Windows 7 Compatibility for Steam version

[Stamaskas]

After a few support tickets, I have chosen to do every single thing this last one has included. This included them telling me to use Windows 7 Comparability. Last time I tried messing with this, my game basically just broke because I was not sure what to set compatibility to.

They say to do change it from properties under the desktop icon, but being I am using the Steam version, I have to dive into the actual folder. However, the problem here is that there are so many different application files for this game that I have no idea which one to actually set to this so I decided to come ask here.

The following are all the application files I could find inside the installation folder:

Under the boot folder:
ffxivboot
ffxivconfig
ffxivlauncher
ffxivsysinfo
ffxivsysinfo64
ffxivupdater

Under the game folder:
ffxiv
ffxiv_dx11

The only one I set so far was dx11 simply because I was trying to fix the Fatal error with it which did not fix it. My one attempt I went crazy and changed them all to Windows 7 Compatibility which wrecked the game. My guess is that it is either supposed to be the ffxiv/ ffxiv_dx11 and/or the ffxivlauncher application files but I just want to make sure so I can avoid breaking the game again.

Thank you for your time.

[Einmimiria]

Good morning and thank you for posting on the Final Fantasy XIV Technical Support Forums.

The one you want to change the compatibility for is the 'ffxivboot.exe' file. We suggest changing it to Windows 7 as that is the Operating System the base game was designed for. Changing it for the shortcut generally doesn't work in my experience so use that exe file.

What is the original issue you were running into? Does changing the compatibility resolve it?

We hope we can be of assistance in helping you enjoy the exciting world of Final Fantasy XIV!

[Stamaskas]

My original issue has been my game appears to do some weird 'alt tab' lag. I call it that because it acts the same as if I had alt tabbed, like how it looks and how task manager usage shows. My latest support ticket said it has to do with internet stuff, and being it has done this for 3 different services as I have moved around 3 times in last 3 months, I do not believe it is the current provider. There were a few internet explorer options I did not have correct and a few other things. I also had Dx11 errors and I will run and test it all now with this and let you know if it has been resolved.

Thanks for your quick response.

[Einmimiria]

Thank you for the reply Stamaskas.

I'm not entirely sure what you mean by 'Alt-Tab lag,' can you describe that a bit more? What other things has support already suggested you try?

We hope we can be of assistance in helping you enjoy the exciting world of Final Fantasy XIV!

[Stamaskas]

I was unable to test it effectively but did get to a populated S rank that was close enough to a Fate and lagged right away and crashed right after so it is not fixed.

As for the 'alt tab' lag, its hard to explain. I am sure you know how the game looks when you alt tab out of a fullscreen borderless, how it runs at like 10 fps since its not priority ran. It seems that is basically what is happening, except I am not actually alt tabbed since my game is still responding to my key clicks. Also, my task manager drops its CPU/GPU usage drops completely also like when I alt tab from the game. I truly have no idea what could be causing it.

The support told me to use windows 7 compatibility, change a few internet explorer options, and a bunch of other stuff. The only thing I really have not tried and am currently trying is reinstalled the game and repatching it. Other then that, I have no clue what is causing it and what I can do to fix it anymore.

[Einmimiria]

Thank you for the update Stamaskas.

When you mentioned lag, I was thinking it was a connection issue, but it sounds like you are getting a lower frame rate even if you shouldn't be? You also mentioned that your game crashes, what error message are you getting (if any)?

While in game, go to System Settings and find the Display settings. Here you will find an option that will restrict frame rate while the client is inactive. Make sure this is unchecked. If you have any overlays on your PC (Geforce Experience, Discord Overlay, etc.), try disabling those.

Can you submit a Final Fantasy XIV system report? Simply go to the 'Config' option on the Final Fantasy XIV launcher and to the right of 'System Information' click on 'Display.'

We hope we can be of assistance in helping you enjoy the exciting world of Final Fantasy XIV!

[Stamaskas]

I do have both monitors running at same time and just would not be willing to give one up as going from 2 back to 1 just feels terrible. For the GPU, I completely removed it and then installed it from GeForce Experience. It seemed like I needed to restart but my computer would not let me stop it from installing whatever it could find first. When the update happens, it does uninstall the driver and then install it as part of the process so there is that. As for GPU, I have not done anything to it since I bought it. If it had a factory Overclock, then yes it does have that. I usually run my own but have been removing it during testing.

Edit: Looking up how to properly deal with the fresh install and will test it. May or may not have results before you can respond.

Update: Did a fresh installation of the GPU driver by the GeForce Experience custom options, updated Windows, and removed the factory overclock using the debug option. Took about and hour and a half of running around Ralgar's Reach waiting for daily queues but it did eventually start to lag again and consistently, so that did not fix it either sadly. As for the second monitor, while I have no tested it yet, I would like to hope that would not be a problem when most people use dual monitors nowadays anyways. Would be pretty disappointing to have a game have problems with that aspect :/