A stubborn error associated with Plants vs. Zombies is the “fatal error”, which is typically encountered during startup. To fix this error, we’ll be showing you some workarounds in this tutorial.
This “fatal error” is especially notorious on Windows, and going by the level of notoriety of this error, many players have been pushed to claim a refund from PopCap (on the purchase of the game).
If you’re encountering this, you don’t have to claim a refund; this article will show you how to fix the error.
Fix: Plants vs. Zombies Fatal Error
This error has been attributed to a bug on the PC version of the game, as it’s practically nonexistent on the Mac and mobile versions.
In any case, below are some proven fixes:
Fix 1: Play in Windowed Mode
The main cause of this error has been attributed to a bug, which is activated once the game is set to fullscreen mode on PC. Hence, to fix this, disable the fullscreen mode, and set the game to “windowed” mode.
To do this, follow the steps below:
- Click on the Windows + R keys to open “Run” dialog box.
- Input “regedit” and click Enter.
- In the Registry Editor, locate and double-click on
- On the displayed list, locate ScreenMode and double-click it.
- Set its value from “1” to “0”.
- Save changes and exit Registry Editor.
- Restart PC.
Relaunch the game and see if the fatal error is fixed.
Note: If this error is encountered after launch, you can easily click the Alt + Enter keys to enter “windowed” mode. Then, close the game and relaunch.
If the error persists, try the next fix.
Fix 2: Check and Disable G-Sync
Some players claim they were able to fix this error by disabling the G-Sync feature on their monitor. This fix is, however, only applicable to those who have the feature enabled on their video or graphics card (basically NVIDIA).
So, if you encounter this error and you have G-Sync enabled, try and disable it, and see if the error is fixed.
Closing Note
If neither of the fixes above could fix the “fatal error”, try and verify the integrity of the game’s cache; to check for any faulty or missing installation file. Also, you can remove the whole package (including associated data), and reinstall a fresh package.
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Daniel Segun is a technology writer with over 5 years of experience. He loves to teach and inspire others. When he is not writing, he’s probably busy developing websites. You can reach him here.
