Bug Unity 2021 and newer won't open

Hello. My Windows 7 64-bit PC has been using Unity on-and-off for several years just fine, since 2016. After hearing of a new feature in Unity's build for 2021, I decided to try updating. However, these newer versions never open.

It does not matter if I am trying to update an old project, or trying to create a new one. If it involves 2021 or 2022, those versions do not run.

Installing and running Unity 2021.2.5f1 or the Unity 2022.1.0a16 Alpha build does not show anything onscreen. Only by checking Task Manager am I aware that the Unity process opens for only a few seconds, allocates about 4k-10k KB of memory, then ultimately closes. No error message, not even a splash screen. Nothing.

The Unity Editor log file located under AppData does not provide any relevant information. That log file only updates for the older builds I have, the ones that run just fine. I can run Unity 2020.2.7f1 without issue.

Technically I have the necessary Windows 7 update that Unity Hub tells me to have installed. The update KB2533623 for Windows 7 x64 was superceded by a newer update that I currently have installed. This should not be an issue, and I will not waste my time attempting to remove the newer update and installing only KB2533623.

I firmly believe that staying up-to-date on Unity versions would be best for me. Please help me run these newer versions!

 

Making this post at midnight left my problem at 1 view on page 2... Maybe I can make an update post instead of just a generic 'bump.'

After searching for other users with this problem, I feel compelled to say that the following did not work:

1. Running in compatibility mode for Windows 7 + running as administrator. Almost zero effect, though the Unity.exe process allocates 6k KB more.
2. Going offline did nothing.
3. Disabling my antivirus did nothing.
4. I should acknowledge that I did change my hardware at one point, from a GTX 760 to a GTX 1050. I doubt that this should make for any problems since earlier Unity versions still run fine.
5. I could not locate any other temp files to delete.

 

This seems like an incredibly good lead. Something that I have in common with the posts there is the fact that I have indeed had a language pack installed. Specifically I set my system locale to Japanese and have both Japan and English (United States) available via a Language toolbar.

Removing the Language toolbar, resetting system locale, or uninstalling the Japanese language pack hasn't worked yet; I haven't found a way to cleanly remove every bit of Japanese yet, so I cannot confirm that removal of non-English languages can help with this issue.

Furthermore, I noticed something very unusual while poking around in my Control Panel. My "NVIDIA Control Panel" is still in Japanese. If this Unity bug is caused by something on a deeper level than just OS, something digging down to the hardware driver level, then perhaps that would complicate a language incompatibility?

Anyways: Thank you very much for replying. I apologize for spitballing since I'm rather desperate, but I truly hope every bug gets fixed.

 

Well, if you don’t buy Unity license… starting from Unity 2020 your Unity app will refer to the offline license using client.licensing
If not found it won’t start
A quick fix for that is to buy a license