Fixing the Roadblocks in the Grand Theft Auto 4 Series, Along with Backing up and Restoring your Saved Games

It can be a hassle when a game always hangs during a mission or the loading sequence. It can also be tedious to back up your game files before doing a re-install of your game or computer and have them not work at all when you try to place them in their respective places. Here is the solution for both of those issues – be prepared to sacrifice Games for Windows Live.

First it was the Escuela of the Streets Mission in GTA 4, now it is the Mamma’s Boy Mission in Episodes from Liberty City. If you play either of these games on a computer, you will know that these particular missions freeze in the load sequence or don’t complete the storyboard and leave you hanging. Just like there was a fix for Escuela of the Streets, there is a fix for Mamma’ Boy and at this point, every GTA 4 and Expansion Pack issue. Again, Games for Windows Live poses the obstacle and will pay the price. If you use Steam, these changes will not affect you.

This article will be generalized to suit every mission problem. To solve the problem, you don’t need a patch from Rockstar, all you need is a few downloads and placements and you will be set to go.

To begin, Games for Windows Live must go. The latest version of xlive less, a solution that was made to be rid of Games for Windows Live which makes it impossible to backup and restore save game files. With Games for Windows Live in place, you can replace the file, although, when you start the game, it will bring you back to square one. With this patch, it will load the save game file directly, without hassle.

First you will need to download the file below and use WinRAR to open it. The file is a .rar file and within it, all you need is the xlive.dll file.

Download Link for xliveless and Winrar

xliveless (Download Site 1) Version 0.999b7 May 29, 2010

xliveless (Download Site 2) Version 0.999b7 May 29, 2010

WinRAR 4.0 32 bit

WinRAR 4.0 64 bit

Once you have the xlive.dll file, you will copy it to two places. The first place will be the Grand Theft Auto 4 root folder, and then the Episodes From Liberty City root folder.

GTA Root Folder Locations

GTA 4: C:\Program Files (x86)\Rockstar Games\Grand Theft Auto IV

EFLC: C:\Program Files (x86)\Rockstar Games\Grand Theft Auto IV - Episodes From Liberty City

Note: If you are running a 32 bit system, there is no (x86) in the directory.

The save game files are located in the same place for both games. Fetch them at the following Location and copy them to a new folder on your desktop.

Current Save Game Location

Windows Vista and Newer Users:

C:\Users\[username]\AppData\Local\Rockstar Games\GTA IV\savegames

Windows XP and older Users:

C:\Documents and Settings \[username]\AppData\Local\Rockstar Games\GTA IV\savegames

The save games will be in one of the user folders in the that directory. If there are multiple, take the latest version of the file.

Now, run the game. The game, regardless which episode, will make you start from scratch. Do the introduction mission and as soon as you can get to a safe house, save the game and exit the game.

Once this has been done, you can replace the save game files in the following directory with the ones in the folder that are on your desktop.

New Save Game Location

Windows Vista and Newer Users:

C:\Users\[username]\Documents\Rockstar Games\GTA IV\savegames

Windows XP and older Users:

C:\Documents and Settings \[username]\My Documents\Rockstar Games\GTA IV\savegames

Once the save games have been replaced, the game will load from the save game that you decide to place in the folder.

For those of you who have mission problems, you can get the file of the mission, or the mission afterward, and copy that file to the New Save Game Location. To get the file, you can use a search engine, or you can refer to one of the following sites that are labeled by the Episode of GTA that you are playing.