BioShock Infinite — Common Errors & How to Fix Them
The errors BioShock Infinite players actually hit on PC, what causes each one, and the fix that works.
Last updated 2026-09-25 · evergreen reference
These are the failures that BioShock Infinite players report most often, with the cause behind each one rather than a list of things to try at random.
Errors, causes and fixes
Start from the symptom that matches yours.
Crash on startup, sometimes every 5–10 minutes
What is happening: On-screen display software, overclocked GPUs, and virtual or VPN network adapters. Reports cluster around MSI Afterburner and the Killer e2200 controller.
Fix: Disable any OSD or hardware monitoring overlay, revert any GPU overclock, and disable virtual network adapters such as Hamachi or the Killer NIC.
Crashes during loading
What is happening: A corrupted local configuration folder.
Fix: Back up and move the BioShock Infinite folder out of Documents\My Games, then start the game so it rebuilds the folder. Also disable the NVIDIA overlay.
Microstutter
What is happening: Texture pool sizing and VSync behaviour in UE3.
Fix: Adaptive VSync on NVIDIA or dynamic VSync on AMD reduces it substantially. High-polling-rate mice can also cause it — Razer users should set polling rate to 125 Hz.
Xbox button prompts and a spinning camera with no controller attached
What is happening: The game auto-detects virtual joysticks, including those created by gaming mouse and keyboard software, Unified Remote and 3Dconnexion devices.
Fix: Remove physical controllers, disable virtual ones, or edit XEngine.ini and change AllowJoystickInput=1 to 0.
Cannot restore the game after Alt-Tab
What is happening: TeamViewer and similar remote software holding the display context.
Fix: Exit TeamViewer before playing.
Texture quality stuck on Very Low / textures never load
What is happening: The game misdetects your video memory, or Very High and Ultra texture streaming fails and retries forever.
Fix: Set PoolSize in XEngine.ini to roughly 400 less than your VRAM in MB, add -ReadTexturePoolFromIni as a launch option, or use -DisableTexturePool.
The order to work in
Cheapest and most reversible first.
1. Rule out the universal causes
Verify game files, update the GPU driver with a clean install, and close overlays, recorders and RGB utilities. Across every engine, these three resolve the largest share of crashes before you touch anything game-specific.
2. Match the fix to the symptom
A crash that happens in the same place every time in BioShock Infinite is usually asset or configuration damage — a cache, a config file or a mod. A crash that happens at random intervals is far more often a driver, an overlay, thermals or unstable memory tuning.
3. Change one thing, then retest
Load the same save, visit the same area and repeat the same action. If you change five settings at once you will never learn which one mattered, and you will end up reinstalling a game that did not need it.
Collecting evidence
What to gather before you ask anyone for help.
Logs beat descriptions
Most engines write a log you can attach: Warframe keeps EE.log in %LOCALAPPDATA%\Warframe, tModLoader writes client.log under Documents\My Games\Terraria\tModLoader\Logs, and Fallout 4 with Buffout 4 writes crash logs to My Games\Fallout4\F4SE. Find the equivalent for BioShock Infinite before you post.
Note the trigger and the timing
Whether it crashes on launch, in a specific area, after a set number of minutes, or only online. That single distinction separates config damage from thermals from network faults, and it is the first thing any support agent will ask.
Related pages
Game hub
All guides for this title in one place.
Open →Common errors
Symptoms, causes and fixes.
Open →Tips & tricks
Settings and options worth knowing.
Open →Best settings
Recommended settings by VRAM tier.
Open →Fix "Stuttering and microstutter"
A dedicated page for the Stuttering and microstutter error.
Open →This is an independent player reference and is not official documentation for BioShock Infinite. GameRulePro does not host or link to copyrighted assets. Modding guidance is for single-player use only — never use mods in online multiplayer. Verify current requirements, prices and policies with the publisher before acting.
Keep fixing
Can I run it? FPS calculator
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Open →All fix & optimization guides
Every crash, black-screen and FPS guide we have published.
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