: Applications like Discord, GeForce Experience, and Steam each have an in-game overlay feature that can interfere with older games. Disable any active overlays while troubleshooting, as they have been known to cause black screens on launch for some titles.

Uncheck CPU 0 and leave only CPU 1, 2, and 3 checked. Uncheck any cores beyond 3.

Even if your modern PC has DirectX 11 or DirectX 12 installed, it does not always include the old legacy libraries required by 2000s-era games. Missing old Direct3D files will result in a silent black screen crash on launch.

Windows 10 and 11 features like "Fullscreen Optimizations" can interfere with older game engines. Find the Wanted.exe file in your installation directory. Right-click it and select . Go to the Compatibility tab.

| Step | Action | Success Rate | | :--- | :--- | :--- | | 1 | Force Windowed Mode via Config.ini | High | | 2 | Windows 7 Compatibility + Disable Fullscreen Optimizations | Medium | | 3 | Delete/rename Intro .bik video files | Very High | | 4 | Use DXVK d3d9.dll wrapper | High (for modern GPUs) | | 5 | Override DPI Scaling to "Application" | Medium |

It’s also worth checking that your system meets the baseline requirements to run the game, as a lack of necessary hardware features is a known cause of startup failures.

Right-click Wanted.exe → Properties → Compatibility tab.

With the diagnosis out of the way, here is the complete set of fixes, ranked from most to least likely to work.

: Windows has built-in tools to help older software run on new systems. Right-click on the game's executable file (likely Wanted.exe ) and select 'Properties'. Go to the 'Compatibility' tab. Check "Run this program in compatibility mode for:" and select "Windows 7" or "Windows Vista (Service Pack 2)". Also, check "Run this program as an administrator".

:

installer is included in the game's redistribution folder. Run it. Download Legacy Drivers : If that fails, download the NVIDIA PhysX System Software Legacy Driver

and paste them into the same folder as the game's executable ( wanted.exe

Turn off Steam, Discord, GeForce Experience, or any overlay app.