Miner won't start or crashes immediately: 8 causes and fixes

Your miner closes after a couple of seconds, throws an error, or shows zero hashrate? Let's go through all the common causes in order — from the simplest to the most complex, with a concrete fix for each.

Updated: 2026-08-31 · Reading time: ~8 minutes

#mining #errors #windows

Contents

1. The first thing to do: see the error
2. Cause 1: antivirus deleted the miner files
3. Cause 2: non-Latin characters in the folder path
4. Cause 3: page file too small
5. Cause 4: outdated graphics drivers
6. Cause 5: an error in the .bat file
7. Cause 6: the pool is unreachable
8. Cause 7: insufficient power or riser problems
9. Cause 8: conflict with other programs
10. Zero hashrate — a separate case
11. Quick diagnostic checklist
12. Conclusion

1. The first thing to do: see the error

The main beginner problem: the miner window opens and closes instantly, before you can read anything. It's solved with a single line.

Open your .bat file and add this at the very end, on its own line:

pause

Now the window will stay open after a crash, and you'll see the error text. This is half the solution — knowing the exact error, you'll find the cause far faster.

You can also enable logging by adding the --log 1 parameter to the miner command — then all messages are saved to a file, and you can study them at your leisure.

2. Cause 1: antivirus deleted the miner files

The most common cause on Windows. Windows Defender and antivirus programs treat miners as malware — this is a false positive characteristic of every miner without exception. The antivirus quietly deletes miner.exe or part of it, and there's nothing left to launch.

Signs: the file has vanished from the folder; the miner ran yesterday but not today; after extracting the archive there are fewer files than there should be.

How to fix it: add the miner's folder to the antivirus exclusions, then re-extract the archive (deleted files won't come back on their own).

🔗 Step-by-step guide — Windows Defender Blocks Miners: How to Add Folders to Exclusions.

⚠️ Important: add to exclusions only files downloaded from the developer's official GitHub. If the miner was downloaded from a questionable source, the antivirus warning may be real.

3. Cause 2: non-Latin characters in the folder path

Many miners can't handle non-Latin letters in file paths and crash without a clear error.

Bad: C:\Users\Иван\Miners\gminer Good: C:\miners\gminer

How to fix it: move the miner's folder to the root of the drive, in a path made up of Latin letters only. While you're at it, check the name of the .bat file itself — it should be in Latin characters too.

The same applies to the Windows username: if it's in a non-Latin script and the folder sits in Downloads or on the Desktop, the path still contains those characters. That's exactly why C:\miners\ is recommended.

4. Cause 3: page file too small

A classic problem, especially on rigs with several cards. The miner runs out of virtual memory and crashes a few seconds after starting.

Benchmark: the page file should be no smaller than the combined video memory of all your cards, with headroom. For a single card 16 GB is usually enough; for a rig of several, 20 GB or more.

If your miner crashes with a specific CUDA allocation failure, see our detailed guide on CUDA error: out of memory when mining.

How to increase it (Windows 10/11):

1. Press Win+R, type sysdm.cpl, Enter.
2. Advanced tab → "Performance" section → Settings button.
3. Advanced tab → "Virtual memory" section → Change.
4. Uncheck "Automatically manage paging file size for all drives."
5. Select the drive, choose Custom size, and enter the initial and maximum size in megabytes (16 GB = 16384, 20 GB = 20480).
6. Click Set, then OK, and restart the computer.

5. Cause 4: outdated graphics drivers

An old driver may not support the algorithm you need — the miner starts and immediately crashes, or doesn't see the card.

How to fix it:

1. Download the latest current driver from the official NVIDIA or AMD site.
2. For a clean install, it helps to first remove the old driver with the DDU utility in Safe Mode — this rules out conflicts from leftover old versions.
3. Restart and try again.

The general rule: install a recent version from the official site and don't run a driver that's several years old. Old branches may not know about new algorithms and DAG sizes. You don't have to chase the very latest release on day one — many miners prefer a proven, stable version — but you shouldn't be years behind either.

6. Cause 5: an error in the .bat file

One typo and the miner won't start.

What to check:

• The executable's name. The command says miner.exe, but the file in the folder is named differently? Make them match.
• The wallet address. Copied in full, with no spaces or truncated characters. Check that the address is for the exact coin you're mining.
• Worker format. Usually wallet.worker_name — separated by a dot, no spaces.
• Algorithm. Spelled correctly and matching the coin (kheavyhash for Kaspa, kawpow for Ravencoin, autolykos2 for Ergo, etchash for ETC).
• File encoding. Save the .bat in ANSI or UTF-8 without BOM. Stray invisible characters break the launch.
• Extension. The file must be start.bat, not start.bat.txt. Turn on file extensions in Explorer (View → File name extensions) and check.

🔗 How to build a .bat file from scratch — Gminer: download, setup and commands.

7. Cause 6: the pool is unreachable

The miner launches but can't connect and closes.

How to check: open Command Prompt (Win+R → cmd) and run:

ping pool-address

No response means the problem is the pool's availability or your network.

What to do:

• verify the address and the port are correct — the port often depends on the algorithm and is listed on the pool's site;
• make sure the firewall or ISP isn't blocking the connection;
• try a different pool server (another region) or a different pool — that way you'll know whether it's the pool or your system.

8. Cause 7: insufficient power or riser problems

If the miner starts and crashes under load (after 10–60 seconds, once the cards reach full power), it's almost always the power.

Signs: the computer reboots on its own; shuts off when mining starts; one of the cards drops out of the list.

What to do:

• add up the cards' total draw and compare it with the PSU's rating — you need at least 20% headroom;
• check that all supplementary power cables are firmly connected, and that a single cable with splitters isn't feeding several power-hungry cards;
• check the risers: contact tightness, no scorching;
• try running mining with a single card — if it works, add cards one at a time to find the faulty one.

9. Cause 8: conflict with other programs

What interferes most often:

• a second running miner — close them all, leave one;
• overclocking programs with conflicting profiles (several utilities controlling clocks at once);
• recording/streaming software that uses the GPU;
• virtualization or Hyper-V — in some configurations it blocks access to the graphics card.

Check in Task Manager whether a miner process from a previous run is still hanging — it can block a new one.

10. Zero hashrate — a separate case

The situation where the miner started, the window didn't close, there's a connection to the pool, but the hashrate is zero. This is not the same as a crash, and the causes are different:

• The card doesn't support the algorithm or lacks enough video memory for the chosen coin.
• A driver conflict — update or reinstall cleanly.
• The overclock is so aggressive that the card doesn't produce valid solutions.
• The card is busy with another process — check GPU usage in Task Manager.
• System clock out of sync — turn on automatic synchronization.

If there is a hashrate but lots of rejected shares, that's a separate topic:

🔗 Rejected shares: why shares get rejected and how to fix it.

11. Quick diagnostic checklist

Go in order, without skipping:

1. ☐ Added pause to the .bat and read the error text
2. ☐ Checked that all miner files are in place (antivirus)
3. ☐ Folder path in Latin characters only, C:\miners\
4. ☐ Page file increased to 16–20 GB, restarted
5. ☐ Graphics driver up to date
6. ☐ Rechecked the .bat: file name, algorithm, wallet, port, extension
7. ☐ Pinged the pool — it responds
8. ☐ Tried launching with a single card
9. ☐ Closed other miners and overclocking programs

In 90% of cases the problem is found in the first four items.

12. Conclusion

Most miner crashes aren't a hardware failure but small configuration details: antivirus, non-Latin characters in the path, the page file. Start by adding pause so you can see the error — after that, diagnosis goes many times faster.

If the miner started but shares are being rejected, move on to the rejects breakdown via the link above.

⚠️ This material is for informational purposes. Modifying system settings and hardware is done at your own risk.