Windower 4.0 crashing on windows 8.1

Everytime I try to log in using Windower 4.0 on my windows 8.1 desktop, it works fine up until the area where i click "Play". During the transition from POL to FFXI, it always crashes by saying that there is no response from the program...

Anyone else have these problems? I do start Windower 4.0 with right click, run as admin each and every time and it still seems to happen...

Appreciate any help so i can play using Windower 4.0!

Unfortunately this is a common error on Windows 8 and we could not yet fix it, or even reproduce it on our end when we tried. Also unfortunately, we not know of a surefire way to fix it. Some people have had various success with various methods (some of them are documented here), but all in all there is no solution for that yet. A Windows reinstallation sometimes works, but it's not guaranteed. Upgrading to Windows 7 seems, by far, the easiest and best solution, both for FFXI and in general.

Thank you for your reply. I have used Windower 4.0 on my laptop which has Windows 8.0; not 8.1 and can run it fine with no problems. Never has it the screen ever crashed going from POL to FFXI. 

Could it be that there are issues from 8.0 to 8.1? FFXI in Windowed Mode seems to work fine on my 8.1 and it would occasionally work on Windower 4.0 before the latest version update...

Hope someone can find a solution as I do very much enjoy playing FFXI on Windower 4.0...

Thanks!

Unfortunately, it does not seem to be related to the Win 8 vs. Win 8.1 difference, some people have reported the opposite working for them.

Hmm...so are you saying that there have been no reported problems of Windower 4.0 crashing from POL play to FFXI window in Windows 7? I do have a copy of Win 7 Professional 64 bit that i could try to install, but don't wanna do it if the same problem will exist...

None, it's almost certainly a Windows 8 issue. It's not that we don't want to fix it, but the crash dumps are of no use and none of us was ever able to reproduce it (we have a lot of active Windows 8 players, it definitely does not happen for everyone), so that makes debugging a bitch. None of the clues of when it starts and stops happening are coherent either, that's why it has been eluding us for so long. Installing Windows 7 would almost definitely fix that, but up to you to decide whether or not it's worth it for you. Most people would recommend Windows 7 over 8 for other reasons anyway, but that's up to your taste

Installed Windows 7 Professional last night, installed FFXI. Will try the Windower 4.0 later for the moment of truth!

Do I need to always right click and run as ADMIN for each time i open windower? If i double click windower 4.0, it seems to show the same thing as if running as ADMIN so not sure what the difference is exactly?

You don't ever have to do it, it runs as admin by default.

So installed Windower 4.0 last night and all was good until it transitioned from POL to FFXI login screen. When clicking accept for the first screen, it stays stuck on "connecting to lobby server".

This was very similar to what I experience occasionally with my Windows 8.1 OS also...any suggestions? 

Also, this was all the while windows 7 pro windows updates were going on as well. Could that may have caused an issue?

yes

what do you suggest i do? uninstall windower 4.0 and wait till all windows updates are done - then reinstall windower 4.0?

just wait till the updates are done then try to run windower again

even after the windows updates, it still stays stuck at "connecting to lobby server." ...any suggestions??!?

will it load vanila ffxi??

The "Connecting to lobby server." window is after Windower has started up, it seems like it's probably an issue with your internet connection. Make sure you can play without Windower, but I suspect you will see the same problem. Check your firewall, router, etc.

Yes i can play with vanilla ffxi in windowed mode no problem...

Again, check your firewall, you should also check your anti-virus software, and make sure that Windower isn't getting blocked some how. If you've double checked all of that, make sure that you're not loading any plugins or addons and try again. Windower itself doesn't really do anything that would cause you to hang at the "Connecting to lobby server." screen. The only thing it does after the blue screen appears is load your plugins and addons; anything else that might fail happens before FFXI opens.

checked antivirus and firewall - if FFXI vanilla mode works, then shouldn't windower 4.0 mode work also?

Also, now it doesn't even get to FFXI screen. sometimes the screen is blank white and the login page doesn't even load..

Sometimes, it crashes from POL to FFXI and says the program is not responding..

checked antivirus and firewall - if FFXI vanilla mode works, then shouldn't windower 4.0 mode work also?

 

Also, now it doesn't even get to FFXI screen. sometimes the screen is blank white and the login page doesn't even load..

 

Sometimes, it crashes from POL to FFXI and says the program is not responding..

ok try loading windower with out any addons or plugins enabled

none of the plugins or addins are downloaded so not sure what i have to disable?