I'm trying to improve performance in Elite Dangerous, so I enabled Smooth Motion through the NVIDIA app. Since then, the game closes immediately when I launch it. I've seen reports that this problem was fixed, and someone else using the same driver version says it works for them, so I'm not sure what is causing the crash. Is there a Windows or game-specific log file I can check for more details?
System information:
NVIDIA driver: 610.88
Windows 11 25H2, build 26200.8875
CPU: Ryzen 5 5600X
GPU: RTX 4090
Memory: 32 GB
Motherboard: MSI B550-A PRO
2 Answers
The game’s installation or configuration directory may also contain crash dumps or log files, although not every game creates them. Since the crash started immediately after enabling Smooth Motion, I’d first disable that feature for Elite Dangerous and test a normal launch. If the game works afterward, the feature or its driver integration is probably the trigger. A clean NVIDIA driver reinstall or trying a different driver version could then help confirm whether it’s a compatibility issue.
Start with Windows Event Viewer. Open it and check Windows Logs > Application around the exact time of the crash. You can filter for Error or Application Error and look for the game executable or a related NVIDIA component. If nothing useful appears there, also check Reliability Monitor by searching for “View reliability history” in the Start menu; it often gives a clearer summary of application crashes and may show the faulting module.
I checked Windows Logs > Application and filtered around the launch time, but I didn’t see anything that appeared to be related to the game. I may be filtering it incorrectly, so I’ll check Reliability Monitor as well.
I looked through the game directory but didn’t find an obvious log folder or crash report. I’ll test the game with Smooth Motion disabled to see whether that isolates the problem.