Rainmeter is crashing! What do I do?
Posted: February 27th, 2018, 7:31 pm
If Rainmeter crashes, the steps to take are:
1) Goto %APPDATA%\Rainmeter and rename Rainmeter.ini to Rainmeter.ini.bak
(C:\Users\YourName\AppData\Roaming\Rainmeter)
2) Restart Rainmeter. The default illustro skins should load and all will be well.
This will correct the problem probably 90% of the time. The problem is with a skin or a 3rd-party plugin a skin is using, and you will need to add back in the skins you were running until you find the one that crashes it.
If not...
3) Entirely delete the following folders:
-- C:\Users\YourName\AppData\Roaming\Rainmeter
-- C:\Users\YourName\Documents\Rainmeter
-- C:\Program Files\Rainmeter
4) Download the latest release or beta (recommended) of Rainmeter from https://www.rainmeter.net.
5) Install Rainmeter. The default illustro skins should load and all will be well.
If not...
Now we know the problem is certainly not with a skin or a 3rd-party plugin. We have to dig a bit deeper.
6) Repeat step 3 above.
7) Run scans using both your antivirus software and MalwareBytes AntiMalware. Let them clean up any problems.
8) Repeat step 4 above.
9) Install Rainmeter. The default illustro skins should load and all will be well.
If not...
10) Repeat steps 3 and 4 above.
11) Download and install the latest version of the drivers for your graphics card.
12) Install Rainmeter. The default illustro skins should load and all will be well.
If not...
13) Repeat steps 3 and 4 above.
14) Open a cmd.exe command prompt window, running it "As administrator"
In that window, execute the following in turn:
sfc /scannow
This will take anywhere from a few minutes to an hour to run. If it finds and fixes any problems with system files, you MUST run it again, and keep doing so until it runs and reports that no problems were found. If it finds and corrects any issues, reboot your PC after. This is hideously time consuming, but the health of your PC is more important that anything to do with Rainmeter itself.
DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth
This will take a few minutes to run. If it finds and corrects any issues, reboot your PC after.
15) Install Rainmeter. The default illustro skins should load and all will be well.
That's about it. These are the steps I would take, which are just about everything logical you can do short of a complete repair or re-install of Windows itself. Unless you really do have actual hardware that is not compatible with the Rainmeter application and the default illustro skins, which to be honest I have just NEVER seen, one of these steps will solve the problem.
Note: Feel free to make a backup copy of your ..Documents\Rainmeter\Skins folder if you have skins you want to keep, and a backup copy of %APPDATA%\Rainmeter\Plugins if you have 3rd-party plugins you want to keep, but do be aware that it is about 90% likely that it is one of those that is the problem to start with, and you will want to put them back one at a time and ensure all is still well as you go.
1) Goto %APPDATA%\Rainmeter and rename Rainmeter.ini to Rainmeter.ini.bak
(C:\Users\YourName\AppData\Roaming\Rainmeter)
2) Restart Rainmeter. The default illustro skins should load and all will be well.
This will correct the problem probably 90% of the time. The problem is with a skin or a 3rd-party plugin a skin is using, and you will need to add back in the skins you were running until you find the one that crashes it.
If not...
3) Entirely delete the following folders:
-- C:\Users\YourName\AppData\Roaming\Rainmeter
-- C:\Users\YourName\Documents\Rainmeter
-- C:\Program Files\Rainmeter
4) Download the latest release or beta (recommended) of Rainmeter from https://www.rainmeter.net.
5) Install Rainmeter. The default illustro skins should load and all will be well.
If not...
Now we know the problem is certainly not with a skin or a 3rd-party plugin. We have to dig a bit deeper.
6) Repeat step 3 above.
7) Run scans using both your antivirus software and MalwareBytes AntiMalware. Let them clean up any problems.
8) Repeat step 4 above.
9) Install Rainmeter. The default illustro skins should load and all will be well.
If not...
10) Repeat steps 3 and 4 above.
11) Download and install the latest version of the drivers for your graphics card.
12) Install Rainmeter. The default illustro skins should load and all will be well.
If not...
13) Repeat steps 3 and 4 above.
14) Open a cmd.exe command prompt window, running it "As administrator"
In that window, execute the following in turn:
sfc /scannow
This will take anywhere from a few minutes to an hour to run. If it finds and fixes any problems with system files, you MUST run it again, and keep doing so until it runs and reports that no problems were found. If it finds and corrects any issues, reboot your PC after. This is hideously time consuming, but the health of your PC is more important that anything to do with Rainmeter itself.
DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth
This will take a few minutes to run. If it finds and corrects any issues, reboot your PC after.
15) Install Rainmeter. The default illustro skins should load and all will be well.
That's about it. These are the steps I would take, which are just about everything logical you can do short of a complete repair or re-install of Windows itself. Unless you really do have actual hardware that is not compatible with the Rainmeter application and the default illustro skins, which to be honest I have just NEVER seen, one of these steps will solve the problem.
Note: Feel free to make a backup copy of your ..Documents\Rainmeter\Skins folder if you have skins you want to keep, and a backup copy of %APPDATA%\Rainmeter\Plugins if you have 3rd-party plugins you want to keep, but do be aware that it is about 90% likely that it is one of those that is the problem to start with, and you will want to put them back one at a time and ensure all is still well as you go.