Games go through immense stages of quality assurance before their release period. No matter how many bugs the dev teams squash during this time, more always show up when players flood into the servers.
The developers rolled out Halo Infinite’s multiplayer mode yesterday ahead of schedule, and fans around the world started flooding into the game’s servers without wasting a second.
While some players will be able to play matches without any trouble, others run into errors that prevent them from playing Halo Infinite. The Incompatible Operating System error is a great example of this, and it’s been making fans’ lives difficult.
The error explains itself, but it makes no sense if players are trying to launch the game on a Windows machine that has capable hardware. An ultimate fix for this error should roll out in the future as developers get to the bottom of it, but there are a few troubleshooting methods that players can try in the meantime.
Verify the integrity of your game files
A corrupted in-game file or a missing one can cause the Incompatible Operating System error. Corrupted game files can appear for all sorts of reasons and you can scan for them via Steam.
- Launch Steam
- Find Halo Infinite in your library
- Right-click on Halo Infinite and choose “Properties”
- Click on “Local Files”
- Select “Verify” the integrity of game files
The verification process will kick off after completing the last step and if the scanner detects a corrupted file, it’ll replace it with a new copy.
This process can take a few minutes and you can complete other tasks while it sorts itself out.
Restart your PC
Gamers can have all kinds of programs on their computers. Though that won’t be a problem in most cases, most modern apps will leave an active background process even after they’re closed.
When there are too many background processes running on your PC, there can be a conflict with the game you’re playing, Halo Infinite in this case, and cause you to receive errors that prevent you from launching the game.
Restarting your PC will allow you to get rid of all the background processes that may have stacked over time. Right after you start your PC again, try launching Halo Infinite before anything else to see if the error is gone.
Keep your drivers updated
Game developers work closely with graphics card manufacturers. Some even release special driver updates alongside game releases that unlock additional features and fix some bugs.
If it’s been a while since your last driver update, you should try updating your drivers. A conflict between your GPU and Halo Infinite can also cause the Incompatible Operating System error.
Both Nvidia and AMD have their own dedicated programs that automatically install updates, but if you don’t have those installed, you’ll need to navigate to their respective websites and manually pick your drivers to download the latest updates for them.
Uninstall your Visual C++ packages
Though this is more of a niche fix, installing the latest Visual C++ packages can be the difference-maker in rare cases. Before you uninstall new ones, you’ll need to delete your existing ones through the uninstall or remove apps section on the Control Panel.
You can download the latest packages here.
Disable your antivirus or firewall
Antivirus and firewalls want the best for the users. They can sometimes get in the way of games though, especially when they detect false positives while a game’s trying to install its files. This may have happened without you noticing, and if you disable your antivirus/firewall, Halo Infinite will be able to install the remaining files or let you in without receiving the Incompatible Operating System error.
If you’d like to keep your antivirus/firewall on, you’ll need to set Halo Infinite and its game files as an exception. This process will depend on the antivirus program you’re using and you can find online guides for almost all developers out there.
Reinstall Halo Infinite
No gamer likes to hear this due to the file sizes of modern games, but reinstalling a game is the only last-resort solution you’ll have to fix the Incompatible Operating System error.
When you reinstall the game, you’ll be basically making sure that all of your files are in top shape. If you have a second storage drive on your computer, you can try installing Halo Infinite there for a chance just to check a couple of boxes in one go.
If you’re still receiving the Incompatible Operating System error while trying to play Halo Infinite after trying out all the fixes above, you should send a support ticket through Halo Waypoint. Explain all the troubleshooting steps you’ve tried so far and even include some screenshots to help the support team with getting to the bottom of the issue.
Depending on the time of the year, you should get a reply email from a support associate within a few days. By then, they may fix the problem if it’s due to something on their end or provide you with additional troubleshooting that are likely to fix the Incompatible Operating System error.
