Dave the Diver Crashing: Best 6 Ways To Fix It

Dave the Diver is one of the most engaging games I’ve played, and it reminds me of a lot of Subnautica; well, minus the underwater jumpscares and a lot of farming cave sulfur. However, during one of the dives, I tried to restock my sushi supply and encountered Dave the Diver’s crashing problem several times. Upon researching this problem online, other players have also faced the same issue. So, we’ll do a deep dive into this issue and help you solve it so you can get back into your scuba gear and bring exotic fish to your restaurant. 

Since Dave the Diver is a really easy-to-run game, even on old hardware, we won’t get into its system requirements. Instead, we’ll be jumping ahead to the fixes that will resolve the crashing issue. 

Run Dave The Diver As Administrator

Due to a lack of proper permissions, Dave the Diver cannot properly communicate with your system, causing it to crash. This means its access to your system resources is limited, and it’s having trouble accessing your storage drive and internet connection. To fix this, you’ll have to run Dave the Diver as an administrator. Here’s how to do it: 

1. The easiest way to locate your Dave the Diver installation folder is by going into Steam. Here, you’ll need to open up the game library > locate Dave the Diver here > right-click on the game and hover over manage, then click on the browse local files option.

   

2. After you click on the Browse Local Files option, Windows Explorer will open up, and you’ll be inside the game directory.
3. Here you’ll need to right-click on the main DaveTheDiver.exe file and select its properties. 
4. Inside the properties, go to the compatibility tab. 

   

5. Once you’re inside the compatibilities tab, you’ll need to check mark both Run This Program As An Administrator and Disable Fullscreen Optimizations options. 
6. Once you’re done, click on OK to save changes.

Now finally, Dave the Diver will run with administrator permissions which will let the game properly utilize your system resources. This means it won’t be crashing due to not having access to your system resources. 

Verify Dave The Diver’s Game Files

Due to several reasons, including third-party applications like antiviruses and system cleaners, game files can be deleted or corrupted. Once deleted, the game will not even start. Even if it starts for some reason, you’ll face Dave the Diver crashing issue as soon as you start the game. To resolve this issue, you’ll need to verify the game files. 

1. You’ll first need to open up Steam and access your games library. Inside the library, simply locate Dave the Diver.
2. Once you find it, right-click on it and open up properties.

   

3. Once you’re inside the priorities, you should click on the installed files tab on the left, then select the option that says Verify Integrity Of Game Files.

   

As soon as you click on the Verify Integrity of Game Files option, Steam will start scanning Dave the Diver’s installation folder and check for any missing or corrupted files. Once it detects any files that are missing or gone corrupted, it’ll start downloading them immediately. After all the files are downloaded, Steam will automatically replace them within the installation directly. 

If you did have any files that were replaced or downloaded, you can rest easy knowing then you won’t have to face Dave the Diver crashing issue anymore. 

Set Dave The Diver Application To High Priority

In several cases, your PC might be treating your game as a low-cost application; hence it’s limiting resources directed towards it. When Dave the Diver isn’t getting the proper amount of resources for it to function, the game will ultimately crash. So, to fix this issue, you’ll need to raise the priority level for Dave the Diver while it’s running. Here’s how to do it: 

1. First, you have to make sure that the game is running. Once it’s running, you’ll need to minimize it by hitting ALT+TAB. 
2. Once you’re at your desktop, use the shortcut key CTRL+SHIFT+ESC to open up the task manager. 
3. As you open up task manager, you’ll need to locate Dave the Diver’s game in the list of programs. After you find it, simply right-click on it and select “Go To Details.”

   

4.  Once you jump into the details, you’ll see the core process of Dave the Diver highlighted. You’ll have to right-click on it and hover over the set priority option. In the extended menu, select the Realtime option. 

   

And that’s it. Now your Dave the Diver will run at a higher priority compared to other applications running in the background. This will ensure that your PC properly directs its resources towards the game and you aren’t facing Dave the Diver crashing issue due to them. 

Disable Third-Party In-Game Overlays

You’ll definitely have some applications installed that offer in-game overlays for your games. These overlays are always active even if you aren’t using them. The fact that they’re active during your gameplay means they’re using your system resources and may degrade your gaming performance as well. 

But that’s not even the biggest concern that you should have regarding overlays. Overlays also tend to clash with games causing them to crash as soon as you launch them or at certain points during your gameplay. These overlays might be the reason that you’re facing Dave the Diver crashing issue frequently. So, I recommend that you disable these third-party overlays and try playing the game again. 

Here’s how to disable overlays of some of the most popular applications that might even be installed on your PC: 

Steam

Steam has an in-game overlay that stays active while playing Steam games. Since you’re playing Dave the Diver on Steam, you’ll have it active as well. If you aren’t using it, but it’s still active in the background, I’d recommend that you disable it. Here’s how to do it: 

1. You first need to open Steam up and locate Dave the Diver in your game library. 
2. As you locate it, right-click on it and open up its properties. 

3. In the properties, you’ll be greeted with the General tab. Inside the general tab, you’ll spot an option called Enable Steam Overlay while in-game. 
4. Once you toggle the setting off, close up Steam. 

By following the process above, you’ll disable the Steam Overlay for Dave the Diver only. Try launching the game now to check whether you’re facing crashing or not. 

Discord

Discord is one of the most popular communication applications for gamers that you’ll definitely have installed. Now Disocrd has an overlay, too, that lets you observe your voice chat activity in-game. If you are playing solo or don’t have anyone on Discord much, you can simply disable this feature. Here’s how to do it: 

1. Open Discord, which will run in your taskbar in the bottom-right corner. 
2. As it opens up, click the settings (gear) icon next to your name and display a picture.  

3. Once you access the settings, you’ll need to head toward the Game Overlay tab by scrolling down. 
4. This tab will contain the setting Enable In-Game Overlay on the top. You’ll need to toggle it off to disable Discord Overlay for all the games.

This will disable Discord in-game overlay for good, and you can enable it anytime if you feel the need for it. 

Xbox Game Bar

Xbox Game Bar is a gaming feature that Microsoft introduced back in Windows 10. It helps you capture in-game moments through screenshots or video clips. However, it’s a resource-intensive program that can clash with your game, causing the Dave the Diver crashing problem. Here’s how you can disable it. 

1. You’ll first need to open Windows Settings by hitting the shortcut key WIN+I.

2. After you’re inside the Windows Settings, you’ll need to head towards the Gaming Tab section and then into the Captures Menu here. 
3. First things first, you’ll need to toggle off or disable all options here just for safe measure. 
4. Once you’re finished, head into the Apps Tab and then later to the Apps and Features section.

5. As you enter the Apps and Features section, you’ll spot the search bar right under the app list section. In the Search bar, you’ll need to type Xbox Game Bar. 
6. Once you type it up, the Xbox Game Bar application will pop up. You’ll have to click on the 3 dots next to it, then select advanced options from the context menu. 
7. Inside the advanced options, there will be a setting named Let This App Run in the Background.
8.  
9. Here, you’ll spot a search bar in the App List section. Type Game Bar in the search and the Xbox Game Bar application will pop up.
10. Click on the 3 dot menu next to it and access the Advanced Options.
11. Inside the Advanced Options, you’ll see a setting called Let This App Run In The Background. It’s right under the Background App permissions. Simply set it to Never, which will disable Xbox Game Bar from our PC.
12. After you’re done, also try to terminate the application to stop the Xbox Game Bar process immediately.

And that’s about it. Doing this process will completely disable Xbox Game Bar from your PC for all applications. 

Besides the applications mentioned above, there are several other applications, like MSI Afterburner and Nvidia Shadowplay, that also create problems for your games in some cases. Also, try disabling them to make sure you won’t be facing Dave the Diver crashing problem anymore. 

Remove Any Overclocking Profiles

Dave the Diver is fundamentally a game that requires really low resources to run. As we’ve discussed before, the game can crash if the resources are limited. However, the opposite is also possible. If the game has access to overclocked CPU and GPU, it’ll simply become overloaded and crash just the same. 

So, to check whether it’s your overclocking profile creating problems for you, simply disable it and restore the default clock speeds for both your CPU and GPU. You can do it either from the software you’ve originally overclocked or your UEFI. Once you’ve restored the original CPU and GPU clock profiles, try rerunning the game. 

If the game is working fine without crashes, then I suggest you keep the clock speeds to default until you switch to another significantly demanding game that could use the overclock. 

Whitelist Dave The Dive From Your Antivirus Settings

One of the major reasons behind Dave the Diver crashing issue might be your antivirus software. Antivirus software is known to clash with gaming applications. It restricts their access to system resources as well as storage devices. Antiviruses also generate a false-positive against game applications which ends up removing your game files. 

So, to check if your issue originates from your antivirus software, we’ll need to disable it temporarily. We’ll be taking the example of Windows Defender, but you can do the same with any other antivirus.  

1. Open up Windows Search Bar and type in Windows Security, and then access the first result that pops up. 
2. Inside the Windows Security settings, you’ll need to head over to the Virus and Threat Protection Tab on the left side. Here, simply go to the Virus & Threat Protection section n click on Manage Settings.

   

3. Inside the settings for Virus & Threat settings. You’ll need to turn off the Real-Time Protection feature..

   

After you turn off the Real-Time Protection setting, your Antivirus shields will completely disable alongside its scanning abilities. Now all you need to do is launch Dave the Diver and verify if the game is crashing or not. If the game is working just fine, it means the antivirus really was at fault. However, we can’t leave your PC unprotected from threats. So we’ll simply whitelist the game directory for Dave the Diver.

Here’s how to do it:

1. As you’ll be already in the manage settings tab, head over to you’ll need to scroll down and click on the option that says Add or Remove Exclusions under the exclusions header. Click on it

   

2. Inside this option, you’ll need need to click on the +Add An Exclusion option and proceed with adding a folder to the exclusions. 
3. Now, you’ll need to browse Dave the Diver installation directory and save it in the exclusions. 

   

Now your PC will be protected by the Windows Defender, but it won’t interfere anymore with Dave the Diver. Now you’ll be able to play the game without any issues easily. 

Did You Finally Fix Your Crashing Issue?

These were all the most effective fixes we could come up with to fix Dave the Diver cashing issue on PC. Dave the Diver has been rising the wave of popularity on Steam Charts, and it’s continuing to attract new players towards it. Hopefully, these crashing issues will be resolved with an official patch sooner or later. Until that happens, the fixes in my guide will definitely aid you in playing the game smoothly. 

Check out more Dave the Diver guides on eXputer: 

• Dave The Diver: Marlin [Location & How To Catch]
• Dave The Diver: Missing Beluga Quest [Walkthrough]
• Dave The Diver: Vampire Squid Location
• Dave The Diver: Best Staff [Top 10]
• Dave The Diver: Where The Currents Flow [Walkthrough]