I need help! "Unable to locate a running instance of steam" DayZ Standalone.

[staph24 2]

I need help. I bought this game through steam yesterday. But whenever I tried to open it, it says "Unable to locate a running instance of steam". 

I tried everything that has been suggested: 

1.) Restart Steam, Restart laptop

2.) Deleted appcache folder from steam then restarted my laptop and steam.

3.) Verified game cache then restarted steam.

4.) Re-installing steam and the game 4 times now.

5.) Tried running steam/DayZ as an administrator.

6.) Disabled any programs that might affect the game e.g. AntiVirus programs.

**Nothing worked. Please help. Felt like I wasted $30. **

 

[boneboys 7988]

Can you post your system specs please.

[staph24 2]

Processor: Intel® Core i7-3632QM CPU @ 2.20GHz 2.20 GHz (8 CPUs)

Installed memory (RAM): 8.00 GB (8192MB RAM) (7.90 GB usable)

System type: 64-bit Operating System, x64-based processor

Display: Intel® HD Graphics 4000

Chip Type: Intel® HD Graphics Family

DAC Type: Internal

Approx. Total Memory: 6107 MB

 

I actually have two graphic cards. Intel and AMD Radeon HD 7600M Series

*Detail for AMD Radeon graphic card:

Memory Size: 2048 MB

Graphics Bus Capability: PCI Express 2.0

Maximum Bus Setting: PCI Express 2.0 x 16

Core Clock in MHz: 600 MHz

Memory Clock in MHz: 900 MHz

[byrgesen 1340]

According to this, a full reinstall of steam fixes it mate.
You are gonna have to redownload your games though, unless you backup the appdata folder in steam and run verification of the files after the reinstall ofc.

[staph24 2]

According to this, a full reinstall of steam fixes it mate.

You are gonna have to redownload your games though, unless you backup the appdata folder in steam and run verification of the files after the reinstall ofc.

 

Re-installed steam and the game 4 times now. Didn't work. :(

[byrgesen 1340]

Re-installed steam and the game 4 times now. Didn't work. :(

 

Yeh sorry, didnt catch that in the OP.

Hmm then i dont really know what to do :(

[staph24 2]

Yeh sorry, didnt catch that in the OP.

Hmm then i dont really know what to do :(

It's all good bro. It just feels as if I wasted $30 on this game. Which is a shame cause I really like this game :(

[byrgesen 1340]

It's all good bro. It just feels as if I wasted $30 on this game. Which is a shame cause I really like this game :(

 

Understandable, but this is early acces, so its not a waste, as you will get the full game when its released, at a lower price then if you buy it then :)

I can understand its not fun you cant play atm, but trust me when i say, theres not a whole lot to play anyway tbh.

Wait atleast till the next patch and see if it fixes anything, its gonna be in development for a long time, almost 2 years, so theres plenty of time to fix stuff like this :)

[KaiDekA 36]

Hey mate, I get this when I have MSI afterburner running. I have another thread on here about it. I don't understand why it does it as I have other friends with near identical rigs and they don't have this issue. 

 

So if you are using Msi afterburner then try disabling it and see if that works, this may be the same for other OC software I can't say for certain as Afterburner is all I use.

[staph24 2]

Hey mate, I get this when I have MSI afterburner running. I have another thread on here about it. I don't understand why it does it as I have other friends with near identical rigs and they don't have this issue. 

 

So if you are using Msi afterburner then try disabling it and see if that works, this may be the same for other OC software I can't say for certain as Afterburner is all I use.

I dont use Msi afterburner. :-\ sigh.. I really want to play. Does it work for you know?

Understandable, but this is early acces, so its not a waste, as you will get the full game when its released, at a lower price then if you buy it then :)

I can understand its not fun you cant play atm, but trust me when i say, theres not a whole lot to play anyway tbh.

Wait atleast till the next patch and see if it fixes anything, its gonna be in development for a long time, almost 2 years, so theres plenty of time to fix stuff like this :)

Appreciate the optimism :) haha Hopefully I can play soon bro :)

[KaiDekA 36]

Yeah it does, it still crashes a lot but I accept that as it's Alpha. There are times when I have no issues whatsoever then there are times when it won't work at all. Just hang in there man, the devs are working hard to get the game finished and you will just have to keep trying.

I wish I could be more help mate. Have you tried running it with both graphics cards? maybe try disabling the onboard card?

[staph24 2]

Yeah it does, it still crashes a lot but I accept that as it's Alpha. There are times when I have no issues whatsoever then there are times when it won't work at all. Just hang in there man, the devs are working hard to get the game finished and you will just have to keep trying.

I wish I could be more help mate. Have/ you tried running it with both graphics cards? maybe try disabling the onboard card?

How can I disable the onboard card? My dad is a programmer and I actually asked him the same question but he said that If I'm playing a game and the onboard card(intel) cannot handle the graphics it automatically switches to my AMD radeon graphic card.

[KaiDekA 36]

Hey there it will automatically switch and I don't know if this will be the problem or not but it's something to try I guess, you would need to go into control panel, system, device manager and disable the onboard graphics. This may not fix the issue but it's something to try I guess.

I have had the exact same issue with the game in the past as I said mate and I know it's frustrating but you will get round it one day and when you do I promise you will be happy you persevered, Once you are on come share some beans and tactical bacon with me :D

[staph24 2]

Hey there it will automatically switch and I don't know if this will be the problem or not but it's something to try I guess, you would need to go into control panel, system, device manager and disable the onboard graphics. This may not fix the issue but it's something to try I guess.

I have had the exact same issue with the game in the past as I said mate and I know it's frustrating but you will get round it one day and when you do I promise you will be happy you persevered, Once you are on come share some beans and tactical bacon with me :D

DUDE IT WORKED! hahaha I figured out how to update my AMD graphics card when you told me how to disable my onboard graphics card! My beans are yours brother. :D Thanks alot! :D 

-Happy Survivor :D

[KaiDekA 36]

DUDE IT WORKED! hahaha I figured out how to update my AMD graphics card when you told me how to disable my onboard graphics card! My beans are yours brother. :D Thanks alot! :D

-Happy Survivor :D

Dude that's awesome. So glad that I have been able to help you on the long road towards becoming a survivor. 

[Art336 3]

I just began having this issue myself. Been playing for 60 hours with no issues. After scouring the internet and all relevant forums my thoughts are....meh, we have your cash, you figure it out.

 

*edit* Now I get that message every time I log in, but the game launches anyway after a 15-20 second delay.

Edited July 20, 2014 by Art336

[Rakonjac 0]

Man if u cant play DayZ i wanna try it on my pc if u wanna trade i got a lot of games :)

[boneboys 7988]

Man if u cant play DayZ i wanna try it on my pc if u wanna trade i got a lot of games :)

Not here you don't.