Why Does Hitman Keep Crashing? Troubleshooting Guide

Is your Hitman game constantly crashing, disrupting your silent assassin missions? Game crashes are frustrating, but often fixable. This guide will explore the common reasons behind Hitman crashes and provide detailed troubleshooting steps to get you back to eliminating targets smoothly.

Common Causes of Hitman Crashes

Before diving into solutions, let’s understand the potential culprits:

  • Outdated or Corrupted Graphics Drivers: This is one of the most frequent causes. Drivers are the software that allows your operating system to communicate with your graphics card. Older or damaged drivers can cause instability, leading to crashes.
  • Insufficient System Resources: Hitman, even older titles, can be demanding. If your computer doesn’t meet the minimum or recommended system requirements, you’ll experience crashes, lag, and other performance issues.
  • Overheating: When your CPU or GPU gets too hot, it can cause instability and lead to crashes. Overclocking can exacerbate this problem.
  • Corrupted Game Files: Game files can become corrupted due to incomplete downloads, hard drive errors, or software conflicts. This can trigger crashes during gameplay.
  • Software Conflicts: Other programs running in the background might conflict with Hitman, causing it to crash. This can include antivirus software, overlays, or other resource-intensive applications.
  • DirectX Issues: DirectX is a collection of APIs that handles tasks related to multimedia, especially game programming and video, on Microsoft platforms. Problems with DirectX can lead to graphical glitches and crashes.
  • Operating System Issues: An outdated or corrupted operating system can also contribute to game crashes.

Troubleshooting Steps to Fix Hitman Crashes

Here’s a systematic approach to troubleshooting Hitman crashes:

1. Update Your Graphics Drivers

  • NVIDIA: Go to the NVIDIA website and download the latest drivers for your graphics card. Use the NVIDIA GeForce Experience application for automatic updates.
  • AMD: Visit the AMD website and download the latest drivers for your graphics card. The AMD Adrenalin software helps manage driver updates.
  • Intel: If you have an integrated Intel GPU, download the latest drivers from the Intel website. Use the Intel Driver & Support Assistant for streamlined updates.
  • Clean Installation: When updating drivers, choose the “clean installation” option (if available) to remove any remnants of previous drivers that could be causing conflicts.

2. Verify System Requirements

  • Minimum vs. Recommended: Check the minimum and recommended system requirements for your specific Hitman game (e.g., Hitman 2, Hitman 3) on the game’s store page (Steam, Epic Games Store). Make sure your CPU, GPU, RAM, and operating system meet or exceed these requirements.
  • Upgrade if Necessary: If your system doesn’t meet the minimum requirements, consider upgrading your hardware to improve performance and stability.

3. Monitor Temperature

  • Download Monitoring Software: Use software like MSI Afterburner, HWMonitor, or Core Temp to monitor your CPU and GPU temperatures during gameplay.
  • Acceptable Temperatures: Keep your CPU temperature below 80°C (176°F) and your GPU temperature below 85°C (185°F). Exceeding these temperatures can lead to thermal throttling and crashes.
  • Improve Cooling: If your temperatures are too high, consider improving your system’s cooling with better fans, a CPU cooler, or thermal paste replacement.

4. Verify Game File Integrity

  • Steam: Right-click on Hitman in your Steam library, select “Properties,” go to the “Local Files” tab, and click “Verify integrity of game files.”
  • Epic Games Launcher: Find Hitman in your library, click the three dots, and select “Verify.”
  • Reinstallation: If verifying files doesn’t work, consider reinstalling the game completely.

5. Close Background Applications

  • Task Manager: Open Task Manager (Ctrl+Shift+Esc) and close any unnecessary programs that are consuming system resources.
  • Overlays: Disable overlays from applications like Discord, Steam, or NVIDIA GeForce Experience, as these can sometimes cause conflicts.
  • Antivirus: Temporarily disable your antivirus software to see if it’s interfering with the game. If it is, add Hitman to your antivirus’s exception list.

6. Update DirectX

  • Web Installer: Download the DirectX End-User Runtime Web Installer from the Microsoft website and run it. This will ensure you have the latest version of DirectX.
  • Game’s Folder: Some games include DirectX installers in their installation folder. Check the Hitman installation directory for a DirectX setup file and run it.

7. Update Operating System

  • Windows Update: Go to “Settings” > “Update & Security” > “Windows Update” and check for updates. Install any available updates to ensure your operating system is up-to-date.
  • Clean Boot: Perform a clean boot of Windows to start your computer with a minimal set of drivers and startup programs. This can help identify if a background program is causing the issue. Type “msconfig” in the Windows search bar, go to the “Services” tab, check “Hide all Microsoft services,” click “Disable all,” go to the “Startup” tab, and click “Open Task Manager” to disable startup items.

8. Other Potential Solutions

  • Run as Administrator: Right-click on the Hitman executable file and select “Run as administrator.”
  • Compatibility Mode: Right-click on the Hitman executable file, select “Properties,” go to the “Compatibility” tab, and try running the game in compatibility mode for an older version of Windows.
  • Increase Virtual Memory: Increase your system’s virtual memory (page file) to provide more memory for the game.
  • Check for Mods: If you’re using mods, try disabling them to see if they are causing the crashes.
  • Event Viewer: Check the Windows Event Viewer for error messages related to the game crash. This can provide valuable clues about the cause of the issue.

By systematically following these troubleshooting steps, you should be able to identify the cause of your Hitman crashes and get back to enjoying the game.