Launchbox/BigBox will not start up following autoupdate process from 13.24 to 13.26

[MooseFalva101]

Good evening.  I started up my Launchbox install of version 13.24 this evening, which seemed to load without issue, and was immediately prompted to update a plugin for XEMU, which I allowed.  Following that, I received another prompt letting me know that a new version of Launchbox was available, which I selected to go ahead and update.  During the update process, I received a message that another instance of Launchbox may be running, which I checked on my taskbar to verify, but noted no such other instance, so I confirmed the process to continue.  Following that update process, when trying to reload Launchbox, I was greeted with a generic error message stating that "Launchbox Has Stopped Working".  No further details regarding the substance of this error were available in the message.  I tried redownloading the 13.26 installer and reinstalling over my existing install, which didn't correct the issue. I uninstalled, rebooted my PC and then reinstalled my Launchbox install, which also didn't work. Then I uninstalled Launchbox, completely deleting all remaining files and folders in the Launchbox directory, rebooted my PC again , and did a totally clean install of 13.26, which, again, didn't work.  I finally downloaded the latest .NET and DirectX installers and tried to reinstall them, thinking they might have been corrupted during the initial installation process, but neither fixed the issue following another system reboot.

At this point, the only detail I was able to get, which might help to identify the issue, is when I tried to run BigBox instead of Launchbox on the last fresh install.  It still didn't load, but I did get a much more verbose error message at that point, which reads as follows:
 

Object reference not set to an instance of an object.

App:     Big Box
Version: 13.26
Theme:   NOT SET
Type:    System.NullReferenceException
Site:    Void (System.Object, Boolean)
Source:  Unbroken.LaunchBox.Windows

   at (Object, Boolean)
   at DetailedFilterWatcher.ObserveLogicalProfilerContainer(Object, Boolean value, DetailedFilterWatcher)
   at Unbroken.LaunchBox.Windows.Data.DataManager.LoadSettings()
   at WatcherTokenConverter.ObserveLogicalProfilerContainer(Object, WatcherTokenConverter)
   at Unbroken.LaunchBox.Windows.Data.DataManager.AwakeRequestRequester(Boolean isasset, Boolean evaluateresult)
   at DynamicNodeWatcher.ObserveLogicalProfilerContainer(Object, Boolean isasset, Boolean evaluateresult, DynamicNodeWatcher)
   at Unbroken.LaunchBox.Windows.Data.DataManager..ctor(Boolean bare, Boolean settingsOnly)
   at Unbroken.LaunchBox.Windows.BigBox.App..ctor()
   at Unbroken.LaunchBox.Windows.BigBox.BigBoxProgram.Main()

If it matters, I'm on Windows 10 Home edition and running an i9-9900k, 48Gb RAM, and an RTX 4070 Ti Super.  Really not sure what the next step is to troubleshoot this problem.  It does seem like something got corrupted in the update process, but I'm at a loss for how to correct it, having fully deleted all of the files that seemed to be LaunchBox related from my machine.  Could it be something as simple as a Registry issue?

Appreciate any thoughts or assistance anyone may have. 

[trueanimus]

Try installing the Beta version... had this happen to me a few versions ago and it was addressed quickly in beta. Also if that doesnt work, copy your launchbox data folder for your current save to a HD and try a clean install. then place the data folder back so you dont lose any games you have imported...  fixed it for me once also when my backup bace corrupt.

[MooseFalva101]

7 hours ago, trueanimus said:

Try installing the Beta version... had this happen to me a few versions ago and it was addressed quickly in beta. Also if that doesnt work, copy your launchbox data folder for your current save to a HD and try a clean install. then place the data folder back so you dont lose any games you have imported...  fixed it for me once also when my backup bace corrupt.

Certainly worth a try, but I'm not familiar with the beta version of Launchbox for Windows.  Are you able to point me in a direction where I go about joining that or downloading the installer for it?

Already done several "clean install" attempts, and that didn't work out, unfortunately, which is really weird as I'd assumed that, since LaunchBox was intended to be a portable install, all the files related to it would be isolated to the install folder, and simply starting fresh would repair just about any issue I'd encounter of this nature.

Appreciate the options and your thoughts, though.  Thanks.

[trueanimus]

open the application, go to Tools > Options > General > Updates, and check the box for Update to Beta Release then just reload launchbox and it should download and install the update.

[MooseFalva101]

On 5/17/2026 at 9:10 PM, trueanimus said:

open the application, go to Tools > Options > General > Updates, and check the box for Update to Beta Release then just reload launchbox and it should download and install the update.

Unfortunately, you lost me at opening the application, since that's my issue.  Can't even get the application to load anymore to begin with.  Thanks for the info, though. 

Not sure what my next move is from here, other than not using LaunchBox/BigBox until some nebulous point in the future, when I decide to update my OS to something other than my current Win10 install and can try installing again on a fresh OS install.

[trueanimus]

Does it give you any specific error when you try to open launchbox?

try this also if you want..  Goto your install dir and look for a data folder. Inside that folder you sould see a lot of xml files... that is basically all your games listings etc... Copy that data folder to another drive and then look for a folder named backups in the launchbox dir also.

to test and see if you can get launchbox up and running again, first install a new drive (an external ssd or hdd will work.. anything that is around 1TB should be fine) then download and install launchbox to that drive.

next pull the data folder over into the new install.. then pull not the last current backup from your old install, but the next one (just incase there is a problem with thebackup itself not loading) and then try starting launchbox from that new test drive.  If it loads, you know its just the backup hanging or a bad install and can go from there.

 

Hope this helps.