What fixes exist for a DirectX error that crashes to desktop after the main menu?

[Emma57]

I keep getting a DirectX error that crashes my game to desktop right after the main menu. The message says something about a device being removed, but my graphics drivers are up to date. I’m not sure what else to try or if it’s something specific about my setup.

[MasonJ]

I had a similar crash last week. I did a clean reinstall of the graphics driver (not just an update) and rebooted. Then I forced the game to use the discrete GPU in the control panel and turned off fullscreen optimizations in Windows. After that the crash stopped for me, though I can't promise it fixes everyone.

[Steven_M]

I found heat could be part of it. If the GPU runs hot, Windows can throw a DirectX device removed error. I dusted the PC, checked fans, and kept the room cooler. It helped, but the crashes still showed up sometimes.

[Kenneth39]

I swapped to windowed mode and lowered the resolution for a while, and I capped the frame rate to something sane. The crashes happened less often, and it bought me time to test other things, but it wasn’t a cure-all.

[Abigail_H]

What GPU do you have?