Deus Ex: Invisible War (GOG)
Visual Upgrade Patch 1.2 (Download)
Windows 10 Pro

I wrote this guide using the above version and OS.

*Before you begin, save/close any important files from running in the background, so you don't lose any important data - just in case you need to restart your system (see next note).

**Should the game become unresponsive, in that you cannot exit it through the task manager or toolbar, hit CTRL+ALT+DELETE and select "Sign Out" to avoid hard-resetting your system.

1. Install the game and the Visual Upgrade Patch.
This guide was written for the default patch installer option:
[✓] Keep the unpatched game available.

2. Open the "VisibleTweaker" tool and set it to Windowed Mode. [Image 1]
Setting this will allow you to examine your task manager during the black screen/freeze to see which program is
conflicting with the game.

3. Boot the game.
Set your preferred resolution through the in-game video options.
The game will stall (freeze) at a black/gray screen after starting a new game.

Press CTRL+ALT+DELETE and...

4. Open the Task Manager.
Find "Deus Ex 2 Visibly Upgraded (32 bit)" under the Processes "Apps" section
It will probably say "Not responding"

Right click that selection and hit "Go to details" [Image 2]

In the next screen you will see 1 or 2 instances of "DeusEx2.exe"

Right click the one that says "Not responding" and select "Analyze wait chain". [Image 3]

This should detail the program(s) that are conflicting with Invisible War and preventing it from loading correctly. [Image 4]

Take note of the exact .exe name that is causing the problem.

In my case it was a music production related program called "NTKDaemon.exe"

5. Create a .bat file (or modify your startup settings.**)

Paste this into a text file: Replace "NTKDaemon.exe" with your specific conflicting .exe

Save the text file and rename it as "DX2.bat" and place it in your "Deus Ex - Invisible War\System" folder alongside the residing DX2.exe file. [Image 5]

**If the conflicting program is not vital to your everyday computer use, you could also just disable it through the Task Manager "Startup" options. If you choose this route, restart your computer and skip to Step 7.

6. Modifying Your Shortcuts (Optional)

Normal Shortcut: Galaxy Shortcut: Replace those .info files with this modified copy:
MEGA -- only needed for GOG Galaxy
Google Drive -- only needed for GOG Galaxy

This will link Galaxy to the new .bat file instead of the normal .exe

Note: If you have trouble finding files on your system, use a program such as voidtools "everything"
https://www.voidtools.com/downloads/

7. Test the game again.
Make sure it runs without freezing.
Afterward, you can open the "VisibleTweaker" tool again, and set it back to Fullscreen mode.

I found a different solution but this guide was a big help and I wouldn't have found it without this.
When I looked at the .exe in the wait chain on step four, mine was "nvcontainer.exe"
I disabled the Nvidia overlay in Geforce Experience and it started working.
To do this go to Settings > General > On the left side third box down you should see the "In-Game Overlay" switch.
When I turned this off, it started working for me.

The Visual upgrade patch file, comes back with a virus warning once it's been installed. Nested in the DX2.exe. Dunno if it's a false positive though.

I'm kinda late to the party but I've been using your guide to fix the same issue (on Steam instead of GOG) and also made use of the next comments suggestion to disable Nvidia overlay since it did cause the game to hang. Thing is, launching the game through the .bat file brings up the "Failed to find Steam" error. Is there a possible way this would work with Steam or is it for GOG only?

I'm not certain, but you might need to modify the .bat file to either add "Steam.exe" before "DX2.exe", or to change "DX2.exe" if a different file is normally used when starting the Steam version.

Does the game normally boot at all without using the .bat file?

If not, copy the "Steam.dll" from your Steam folder into the Deus Ex 2 folder where the "DX2.exe" is located.

Yeah, it runs normally. I'm asking because I'd like to deal with the program that causes it to crash in my case, Razer Synapse Service Process, without having to end it through the task manager every time. The exe is still the same from what I see so I'll try adding Steam's exe in the .bat file and see if it does something.

OK, I just asked that because I searched for that phrase "Failed to find Steam" and the general solution was to add that Steam.dll file.

I'm curious if you would get that same message if you open/double click the DX2.exe directly.

It's a bit of a weird case. See, I tested the executable as you told me and indeed it returns to the same "Failed to connect to Steam" error. I realised that the .exe the game normally runs is the DX2Main.exe. What I did was replace the DX2.exe with that one in the .bat file and then tested it. It did start and it seems like it also closed the Razer process that was causing the game to hang. However the game still doesn't run normally, it causes it to close down completely when it's meant to load a level. It doesn't hang or crash it just closes completely. Not sure why, it runs normally on its own.

Just wanted to add a little something that helped me with the vanilla game.

I couldn't run Lego Star Wars TCS, kept giving me this: And I learned that Lego SW TCS doesn't run on monitors above 60Hz.
I tried underclocking my laptop's monitor (120Hz) with the nvidia control panel, no dice.
So I lurked around and found CRU, a custom resolution utility.that can force make a 60hz profile in additon to your 120Hz profile and force the driver to switch according to the game.

https://www.monitortests.com/forum/Thread-Custom-Resolution-Utility-CRU

I installed it, ran it, followed the instructions and launched Lego SW.
Worked like a charm.

Then I had a dumb idea. "What if I ran Deus Ex IW now just to see?"

And Lo and Behold, it worked, no more black frozen screen, just a little refresh out to Windows then the game shot back to the proper loading screen and I could complete the intro/tutorial level.

So there you go, hope it helps, I don't hate the game now that I know how it works, and for all its jank I feel it's more fun if you fiddle with the debug menu and ass the save/load inventory features (you have to add them manually, I customized my debug menu to the bare minimum of cheats and AI functions) to duplicate/multiply your favourite items.
I'm going to search for the secret weapons adn see if I can find their object classes with those functions so I can dick around with my saves and build ridiculous characters for fun.

Might also wanna modify FoV in default.ini, search for 'fov__d' (double underscore) and put it to 57, if not the "drop" button in the inventory and the compass were outside the screen borders.

Every time I try this, I can't Alt+Tab to the Task Manager. I can press the Start button and bring up the taskbar, but when I click on the Task Manager it just brings me back to the black screen with the DX2:IW stylized mouse pointer.

open your task manager, go to options up top, and make it 'always on top'

edit: using visible tweaker/visible upgrade, i can run the game in a window only. borderless gaming won't allow for next level loading, due to the exe needing multiple loads etc. i've tried all of the fixes available and only this works for my current build. win11pro, 5950x etc. the game ran fine on my win10 build, fx8350.

Did you try another program similar to Borderless Gaming, such as Fullscreenizer?

See this - http://runtimeterror.com/tools/fullscreenizer/

Thank you very much buddy!

Your explanation was very helpful!I learned something today... created my first batch data... and I don´t have to kill my razer software for playing this game! GREAT!

Perfect explanation/guide, very cool with the pics, too!

Thanks to people like you, we can play masterpieces like this game on modern pcs!

THANK YOU VERY MUCH!

/// Tip for other people:

like another buddy already wrote, I had to disable Nvidia Overlay, too - but I had also to use this fix for another Program (Razer Software)

Nvidia Overlay is disabled and for Razer Software I used this fix and created a Batch file.

Perhaps this helps others, too!