
C:/users/<UserName>/AppData/Local/Programs/Paradox Interactive/bootstrapper-v2.exe

Thanks for the quick reply and you were right Avast Antivirus put the stellaris folder into quarantine and temporarily deleted it.
I had to restore the folder and put it as an exception and now it works again without any error message.

Thank you very much and now back to committing all sorts of genocides in the galaxy