Basic Troubleshooting for PC
Last Updated: December 12, 2024
Question: What can I do if my game is unresponsive, I’m stuck in the clouds, or get an error saying “unable to connect to the Rockstar servers at this time”?
Answer: Below you can find some troubleshooting steps that can resolve several different error conditions.
Ensure that your computer’s operating system software is up to date
You may check this by finding Windows Update in your Start menu or through the Control Panel.
Ensure that your video drivers are the most up to date versions
Please uninstall the previous version of your drivers completely, restart your computer, and then install the updated drivers to avoid any possible complications regarding installation or usage.
Ensure that you can run the game with Administrator privileges
Some titles, our games included, are not able to fully access all of the system resources required to operate until they are granted Administrator permission.
Disable any screen overlay, recording, or sharing software
Due to the way these kinds of software function, they may interfere with the ability of your computer’s components to effectively communicate with each other.
Disable any Antivirus/Anti-Malware or Firewall software
Some computer protection programs may interfere with the activation of our products and/or their ability to connect to our services. Please try to add exceptions to your software's firewall for our titles. If this proves unsuccessful, you may need to temporarily disable the program. After this, if you are still encountering issues, you may have to try uninstalling the software entirely, as in some cases these programs run persistent services in the background even when disabled.
Ensure that the game is installed to a directory with adequate read and write speed
If you are attempting to install the game on an external hard drive, the speed at which data will travel will be much slower than optimal with a USB device. We recommend only installing the games to internally connected hard drives.
Disable sound acceleration
Some titles have difficulty with hardware accelerated sound. This could be due to the drivers for specific sound cards, or it may be caused by a variety of other reasons. You can disable hardware sound acceleration by following the steps below:
Press Windows + R to bring up the Run box.
Type "control panel" without quotes, press ENTER.
Go to Hardware and Sound > Sound.
Pick your sound device that is set as default.
Click Properties.
Go to the Advanced tab.
Set Default Format to 44.1khz 16bit.
Click Apply, then click OK to accept the new setting and close the dialog box.
Click OK to close the Display Properties dialog box.
Restart Windows.
Attempt to manually re-install the Rockstar Games Launcher
If the Rockstar Games Launcher has become corrupt, this may cause crashes in the games or not allow you to contact our services at all, including game activation services. You may always find the latest version of the Rockstar Games Launcher at:
If you are using a Steam version of the game, please verify the game cache.
If all the previous steps have been unsuccessful, please attempt a full uninstall and re-install of the game.