You double-click the Silkroad Latino launcher and nothing happens: it won't open, it closes on its own, you get a black screen, or it straight-up crashes. Before you reinstall it a thousand times, relax: in almost every case the culprit is Windows' Data Execution Prevention (DEP), a security feature that mistakes the game's executables for a threat and blocks them. Here are the two definitive fixes to unlock it and get back on the server in minutes.

The Silkroad Latino launcher failing to start: the most common symptom of a DEP block.

Option 1: add the executables to the DEP exceptions

This is the recommended and safest fix: instead of turning off all of Windows' protection, you just tell DEP to ignore the game's three executables. Follow the steps in order.

  1. Open the Start Menu, right-click Computer, and choose Properties.
  2. In the Properties window, click Advanced system settings.
  3. Under the Performance section, click Settings.
  4. Go to the Data Execution Prevention tab.
  5. Check the option Turn on DEP for all programs and services except those I select.
  6. Add these three executables to the list: Silkroad.exe, Sro_client.exe, and replacer.exe.
  7. Click Apply and then OK.
  8. Restart your computer so the changes take effect.
Step 1: right-click Computer, then Properties.
Step 2: go to Advanced system settings.
Step 3: under Performance, click Settings.
The Data Execution Prevention tab with the game's three executables already added to the exceptions.

Option 2: disable DEP completely

If you added the exceptions, restarted, and the launcher still won't open, the heavy-duty step is to turn off DEP for the entire system with a single console command.

  1. Open the command prompt (CMD) as Administrator.
  2. Type (or paste) the command below exactly as-is and press Enter.
  3. Restart your PC to apply the change.
bcdedit.exe /set {current} nx AlwaysOff
Open the command prompt (CMD) as Administrator.
The bcdedit command entered in CMD to disable DEP.