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League of Legends

How to Fix the League of Legends 0xc0000005 Error

League of Legends error 0xc0000005 is a Windows access violation, not a single known cause. Follow a safe troubleshooting order from restart and Riot repair to Windows and memory checks.

By VGSources Team 7 min read
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The League of Legends error 0xc0000005 is a Windows access-violation exception, not a diagnosis with one universal fix. Start with a Windows restart, launch the Riot Client as administrator, and use the client’s repair option if available. If that does not help, isolate overlays and security software before resetting game files or troubleshooting Windows and hardware.

What does 0xc0000005 mean in League of Legends?

Windows uses 0xc0000005 for an access violation: a process tried to read, write, or execute memory it could not access. That describes what happened, not why. It does not by itself prove that your RAM is defective. Windows describes this class of failure in its stop-code troubleshooting guidance.

Where the failure occurs helps narrow the next step. A Riot Client or League client crash points first toward permissions, Riot files, overlays, or security software. A crash in the game can also involve graphics drivers or unstable tuning. If unrelated applications crash too, or Windows shows a blue screen, widen the investigation to drivers, system files, memory, and hardware.

A VAN code is a separate Vanguard diagnostic category. Do not treat 0xc0000005 as interchangeable with VAN 9001, VAN 9002, or another Vanguard code. Riot’s League support hub keeps general troubleshooting and Vanguard guidance in separate support paths.

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Try the low-risk fixes first

1. Restart Windows and test administrator launch

  1. Close League and Riot Client. If either remains open, press Ctrl+Shift+Esc, open Task Manager, and end the relevant Riot or League processes.
  2. Restart Windows.
  3. Right-click the Riot Client shortcut or executable and choose Run as administrator. Approve the User Account Control prompt, then test League.

Riot’s published League error-code guidance recommends an administrator launch for this error. It can reveal a permissions problem, but it is not a guaranteed fix. Use it as a test rather than permanently forcing every game executable to run with elevated privileges.

2. Repair League in the Riot Client

Look for the League repair or troubleshooting control in the Riot Client. Its location and wording can vary between client versions; check the League game page and its settings or troubleshooting area. Run the repair, let it finish, and test again. This checks Riot and League installation files; it does not repair Windows, drivers, or Vanguard settings.

3. Check Riot service notices if the error began after a patch

Check Riot’s service-status page and current support notices. An incident may explain a sudden, League-only problem, but no listed incident does not rule out a local file, compatibility, or security-software issue.

Isolate overlays and security software

4. Test without overlays and background utilities

Exit overlay, recording, hardware-monitoring, and game-companion software, then relaunch League. Riot’s error guidance identifies running programs and overlays as possible sources of conflicts. Temporarily close likely candidates such as:

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If League works, re-enable programs one at a time until the conflict returns. That identifies the likely culprit without leaving useful software disabled indefinitely.

5. Check antivirus blocks or quarantine

Review your security product’s recent detections and quarantine for official Riot or League files. A security product can interfere with a game process, particularly after a product update or game patch. Riot published antivirus-exclusion examples for a specific launch-crash scenario; that page is useful context, not a universal fix for every installation: Riot’s patch-specific guidance.

If you need to test whether third-party antivirus is involved, pause it only briefly, keep Windows protection enabled where possible, test, and restore protection immediately. If the test points to a block, prefer a narrow allow rule for the official files at their actual installation locations. Riot’s examples include LeagueClient.exe, LeagueClientUx.exe, LeagueClientUxRenderer.exe, GameLeague of Legends.exe, RiotClientServices.exe, vgc.exe, and vgm.exe; paths vary, and these names came from a patch-specific case rather than a guaranteed current list for every PC.

Reset League configuration only after backing it up

6. Rename the relevant League folders

If administrator launch and repair have not helped, Riot’s error guidance also recommends cleaning up League configuration and data. Back up custom settings or take screenshots first. Then:

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  1. Exit Riot Client and League completely.
  2. Find the League installation and relevant configuration or data folders. The drive, folder names, and layout can vary by installation, so use the actual location on your PC rather than copying an old example path.
  3. Rename the folders you intend to reset instead of deleting them—for example, add .backup to the folder name.
  4. Relaunch League and let it create fresh files, then test.
  5. Keep the renamed copy until you know your settings are no longer needed; remove it only after the reset has worked and you have recovered anything important.

If the reset makes no difference, restore the original folder names before trying another change. Riot’s error-code instructions support configuration and data cleanup, but old directory examples should not be assumed to match a current installation.

Check Vanguard only when there is a Vanguard-specific symptom

Do not assume Vanguard caused 0xc0000005 without a Vanguard error, service failure, or other evidence. If you also see VAN 9002 or a matching Windows Exploit Protection failure, follow Riot’s VAN 9002 instructions, which call for restoring relevant mitigation settings to Use default and removing custom Riot-related program entries.

  1. Search Windows for Exploit protection.
  2. Under System settings, restore these mitigations to Use default if they were changed: Control Flow Guard, Data Execution Prevention, Mandatory ASLR, Bottom-up ASLR, High-entropy ASLR, SEHOP, and Validate heap integrity.
  3. Under Program settings, remove custom entries specifically associated with Riot Games, Riot Vanguard, or Riot titles.
  4. Restart Windows and test again.

Do not globally disable Windows exploit protections as a general fix for 0xc0000005.

Repair Windows files if the error persists

7. Run DISM, then System File Checker

These commands repair Windows components, not League files. Microsoft’s system-file repair instructions say to run DISM before SFC from an elevated Command Prompt:

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  1. Search for Command Prompt, right-click it, and choose Run as administrator.
  2. Run this command and wait for it to complete:
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  3. Then run:
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  4. Restart Windows and test League.
  • If SFC reports that it found no integrity violations, it did not find protected system-file corruption.
  • If SFC repaired files, restart before testing.
  • If SFC could not repair some files, do not assume the game is fixed. Record the result and follow Microsoft’s repair guidance.
  • If DISM fails, note the exact error instead of repeatedly running unrelated commands.
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Investigate drivers and system stability

8. Update or roll back drivers based on timing

Install pending Windows updates and check GPU and chipset drivers through NVIDIA, AMD, Intel, or your PC or motherboard manufacturer. Restart after installation. An update is not a guaranteed fix for this error; if the crash began immediately after a driver update, test a rollback instead of blindly installing newer software.

Windows 10 support ended on October 14, 2025, according to Microsoft’s support guidance. That lifecycle date does not establish whether League will run on a particular PC; it means Windows 10 no longer receives the same ongoing support as a supported Windows release.

9. Test memory and undo overclocking

Prioritize stability checks if other programs also crash, the PC freezes or blue-screens, or the problem began after enabling XMP/EXPO, an overclock, an undervolt, or aggressive tuning. Return BIOS and CPU/GPU tuning to stock settings before testing.

  1. Press Windows+R, type mdsched, and press Enter.
  2. Choose Restart now and check for problems. Save your work first; Windows must restart to run the test.
  3. After Windows starts again, review the result. Microsoft says the result is available in Event Viewer under the MemoryDiagnostics-Results log.

A clean Windows Memory Diagnostic result does not prove that memory, drivers, or firmware are faultless. Microsoft documents the procedure in its Windows troubleshooting guidance. A longer test such as MemTest86 is an optional advanced check, not a Riot requirement.

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10. Use a clean boot to identify a background conflict

A clean boot temporarily disables non-Microsoft startup services so you can test whether another program is interfering. Follow Microsoft’s clean-boot procedure, restart, and launch League. If the error disappears, re-enable services in groups until it returns, then update, remove, or reconfigure the conflicting application. Restore your normal startup configuration when finished; clean boot is a diagnostic, not a permanent gaming setup.

Reinstall only after the earlier checks

If the error remains after the restart, administrator test, repair, overlay and security checks, and appropriate Windows troubleshooting, reinstalling may replace damaged Riot or League files. It will not fix an unrelated Windows, driver, security, or hardware problem.

  1. Use Riot’s current uninstall and reinstall instructions to remove the existing Riot Client and League installation and any residual files they identify.
  2. Restart Windows.
  3. Download the installer from Riot’s official site and reinstall.
  4. Test before restoring optional overlays or tuning utilities.

Installation locations vary, so avoid deleting folders based on old path examples. Riot’s published error guidance places reinstalling after its earlier launch and file-cleanup steps.

When to contact Riot or investigate a Windows crash

Contact Riot Support if the client repair fails, the error persists after a clean boot and fresh installation, Vanguard will not initialize, or the failure began with a League patch and affects only League. Riot’s support hub provides routes for troubleshooting, log collection, and the Riot Repair Tool.

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Include the information that distinguishes one failure from another:

  • Windows edition and build, GPU model, and driver version
  • Whether the crash occurs in Riot Client, the League client, or the game
  • The time of the latest failure and the exact error or any Vanguard code
  • Recent League, Windows, driver, BIOS, or antivirus changes
  • Whether administrator launch, repair, clean boot, DISM, or SFC changed the result
  • Logs gathered with Riot’s Repair Tool; attach a crash dump if one was created

If Windows shows a blue screen, capture its stop code and any available crash information rather than treating it as an ordinary client-launch failure. Microsoft’s stop-code guidance covers that separate system-level path.

Avoid unsafe shortcuts

  • Do not download replacement DLLs such as ntdll.dll from unofficial sites. They can contain malware or create version mismatches.
  • Do not leave antivirus or Windows security protections disabled to make the game launch.
  • Do not disable Windows exploit protections globally as a generic fix.
  • Do not use registry cleaners or third-party driver-updater utilities to address this error.

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