The Lab

The Lab

44 ratings
How to get The Lab running again
By pogof
How to get The Lab running again
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What to do
So as many of you probably also noticed The Lab wont load. It will start, it will go through the intro and into the first loading screen and stop there. VR will work but the window will go unresponsive.

To solve this find where you have your game installed:
Default would be

C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\The Lab\TheLab\win64

In this folder right click TheLab.exe > Properties > Compatibility

In this window check: Compatibility mode > Windows 7

Tick: Turn off fullscreen optimization

Tick: Run as administrator

Now go to Steam and start the game and see if it works.
NOTE: When you start it you have to click the annoying yes prompt.

Limitations:
Everything should work fine, however some of the demos are as their own EXEs its ok when you select them and play them, but when you try to teleport back it will instead take you back to Steam Home.

Thats it! The Lab is a great tech demo, much higher quality then a lot of "real" VR games. Im just very bummed that the GLaDOS segment isnt longer :(
23 Comments
Sylveon 27 Aug, 2023 @ 1:19pm 
this never happened to me I got the game and it worked just fine never any probems
Clean_Cookies 18 Jan, 2023 @ 5:19am 
"My PS5 isn't working properly, do you guys know how to fix it?" - isaac.gonzalez0620
prkholl24 14 Nov, 2022 @ 1:23pm 
Thank you, thank you, thank you. For me, windows 7 didn't work but i ran the compatibility troubleshooter and it set it to windows 8 in which it worked fine. I am on windows 11 so thats probably why.
JollyGreenKirb.mp3 8 Sep, 2022 @ 7:35pm 
made my performance worse
Helios604 5 Feb, 2022 @ 9:11pm 
I've tried this and every other fix I can find on the internet. The only thing I haven't done, which I won't do, is wipe my computer and clean install. I've never seen a game behave like this in all my 30 years of using computers. Very disappointing; I would love for this to work again. The game loads for a bit, then just kicks back to the Steam VR home. Ad infinitum.
pogof  [author] 4 Feb, 2022 @ 2:40am 
@isaac.gonzalez0620 This is not the right place to get your whole VR setup working. If you have problems with that I would ask on the VR forum or send a support ticket. If you have question specific to this game try to ask, however Im not sure if I can help beyond whats already written in this guide.
isaac.gonzalez0620 3 Feb, 2022 @ 2:37pm 
how do i get vr to work
isaac.gonzalez0620 1 Feb, 2022 @ 5:37pm 
how can i get vr working
warfaced 5 Jul, 2021 @ 10:17am 
Didn't work for me, freezes up at loading screen
Grace from SOUND VOLTEX 26 May, 2021 @ 9:59am 
Wait, theres a GlaDOS segment? I'm reinstalling this game!