Windower Crashes On FFXI Load - Need Help

I've seen this topic across multiple forums/sites with no clear resolution. If there is anyone here who can help, it would be greatly appreciated.

During the revive quest CS in Khamir Drifts windower crashed. After a few attempts with windower I went to POL direct, it crashed as well with initiate direct 3d message. Well after a few days of switching around drivers I was able to at least get game back online but as without windower gear swaps at the most basic level are almost impossible.

Help i'd like to play the game again but really need assistance making windower function.

Noticed after every crash the ffxi config resets to fullscreen mode as opposed to windowed.

i still after 10 days have not been able to fix my direct3d issue, I also got it in CS but in library. I got it to work (same issues as you), but not on windower, only through official. I think windower is broken personally....

It's frustrating to say the least. Windower is still working for many but whatever this issue is it hasn't been fixed by the devs. Hopefully they will get around to researching and resolvoing

It isn't their issue to fix...

I've read virtually every thread on this issue with no resolution and you're the first to say it's not a windower issue. You obviously know more than I so what should we do next?

If it worked on your system and has stopped working and it's still working for everyone else then the issue is with your system.

If Windower wasn't working for anyone all hell would be breaking lose. Like the other person who was having issues if you want some assistance later I may be able to resolve it.

Im not sure on the details. But just to clarify. If you mean the unlocking to be able to do the Khamir reives. This has always crashed on Windower since Day 1.
The POL issues i cannot help with. But this specific issue is specific for that cutscene.

I've read about this issue across threads dating back to 2013 but none of the recommended resolutions have worked thus far. If you know how to fix or have any suggestions, at this point I'm willing to give it a try.

If you just want to get the KI to be able to do the Reives in that zone. Then Fix default client and do the cutscene like that.
That cutscene does not work and will always crash on windower is what i'm saying.

Read about the issue on wiki after a few failed attempts via windower. It's when I switched back to standard POL the direct 3d error message began to pop up. Played around with drivers, reloaded game, and finally t online but still no luck with windower. It fails everytime when switching from POL to FFXI

Is this a desktop or a laptop?

MSI GT70 Laptop
GTX 675m/2GB GDDRS

dxidiag if it helps

Operating System: Windows 10 Home 64-bit (10.0, Build 10586) (10586.th2_release_sec.160422-1850)
Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: Micro-Star International Co., Ltd.
System Model: GT70
BIOS: E1762IMS.50U
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-3630QM CPU @ 2.40GHz (8 CPUs), ~2.4GHz
Memory: 12288MB RAM
Available OS Memory: 12180MB RAM
Page File: 6260MB used, 7775MB available
Windows Dir: C:\WINDOWS
DirectX Version: 11.2
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
User DPI Setting: Using System DPI
System DPI Setting: 96 DPI (100 percent)
DWM DPI Scaling: Disabled
Miracast: Available, with HDCP
Microsoft Graphics Hybrid: Not Supported
DxDiag Version: 10.00.10586.0000 64bit Unicode

Operating System: Windows 10 Home 64-bit (10.0, Build 10586) (10586.th2_release_sec.160422-1850)
Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: Micro-Star International Co., Ltd.
System Model: GT70
BIOS: E1762IMS.50U
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-3630QM CPU @ 2.40GHz (8 CPUs), ~2.4GHz
Memory: 12288MB RAM
Available OS Memory: 12180MB RAM
Page File: 6260MB used, 7775MB available
Windows Dir: C:\WINDOWS
DirectX Version: 11.2
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
User DPI Setting: Using System DPI
System DPI Setting: 96 DPI (100 percent)
DWM DPI Scaling: Disabled
Miracast: Available, with HDCP
Microsoft Graphics Hybrid: Not Supported
DxDiag Version: 10.00.10586.0000 64bit Unicode

Is it using one of those dual graphics setups?

I think it is

People often have trouble with those and dealing with how windower hooks with POL.

POL seems to work it's the switch to windowed ffxi that's crashing. Frustrating to say the least considering it worked fine since I returned to game a few weeks ago.

Honestly the method I would use to combat this is a little heavy handed and that's to just run XI in a vmware virtual machine, but I realize that is a good bit overkill for most people.

I know a lot of people have issues having the optimus software to force priority to the dedicated card for everything, but it's where I'd probably start, along with probably updating the drivers for your integrated intel gpu.

tubai its exactly the same issue with me, the switch from pol to ffxi, everytime, no online solutions are working, and no new fixes since around 2013, all of which ive tried. Seems a common error for a lot of people this last month btw, which means it is a windower issue since we all dont have the same setups :D

If it were a Windower issue then it would be affecting everyone.

It MIGHT be the issue with the wrong driver booting it up was this change to 10 recent?

No idea where the issue lies, guess i'll keep trying until something works or someone tells what they did to fix it. Or I retire again, but at any rate thanks for the info i'll look into it.

I've updated all drivers on machine, even those not related to video cards but nothing is resolving. Honestly I just need the macro executions, everything else was just a bonus. It's taxing to switch gear and I've not even made it to my mage yet.

Well the game does have gearsets.

But it sounds like the issue you're having is related to having dual gpus, and it not using the same one for POL and Windower, and/or the one that it is using the driver isn't properly supporting direct3d. Like I said I can look into it later if you don't mind somebody remoting in, but I won't be home for a few hours.

Haven't been on forums or game for a few days but issue still persists. Wouldn't be comfortable with anyone remoting into laptop but thanks anyway. Ive seen numerous other threads with this same issue across multiple setups but either they're not reading these posts any longer, not playing, or just not sharing the fix. Either way, thanks again to everyone who made suggestions.

Strangely enough I get this issue, but windower simply wont load pol. thoughit was a virus preventing a pol file. any ideas?

I dealt with this problem last week, and tried everything from video drivers reinstallation to fresh installing ffxi. if there is an answer its far beyond my pc tech prowess. Luckily i barely use my c drive for anything other than ffxi, browsers, etc, so i just recovered windows completely without keeping any files and reinstalled ffxi and windower. total down time; about 10 hours. dunno if its worth it but you guys could always grab a external hard drive and move over essential files and do the same. i dont think windower or ffxi devs are ever going to fix this problem.

however i am using dual gpus without sli enabled for what its worth. didn't really think to try with just one and i'll be damned if i put myself back into the situation to test it. good luck

Yeah, just go ahead and do a reinstall then, Windows that is.

If your PC is from an OEM there should be a "restore to factory" setting somewhere.

Will give the window reinstall a try sometime in future...thanks

Running into the same issue now. I can get past POL, but when it gets to ffxi (from windower) it attempts to load, and then it just crashes. When I use vanilla, it does exactly what the OP mentioned.

Factory reset is the only way? It was literally working just yesterday, and I inadvertently restarted my pc and updated it, something I never do. Now, for some reason, ffxi doesn't work. Went ahead and reinstalled ffxi, windower, and even the steam version, and still running into issues. Really don't want to have to reboot windows.

I tried to use a system restore to a previous version, but it still doesn't work.