Launcher issues

[WhyFy]

Hi. I'm getting a little bit desperate here. None of my paradox steam games work because the launcher is being a massive dong where it should not be.

When clicking Play nothing happens on some paradox games, or in others it says cannot find bootstrapper in \appdata (it is there)

Tried following the guide on how to delete the launcher and files associated with it, reinstalling the launcher, starting the game with admin rights on steam, windows defender does not block anything and exceptions were made to the launcher folder.

Please help

 

[AndrewT]

The missing bootstrapper error is usually caused by an antivirus app deleting or quarantining that file. Which one do you use?

You need to make sure all these apps are in its exceptions lists:

C:/users/<UserName>/AppData/Local/Programs/Paradox Interactive/launcher-v2.2022.3/paradox launcher.exe
C:/users/<UserName>/AppData/Local/Programs/Paradox Interactive/bootstrapper-v2.exe

Good luck!

 

[WhyFy]

The missing bootstrapper error is usually caused by an antivirus app deleting or quarantining that file. Which one do you use?

Not using any antivirus apart Windows security. All the exceptions are made for these folders and the bootstrapper is in the folder. I can launch it through /launcher-v2.2022.3 but it does not show me any games.

 

[AndrewT]

I can launch it through /launcher-v2.2022.3 but it does not show me any games.

That's only intended for non-Steam users. And even then the games I see you have - EU4, HOI4 and CSL - were never ported to that platform. You need to run them from Steam.


In this folder are some .log files:
C:/users/<UserName>/AppData/Local/Paradox Interactive/launcher-v2/
Please attach them here.

 

[WhyFy]

Sorry, that's what I meant, none of the games launch from Steam. EU4 and HOI4 can only be launched in offline mode. CSL does not work at all.

 

[AndrewT]

Ah, the infamous Open NUL issue!

If you are okay with using the registry editor.

Run regedit.exe and go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SYSTEM/ControlSet001/Services/Null . Check the Start key there. If that has a value of anything but 2 (usually 4), please change it to 2. Exit regedit and reboot, then Please try this:

- exit the Steam app entirely
- uninstall Paradox Launcher v2 from the Windows "Apps and features" utility, if still present.

Delete the following folders if still present:

- C:/users/<UserName>/AppData/Local/Programs/Paradox Interactive/
- C:/users/<UserName>/AppData/Local/Paradox Interactive/
- C:/users/<UserName>/AppData/Roaming/Paradox Interactive/launcher-v2/
To see the AppData folder you'll need to enable View Hidden Items in File Explorer.

- run steam.exe as the Windows Admin user

- run the game from the PLAY button in Steam

IF that doesn't help, in this folder are some .log files:
C:/users/<UserName>/AppData/Local/Paradox Interactive/launcher-v2/
Please attach them here.


Good luck with that!

 

[WhyFy]

There seems to be no such entry as /Null in registry editor.

 

[AndrewT]

I can only guess we're looking in the wrong place - it's a standard entry and really has to be there!

 

[WhyFy]

I tend to be blind sometimes, help me out here

 

[AndrewT]

Are you on Win11 perhaps? Maybe the whole setup has changed in that respect. I don't have it to look into, unfortunately.

If so we might need some qualified Windows support help here.

 

[WhyFy]

That's a no again, running W10 Pro.

 

[AndrewT]

Wow, that's unexpected. Maybe MS have changed that functionality entirely in Win10 and 11.

Having done a search of the whole registry, the only other hit I get on Null as a key name is HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SYSTEM/CurrentControlSet/Services/Null

Is that there, if so what is it set to?

 

[WhyFy]

Still nothing sadly. Tried that too, registry did not find any entry that would be named \Null.

Is there a way to go back to the previous launcher from paradox? Ever since v2 or whatever current version is came out i could not play any of the paradox games.

 

[AndrewT]

Only by reverting the game to old versions where the launcher was built into the game.

@Deuterium Oxide we need your help here! Is there some way you can find what else, aside from HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SYSTEM/ControlSet001/Services/Null being set to 4, can now cause this infamous Open NUL error in msiexec? This has changed only recently, apparently in Win10 and Win11, and we're stuck for what to do in Windows to get past it. I have one other case aside from this poor person. Thanks!