It's because the battlefield.exe is still running. Even if you close the program the exe. can sometimes keep running in the proces tab of the taskmanager. When your problem occurs right click on the Bf3.exe process and select close. Now you should be able to start bf3 again without having ot restart your pc What causes the issue is unclear.
Here is a list of generel things you could try.
The list is made by a good friend Carbonic:
-Please write descriptive (also the subject line) so the right people find your question and knows what it contain
-Try restarting your computer and network equipment (routers, switches etc.)
-Try another browser (Chrome/FireFox/IE)
-Can't find your game? Make sure you have bought BF3: Premium Edition and not just Premium.
-Check the Origin server status: http://www.origin.com/us/status
-Try cleaning your browsers' cache and temporary files using CCleaner (http://www.piriform.com/ccleaner)
-Try repairing your game in Origin (right click -> repair)
-Try reloading your games in Origin
-Check if Punkbuster is running correctly and update it manually (https://help.ea.com/in/article/punkbuster-technical-issues)
-Make sure Origin doesn't have connection issues (https://help.ea.com/article/connection-issues-with-origin)
-Make sure the correct ports for BF3 is open (https://help.ea.com/article/online-ports-for-battlefield-3)
-Try reinstalling Origin by manually uninstalling first (https://help.ea.com/article/manually-uninstalling-origin) + make sure it's the newest version
-Try reinstalling the game by manually uninstalling first (https://help.ea.com/article/How-to-manually-uninstall-Battlefield-3)
-Try setting bf3.exe as a trusted application in the windows(/other) firewall
-If you have a Realtek soundcard try disabling it in the BIOS
-Try deleting the BF3 Settings folder in C:/Users/USERNAME/My Documents/Battlefield 3
-Try doing a UOtrace to EA's servers to check for problems - https://help.ea.com/article/how-to-uo-trace
-Update ALL your drivers especially the graphics card but also components like soundcards, network card, motherboard/chipset, headset and mouse+keyboard, to the newest version, if the problem came with a new driver then remove that driver and downgrade to the driver that worked.
-Use Windows eventviewer to look at the error in xml and copy/paste the solution here
-Run Origin and Battlefield 3 as administrator (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/ff431742.aspx)
-Go to the cloud button on BF3 and uncheck the “enable cloud storage for all games” box. Launch the game, quit it and re-enable the cloud storage box. Make sure to use the local data when the information box popping up.
-Check the READ FIRST post http://answers.ea.com/t5/Battlefield-3/READ-FIRST-Known-issues-guides-and-FAQs/m-p/215092/highlight/... most answers are in there
-Look at this handy dandy post: http://answers.ea.com/t5/Battlefield-3/Battlefield-3-fixes-guide-read-carefully/td-p/76264
-Banned? Read this: (https://help.ea.com/in/article/information-about-banned-or-suspended-accounts)
If none of this worked, post relevant logfiles, screenshots, descriptions, exact errormessages, and all other relevant information(like platform) - even if it's stupid and obvious (there's alot of clueless people on the internet ;-) )
Please accept solutions if they are correct and press the XP button if somebody helped you. This way you help others in the same situation.
Kind regards, Tviggah
