diff --git a/src/render/mod.rs b/src/render/mod.rs
index 2687354..dafe901 100644
--- a/src/render/mod.rs
+++ b/src/render/mod.rs
@@ -880,13 +880,24 @@ impl Renderer {
         self.surface.configure(&self.device, &self.config);
         self.eye.resize(width, height);
     }
+
+
     pub fn set_skybox(&mut self, skybox: SimpleTexture) {
         self.eye.skybox(&self.device, skybox);
     }
     pub async fn new(window: &Arc<Window>) -> anyhow::Result<Self> {
+        static SKIP_EXTERNAL_OVERLAYS : bool = true; // use a config file or something to allow this to be toggled
+
         let bounds = window.inner_size();
         let width = bounds.width;
         let height = bounds.height;
+
+        if(SKIP_EXTERNAL_OVERLAYS) {
+            unsafe { // currently will crash on most Windows systems because wGPU in its infinite
+                     // wisdom tries to attach overlays from closed or non-existent programs
+                std::env::set_var("VK_LOADER_LAYERS_DISABLE", "~implicit~");
+            }
+        }
         // The instance is a handle to our GPU
         // BackendBit::PRIMARY => Vulkan + Metal + DX12 + Browser WebGPU
         let instance = wgpu::Instance::new(wgpu::InstanceDescriptor {