FFXI freezing on launch

Details: I first installed the free trial of FFXI 1-2 months ago, which ran with no problems at all. I uninstalled it for a while before buying the full game 3 days ago, and installed it and went through the entire update process again. However, now when POL launches FFXI, after the opening cinematic (or if the opening cinematic is skipped) the window flickers solid blue very rapidly for a few frames and then freezes solid blue, with the main menu music playing. Nothing visually changes, and button presses do not appear to have any effect on the game, and it must be closed using task manager. I did opt into DirectX for the installer this time, but I did not do so last time - however, I doubt that is relevant unless I'm missing something. I did reinstall DirectX legacy drivers, I updated my graphics drivers and Windows, I restarted the computer repeatedly, I tried changing DPI scaling options, running in compatibility mode for Win 7, uninstalling the game and POL and deleting every folder I could find that had traces of them, reinstalling, but nothing would get past this freeze. Obviously, it works just fine on other computers, but this is my daily-use laptop... the only thing I haven't tried is reinstalling Windows, which seems extreme. It could conceivably be a hardware issue but the laptop is months old and worked fine weeks ago with nothing else changing, no other issues at all. DGVoodoo had no effect when I tried that. I followed the same (normal) install process on other systems to confirm I hadn't screwed up the process, and I hadn't. Besides just not playing except when I have time to set up the other computer, or reinstalling Windows, is there any other potential solution I might have missed?
Steps:
1. Reinstalled POL and FFXI (second install, was previously a free trial which was uninstalled normally, full game was installed this time.)
2. Go through update process and log in normally.
3. Game freezes on launch.
Date/Time: 2/15/2025 22:00-current
Frequency: Always
Platform: PC
Manufacturer and Model #: MSI Katana 15 B13V running Windows 11
ISP: XFinity Comcast
Internet connection: 5G Wi-fi over cable

If you do proper backups or use a cloud storage service, resetting your PC (as they call doing a reinstall now) isn't quite the bother it used to be. It's possible some recent Windows Update messed with things, which isn't that unusual.

Your issue is one I've never heard of before, so I don't have a lot I can offer.

Greetings and thank you for posting in the Final Fantasy XI Technical Forums.

The issue you are describing may be associated with corruption of local game data. Please try the following troubleshooting methods to resolve the issue:

Please navigate to 'Program Files(x86)' > 'PlayOnline' > 'SQUARE ENIX' > 'FINAL FANTASY XI' > 'USER' and copy this 'USER' folder so it may be stored elsewhere as a backup. Once complete, proceed to remove sub folders out of this main folder one by one (Not the backup) so you may determine where the corrupt file might be when loading the affected character.

Alternatively, we may recommend removing the folder completely and performing a file check from the PlayOnline Viewer so the client may recreate/restore this folder. Please be advised that removing the 'USER' folder will also remove any macros that may have been created.

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