'Unable to to complete version check' error message Windows 8.1

Every time I try to play the game i get this error message 'Unable to to complete version check' followed by [30605][20448][10009][10019] .

It won't even load the launcher. I started getting this after I updated Windows to 8.1. I chatted with SE and was told that FFXIV -

"Unfortunately FINAL FANTASY XIV: A REALM REBORN is not fully supported on Windows 8.1, even in compatibility mode. We are currently working on fixing this issue."

I have read many threads where people do not have the same issues that have upgraded to 8.1.

He also said "The only thing I can advise is to continue monitoring the Lodestone for any updates on this issue." And that is all the info I got. I looked on the Lodestone and I don't see anything about them working on it.

Any help/ideas?

I have been having this issue for about 2 hours now. its really irriatating :/

My Brother who is playing the game 5ft away from me has no problem getting into the game.

I tried, rebooting our router, ran it as admin. restarted the computer everything i can possibly think of. and its still not working.

I hope it can get resolved soon. It would be nice to play :)

Honestly, once the version check hits it's almost impossible to remove. I tried everything from deleting the boot folder and dropping in known good files, to BIOS flashing and everything in between.

It has something to do with how windows 8.1 runs permissions issues.

The only way I know how to get around it is to drop down to windows 7 or 8.0.

I know it doesn't help much, but hopefully this will save you some time and frustration.

Well, that is just crazy.

Compatibility mode won't work and you cannot revert back to Windows 8 from 8.1 according to what I read on the internet.

Yeah. Once Windows 8 gets into your machine, it becomes extremely difficult to remove it.

You can try a couple different things, but honestly, they didn't work for me and I don't think they will work for windows 8.1 in general:

1.) Delete the boot folder and drop in a known "good" boot folder. You can get good boot folders from the FFXIV Reddit page. Here is where the boot folder is in my directory:

C:\Program Files (x86)\SquareEnix\FINAL FANTASY XIV - A Realm Reborn

2.) Also make sure the boot folder is unchecked for Read Only

3.) Turn your user settings down to "never notify". You can find it here:

Control Panel\User Accounts and Family Safety\User Accounts

4.) Run FFXIV as admin by right clicking and selecting "Run As Administrator".

5.) Set up a new user account on your machine and attempt to run FFXIV.

If these don't work, you can take more, "drastic" measures. Keep in mind, when playing with these files there is always the chance of your computer freaking out and having to reformat. I wouldn't take these steps unless you're ready for a full reformat anyway:

1.) Pick up a registry cleaner and clean your ENTIRE registry. You can find a popular one here: http://www.piriform.com/ccleaner

2.) You can manually assign permissions for FFXIV to see if it fixes the issue. You can find a walkthrough here: http://www.askvg.com/guide-how-to-ta...ly-in-windows/

3.) You can try to repair your permissions by loading to a backup before it started giving issues. Here is a half written lazy walk through on how to fall back to a previous restore point: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/w...backup-restore

4.) Reformat to Windows 8 or to Windows 7.

Honestly, your best bet is to just get off 8.1 and 8 in general. It's a terrible TERRIBLE OS and should not have been released with the sheer amount of bugs and broken components in it. I've seen Alpha programs run better than 8 and 8.1.

Anyway, I hope I could at least point you in the right direction and hope you get back up and running soon!

PS: This isn't a bug with FFXIV. This is a bug with Windows 8.1. Specifically a permissions issue with Windows 8.1 preventing the version check to actually happen and pass.

Be certain that your firewall isn't blocking communications. The version check error always hits when my network is down.

Greetings,

We understand that you are experiencing difficulties with the error message ‘unable to complete version check.’ There is already an open discussion regarding this same concern here. Please browse through this thread for any possible solutions you may not have tried yet. In an effort to consolidate information on this error, we ask that any additional information you gather be added to that thread. As such, we will be closing this particular thread. We apologize for any inconvenience. Thank you!