Forza Horizon 6 Guide: How To Fix The E:0-17 Save Error
You finally installed the game, only for the main menu to instantly spit you back out with an E:0-17 error code.
Dropping cash on a highly anticipated racing game just to stare at a broken launch screen is a special kind of torment. If you're currently fighting the E:0-17 "Save File Failed to Load" bug, you know exactly how frustrating this loop feels. Every time you try to boot the game, it throws the error, panics, and dumps you right back where you started. The weirdest part is that this even happens to people who literally just installed the game for the first time and don't even have a save file to corrupt yet.
Before you waste three hours completely reinstalling the game or wiping your graphics drivers, let me save you the headache. The issue actually has absolutely nothing to do with broken game files or a dying solid-state drive. As spotted by the folks on the Forza Horizon subreddit, the problem lies entirely within your own Windows network architecture. Here is exactly how to fix the communication breakdown so you can actually drive.
The Network Authentication Loop
The game refuses to load your profile because it's hitting a digital brick wall before it even reaches the introductory drive.
When you boot the game, it immediately tries to ping specific Microsoft servers to authenticate your profile, check your cloud data, and sync up telemetry protocols. If your computer has any active network rules or security scripts running that block those domains, the game panics. It assumes your save file is totally compromised, gives up, and shuts down the loading sequence.
Identifying the Block
If you're using a standard internet setup and haven't touched your operating system settings, you shouldn't be seeing this. But if you're playing on a PC that has been heavily modified for privacy or network security, you've likely blocked the exact pipe the game needs to talk to the mothership.
Editing Your Windows Hosts File
The most common culprit behind this entire mess is a modified system text file hiding deep inside your operating system directory.
If you ever copied a custom network script to block ads or stop Windows background tracking, you likely added a rule that breaks the game entirely. To fix it, you need to scrub those specific entries out of your network configuration.
Navigating to the File
Open up your file explorer and head down this exact system path: C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts. You'll find a plain file simply named hosts sitting in that folder.
Cleaning the Restrictions
Open that file using a basic text editor like Notepad. Scroll through the text and look for any lines that mention Microsoft domains or telemetry tracking services. If you spot them, delete those specific lines entirely and save the document.
If you don't feel like playing digital surgeon with individual lines of text, you can take the brute-force route (which is exactly what I did to save time). Just right-click the file, hit rename, and change it to something like hostsBACKUP. This completely neutralizes the file. Restart your machine, launch the game, and check if you can finally get past the title screen.
Reverting OS Debloat Software
If you love stripping your operating system down to the bare metal to squeeze out extra frames, you likely sabotaged your own launch.
Many PC players use third-party optimization suites to clean up background processes. If you used the popular utility O&O ShutUp10++ to clear out system bloat, you've accidentally found the exact source of your E:0-17 error code.
Restoring Factory Defaults
The tool completely severs Microsoft telemetry protocols, which works great for privacy but completely kills the game's validation system. To reverse the damage, you don't have to manually hunt through dozens of registry sliders.
Simply download O&O ShutUp10++ again to open the interface. Look up at the top menu bar, select the option to Restore Default Settings, and click confirm. This safely resets your network and privacy parameters back to the factory baseline. Once the program finishes, restart your PC to let the changes lock in. Your operating system will start talking to the necessary servers again, and you'll be able to clear the menu without getting booted back to the lobby.
