Grand theft Auto IV wont start - please help

[nero0410]

After missing the offer on steam I opted to buy the retial version from Play.

I installed the game fine, as I did last time (as I have had it in the past, but the disc was stonlen) uninstalled the last version and installed this one.

After all the stupid online activation etc.... every time I tried to start it I got this silly little box....

I then installed the 1.0.0.4 patch and tried again, and get the same thing.

I simply get nothing when I try to start it through the R* social club thing that you launch when you insert the disc.

Reinstalled the game twice and still have the same problem.

I don't need to list my system specs as I have had the game and ran it on this system before and it ran at a low fps but very playable.

Any idea's ?

tris

 

[stooeh]

OS? Same as previous working version and what happens when you run LaunchGTAIV.exe ?

 

[nero0410]

OS? Same as previous working version and what happens when you run LaunchGTAIV.exe ?

Still the same OS as before, vista home premium.

I get the same silly little box as above if I run the 'LaunchGTAIV.exe'

Thanks

tris

 

[DAZ UK 74]

I found this I am not sure if you came across it or not but it basically lists errors with GTA4 and shows you some fixes. Not sure if there is something here that will help but worth a try.

FIXING GTA IV (PC) Errors, crashes, install problems and freezes. | Gaming News Link

Also when you uninstalled the last version did you use any type of cleaner. Something like CCleaner to make sure you get rid of every bit of info on the game before doing a fresh install.

Sorry for all this edit lol but I found this on a forum post.

"HI MATE TRY SETTING SOCIAL CLUB DESKTOP ICON TO COMPATABILITY FOR XP OR WINDOWS 2000 AND GO INTO THE GTA IV PROGRAM FILES MAIN FOLDER AND SET GTA IV LAUNCHER EXE FILE TO COMPATABILITY FOR WINDOWS 2000 AS THIS WORKED GREAT FOR ME THAT IS A VISTA FIX BUT MAY WORK WITH XP I DON'T KNOW THOUGH. TO GET COMPATABILITY MODE OPTION YOU NEED TO RIGHT CLICK THE FILES IN QUESTION AND SELECT PROPERTIES THEN COMPATABILITY OH YES SET THEM BOTH AS ADMINISTRATOR TO AS THAT'S USUALY A HELP WITH AWKWARD FILE PROCESSES TO.HOPE YOU GET IT GOING AND CRACKING SOME SKULLS SOON REGARDS PHYSC"

 

[nero0410]

Hey, thanks for the reply.

Yep I always use ccleaner after uninstakking something, abd use the add/remove programs to uninstall.

I tried all the compatability modes, running as admin etc for the launcher and game exe etc.... but still get the same thing.
Though under wixp sp2 compatability mode, it comes up with a box stating that it can't run under xp sp2 it needs xp sp3, which vista doesnt seem to have a comaptability thingy for.

I found all those site, and I'm not getting error messeges, just the silly little box as shown above.

This sort of bother is why I go console sometimes, but I do want to game more with this sort of game on a proper computer as I love the mods etc, and can play them on my laptop away from home (which I did with this until my game went missing and I had to buy another one)

Anything else I can try, or is it going to have to be an expensive phone call to rockstar?

tris

I had to post that picture as trying to describe it in words was a little difficult, I find it easier for others to see the problem

 

[DAZ UK 74]

I didnt see your last post so wasnt sure if you have SP1 installed. GTA4 needs sp3 on WinXP and sp1 on WIN7.

"Installation

You must have Vista Service Pack 1 or Windows XP Service Pack 3 installed PRIOR to installing and running Grand Theft Auto IV PC.

Right-click 'My Computer –> Properties' to see if you have the latest Service Packs installed, and if not check Windows Update and download before trying to install the game."

Source for above - Grand Theft Auto IV PC Bugs: Rockstar Suggests Solutions - Voodoo Extreme.

 

[nero0410]

Ended up getting it going by resinstalling the rockstar social club thingy and updating it a few times .... strange it needed doing a few times before it took though

tris

 

[DAZ UK 74]

Ended up getting it going by resinstalling the rockstar social club thingy and updating it a few times .... strange it needed doing a few times before it took though

tris

At least your sorted m8

 

[nero0410]

At least your sorted m8

Yep, thanks.

Framerate issues are not that great and processor is running at 90%+ on the laptop , so I'm installing on my pc

Though I thought at the lowest settings that it would be ok, ooh, forgot to lower the resolution down from 1366x768 to something like 1024x768 or even 800x600. I know it wont look pretty, but it doesn't really need to.

tris

 

[stooeh]

Yep, thanks.

Framerate issues are not that great and processor is running at 90%+ on the laptop , so I'm installing on my pc

Though I thought at the lowest settings that it would be ok, ooh, forgot to lower the resolution down from 1366x768 to something like 1024x768 or even 800x600. I know it wont look pretty, but it doesn't really need to.

tris

Yeah that game really likes (needs?) a quad core, though I've heard a dual core @ 4GHz+ can run it decently