Same problem.... I open the game black flashes across the screen and the program stops... Renaming and removing the dll file did not work, uninstalling gog as described did not work. Turning off the firewall did not work.

I have a newish Alienware laptop so all should be good with cards...

I' m not even getting a screen flicker - the only thing that changes is that the timer on 'last played' in the galaxy install resets to 'a few seconds ago'

I tried uninstalling GoG Galaxy, doing the things in the sticky, and renaming galazy.dll, but then the app just told me "this app will not run on this PC, contact the software manufacturer.

Reinstalled GoG Galaxy, verified files. Still no change. :(

How do i download the game without installing Galaxy? can anyone tell me, step by step? Cause i can't seem to find it.

I've got the same issue. I purchased the retail-version.
After the installation i can click the "Play"-button in galaxy, nothing happens. Just nothing, no process in task manager, no black screen.
Tried lots of things. Of course i patched it with 1.01.
Updated NVidia drivers, reinstalled the game as admin (twice), uninstalled galaxy (including the whole cmd-stuff), rebootet several times. Nothing.

My Specs:
Windows 7 64 Bit
GTX 660 Ti
i5-3570K
8GB RAM

Two options:

1. Download the GoG Downloader
2. Go to gog.com, click Account, select Library
3. Choose The Witcher 3
4. Select More -> GoG Downloader links
5. Download the game and the patch to the same folder(and whatever else you would like, language packs, extras)
6. Install the game, then patch it
7. Play

If you want to do it without the downloader

1. Go to gog.com, click Account, select Library
2. Choose The Witcher 3
3. Download all 7 parts of the installer and the patch to the same folder(and whatever else you would like, language packs, extras)
4. Install the game, then patch it
5. Play

Go to ACCOUNT -- LIBRARY

you should see a list of your games in MY COLLECTION -- Select (click) on Witcher 3 -- below will appear the downloads, there are seven plus a patch.

You click each one to start downloading.

GoG Downloader Links arent working? When i click on them, nothing happens. Tried both internet explorer and chrome.

Maybe i need to download the patches one by one then?

Thanks for your answer.
Thanks for your time, have a nice day.

I hope downloading all the patches, will allow me to play the game.
Cause i can't play it through Galaxy.

Because you need to install the downloader first.

Fixed it, sorry pal :)

Thanks alot, did you do it this way? and can you play the game ? :)

I downloaded dozens of games this way from GoG before, you will be able to play the game, don't worry :)

I'm still having this issue. witcher3.exe will appear as a task in the Task Manager for a few moments and then nothing at all happens. Sometimes the screen will flicker.

I've tried all the recommendations in this thread, and other similar threads. Initially did install the pre-download version and then applied the launch day patch. I've installed entirely through Galaxy. I've installed entirely through GoG Downloader.

Here're my specs:

GeForce GTX 680M
32G, i7
Windows 7 Pro

I'm running the 5/18 GeForce Game Ready Driver (352.86).

Seems reasonable. The only feedback I get is from a .crashinfo file:

Crash reason: EXCEPTION_ACCESS_VIOLATION (3221225477), Error reading location 0x00000048

I've apparently had some issue's as other people here. I've even tried a lot of other stuff I've gleaned from posts. Game still inoperable.

Removing Galaxy services did not work
Deleting / Renaming Galaxy.dll makes problem worse.
Changing DEP did nothing
C++ / .NET are installed
NVidia settings are default

Galaxy is not installed.
Game has been reinstalled.
Game has been patched.
NVidia Game Ready driver has been installed.

End Result: Black Screen / inoperable game.

Specs:
Version: Pre Download, Manual
Win 7 Pro (64)
i7 5500 2.4 Ghz
16GB Ram
850M GTX

Solutions would be appreciated.

Fixed my start crash:

went here: intel.com/p/en_US/support/detect
downloaded driver update for my intel processor ( Core i7-4710MQ CPU @2.50GHz 2.50 GHz ). Followed the instructions. After I installed and updated i clicked the restart button... restarted... Tried game on Gog again... Voila... Game started.