11 tips on how to fix crashes in CoD MW2 on the PC

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 keeps crashing? We have tips on how to fix these crashes.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is the latest installment in the popular shooter series. But some players complain about annoying crashes and other problems that interfere with gaming.

MeinMMO presents you with a handful of tips and tricks on how you can fix crashes on the PC and how your game can run better again.

All tips at a glance:

Check system requirements

First you should check whether your gaming PC is even capable of handling the new first-person shooter. If your system meets the minimum requirements, then the game should definitely start. However, it is better if you have stronger hardware available.

minimum

OS	Windows® 10 64-bit
Pere.gessor	Intel® Core™ i3-6100 / Core™ i5-2500K or AMD Ryzen™ 3 120
R.A.M.	8GB RAM
GPU	NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 960 or AMD Radeon™ RX 470 – DirectX 12.0 compatible
DirectX	version 12
nopenetwork	Broadband internet connection
Storage	125 GB of free storage space

Recommended

OS	Windows® 10 64-bit or Windows® 11 64-bit
Perzessor	Intel® Core™ i5-6600K / Core™ i7-4770 or AMD Ryzen™ 5 1400
R.A.M.	12GB RAM
GPU	NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1060 or AMD Radeon™ RX 580 – DirectX 12.0 compatible
DirectX	version 12
network	Broadband internet connection
Storage	125 GB of free storage space

MeinMMO also lists the PC system requirements for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 in more detail. We’ll show you the requirements for your hardware for minimal, recommended, competitive and ultra and what else you have to consider:

Reduce graphics settings

expenditure of time: 15 – 30 minutes | Costs: no | Difficulty: Easy

You meet the minimum requirements of CoD: MW2, but are far from meeting the recommended requirements? Here it is advisable to reduce certain graphics settings.

• For example, reduce the texture quality if you have a graphics card with little video memory.
• Also reduces the level of detail in the game for better performance.
• Decreases your Field of View in game.
• Shadows in particular often require a lot of power and only slightly degrade your experience.

You can also avoid the game suddenly crashing because your computer can no longer handle the game.

By the way, you can also find the best settings for the shooter on MeinMMO if you want to go for the best frame rate:

Run game as administrator

expenditure of time: 5 minutes | Costs: no | Difficulty: Easy

If your game crashes regularly or the error 0x887a0005 appears, then you should run the game as an administrator.

• To do this, go to the folder where your game exe file is located, right click on the file and select “Properties.”
• Here you switch to the “Compatibility” tab.
• Under “Settings” you tick “Run this program as an administrator” and then click “Apply” at the bottom right.

If you are playing the game through Steam, you must also run Steam as an administrator. Otherwise Steam CoD: Modern Warfare 2 cannot start. To do this, you proceed in the same way as with the exe of the game.

Update old graphics card drivers

expenditure of time: 15 – 30 minutes | Costs: no | Difficulty: Easy

You should also update your graphics card driver. Because AMD, Intel and Nvidia often provide bug fixes and improvements for certain games with their drivers. On top of that, the software often unlocks features that you cannot use without the update.

You can save the installation file of your old software as a backup. Because if the problems get bigger instead of smaller with the update, you can reinstall the old version.

Installs current system updates for your operating system

expenditure of time: 15 – 60 minutes | Costs: no | Difficulty: Middle

Keep your operating system up to date. No matter which operating system you use, you should install the latest updates. This plugs you possible security gaps and eliminates problems that the OS could cause.

Depending on how long you haven’t installed any updates, the process may take a little longer. You should therefore plan some time. Also think of drivers for audio devices and peripherals, for example, which is often and quickly forgotten.

Check your game files (Steam or Battle.net)

expenditure of time: 60 – 120 minutes | Costs: no | Difficulty: Easy

Sometimes it can happen that game files get corrupted during a download or an update. In this case the game won’t start or just crashes. On the PC you have the possibility to check your game files – depending on which client you use.

Since Modern Warfare 2 is very large, it takes quite a long time to control the game files and replace them. You should therefore not check the files before a particularly important match, but should take enough time beforehand.

You cannot play the game while the files are being checked.

If you use Battle.net:

• Opened Battle.net
• Select the gear next to the blue Play button and click Scan and Repair.
• The game will then be reloaded and in the best case scenario the error will be fixed.

If you use Steam:

• Right-click the game in your library.
• Click Properties and then click Local Files.
• Select the option to check the integrity of the game files.
• The game will then be checked by Steam. Finally, Steam tells you whether and how many files were faulty and have been replaced.

Disables system overlays for gaming

expenditure of time: 30 minutes | Costs: no | Difficulty: Middle

Many programs such as Steam, Discord or graphics card software offer certain overlays. This allows you to display notifications in the game or see your system performance.

However, some games are not compatible with these overlays or are not supported at all. In the best case, you turn off these overlays. On top of that, these also require a certain system performance, as they are permanently displayed in the background.

Check windows

expenditure of time: 30 minutes | Costs: no | Difficulty: Easy

Another option is to check your Windows system. This is already possible with simple on-board tools and you do not have to install any additional software:

• To do this, open the Windows start menu and type in “cmd”. Then you right-click on the “Command Prompt” and start the program as an administrator.
• Enter sfc /SCANNOW in the window and confirm with Enter.
• Windows will now search for corrupt files and repair them. This may take several minutes.

Enable Hi-Rez Assets cache

expenditure of time: 5 – 10 minutes | Costs: no | Difficulty: Easy

If you use high-resolution graphics, this can also lead to a crash. To prevent such crashes, you can activate a cache in the settings, where you temporarily store the data on the hard drive. In order to use the Hi-Rez Assets Cache, you need at least 32 GB of free storage space.

This creates a cache to help stream assets when they are needed. If you don’t activate this setting, then, in the most annoying case, there will be glitches or crashes.

Set an exception in Windows Firewall

expenditure of time: 10 minutes | Costs: no | Difficulty: Middle

If the firewall blocks the game from running, CoD: MW2 will crash on launch. The same applies to antivirus programs from other providers. It is best to set an exception here so that the game can start without any problems.

MW2 should start in the correct resolution

expenditure of time: 10 minutes | Costs: no | Difficulty: Easy

In some cases it can happen that the resolution of your game does not match the resolution of your monitor and is way too big or too small. A look at the MW2 config file will help here.

To do this, switch to your documents folder under Windows, look for the MW2 folder and the corresponding user. You can open and edit the config file with the standard Windows text editor.

In most cases, the resolution is represented as two four-digit numbers (about 1920×1080 for Full HD).

Check whether the value entered here corresponds to the resolution that your monitor can also display. You can easily check which resolution your monitor currently supports:

• Press the Windows key + I
• Here you select “Display” and then the item “Extended display”
• Here you can see the screen resolution that you are currently using

Deletes the config file

expenditure of time: 5 minutes | Costs: no | Difficulty: Easy

You have made settings in the game and suddenly the game no longer starts or keeps crashing? Here it can help if you simply delete the configuration file of your game.

To do this, switch to your documents folder under Windows, look for the MW2 folder and the corresponding user and then delete the file.

The deleted file will be automatically generated by the game the next time you start the game. In the best case, the reason for the crash is then eliminated.

More tips and guides for CoD MW2: Are you looking for more guides for the new Call of Duty? Then take a look at MeinMMO: Here we provide you with the latest tips and information about the new shooter. Weapon setups and setting tips are also included if you want to really get started:

CoD MW2: All guides, tips and weapon setups at a glance