Game worked one day but now freezes on startup

[CammyCam444]

Last week, I initially tried to see if I could get it working on a 8 year old laptop as a test, so I downloaded the fully extracted version on myabandonware, downloaded the enhanced edition installer and moved it to the Silent Hill 2 folder. Ran the installer, everything worked perfectly and I was able to boot the game on the laptop with no problems.

Then I did the same exact steps on my main PC that I intended to stream the game from. While I previously had issues with the game not running at startup on my main PC, I was actually able to get it running last night so I could stream it. This time I downloaded the three separate discs, mounted them, and ran the setup, then moved the enhanced edition installer to the Silent Hill 2 folder--figured doing it this way might be better than downloading the fully extracted version. And just to make sure it would work before I started I enabled DirectPlay, and installed all the vcredist packages that were available.

I played until I reached the hospital with zero issues, saved, and quit the game with the intention to stream the rest the next day.

Today I tried to start the game and I'm right back to the original issue, where it hangs on a black screen at launch, with the spinning mouse pointer.

I'm at a loss right now and any help would be appreciated. I ran into this problem previously where it would start with no issue, but later not start at all. Running on Windows 11, the game is installed on a SSD. Path is Documents/Silent Hill 2. I added both sh2pc.exe and SH2EEsetup.exe to Windows Security exclusions--not running any other antivirus software. Below is what is in my d3d8 config file:

; Configuration file for the SH2 Enhancements module
; Learn more about the settings below at http://enhanced.townofsilenthill.com/SH2/config.htm
; Silent Hill 2: Enhanced Edition is best experienced in a 16:9 aspect ratio!

[Display]
; Detects every resolution your display offers and makes them selectable choices (along with showing their aspect ratios) in the game's Options > Advanced Options menu.
DynamicResolution = 1

; Forces the game window to be above all other windows, inlcuding the Start Menu bar. Note: Only works when playing in windowed mode.
ForceTopMost = 0

; Selecting the 60 FPS option will result in an overall smoother gameplay experience, while fixing many high framerate issues that would otherwise occur.
SetSixtyFPS = 1

; Creates a window border for the game. Only works when playing in windowed mode. Note: The game's windowed resolution must not be close to or exactly the same as your display's width and/or height, otherwise the border will not appear. This is a safety measure to ensure the border doesn't get lost outside of your display area.
WndModeBorder = 1

[Fullscreen Media]
; Adds compatibility for the project's Image Enhancement Pack to have its visuals display correctly. Must be enabled if using the Image Enhancement Pack. The scaling works for both the original and enhanced fullscreen images. Auto: Automatically chooses "fit" or "fill" depending on the aspect ratio for the best presentation. Fit: Displays the fullscreen images without any cropping. Letterboxes or pillarboxes may appear depending on the aspect ratio. Fill: Scales the fullscreen images to fill the display area, removing any letterboxes or pillarboxes, up to a 16:9 aspect ratio.
FullscreenImages = 3

; Adds compatibility for the project's FMV Enhancement Pack to have its videos display correctly. The scaling works for both the original and enhanced FMVs. Auto: Automatically chooses "fit" or "fill" depending on the aspect ratio for the best presentation. Fit: Displays the FMVs without any cropping. Letterboxes or pillarboxes may appear depending on the aspect ratio. Fill: Scales FMVs to fill the display area, removing any letterboxes or pillarboxes, up to a 16:9 aspect ratio.
FullscreenVideos = 3

; Enabling this feature sets the 2D, full screen images to their original aspect ratios, regardless of the aspect ratio used. This will remove stretching on the images when played in widescreen. Disabling this feature stretches the images to fit the screen. This affects all full screen images, such as the main menu, save screens, memo/riddle images, and inventory screen, along with other textures, such as subtitles and the flashlight lens glow. Note: Disabling this will override and also disable Fullscreen image scaling.
Fix2D = 1

; Choose to show or hide non-pre-rendered cutscene letterboxing. Set to "Auto" to enable the letterboxing on standard aspect ratios, and disable them on widescreen aspect ratios. Note: Non-pre-rendered cutscene letterboxing should be hidden or set to 'Auto' when playing in a widescreen aspect ratio and enabling cutscene FOV scaling. Otherwise, the letterboxing may crop off character heads when playing in widescreen. (Show = 0, Hide = 1, Auto = 3)
DisableCutsceneBorders = 3

; In-engine cutscenes will be zoomed in to match their original 4:3 horizontal compositions when playing in widescreen. This will hide "frozen" character models that have been loaded in, right outside the 4:3 boundaries, ready and waiting to enter the scene. Note: This feature will zoom up to a 16:9 aspect ratio. It will not zoom past this aspect ratio as too much of the vertical composition would be cropped otherwise. This means that ultra-wide aspect ratios will still see visual anomalies as in-engine cutscenes play out.
ReduceCutsceneFOV = 1

; Primarily fixes issues when viewing the map. This feature forces all dynamically made pillarboxing to be black in color, restores pillarboxing to events which did not have them, and hides map markings behind the pillarboxing.
SetBlackPillarBoxes = 1

[DirectX]
; Converts the game from DirectX 8 to DirectX 9, allowing for additional features and fixes to be used. Note: Must be enabled to use shaders below.
d3d8to9 = 1

; Determines how the game should collect the front buffer data used for fade outs and the pause screen. Note: DirectX will only work on your primary monitor. DirectX may be required when playing in fullscreen mode on certain older Windows operating systems. Linux only works with DirectX. It is recommended to keep this on "auto" unless you are experiencing visual issues with fade outs or the pause screen.
FrontBufferControl = 0

; Disables the Direct3D9 Maximized Windowed Mode feature on newer versions of Windows. Allows antialiasing to work in fullscreen mode. Requires running the game in DirectX 9 to work.
DisableMaximizedWindowedMode = 1

; Attempts to use the secondary dedicated display adapter on a laptop with more than one GPU (hybrid video cards). Requires running the game in DirectX 9 to work.
ForceHybridEnumeration = 1

[Shaders]
; Restores the ability to adjust the brightness level in the game's options menu, regardless if playing in windowed or fullscreen mode.
RestoreBrightnessSelector = 1

; Enables subpixel morphological anti-aliasing (SMAA). Note: It is recommended to disable this if using GPU-based anti-aliasing.
EnableSMAA = 1

; Enables shaders that simulate what the game would look like on a CRT television. These shaders look more accurate at lower resolutions. For the best CRT nostalgic experience, play the game in a 4:3 aspect ratio. Note: It is not recommended to enable this option if you are streaming the game, as the CRT effect may not display correctly to your viewers. It is also not recommended to enable this option if you have a low-end computer system.
CRTShader = 0

[Images]
; Allows higher quality, upscaled images to be used. Must be enabled if using the project's Image Enhancement Pack.
EnableTexAddrHack = 1

[Effects]
; Enables all advanced graphics settings from the game's Options > Advanced Options menu (complex fog, shadows, lens flare, etc) by default upon each game launch.
UseBestGraphics = 1

; Restores shadows and shadow behaviors throughout the game. This includes the use of soft shadows, correct shadow level intensities, accurate shadow fading on flashlight toggles, and the restoration of self shadows (shadows being casted upon dynamic objects such as items and characters).
EnableSoftShadows = 1

; Restores post-processing effects to their original intensities throughout the game. Effects include depth-of-field blur, motion blur, static blur, and pseudo blooms.
RestoreSpecialFX = 1

; Restores specularity and specular behavior throughout the game. This gives "shininess" to things such as character eyeballs, Red Pyramid Thing's helmet, Maria's skirt, and will make these things shine brighter whenever they're under a light source or when James' flashlight is on.
SpecularFix = 1

; Increases the front draw distance in certain areas to hide the environment loading in.
IncreaseDrawDistance = 1

; Increases the blood pool size of dead enemies back to their original amount.
IncreaseBlood = 1

; Restores the flashlight reflection on the town's shop windows at night. Also creates reflections on additional glass and glossy surfaces throughout the game. Note: The project's "Enhanced Edition Essential Files" package must be used in conjunction with this feature for the reflection to work.
FlashlightReflection = 1

; Improves the overall look and feel of the water effects used throughout the game.
WaterEnhancedRender = 1

[Noise Filter]
; Adjust the grain size of the noise filter.
IncreaseNoiseEffectRes = 768

; Restores the levels and opacity of the noise filter back to its original look.
PS2StyleNoiseFilter = 1

; Fixes an issue where the game would render the subtitles behind the noise grain during FMVs.
FmvSubtitlesNoiseFix = 1

[Fog]
; Restores the thickness, size, and amount of fog to its original look.
FogFix = 1

; Fixes an issue on Nvidia graphics cards where the 2D fog layer and the glow around James' flashlight did not render.
FogLayerFix = 1

; Adjusts the fog-of-war boundaries for specific areas to fix visual errors.
FogParameterFix = 1

; Adjusts the speed of the fog for slower, more natural movement to match its original behavior.
FogSpeedFix = 1

; Horizontally extends the fog at the beginning observation deck so that it always fills the screen, up to a 16:9 aspect ratio, for a better presentation. Note: Modified obGB.fcl file must be present in "sh2e\bg\ob\" for this feature to display properly.
ObservationDeckFogFix = 1

[Audio]
; Allows higher quality sound files to be used. Must be enabled if using the project's Audio Enhancement Pack.
EnableSFXAddrHack = 1

; Replaces the game's bugged CRIWARE streaming audio engine with a custom streaming audio engine solution. This fixes the infamous issue where the game's audio would glitch out and play an infinite one second loop, which would inevitably crash the game. This audio issue was the reason why the game would need to be ran on a single processor core prior to this fix. With this fix, the game can now run stable on multiple cores with overall performance improvements (such as less game stutters).
EnableCriWareReimplementation = 1

; Uses DSound-to-OpenAL and OpenAL Soft to emulate EAX for newer operating systems that don't support EAX. Enable this feature for 3D binaural audio for a more immersive experience.
UseDSOAL = 1

[Audio Fixes]
; Detects when any audio event is stopped prematurely and fades out the sound to avoid "popping/clicking" that would otherwise be heard.
AudioClipDetection = 1

; Fixes specific, unique sound looping bugs with the chainsaw and moth attack sounds.
SpecificSoundLoopFix = 1

; Fixes an issue where the game would play the wrong background music when pulling up menus (Inventory, Memo, Map, Save/Load, etc) under certain circumstances.
FixInventoryBGM = 1

; Preserves the "game load" and "game save" sound effects when loading/saving while in-game. Otherwise, these sounds would be cut off prematurely under certain circumstances. Note: g_start.wav and save_sound.wav must be present in "sh2e\sound\extra\" for this feature to work.
PreserveSoundsOnLoad = 1

; Adds selection sounds to menus that did not originally have them. Also restores selection sounds when navigating menu choices with the mouse. Affects the Pause menu, Movies menu, and various Options menus.
MenuSoundsFix = 1

[Bonus Audio]
; Enables a flashlight sound effect when turning the light on or off. Note: flashlight_on.wav and flashlight_off.wav must be present in "sh2e\sound\extra\" for this feature to work.
FlashlightToggleSFX = 1

; Plays an alternate, cut audio track for the VHS tape FMV. We recommend to only enable this after beating the game at least once. Note: You must have the correct version of this FMV that contains both audio tracks. If you do not, then only the original audio will play. You can obtain the correct version of this FMV by downloading the project's FMV Enhancement Pack.
VHSAudioFix = 0

[Controller]
; Restores right joystick functionality for controllers to move the search camera around. Change the setting depending on what type of controller you are using. Note: If using Xidi (controller support software), set this option to "DirectInput".
RestoreSearchCamMovement = 1

; Movement Mode: The D-pad will act as an additional movement pad to control James and navigate menu selections. Button Mode: The D-pad will act as additional controller buttons, allowing you to assign game functions to the D-pad. You will NOT be able to control James or navigate menus with the D-pad. Hybrid Mode: The D-pad will act as additional controller buttons, allowing you to assign game functions to the D-pad. You will NOT be able to control James but WILL be able to navigate menus with the D-pad.
DPadMovementFix = 1

; Replaces the vague "Button #" text in the Control Options menu with custom controller button icons. Note: controller_buttons_icons.png must be present in "sh2e\pic\etc\" for this feature to work.
ReplaceButtonText = 2

; Allows the same controller input to be assigned to multiple game functions through the game's Options > Control Options menu.
GamepadControlsFix = 1

; Swaps left joystick and right joystick functions. Useful for left-handed players.
Southpaw = 0

[Vibration]
; Restores vibration for XInput-based controllers. Make sure to enable vibration through the game's Options menu as well.
RestoreVibration = 1

; Sets what pad (controller) ID to vibrate. This is typically "0" for the game.
PadNumber = 0

; Allows non-force feedback controllers to be detected during the game's controller scan. Use this option if a non-force feedback controller is not being detected by the game.
RemoveForceFeedbackFilter = 1

[Mouse]
; Enables mouse support during regular gameplay. Mouse movement = Controls the character and search camera. Left click = Action/Confirm. Right click = Ready Weapon/Cancel.
EnableEnhancedMouse = 1

; Enables mouse wheel support during regular gameplay. Scroll the mouse wheel up or down to cycle between available weapons.
EnableMouseWheelSwap = 1

; Enables mouse cursor navigation in menus such as the pause menu and memo list.
EnhanceMouseCursor = 1

; Hides the mouse cursor after a few seconds of inactivity, in menus where the cursor is enabled.
AutoHideMouseCursor = 0

[Font]
; Uses custom font files to produce high-resolution text in-game. Compatible with all preset language options (English, French, German, Italian, and Spanish) in the game. Note: font000.png must be present in "sh2e\font\" for this feature to work.
UseCustomFonts = 1

; Disables the enlarged, floating text while navigating the save/load menu, which may otherwise be distracting. Note: Requires High Resolution Text to be enabled to work.
DisableEnlargedText = 1

[Language]
; Loads translated main menu text selections for the North American version 1.0 and 1.1 executables. Note: start01*.tex files must be present in "sh2e\pic\etc\" for this feature to work.
MainMenuTitlePerLang = 1

; Restores all language options (English, French, German, Italian, and Spanish) as selectable choices in the game's Options menu and creates language-specific pause menu text for the North American executables of the game. Note: .\sh2e\resources\r_menu_*.res must be present in the game's directory for this feature to work. Note: If disabled, various other features will also be disabled. This feature should never be disabled.
UseCustomExeStr = 1

; Restores the ability to select Japanese as a language option through the game's Options menu.
UnlockJapLang = 1

[Menu Additions]
; Adds a master volume level control to the in-game Options menu to control all audio in the game. Note: .\sh2e\resources\r_menu_*.res must be present in the game's directory for this feature to work.
EnableMasterVolume = 1

; Replaces the Options > Advanced Options > Low Res Texture option with a Display Mode option to change the screen mode used for the game. Note: Modified option_msg_*.mes file must be present in "sh2e\etc\message\" for this feature to work.
DisplayModeOption = 1

; Adds Render Resolution and Health Indicator options to the Options > Advanced Options menu. Note: .\sh2e\resources\r_menu_*.res must be present in the game's directory for this feature to work.
CustomAdvancedOptions = 1

[Menu Fixes]
; Fixes the mouse hitboxes for the game's main menu selections for the North American version 1.1 executable.
MainMenuFix = 1

; Removes the small delay before the LOAD and CONTINUE selections appear on the main menu.
MainMenuInstantLoadOptions = 1

; Fixes numerous text display issues on the game's Options > Advanced Options menu, such as missing and incorrect descriptions when the save confirmation prompt is shown.
FixAdvancedOptions = 1

; Prevents the player from bringing up the pause menu during a fade-in, which would otherwise use a wrong screen grab of the game for the pause menu background image.
FixHangOnEsc = 1

; Removes flicker when accessing the pause menu and preserves the noise filter and bloom effect when pulling up the pause menu while in Hotel Room 312.
PauseScreenFix = 1

; Ensures the correct background image for the save/load screen is always shown for the scenario currently being played.
FixSaveBGImage = 1

; Fixes an issue where the top-most layer of memo images would not correctly fade/darken with the rest of the image when viewed through your Memos list.
FixMemoFading = 1

; Disables the Screen Position feature in the game's Options > Advanced Options menu which is no longer needed for modern displays and could otherwise cause visual alignment issues.
LockScreenPosition = 1

; Disables changing the Speaker Configuration feature in the game's Options > Advanced Options menu as, after Windows XP, this change must be done through Windows' Sound Control panel and can no longer be changed within applications (such as this game). If you try to change this through the game's Options menu, it will just revert back to what is being used through Windows' Sound Control panel. Note: .\sh2e\resources\r_menu_*.res must be present in the game's directory for this feature to work.
LockSpeakerConfig = 1

[Game Fixes]
; Corrects color level values for the Catacomb's meat cold rooms.
CatacombsMeatRoomFix = 1

; Prevents the chainsaw from spawning on a first playthrough, which is a developer-intended design choice.
FixChainsawSpawn = 1

; Places James inside the closet after the Wood Side Apartments Room 307 cutscene ends, to help guide the player's attention to the key inside.
ChangeClosetSpawn = 1

; Changes the "Analog" movement selection to "Toggle", found in the game's Options > Game Options menu. This option will allow you to toggle between walk/run, instead of having to hold down the button. (Analog movement for controllers is retained when this feature is enabled.)
EnableToggleSprint = 1

; Allows the fire escape key to be interacted with without the flashlight.
FireEscapeKeyFix = 1

; Fixes the flashlight rendering on the apartment grandfather clock at the end of a failed attempt to push it.
FixAptClockFlashlight = 1

; Darkens the closet bars and moves the noise grain layer to be on top of the closet bar blur layer during the first-person segment of the apartment closet cutscene. Also adjusts the visuals during another camera cut to better correctly light the scene.
ClosetCutsceneFix = 1

; Fixes a graphics error in the final boss room, that would show in certain angles while looking at the floor.
FixFinalBossRoom = 1

; Fixes a rare bug where the Mannequin creature in Wood Side Apartments Room 205 may not spawn/behave correctly upon entering the room.
WoodsideRoom205Fix = 1

; Consistency fix for the game's FMV framerate.
FixFMVSpeed = 1

; Fixes glitchy shadow behavior and improves/synchronizes the candle flame animation in the mansion's attic for Maria's campaign.
BFaWAtticFix = 1

; Correctly syncs Red Pyramid Thing's attack animation to the rest of the cutscene that plays out during the hospital elevator chase sequence.
HospitalChaseFix = 1

; Prevents James from looking at the teddy bear in the women's locker room on the second floor of Brookhaven Hospital after acquiring the bent needle.
TeddyBearLookFix = 1

; Fixes an issue where Lying Figures would exit from underneath vehicles incorrectly.
FixCreatureVehicleSpawn = 1

; Enables arrow navigation and Enter selection in the memo screen.
MemoScreenFix = 1

; Fixes a visual bug which causes the moths in Wood Side Apartments Room 202 and the final boss room to appear behind translucent objects such as glass.
MothDrawOrderFix = 1

; Hides a piston behind the wall that would otherwise be seen when Angela opens the door in the Labyrinth during a cutscene.
PistonRoomFix = 1

; Fixes the coins used in the apartment puzzle from being misaligned in the hole slots. Fixes the boards used in the BfaW gravestone puzzle from being misaligned or distorted when rotated.
PuzzleAlignmentFixes = 1

; Visually removes the lock from the Wood Side Apartments gate once James is inside. Changes James' commentary about the gated entrance at Wood Side apartments and back alley gate at Heaven's Night to properly reflect the gate's status when revisiting them at night.
FixTownGateEvents = 1

; Prevents distracting shadow flickering along the patio glass doors while in Hotel Room 312 and restores the chair's shadow during the cutscene that takes place in this room.
Room312ShadowFix = 1

; Restores the secondary/alternate stomp animation. When nearby an enemy on the ground, press and quickly release the attack button to perform a kick. Press and hold the attack button to perform a stomp.
EnableHoldToStomp = 1

; Restores luminance for certain environment assets.
HalogenLightFix = 1

; Restores lighting values for the water throughout the game.
HotelWaterFix = 1

; Fixes an issue with James' character model sometimes being placed erratically into the rowboat. Fixes an issue with the rowboat's speed being negatively affected if the Great Knife was equipped before entering the boat. Disables quick weapon swapping while on the boat to prevent animation breaking.
RowboatAnimationFix = 1

; Swaps the priority of light and heavy attacks for melee weapons. Press and quickly release the attack button to perform a light attack. Press and hold the attack button to perform a heavy attack.
SwapLightHeavyAttack = 1

; Adjusts the playback speed of subtitles to match the framerate of the FMV.
FmvSubtitlesSyncFix = 1

; Thickens the horizontal line in the hospital diary text to make it easier to see at higher rendering resolutions.
FixDrawingTextLine = 1

; Center mouse cursor when entering a puzzle.
CenterPuzzleCursor = 1

[Game Saves]
; Disables free-saving in select rooms that would cause game issues upon file loading back into the rooms. Addresses quick save bugs that could soft lock the game and/or corrupt save files. Note: This feature affects quick save strats for speedrunning.
GameLoadFix = 1

; Allows the game to correctly check free disk space in hard drives larger than 2TB in order to save game files. Changes the displayed unit of measurement for available free space from KB to a scaled, proportionate unit. Example: Changes 99999999+ KB to 108.21 GB.
ImproveStorageSupport = 1

; Cosmetic fixes for the game's Quick Save feature. Always positions the quick save notifications to the bottom left corner of the game window, regardless of aspect ratio used. Color codes the quick save notifications for easier status identification (purple is successful, red is unsuccessful). Fixes a bug where the quick save notifications would only stay on screen for a few frames. Note: This feature does NOT affect quick save strats for speedrunning and might help it, thanks to fixing the issue of the quick save text only staying up for a few frames.
QuickSaveTweaks = 1

[Health Indicator]
; Hides the low health indicator during cutscenes, which would otherwise be distracting as the cutscenes play out.
DisableRedCrossInCutScenes = 1

; Displays a visual indicator during normal gameplay when low on health. Red Cross: Displays a flashing red cross on the bottom right of the screen. Lower Vignette: Displays a flashing red vignette on the lower half of the screen. The lower your health, the brighter the vignette will become. Note: LowHealthFade.png must be present in "sh2e\pic\etc\" for the Lower Vignette visual to display.
LowHealthIndicatorStyle = 2

[Environment]
; Fixes an issue on Nvidia graphics cards where chunks of the wall would disappear if the camera got close to their geometry. Note: If playing in an ultra-wide aspect ratio, the camera will likely clip through walls. This is a different issue and is unavoidable due to heavy use of tight camera angles throughout this game.
FixMissingWallChunks = 1

; Fixes an issue on Nvidia graphics cards where certain areas would appear white when they should be black.
WhiteShaderFix = 1

[Speed]
; Increases the camera speed movement back to its intended value and removes "floaty/bouncy" camera behavior that was present in the PC version.
PS2CameraSpeed = 1

; Increases the speed of all fade out/fade in transitions. Examples include going between rooms, opening/closing the inventory screen, examining memo/riddle images, and saving.
FastTransitions = 1

[Lighting]
; Fixes incorrect flashlight brightness levels by reducing its intensity for environments, but keeping enemies and NPCs bright. Also corrects flashlight levels for Wood Side Apartments Room 205 (the flashlight and mannequin room), along with a handful of other specialized rooms.
PS2FlashlightBrightness = 1

; Prevents the game from using wrong environmental and fog lighting values in the cemetery, if you load back into this area from a save point. Also corrects lighting levels in various other rooms/areas.
RoomLightingFix = 1

; Restores proper environmental settings for the "Maria" ending, and restores lighting conditions for the 3D trees in the "Leave" and "Maria" endings.
LightingFix = 1

; Fixes an issue where some light sources would not properly brighten and darken James.
LightingTransitionFix = 1

[Flicker]
; Fixes a bug that would make James' body flash with light if exiting the pause menu while the flashlight is off.
FlashlightFlickerFix = 1

; Removes flicker from environment settings resetting to default values at the end of certain cutscenes.
RemoveEnvironmentFlicker = 1

; Removes flicker that appears at the beginning of any motion blur event.
RemoveEffectsFlicker = 1

[Module]
; Upon game launch, the SH2:EE Setup Tool (SH2EEsetup.exe) will check for updates and, if available, will ask the user if they would like to update their files to receive new improvements and features for the project.
AutoUpdateModule = 1

; Silent Hill 2: Enhanced Edition will read and use files in the "sh2e" folder, rather than the "data" folder, whenever possible. This allows custom, modified game files to be stored in the "sh2e" folder so as not to replace/overwrite original game files, which are found in the "data" folder. Any game files which have not been modified for the project will still be read from the "data" folder like normal, so you must keep the "data" folder and leave it untouched. Note: If disabled, various other features will also be disabled. This feature should never be disabled.
UseCustomModFolder = 1

; Silent Hill 2: Enhanced Edition will read and use fonts and language files in the "lang" folder, rather than the "data" or "sh2e" folders, whenever possible. This allows custom language files to replace/overwrite original game files. Note: requires "Use custom 'sh2e' folder" to be enabled.
EnableLangPath = 1

; Enables the integrated SH2 Widescreen Fixes Pack and sh2proxy module. Note: If disabled, various other features will also be disabled. This feature should never be disabled.
WidescreenFix = 1

; Disables the "sh2e\pic\" path. This will revert the game to use the original, low resolution full screen images while still using all other files/folders found within the "sh2e" path. Note: Enabling the use of the custom "sh2e" folder is still required to use all other files/folders found with the "sh2e" path.
UsePS2LowResTextures = 0

[Advanced]
; Removes unneeded Windows Virtual Store files for the game and asks for adminstrator access if the game is located in an admin-protected directory. Adminstrator access is required if the game is located within an admin-protected directory in order to save game progress. Note:It is recommended to store the game in a local user directory (not an admin-protected directory) as a general rule.
CheckForAdminAccess = 1

; Checks if unsupported Windows compatibility options are enabled for the game's executable and disables them.
CheckCompatibilityMode = 1

; Creates a local.fix file in the game's directory (if it does not already exist) to allow GPU-based anti-aliasing support for the game.
CreateLocalFix = 1

; Prevents the game from overriding and using the lowest visual settings upon relaunch if the game previously crashed.
DisableSafeMode = 1

; Disables the screensaver while the game is running.
DisableScreenSaver = 1

; Disables Windows' high DPI scaling for the game to prevent certain display issues, such as a "burnt-in" image from appearing during fade transitions.
DisableHighDPIScaling = 1

; Removes the CD check on some versions of the game. Not guaranteed to work on all executables.
NoCDPatch = 1

; Prevents a crash when Steam controller configuration is used or when going to the game's options menu while using certain types of gamepads.
SteamCrashFix = 1

[Performance]
; Disables Microsoft Game Explorer (GameUX.dll) to prevent the game hanging on launch and rundll32.exe high CPU usage.
DisableGameUX = 1

; Fixes issues for Nvidia graphics cards, such as missing/incorrect shadows, when force-enabling anti-aliasing through of your GPU's control panel.
LegacyFixGPUAntiAliasing = 0

; Limits the game to run on one CPU core. Note that it is no longer necessary to run the game on a single core if enabling the project's custom streaming audio engine. Note: If the value is set to a number that is greater than the available cores on your computer, it will default to using the first core (CPU 0).
SingleCoreAffinityLegacy = 0

[Plugins]
; Loads custom libraries with the file extension .asi into the game process.
LoadPlugins = 0

; Only loads ASI plugins from the "scripts" and "plugins" folders.  Does not load ASI plugins from the current folder.
LoadFromScriptsOnly = 0

; Loads a 3rd party d3d8.dll from the "scripts" or "plugins" folder. Requires disabling the game from running in DirectX 9 to work.
LoadD3d8FromScriptsFolder = 0

[Speedrun Mode]
; Enables the Speedrun Mode for Silent Hill 2: Enhanced Edition. Choose between two speedrun modes: True Random Mode: The puzzle solutions are no longer determined by a frame count seed and instead will always be different on a per puzzle basis for every new playthrough. Quick save exploits/strats are disabled in this mode. Set Seed Mode: Every run has the same, set puzzle solutions. This lets you focus on the technical aspects of the run without worry of puzzle RNG. Quick save exploits/strats are retained in this mode.
SpeedrunMode = 0

[AeroWidescreen]

We need your d3d8.log file. This tells almost everything we need to know about your configuration, and it gives us insight into possible errors or hang ups.

1. Launch game
2. Wait for it to freeze.
3. Close game and upload d3d8.log.