Borderlands 2 launched on PC today and like every other time, those who couldn’t resist the temptation to play it on the first day, are experiencing several technical issues related to the game. Thankfully, we were prepared and made this Borderlands 2 PC Errors and Fixes guide to help.
Borderlands 2 PC Errors and Fixes
If you are among those unlucky few, who are experiencing different errors and bugs, you can refer to our troubleshooting guide that includes workarounds to fix these general errors and tweaks to make Borderlands 2 run smoothly on your machine.
1# Borderlands 2 Installation Fix – Can’t Start, Crash on Launch
After verifying the game cache, manually run these secondary installers required for the game. To do this, exit the steam entirely and go to Borderlands 2 installation directory (C:\Program files\Steam\Steamapps\common\Borderlands 2\)and look for:
- \Binaries\Redist\DXRedistCutdown\DXSETUP.exe
- \Binaries\Redist\vcredist_2005_x86.exe
- \Binaries\Redist\vcredist_2005_atl_x86.exe
- \Binaries\Redist\vcredist_x86.exe.exe
- \Binaries\Redist\dotNetFx40_Client_x86_x64.exe
Finish installing these and once done, restart your computer.
2# Borderlands 2 Won’t Go Past Preparing To Launch – Steam
If you can’t get past preparing to launch screen, verify the integrity of the game cache and restart Steam to fix this issue.
3# ATI FPS Fix
If you are experience performance issues on your ATI video card, download Orochi-CEG and you will definitely see a boost in performance.
4# FPS Stuttering Fix
This issue is due to PC’s connection to the router. If you are experiencing inconsistent FPS, you should try disabling your firewall and setting Steam in Offline Mode and disconnect from the network. If that doesn’t fix the issue, disable the network adapter itself or physically disconnect it.
5# Borderlands 2 is Choppy Fix
Set the PhysX to low and restart the game to resolve the issue.
6# How To Disable Outline Shader
Go to C:/Users/Yourname/My Games/Borderlands 2/WillowGame/Config/ and open Willowgame.ini with a text editor. Search for this line: DefaultPostProcessName=WillowEngineMaterials.Willo wScenePostProcess and change it to: DefaultPostProcessName=EngineMaterials.DefaultUIPo stProcess to disable the outline shader.
This will remove the black lines but you will have to disable ‘Depth of Field’ to fix otherwise blurry screen.
7# Borderlands 2 Lag Fix
Set the PhysX to low and restart the game. It will reduce all the lag you are experiencing while playing the game.
8# Can’t Connect To Friends?
If you can’t connect to your friends for Co-op, try enabling DMZ mode on your router with firewall turned and all ports for Borderlands 2 forwarded. You need to forward TCP: 7777,7778, 28900, 28902,28910 and UDP: 7777,7778, 27900, 28902.
After that, set in-game Network Option from Online Friends Only to Online Invite Only. You should be able to connect to your friends after that but if that doesn’t work either, go to Steam Settings > Account Tab to opt into Steam Beta. Doing so might fix this issue.
9# Join Game Error ‘Time Out Fix’
If you are receiving this error upon joining your friends game, go to Steam Game Library and right click on Borderlands 2. Choose Properties and go to General Tab and open Set Launch Options. Type “-tcp”.
This should fix this error and enable you to join your friend’s Borderlands 2 game online. Don’t forget to go through #8 for some other workarounds to fix online connection issues.
10# Mouse Cursor is Invisible
Unplug any controller or USB device that you have plugged into your computer to resolve this bug.
11# How To Enable Hybrid PhysX in Borderlands 2
If you are running Borderlands 2 on ATI/nVidia hybrid PhysX setup, this is how you can enable full PhysX.
- Download latest ForceWare from nVidia and then install it.
- Install version 1.05ff of the Hybrid Mod.
- Run the PhysX-HwSelection-set-GPU.cmd file in the Extras folder of the Hybrid Mod.
- You will see PhysX option greyed out. In order to force it, go to your My Documents\My Games folder, within you should see a Borderlands 2 folder.
- Open the Borderlands 2 folder -> WillowGame -> Config folders. Path should be something like: C:\Users\\Documents\My Games\Borderlands 2\WillowGame\Config
- Find and open the WillowEngine.ini file.
- Find the line that reads “PhysXLevel=” (It probably says PhysXLevel=0)
- PhysXLevel=1 is Medium and PhysXLevel=2 is High.
- Save your desired value, save, and launch the game to enjoy full PhysX.
12# .Net Framework Loop Fix
To fix this issue, go to game directory and look for .Net executable. For example, for Windows 7 64-bit, go to Program Files(x86)/Steam/steamapps/common/Borderlands 2/Binaries/Redist/dotNetFx40_Client_x86_x64.exe.
Run and install this file and you should be able to start the game fine. Alternatively, you can install it from here.
13# DISK IO Failure
Restart your PC and Steam. If that doesn’t fix, delete local content and re-download the game to resolve the issue.
14# How To Disable Cell Shading
If you are finding it difficult to see objects from far and basically have FXAA disabled. This tweak makes it easy to disable Cell Shading in Borderlands 2.
Go to your .ini config files directory. On windows 7, this is Documents/My Games/Borderlands 2/WillowGame/Config.
- Find WillowEngine.ini
- Ctrl-F to find “WillowScenePostProcess”
- Replace with “RyanScenePostProcess”*
- You can also set the file to read-only.
This will result in massive FPS boost in performance. Do note that this will make Borderlands 2 completely unplayable with Depth of Field and probably breaks other shaders so for this tweak, you will have turn everything else off. DefaultThumbnailPostProcess” works as well. RyanScenePostProcess seems to run faster for some reason.
15# Borderlands 2 Stuttering ATI Fix
You can download the new drivers for your ATI card here to resolve different stuttering issues you are experiencing while playing this game.
16# Borderlands 2 Blue Screen of Death Fix
Update your motherboard bios to fix this issue. Be warned, do it at your risk. You can read a detailed account of issues relating to Steam Games and ATI video cards on the official forums.
17# ATI Crossfire
If you are using a Crossfire, download This Application to resolve this issue.
18# Disable black outlines
Go to the configuration files location.
Open WillowEngine.ini.
Find the following line and set it to this value
19# Borderlands 2 Launcher Crash
Validate your files through Steam to resolve this issue.
20# Black Frame Around Game in Full-Screen
You might have to manually change the resolution to fix this issue.
21# Borderlands 2 Crash on Launch Direct3D Related
Update your DirectX and video card drivers to resolve this issue.
22# FPS Drops During Combat
To fix this issue, download and install PhysX drivers from here. After installing the drivers, set PhysX to low and run the game.
23# Force Software PhysX
Go to the configuration files location.
Open WillowGame.ini.
Add the following to the end of the file and set as read-only:
bPhysXEnabled=False
Open willowengine.ini
Under [Engine.Engine] add this:
bDisablePhysXHardwareSupport=True
If you come across any other Borderlands 2 PC Errors and Fixes, let us know in the comments below and we will try to help you out!
