FAQ
This page lists answers to some of the most frequently asked questions about BF3 Borderless. If you need to know something which isn't explained here, then please contact us.
- Does DICE approve of and allow this tool?
- Will this get me kicked or banned by PunkBuster?
- Why do I get an error, "The application was unable to start correctly"?
- I can't uninstall an older version. Help!
- Why isn't BF3 Borderless able to detect the game?
- Why do I get low performance or stuttering in windowed mode?
Does DICE approve of and allow this tool?
DICE has not made any official statement about BF3 Borderless; however, they are aware that it exists and is in use by many players. It is unlikely that they would officially approve it as it is a third-party tool, but it is also very unlikely that they would decide to disallow it. A DICE employee even posted to say one of our other programs was a "cool tool" and give us advice to help us improve it.
Will this get me kicked or banned by PunkBuster?
No. BF3 Borderless is entirely safe — you will not get into any trouble with PunkBuster. BF3 Borderless only modifies the window border of the running game; it does not inject any code or modify the game memory. It doesn't behave anything like a game hack. Additionally, PunkBuster generally only searches for known cheat program signatures; it will therefore never detect BF3 Borderless as a problem. There are many players using this tool, and none of them have reported any issues with PunkBuster.
Why do I get an error, "The application was unable to start correctly"?
This is a known issue which affects a small minority of our users. It is possibly related to security software, such as ZoneAlarm. We are investigating this and will try to resolve it from our end if at all possible. Check back later for an update, or contact us to request a modified version of BF3 Borderless which includes a workaround for this.
I can't uninstall an older version. Help!
We are aware that a small minority of people have had problems uninstalling an older version of BF3 Borderless, most often when they are trying to install a newer version on top of a previous installation. We are looking into these issues, but in the meantime, you can use the Microsoft Fix it tool to resolve the problem.
Why isn't BF3 Borderless able to detect the game?
If you are running either Battlefield 3 or Origin with administrator rights, then BF3 Borderless will also need administrator rights in order to detect the game. To do this, simply right-click on your BF3 Borderless shortcut, and choose "Run as administrator"; BF3 Borderless should then detect the game with no problems.
Why do I get low performance or stuttering in windowed mode?
Games are usually able to perform just as well in windowed mode as they can in fullscreen mode. The first thing you should do to try and resolve this is disable Windows Aero while playing the game; this can give you a surprising boost in performance.
To do this, simply tick the "Disable Windows Aero" checkbox in BF3 Borderless (available since version 1.2). With this change, Windows Aero will automatically disable itself when you launch the game, and it will re-enable when you close the game.
Another thing that can cause issues with windowed mode is multi-GPU setups. If you are running multiple graphics cards in NVIDIA SLI or AMD CrossFireX, or you own a single multi-GPU graphics card such as the GTX 590 or AMD 6990, then you are using a multi-GPU setup. Unfortunately, it seems multi-GPU setups are known for numerous issues, and low performance in windowed mode seems to be one of them. In fact, you might only be using one GPU while playing in windowed mode! There is currently no known solution for this.