GTA 4 is a game that attracted a lot of attention in its time, as it took to a new level those achievements that the previous part of the world famous series managed to achieve. However, this article will not talk directly about the game itself. The fact is that often gamers in GTA 4 encounter a critical XnetStartup Failed error. And that is why the value of this article lies in the fact that all possible solutions to this problem are collected here. Yes, there are several of them, so you should just try each method in order, and then check whether the error has disappeared, or you need to continue trying. So, it's time to finally solve the XnetStartup Failed critical error issue in GTA 4 so that it no longer torments users who are innocent.
Main actions
If you encounter a critical XnetStartup Failed error in GTA 4 , then it is always accompanied by additional text. This text talks about exactly what you need to do to fix this error. In this case, the system tells you that you need to restart the computer and reinstall the game if this does not help. Accordingly, you need to start with these basic actions. Of course, there is no guarantee that they will help you, but try always what the developer recommends is always worth it. Therefore, restart the computer, and if this does not work, then uninstall the game and reinstall it. To be sure, after reinstalling, you can also restart the computer, and then try to start the game again. If you are lucky, then you can safely continue playing, if not, then you will again see a critical XnetStartup Failed error. GTA 4 is a game that you don’t want to leave without a fight, so you can continue to try, as there are still enough methods verified by other players.
Reinstall Games for Windows Live
Well, the basic method did not help you, so you will have to read this article further to find the cherished salvation. Perhaps the whole problem lies in the Games for Windows Live service, which must be installed with the game in order to run it. In the case of games, Grand Theft Auto is a prerequisite, so you can’t do anything. However, this particular program can be the cause of problems, so you should remove this software, and do this not by the usual permanent removal, but correctly, through the control panel and installing and removing programs. So you can get rid of all the “tails” that the program can leave in the system. After that, check the System32 folder in the Windows directory for the presence of an xlive file with the dll extension. If it is still there, then you should remove it, after which you can install a clean version of Games for Windows Live, since without it, as you already understood, the games in the Grand Theft Auto series do not work. If this method did not help you, then you should try something else.
Operating system version
If you still have a critical XnetStartup Failed 10093 error in GTA 4, then you should pay attention to your version of the operating system. This game is designed with the expectation that it will run on an operating system no older than Windows XP. Naturally, in the modern world few people use the OS of an older version, but the problem may lie in a completely different way. The fact is that very often users have the Windows XP SP2 operating system installed, while launching the fourth part of GTA requires SP3. Accordingly, you will have to reinstall the operating system in order to be able to run this game.
Replacing damaged or missing libraries
You tried all the previous solutions to the problem, but you still receive the critical XnetStartup Failed error in GTA 4 ... What should I do? It turns out that there is another method for solving this problem, for which you will need to use the Windows registry. To do this, you will need to open the Start menu, and then select the Run option. So you will get access to the registry, where you will need to enter the regsvr32 msxml.dll command and execute it. After that, enter another command regsvr32 msxml3.dll and also execute it. So you can fix damaged or lost library files, the lack of which causes a problem with this error.
Download files
Unfortunately, far from always everything can be fixed so simply. In some cases, these files may not appear on the computer at all, and then the commands indicated above cannot be executed. What to do in this case? You will have to go online to find the missing files! Fortunately, you can find them on the official Microsoft website, however, even if something similar happens with another game, you can always download the missing library file on the network, insert it into the desired directory and try to see if the game works on this time. Only in this case you should check the downloaded files for viruses, because there will be no malware on the official Microsoft website, but on other pages they can be very simple. So when working with files from unverified sources, it is very important to be careful.