Troubleshooting

The app says "already running" but I can't find it

This can happen if a previous instance didn't shut down cleanly. Check:

1. System tray: Look for the app icon in the tray area (click the ^ arrow to see hidden icons)
2. Task Manager: Press Ctrl+Shift+Esc, look for X3DCcdOptimizer.exe under processes. If found, right-click --> End Task, then relaunch.

The UAC prompt doesn't appear / app won't start elevated

If Windows doesn't show the UAC prompt:

1. Make sure UAC is enabled in Windows settings (Control Panel --> User Accounts --> Change UAC settings)
2. Try right-clicking the exe --> "Run as administrator"
3. Check that the exe hasn't been marked as blocked by Windows: right-click --> Properties --> look for an "Unblock" checkbox at the bottom

The app doesn't detect my game

Check these in order:

1. Is the game in your scanned libraries? Open the Game Library tab on the dashboard to check.
2. Open Settings --> Process Rules, search for the game name in the autocomplete field.
3. If not found, trigger a library rescan from Settings --> Detection --> Rescan Game Libraries. This re-scans Steam, Epic, and GOG installations.
4. If still not found, add it manually -- you need the exact exe filename (check Task Manager while the game is running).
5. Is the GPU threshold set too high? Lower it in Settings --> Detection.
6. Is the game a UWP/Microsoft Store game? Some UWP games use different process names -- check Task Manager for the actual exe name.

Library scan not finding games

If games from Steam, Epic, or GOG are not appearing in the Game Library tab:

1. Steam: Ensure Steam is installed and has been run at least once. The scanner reads ACF manifest files from Steam library folders. If you have multiple library folders, verify they are accessible.
2. Epic Games Store: Ensure Epic is installed. The scanner reads JSON manifests from Epic's local data directory.
3. GOG Galaxy: Ensure GOG Galaxy is installed and has been run at least once. The scanner reads GOG Galaxy's SQLite database. If games are missing, the database may not have been populated yet -- launch GOG Galaxy and let it sync your library, then rescan.
4. Trigger a manual rescan from Settings --> Detection --> Rescan Game Libraries.

GOG Galaxy database locked

If the GOG Galaxy library scan fails or returns no results, the GOG Galaxy SQLite database may be locked by the running GOG Galaxy client. Try:

1. Close GOG Galaxy completely (check the system tray).
2. Trigger a rescan from Settings --> Detection --> Rescan Game Libraries.
3. If the issue persists, check the log file for specific error messages related to the GOG database path.

Game artwork not downloading

If you enabled "Download Game Artwork" in Settings --> Detection but images are not appearing:

1. Verify the toggle is enabled in Settings --> Detection.
2. The app downloads artwork only from Steam's public CDN. Games not on Steam will not have artwork.
3. Check your network connection -- this is the only feature that requires internet access.
4. Check the log file for download errors. Artwork download failures are non-critical and do not affect app functionality.

Optimize mode doesn't seem to do anything

1. Check the Activity Log tab -- are there any entries after toggling Optimize?
2. Is a game actually running and detected? The app needs to detect a game before it starts optimizing.
3. Check the Process Router tab -- does it show your game under the V-Cache section?
4. Open Task Manager, right-click your game process --> "Set Affinity" -- do you see only CCD0 cores checked? If so, the app is working correctly.

Some processes can't be moved

This is expected for certain processes:

• Anti-cheat protected processes (EasyAntiCheat, BattlEye) may block affinity changes
• System protected processes like csrss.exe, lsass.exe are on the hardcoded skip list
• Driver processes may not allow affinity modification

The app handles these silently -- it logs a SKIP in the activity log and moves on. This is not an error.

High CPU usage from the app

Normal CPU usage is under 0.5%. If you see higher:

1. Check the Polling Interval in Settings --> General. If set very low (under 1000ms), increase it.
2. Check the Dashboard Refresh rate -- lower values mean more frequent UI updates.
3. If the Process Router has many processes, the UI rendering may increase slightly -- this is cosmetic and doesn't affect game performance.

The overlay doesn't appear

1. Press Ctrl+Shift+O to toggle it.
2. Check Settings --> Overlay -- is "Enable overlay" checked?
3. Exclusive fullscreen games block overlay windows. Try running the game in borderless windowed mode. This is a Windows limitation, not a bug.
4. Check if another overlay (Steam, Discord, GeForce Experience) is conflicting.

Settings aren't saved

The config file lives at %AppData%\X3DCCDOptimizer\config.json. Check:

1. Does the folder exist? The app should create it on first launch.
2. Does your antivirus block writes to AppData?
3. Try clicking "Apply" in Settings before closing the settings window.

The app restored affinities I didn't expect on startup

This is the dirty shutdown recovery working correctly. If the app was terminated unexpectedly while in Optimize mode, it saves a recovery file. On next launch, it restores all processes to their original affinities before anything else happens.

This is a safety feature -- not a bug.

Log Files

Detailed logs are saved at %AppData%\X3DCCDOptimizer\logs\. If reporting a bug on GitHub, include the relevant log file -- it contains timestamps and details of every action the app took.

You can open the log folder directly from Settings --> Advanced --> Open Log folder.

Still Stuck?

Open an issue on GitHub with:

• Your processor model
• Windows version
• The log file from %AppData%\X3DCCDOptimizer\logs\
• A description of what you expected vs what happened