Dead Space.exe has stopped working

If you’re playing on a machine with a lower level/unsupported video card (especially integrated graphics) you might run into the following error:

"Dead Space.exe has stopped working"

This problem first appeared for me in Chapter 1 in the maintenance bay. For some people it appears right away when the game is starting up. Because the causes of this error are so varying, I have listed all possible solutions below. The only two I would recommend everyone do is the following:

1. Run as administrator and with Windows XP compatibility. Right click on your Dead Space shortcut, select properties. Select the compatibility tab and run the program under Windows XP compatibility and select Run this program as administrator.
2. Make sure you have a settings.txt file. If your game is always crashing, and/or you installed it from origin it is possible you won’t have a settings.txt file. In this case download this one and place in in the following folder (make sure you create any missing directories):
   C:\Users\<YOUR USER>\AppData\Local\Electronic Arts\Dead Space\settings.txt
   NOTE: AppData is a hidden folder so you’ll have to enable show hidden folders to see it. 
   

If you’ve tried the above mentioned recommended steps and are still experiencing crashes try combinations of the following suggestions below. Most of you will NOT need to implement all of these solutions:

• Disable HID compliant devices and game controllers. Open the Start Menu > Control Panel > System and Security > System > Device Manager. Under Human Interface Devices [HID] disable ONLY the devices named:
  + HID-compliant device
  + HID-compliant game controller.
  + HID-compliant consumer control device
  
  NOTE: It seems HID-compliant devices are responsible for lag and crashes across a wide range of devices. See these threads: link1, link2, link3. You can read more on HID here.
• Disable V-Sync. To disable V-Sync in the settings.txt file set the Window.VSync key to false:
  Window.VSync = false
  NOTE: On some machines Enabling V-Sync is what you need to do instead. Best to try both.
• Disable full-screen mode. In some odd cases playing in windowed mode will either remove the crashes or at least make them less frequent, though it can be quite an annoying experience. To set the game to run in windowed mode, open your settings.txt file and set Window.Fullscreen to be false AKA:
  Window.Fullscreen = false
• Add the resolution fix to your settings.txt file. See the post on the Dead Space changing resolution crash and follow the steps on how to fix it.
• Disable antivirus and firewall. Do this at your own risk! Some have noted that Dead Space conflicts with certain antivirus software.
• Disable Jumi controller if you have it. As mentioned here the Jumi controller driver can conflict with Dead Space so disable it when playing if you have it.
• Delete your latest save file. This suggestion comes from EA. It appears sometimes your savefile can become corrupted and cause startup crashes.
• Disable additional monitors. Some users reported that switching to a single screen display setting got around their crashes.

If you’ve followed the above steps and are still having issues with the Dead Space.exe has stopped working issue, please post in the comments below. To increase your chances of a solution being found include as much detail as possible (which version of the game you’re running, what operating system you have, what video card you have and steps to reproduce the issue). Screenshots are also very useful!

sources: link 1, link 2, link 3, link 4, link 5, link 6, link 7