Need a PC GENIUS........ :( 2 Errors: game instability and unarc.dll installation issue.

Question

So this is a new issue for me.

Had my pc about a year.

My PC Specs:

13th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-13700F 2.10 GHz

WINDOWS 11 Home

7 fan, air cooled

32 GB RAM 6000MHz

8 GB NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Ti

C:// 4TB SSD

D:// 12TB HDD

E:// 1TB SSD

Recently, I have noticed when installing new games, it gives a new error.

"ISDone.dll

An error occurred while unpacking.

Unarc.dll returned an error code -1

ERROR: Archive Data corrupted (decompression fails)"

I have gone through troubleshooting searching online. I have re-downloaded the game, I have tried installing on another drive, I have checked file integrities, I have more than enough RAM.

I ran 'sfc/scannow' in cmd, which came back saying a corruption was detected and was repaired. Running it again, no more errors, but issue persists.

Tried doing these commands as well...

"* DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /CheckHealth
* DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /ScanHealth
* DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth"

....but it comes back in cmd with this error:

"Error 87. The online/cleanup-image/checkhealth option is unknown."

Ran scandisk, no errors came back.

Cannot find unarc.dll or isdone.dll to re-register.

NOOOOW..........

...... as if this issue of installing new games wasn't enough, I noticed a new issue at the same time this issue came up. I am enjoying an old game, Starcraft 2... playing online... but now, it keeps crashing to desktop every hour or two. Th8s also happens when i am playing ither games as well, such as Monster Hunter Wilds, Hogwart's Legacy, Baldur's Gate 3 or No Man's Sky. This wasn't happening prior to when I started getting this "unarc.dll" error. I have considered they might be 2 separate issues, but given the coincidental timing, I have also considered it could be the same issue with 2 symptoms.

I REALLY REALLY REEEEALLY need a genius PC doctor on this one. Is this fixable??? Or is something on my PC already going bad?? And if so, WHAT? :(

Answer 1

Angel,

Thank you so much for reaching out. I am Iggy, an independent advisor, and glad to assist you today with this issue.

I know how frustrating to have this kind of error but let us breakdown your issues.

Let's check Unarc.dll error during game installation.

This usually happens when installing repacks or compressed game archives, and the unarc.dll decompression process fails. You’ll often see messages like: An error occurred while unpacking: archive corrupted! Unarc.dll returned an error code: -7 / -11 / -12 / -1

Main causes

• Corrupted download
• Low RAM or disk space
• Antivirus or Windows Defender blocking the decompression

-Faulty unarc.dll or incompatible version

If you're using FitGirl, DODI, SKIDROW or other highly compressed repacks, even small errors or interruptions can break the unpacking.

If you see:

Unarc.dll error -11: Usually memory issue (RAM or virtual memory)

Unarc.dll error -7: Corrupted archive

Unarc.dll error -1: Generic failure (permissions, antivirus)

Basing the error you indicated It's -1 (generic failure) It could be the AV or defender, firewall on the system detected a file, quarantined it and during the installation it failed because a file is already missing. OR It's blocking a virus or malware.

I suggest to run or scan your PC for malware(Malwarebytes free) The second issue of random crashes started after you encountered the installation error right? that's why we need to check the first issue.

Let me know If It detected any virus or malware. After doing this we can continue troubleshooting.

Regards,

Iggy

Answer 2

Angel,

You can run a stress test to check your GPU, CPU, and MEM via OCCT or any benchmark you prefer. In this way you we can narrow down the random crashes. (could be thermal or memory issue)

Keep me updated once you tried downloading form another source and stress test.

Regards,

Iggy

Answer 3

Thank you for responding Iggy!

I did run Malware bytes.

The only few detections it had were the normal cracks and hacktools used by those sites you mentioned. Nothing out of the ordinary as they are cracks and hacktools I normally see from those sites. They are also detected within the game folders I downloaded them to. Not in any system files or in any out-of-the-ordinary directories.

Also, I have tried downloading and installing while Windows Defender is completely off, ruling out Defender quanantining a game or setup file during download or installation.

I have not considered the error to be site-specific, so my next step until the next reply will be to try and download these games from another source/different download method to see if I have the same problem.

But after running MWB with no unnatural detections, it still doesn't explain my games crashing. I am beginning to fear a hardware issue in my processor or graphics card, but I don't want to jump to any conclusions yet, if someone who knows much more than me can advise differently.

I will try downloading a game from a different source and post again within a day or two.