[FIX] GTA IV Complete Edition – Autosave/Manual Save Not Working

[Eclipse.0-1]

If you're having the "Autosave Failed" issue in GTA IV, here's what I found:

Problem:

1. Autosave fails constantly.
2. Manual saves sometimes don't work either.

Tried running as admin, messing with folder permissions, Windows Defender exclusions, and even RunAsDate.

Nothing fixed it.

Solution:
The ONLY thing that worked was downgrading the game to Patch 1.0.8.0 using the GTA IV Downgrader tool. (Link: https://gtaforums.com/topic/976691-gta-iv-downgrader/)

After downgrading:

Autosave and manual saves work properly again.
Game is more stable overall.

Before starting the game, make sure to follow these additional instructions. Go to your game directory and find the file called PlayGTAIV.exe. Right Click on the file and select "Send to desktop". Do not start using Steam or the GTAIV.exe because Steam might auto-update the game and reverse the downgrade. Just use the PlayGTAIV.exe shortcut.

If you wish to play Multiplayer, there are steps in the Downgrader Tool for it as well.

Notes:

1.0.8.0 is the last good official patch before Rockstar broke a lot of things in the Complete Edition.

If you plan to mod heavily (like ENB or LCPDFR), you might want to downgrade further to 1.0.7.0. But for just playing the story, 1.0.8.0 is perfect.

Hope this helps someone avoid wasting hours trying everything else!

[Yujah]

Note; the downgraded game saves to under %USERPROFIlLE%\AppData whereas the CE does so to under %USERPROFILE%\Documents. As such, if downgrading solves it it's more or less confirmed that writes to your Documents folder are the issue, which the downgrade then works around simply by saving elsewhere.

Now, that may of course be fine by you, so sure, but it is going to be a matter of time before the next game that saves to under Documents gives you the same problem. I'd as such more advise to "fix It right".

It's almost invariably Microsoft OneDrive ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ with your Documents folder. Also see

https://steamcommunity.com/app/12210/discussions/0/4353373425698284972/

[Eclipse.0-1]

Originally posted by Yujah:

Note; the downgraded game saves to under %USERPROFIlLE%\AppData whereas the CE does so to under %USERPROFILE%\Documents. As such, if downgrading solves it it's more or less confirmed that writes to your Documents folder are the issue, which the downgrade then works around simply by saving elsewhere.

Now, that may of course be fine by you, so sure, but it is going to be a matter of time before the next game that saves to under Documents gives you the same problem. I'd as such more advise to "fix It right".

It's almost invariably Microsoft OneDrive ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ with your Documents folder. Also see

https://steamcommunity.com/app/12210/discussions/0/4353373425698284972/

I don't think the problem is the Documents folder but rather the fact that Rockstar Games removed GFWL in 2020. Patch 1.0.7.0 and Patch 1.0.8.0 were before 2020, before they messed up the GFWL. But you may be right.

[Yujah]

Originally posted by Eclipse.0-1:

I don't think the problem is the Documents folder but rather the fact that Rockstar Games removed GFWL in 2020.

Indeed, and the issue is a result I guess, but only since that is what caused the change from AppData to Documents.

I.e., GFWL used to be used for savegame support in GTA4, and it saved to under some obscure GFWL-profile folder somewhere under your AppData\Local\Microsoft\. When GFWL was removed Rockstar replaced the savegame-support part of it with the Rockstar launcher's savegame support, which saves to under Documents\Rockstar Games\GTA IV\Profiles\

Microsoft being Microsoft they've been pushing their OneDrive garbage hard (especially on Windows 11) and in time-honoured "user-friendly" manner by hiding all details of the process, lest people in fact figure out that, hey now!, all their personal files are all of a sudden sitting on a Microsoft server somewhere. "Wait, what?"

It's in any case also to say they've hid the redirect well enough that also GTA4 can't find it anymore, so to speak. Fully uninstalling OneDrive up to the point that e.g. GTA4 works again may I believe in fact be an issue once that horrid piece of complete ♥♥♥♥ has been activated even only once -- but I can in any case still assure that the issue does not exist on an install of Windows that has never seen Microsoft OneDrive.

Well, modulo perhaps that Defender "controlled-folder access" thing I linked to as point 2 but that's not (for now...) in fact on by default, so tends to not be it.

As a possible tip: most of the time GTA4 / the Rockstar Launcher in fact works on Linux via Proton....