One of the most anticipated PC games of the year, Grand Theft Auto IV did not have a great start: except from the fact that those who opted for digital distribution had no pre-loading options, it appears that those who managed to install the game are constantly suffering from GTA IV crashes, freezings and other performance related issues. Is there a way to fix these problems?

For the moment, Rockstar remain silent – it’s probably still early and they have to analyze the tons of reports regarding poor performance and lock-ups. However, one thing is clear: there are many people having problems and we only have one possible suggestion right now for trying to fix the game: try defragging your hard disk drive after installing GTA IV. It might be a long shot, but it’s worth trying, since a heavily defragged game (and with a 15GB install, Rockstar’s title can do that) can lead to crashes, freezings and other problems.

It’s worth noting that on the official GTA IV forums, at the moment of writing, from the 74 people who took the time to answer a poll asking “how well does the game run?” an incredible 41 people answered that it “runs horribly”, 17 admitted that the game does not run at all and just 16 say that the game runs fine. Is both frightening and unbelievable. But it also appears to be genuine – user AussieDave27 has posted some images to prove the GTA IV lock-ups.

We’ll update the story if Rockstar comes with an answer or an official solution to the problem. If you have found your own fix for the PC version of Grand Theft Auto IV, please share it with the world!

Update: The crashes might also be problem related to the graphic cards. Website PCGH reports that “neither a HD 4870 with 1,024 MiByte nor a HD 4850 is running. GTA 4 is also denying to run with an HD 3870 or HD 3850.” So now we’ll keep our eyes open and see if AMD brings in any driver updates. Stay tooned!

2nd day Update: Rockstar has released a document summing up the bugs that appear in the game and possible suggestions (where applicable) to solve the problems. You can download the document here. Also, the company hinted that a patch might be on the way.

62 COMMENTS

  1. This is happening to me. The graphic settings cannot be changed whatsoever, so I have about 1 1/2 car’s distance view ahead of me, and textures so poor that the look like smeared excrement across my screen. My pc is by no means a slouch, playing games like Gears, Farcry2, and Fallout 3 with little to no problems. I’m going to try the defrag, but I guess I’ll be stuck waiting for Rockstar to fix this broken game. I’m very disappointed, seeing as the only game I bought (didn’t pirate) was the one I shouldn’t have. Shoulda saved my $ for Prince of Persia.

    • I’m getting the same problem. Except it doesnt crash my computer. Its just not playing anymore after I shuted down my computer yesterday.

    • the same but when i click start and go to loading screen fine, but after it loads it goes blank and say’s on my window 7 domain computer this ” GTA 4.exe stopped running.” i click more info here say’s ” GTA 4.exe Crashed” Oh i got it from Thailand and it seams to be a torrent!!! :-( but still i had Kane And Lynch Dead Men same country and it is torrent but that works.

  2. Sometimes i can play for an hour or two and sometimes 2 minutes if im lucky but it always crashes back to the desktop but i never get an error message. And for those who cant adjust the graphic settings, try clicking on the setting then using the mouse wheel to adjust the setting, that worked for me. Also i have the original disc but Securom doesnt belive it so it takes a few attempts to get the game going. Im trying the defragment now and ill let you kno if it helped any.

  3. So far the defragment has been more than helpful. Been playing for about 2 hours and no problems. i used O&O defragment and have xp x64. Hope it works for the rest of you

  4. boodge, did that really fix your problem? Because I’m having the very exact same problem as you were having. When I read that defragging can help the only thing that came to my mind was “yeah…right.”

    At the moment I’m defragging my C:\ drive using the defragment tool XP comes with. I really wish it makes it work, because I’ve looked forward to this game for the past 2 years, and now that I’ve finally got my hands on it its very disappointing to see this happening.

  5. yea it works for me atleast i didnt think so either but i was desperate enough to give it a shot. i havent had a problem yet since i did it.

  6. But now ive run into a problem, im at about 58% done with the game, and when im trying to load it back up it just crashes on me. Does anyone kno how to load previous save from the main menu?

  7. boodge, I found the only savegame you can load from the main menu is the most recent, when you click Start. Any other save needs to be loaded from the ESC menu after you’re already in-game, from the Game tab.

    Another method may be to delete/move/rename your most recent save, the one causing the crashes. Then when the game automatically loads the save, it will load the second most recent.

    The folder where the GTAIV saves are located is \Documents and Settings\\Local Settings\Application Data\Rockstar Games\GTA IV\savegames\ . Then you can open the save files in any hex editor and determine which needs to be removed.

    PS: I’ve also experienced random crashes to the desktop with no error message, even with all graphic settings at their lowest. Sometimes, when restarting my PC after a GTAIV crash, it will drop a black screen then BSOD right after it’s done saving the settings. The screen states that the rdbss.sys driver unloaded without cancelling pending operations. I’ve never gotten a BSOD while playing the game, only a graphical glitch for a split second then back to the desktop. I hope that defragging solves the problem. I haven’t tested the game yet since I defragged, I first wanted to see if any other people have tried it; to see how their results were.

  8. I Installed my GTA IV about, 2 weeks ago. afterwards i received a DD3D30 Crash, i’d patch it and i got a Crash again! this time its
    TEXP60…i waited for half a year to play this awesome game
    beacuse i Feel that i am in a Real NY. So Please tell to Rockstar
    that Create an Another Patch to Fix some Last Bugs that i Mentioned
    a while ago.even my Ram is 1.5 GB,Graphics is GF FX550 256,and
    my CPU is Intel Dual-Core ED500?,so GET TO WORK AND IM
    COUNTING ON YOU ROCKSTAR!!!!!!

  9. Looks like Georges right im aslo a GTA Fan for 3 years im still Looking For Your actions for fixing our Problems regarding our Latest Title.
    so Rockstar,Don’t make this Kid got Sad because he want to make
    his Dream Come True,Once and for all!

  10. Is anyone elese having troubles with scrolling (mouse wheel) I can only do it sometimes with radio. and never zoom with rifle and now im on a mission which I have to scroll down the page on the internet to set up a date with dome fellow I have to kill and cant scroll at all. I have tried to ajust settings in menu and nothing PLEASE HELP ME

  11. I am experiencing crashes within 5-10 mins of play… I’m sure it’s not my GPU or CPU because I can play other games without crashing. Rockstar, please fix this problem ASAP!!!!!

  12. yeah i find gta a bit annoying.. i have played fallout 3 at max settings and it doesnt crash.. ive liked the gameplay of the new gta if only it doesnt crash haha especially in combat.. well my solution is turning all the graphics to low although the looks is so annoying:D

  13. hmm i that happend 2 me allready. what i did is i replaced my videocard (from 7300gt to 8600gt) hehe.. i know its crap but it works:D anyway i found some solution to the crashes. i disabled the virtual memory and gladly i can play gta for about an hour or sometimes it doesnt really crash:D

  14. and btw upgrading your ram doesnt help much. i recomend that you upgrade your processor and videocard (i heard that quad cores are good and at least you have an 8600 video card or higher.. they dont recomend ati hds) goodluck to all of us hehe and let us all wish that rockstar would release a patch hehe

  15. for those of you who are experiencing random crashes try setting your fan speed on your graphics card to maximum…it seemed to have worked for me cause ive been able to play the game for more than 2 hours without any problems…I logged my GPU temps and it seems that when the temp goes above 100C (8800GT) the game crashes…I dont understand why the fan speed doesnt increase automatically when the GPU gets this hot…anyways use nvidia control panel or riva tuner to adjust the fan speed and see for yourself…it might just be a coincindence i dont know

  16. Here the list of what the error codes mean:

    RMN20 – Windows Vista: Need to have Service Pack 1 or higher to proceed.
    RMN30 – Windows XP 64 / Server 2003: Need to have Service Pack 2 or higher to proceed.
    RMN40 – Windows XP: Need to have Service Pack 3 or higher to proceed.
    DD3D50 – D3D Error – DirectX 9 video card required
    TEXP110 – D3D Error – Failed to create texture – Please restart the game
    DWIN20 – D3D Error – Failed to query memory. Please re-start the game.
    DD3D10 – D3D Error – Please re-boot your system
    DD3D10 – D3D Error – Please re-boot your system
    DD3D30 – D3D Error – Please re-boot your system
    DWIN30 – D3D Error – Please re-boot your system
    DD3D20 – D3D Error – Please re-install the game and/or re-install DirectX
    DWIN10 – D3D Error – Please restart the game
    DD3D60 – D3D Error – Shader Model 3.0 or higher is required
    DD3D70 – D3D Error – Unable to retrieve D3D Device. Please re-boot your system
    GPUP10 – D3D Error – Unable to retrieve D3D Device. Please re-boot your system
    TEXP20 – D3D Error – Unable to retrieve D3D Device. Please re-boot your system
    TEXP30 – D3D Error – Unable to retrieve D3D Device. Please re-boot your system
    TEXP80 – D3D Error – Unable to retrieve D3D Device. Please re-boot your system
    DD3D40 – D3D Error – Unable to retrieve device capabilities. Please install latest video card driver and/or re-install DirectX
    TEXP10 – D3D Error – Unable to retrieve device capabilities. Please install latest video card driver and/or re-install DirectX
    DD3D80 – D3D reset failed – Please restart the game.
    STRB10 – Failed to delete file – Please re-boot your system
    RMN10 – Failed to read file – Please re-boot your system
    STRM10 – Failed to read file – Please re-boot your system
    STRM20 – Failed to read file – Please re-boot your system
    BNDL10 – Failed to write file – Please re-boot your system
    STBF10 – Failed to write file – Please re-boot your system
    VOIC10 – Fatal voice chat error – Please restart the game
    RESC10 – Out of video memory – Please re-boot your system
    BA10 – Out of virtual memory – Please re-boot your system
    EA10 – Out of virtual memory – Please re-boot your system
    TEXP60 – Unable to create color render target – Please re-install DirectX and/or install the latest video card driver.
    TEXP70 – Unable to create depth render target – Please re-install DirectX and/or install the latest video card driver.
    AE10 – Insufficient Memory to Start Game – Please close some applications and restart the game
    PC10 – Unable to retrieve D3D Device – Please reboot your machine or reinstall your display driver
    TF10 – Unable to write to disk – Please restart the game
    WS20 – InitWinSock failed – Please re-boot your system and/or re-install the game
    WS30 – InitWinSock failed – Please re-boot your system and/or re-install the game

  17. woot for me its not the temperature because my videocard (8600gt with large heatsink) only reaches up to 64 degree celcius (evening around 3pm). well what i experienced is when i finished the game the game does not crash allready. also anotehr experience was when i end the explorer.exe it prolongs the playing time hehe.

    well for my brother temperature does affect the performance, he is using geforce 9500gt from inno3d (small heatsink:( )

    well to summarize everything get a new processor and make sure that ur videocard has a large heatsink,, or we may follow the advice of villo

  18. I have ended the gta IV twice and I had to reinstall my windows, after doing it em unable to copy my savegames, it says unable to load check your hard disk ………. please can anyone help me ? I am not willing to play it the third time, it burns me out !!! please tell me if there’s a way to it !!

  19. I have ended the gta IV twice and I had to reinstall my windows, after doing it em unable to copy my savegames, it says unable to load check your hard disk ………. please can anyone help me ? I am not willing to play it the third time, it burns me out !!! please tell me if there’s a way to it !!

  20. maybe your installing in another platform>? (like from xp to vista) if thats the case i think that the directory will be changed hehe.

    btw cheers to gta patch 1.3 it fixed all the crashes and what do you know i can even play it in my laptop without crashing:D

  21. i get a problem like this, i can load the menu, change the graphics etc. but when i load, just as i am about to go into the game it stops and goes to the desktop, doesnt even say i crashes or anything! really annoying, i recently updated my graphics cards drivers to the newest ones then it started to hepen, i will try defregging my hard drive (2tbs) and if it still downt work im going to have to roll back the drives.

  22. Sorry to say, Rockstar u have disappointed big time…………..I have 1 GB graphics of Nvidia 9800 GT plus core2 quad and 2 GB RAM, still it says that ran out of video memory even if the usage was displayed as 337/997 MB in the settings after keeping the settings at minimum………….also, repeated crashes have left me frustrated as this THE game that i had hoped to play on my new PC……….well Rockstar plz get GTA PC version back on track

  23. well try playing saintsrow 2 it will leave you in reaaallll frustration promise. btw I am not disapointed with rockstar because after having a patch it even runs on my laptop with smooth framerates. unlike SR2 which still have stuttering framerates even with the patch and even in my pc

  24. Hmmm ..My game never crashed no bugs..Nothing..But when i wanted some nice looking mods it started crashing all the time…Name of the error is sma 60 or something like that.I follow steps on Some web site so my game become modable but again and again,again crash.So if you have any ideas help me:)

  25. I dont have any errors that crash my computer.My problems is:When I instaled GTA IV for first time it works fine.No errors,no performance problems etc.Now when I instaled game again I cant play it like before cuz it looks like my PC is very low performance for this game.when I put 800×600 and all details OFF or LOW game is laging.Same thing is happening on 1600×1050 resoulution.I even took my PC in service and they told my PC is crap for this game.I have Amd athlon x2 64 dual core 6000+ 3.0 Ghz working 4 GB ram 8800 GT Nvidia 512 mb 256 bit.I think this config is good for some optimal playing but I cant play it like before.If some can help me to fix this problem pls send me Email with Answer on VUCKO90@GMAIL.COM

  26. Gta 4 was running awesome at first:… then a couple missions in all of a sudden now after a few minutes of playing it just permanently freezes… No error code and i have to ctrl+alt+del to get out of game….some one please help i have
    Amd x4 955
    Asus m4a785 evo board
    4gb ddr3
    Ati radeon hd 5770

    Help please i really want to play this game

  27. Alright Guys, Ive got a problem playing gta4 on my pc, Everytime I get into a vehicle in the game, If I crash into another car or anything the game crashes and goes back do my desktop. Can anyone please tell me why and how to fix it. Thanks

  28. I installed gta 4 into my pc but when I’m playing that whole game becomes to shake like it drinks.I restarted my pc but it didn’t work.i only have that quetion.So guys please help me !

  29. Well my game works just fine! Everythings fine, I played for more than 3 hours and then I saved the game (the bed in his apartment) and then the next day I wanna play again and there are no load games….what did I do wrong?

  30. HI EVERYONE, I’ve installed GTA IV on my laptop, but one file C:/ProgramData\Grand Theft Auto IV\pc\data\movies\CNT.bik IS CORRUPT! and it is the main loading screen so i really need it or it will never work! PLEASE CAN SOMEONE SEND ME A COPY OF THIS FILE? IM SO DESPERATE AND WILL BE SO GRATEFUL!

  31. Hey every one i have gta 4 on my laptop and once i start playing after few minutes it goes to my desktop and say gta has stop working? can any one help me?

  32. Kinda a gravedig but I’m suffereing from crashes. I’ll start the game up from the rockstar social crap. Intro music, then it gets to the R logo, GTAIV logo, black screen and crash. One thing that is strange is that the Error info only shows 2gb of system ram instead of 8.

    Description:
    Critical runtime problem

    Problem signature:
    Problem Event Name: APPLICATION CRASH
    System RAM: 2147483647
    Available RAM: 2147483647
    Number of CPUs: 6
    Video Card Manufacturer: NVIDIA
    Video Card Description: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260
    Video Card Driver Version: 8.17.0012.5896
    OS Version: 6.0.6002.2.2.0.274.10
    Locale ID: 1033

  33. i buy new graphic 8800 GT 512
    and appearing message “out of videomemory” GTA 4
    i playd with previous card 8600 GT 256 never was this message appearing playng with latest drives 266.58 win xp

  34. Hey man when this happens hit windows button on key board and click on turn off computer. then click on stand by. when computer goes to stand by mode move your mouse and then logon then click on gta in the task bar the screen will be blank again hit windows button and again click on gta in task bar wait 4 some sec and the game returns to normal.(AT LEAST IT WORKS WITH ME)

  35. SORRY!!!! ITS ANSWER TO Nitish

    Hey man when this happens hit windows button on key board and click on turn off computer. then click on stand by. when computer goes to stand by mode move your mouse and then logon then click on gta in the task bar the screen will be blank again hit windows button and again click on gta in task bar wait 4 some sec and the game returns to normal.(AT LEAST IT WORKS WITH ME)

  36. Hey ET thanks for the suggestion but that was over a year ago I have since given up and boughta PS3 with a copy of GTA 4. Loll… but thanks anyway …

  37. hey buddy i have no antivirus installd but its always crash after 10 20 minutes and i installd 1.3 patch and game cant open like before. My mind is stuck to install the game 7 times and 1 time taking 2 hours you know well.

    • patch to 1.0.7.0..it will give u more settings ..and then put ur alll gta 4 settings to low..if it works then reply me…!!!

  38. none of these codes come on my screen. i open socialclub and skip login and play the game runs but after i hit start and the cinematic cut comes where they show people after that its says gtav has stopped working and my game doesnt load… before 6months it was ok but after i re boot my computer it doesnt work… can any 1 help me please????????

  39. hello guyz..
    m having win 7 32 bit..
    intel i5
    amd hd5450
    4gb ram
    …gta 4 works fr about 5-7 minutes then error which is not mentioned in the list …
    what should i do?

    • Your Computer Specs are very gud..only u have to do that is reinstall the game…or patch to 1.0.7.0 if it works that is gud if not then–u have to install windows xp service pack 3..because in some pc gta 4 not compatible with windows 7 not all comps..1.0.7.0 patch fixes ur freezes errors or another problems..!! try it

  40. I Have A Fix gyzz only u have to do that right click on ur desktop then go to settings and set screen resolution to 800×600 pixels and then go to apperance and set ur theme to classic windows then apply your changes…and then start gta 4 this all things will increase ur resource usage ..and then set ur all gta 4 settings to low and u will se in graphics option resource usage the right one will increase that is ur graphic card ram..!!..start ur game and enjoy the most important thing is USAGE..and definitely this will work it is my promise with u all ..!!! thanks u all try it..

  41. And My Computer Specs are– i5 processor2.8 GHz. motherboard–i.e P55 board.with 8gb DDR3 ECC PC8500 memory Windows XP Service Pack 3 with GTX 590 Graphic card and Cooling Fan..!!in my comp gta 4 runs good in medium settings.!

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