A running process may be interfering with the correct operation of AoE2 DE

Age of Empires II: DE II - Report a Bug
1

:play_button: GAME INFORMATION

:backhand_index_pointing_down: These details are CRITICAL; DO NOT skip them or your issue may not be reviewed.

  • GAME BUILD #: 101.103.28990.0 (#160062) 20577862
  • GAME PLATFORM: Steam
  • OPERATING SYSTEM: both Windows 11 & Windows 10

:play_button: ISSUE EXPERIENCED

:backhand_index_pointing_down: DESCRIBE THE ISSUE IN DETAIL (below). LIMIT TO ONE BUG PER THREAD.

Hello, I’m Korean Steam user and have this very serious problem on AOE 2 DE since 08-NOV-2025 (It has been ok until 05-NOV. What happened in the meantime?).
I can not play The Art of War campaign due to the pop-up error message during the tutorial video.
So I tried a lot of things that the official customer center replied as below. (including trouble shooting from AOE users)

  • I was using Windows 10, but upgraded to Windows 11 Home edition 25H2 - 26200.6584.
  • I unregistered all MODs in the game.
  • I deleted the Vaccine (Ahnlab V3 365). So I have only Windows defender now.
  • I turned off the NVIDIA overlay setting in the NVIDIA App.
  • I turned off the Steam overlay setting.
  • I Verified the game files in Steam
  • I disabled OneNote and iCloud.
  • I uninstalled the entire AoE 2 DE on Steam Library and reinstalled.
  • I uninstalled entire Steam client and reinstalled.
  • I quit all programs on the Tray icon.
  • I Ran both ‘steam.exe’ and ‘AoE2DE_s.exe’ as Administrator mode.
  • I linked my Xbox profile and disconnected.

But nothing improved. FRUSTRATING!!
I’m waiting for a further official response, but the wait is getting longer and I’m not very hopeful. Should I give up?

:play_button: FREQUENCY OF ISSUE

:backhand_index_pointing_down: How often does the issue occur? CHOSE ONE; DELETE THE REST !

  • 100% of the time / matches I play (ALWAYS)

:play_button: REPRODUCTION STEPS

:backhand_index_pointing_down: List CLEAR and DETAILED STEPS we can take to reproduce the issue ourselves… Be descriptiv e !

Here’s the steps to reproduce the issue:

  1. Start the AOE 2 DE - LEARN TO PLAY - The Art of War

  2. Start one of them (for example, ‘Booming’).

  3. Watch the tutorial video.

:play_button: EXPECTED RESULT

:backhand_index_pointing_down: What was SUPPOSED to happen if the bug you encountered were not prese n t ?

I would play The Art of War campaign.

:play_button: IMAGE

:backhand_index_pointing_down: ALWAYS attach a PICTURE (.jpg, .png, .gif) or VIDEO (.mp4, YouTube link) that highlights the prob l e m.

ERROR
ERROR520×258 118 KB

:play_button: GAME FILES (SAVE / RECORDING)

:backhand_index_pointing_down: Attach a SAVE GAME (.aoe2spgame) or GAME RECORDING (.aoe2record) of the match where you encountered the issue. Link it below if using an external file ser v i ce.

  • None
1 Like
2

So appart from The Art of War tutorials, everything else work as it should? Normally this error pops when there is a third party app, such as an antivirus or an overlay running in the background but you don’t have any of them running.
You could try deleting your user folder and then reinstalling the game. Follow these steps:

a. Make sure that your Steam Cloud is disabled in Steam, AoE2 game, Properties, General.

b. Go to C:\Users\YOUR_USER\Games\Age of Empires 2 DE.

c. Copy your user folder to a safe place, it has lots of numbers.(Important! if you skip this step you’ll lose saved files and recs)

d. Delete the original folder

e. Reinstall/Verify your files in Steam, AoE2 game, Properties, Local Files.

f. Open the game again. A new user folder will be created.

If everything works as expected, just copy back your backup folder from step c.

4

Dear Felizon89,

  • It happened only from The Art of War tutorials.
  • I followed the all steps (a-f), however, the problem persists and nothing improved.
1 Like