Have you been having issues getting Total War: Shogun 2 to work? Game crashing to the desktop whenever it loads? I was having the same issue, and this is how I fixed it. But before you start panicking, make sure you’re running Shogun 2 as an admin.

First Attempt

I tried what seemed to be the most common fix first, which was reinstalling all 3 redist files found in “..Steam\steamapps\common\Total War SHOGUN 2\redist\”. Alternatively, you can right-click on Shogun 2 in your Steam library, click on “Properties”, then click “Local Files” and then “Browse Local Files…”, from there just navigate to the redist folder and then follow these steps in order if you want to try it for yourself.

1. Close steam.
2. Install vcredist_x86
3. Install vcredist_x86_90
4. Install vcredist_x86-sp1
5. Restart computer
6. Play Shogun 2! (run as admin)

Unfortunately this didn’t fix Shogun 2 for me, but it has worked for a lot of other people, so give it a shot! After reinstalling the redist files, I was still left with a broken game that I really wanted to play and more searching was in order…

After searching around for a while I found quite a few threads explaining the exact same issue that I was experiencing, but it didn’t seem like many people had found many solid solutions. That’s when I found this thread that explained what was causing this error that seemed to have been plaguing you, me, and almost everyone else who uses McAfee Internet Security / Anti-Virus.

UPDATE 08/11/15: It’s been confirmed that this issue exists on Windows 7/8/8.1 and Windows 10.

The Culprit – McAfee WebAdvisor

The issue lies within McAfee’s Web Advisor / Site Advisor extension for Chrome and other browsers, it blocks Shogun 2’s iteration of the Total War encyclopedia which causes the game to crash. The Web Advisor extension basically “grades” websites and gives you an indication of how safe it is in the form of a little icon, and an annoying pop-up box for some links.

There are other anti-virus programs with similar extensions that have been reported to block Shogun 2 in the same way, they are: Lavasoft Web Companion and Symantec Endpoint Protection. So if you’re not running McAfee, but you are running one of these other anti-virus programs, check for those extensions.

Simply removing this feature will enable you to play Shogun 2 without a problem, and you can rest safe knowing WebAdvisor is not important to any key McAfee function like the anti-virus and live-scanning, etc. By removing it, you’re not opening yourself up to any malicious attacks, malware, or viruses – unless you’re visiting sites that you shouldn’t have been visiting in the first place.

Keep in mind that Web Advisor needs to be completely removed for this fix to work, just deactivating it won’t do anything, unfortunately. You don’t have to delete the entire McAfee program, just the one extension.

Now, get ready for probably the easiest crash fix you’ve seen for any Total War game.

The Solution

If nothing else has worked for you, removing WebAdvisor might be your only choice if you want to play Shogun 2; it’s ultimately a simple process that only requires about a minute of your time, and it’s hopefully going to get you onto the battlefields of Japan and controlling your armies of Samurai, but there’s no guarantee of that, unfortunately.

1. Open “Add or Remove Programs” from the start menu (Windows 7) / search function (Windows 8/10)
2. Filter for “McAfee”
3. Remove “McAfee Web Advisor”
4. Play Shogun 2!

That’s seriously it! Pretty easy, right? I had been having this issue for about a month and it was really messing with my mind because the game worked perfectly before this anomalous error cropped up out of seemingly nowhere. But, just like how McAfee’s “Real-Time Scanning” blocks certain steam functions (like finishing installations..), WebAdvisor completely wrecked Shogun 2. Keep in mind that disabling Web Advisor will do nothing and you have to completely remove it for this fix to work.

Alternatives

If removing Web Advisor doesn’t fix Shogun 2 for you, then here are some other things that you might want to try:

• Disable “Steam Cloud” (Steam > Settings > Cloud > Uncheck the first option “enable steam cloud synch…”) and then verify Shogun 2’s files.
• Run Shogun 2 in Windows 7 compatibility mode – Sounds simple, but it’s worked for a few people running Windows 10
• Try these steps from the Total War forums, it only takes a minute so it’s worth a shot
• Check this list from Steam Support for a program you might have installed which may (or may not) be causing issues with Steam

Conclusion

All-in-all, I hope this post was able to help you get Shogun 2 working because I know how much it sucks not being able to play something when you want to. This crash fix is ultimately pretty simple and doesn’t really require any technical knowledge or much time. Just keep in mind that Web Advisor has to be completely removed, not just disabled, for this fix to work.

I’m sure there are other causes to this issue revolving around Windows 10, but this is the solution that worked for me, and quite a few other people so far. I’ll keep this page updated as I come across more information, so don’t forget to check back if Shogun 2 still refuses to work!

Did this fix work for you? Still having issues? Let us know in the comments!