Assassin’s Creed III fix for Crashes, Freeze, Low FPS, Lag, error etc

Assassin’s Creed III has been released recently and awaiting gamers have started running the game where as some users might be preparing their rig for the same. By now many gamers have faced issue like Crashes, Freeze, Low FPS, Lag and whole lot of error. So In this article, I am addressing all the errors and issue than one might come across with proper fix to deal with them.

First make sure that your system is meeting Assassin’s Creed III minimum requirement and you have updated your graphic card driver to the latest.

• OS: Windows Vista (SP2) / Windows 7 (SP1) / Windows 8
• CPU: 2.66 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo E8200 or 2.66 GHz AMD Athlon II X4 620
• RAM: 2 GB
• Graphics: 512 MB DirectX 10 compliant with Shader Model 4.0 or higher
• DirectX: 10
• Hard Drive: 17 GB
• Sound: DirectX compatible (Surround Sound 5.1 capable sound card recommended)
• Multiplayer: 256 kbps or faster broadband connection
• Peripherals: Windows-compatible keyboard, mouse, optional controller (Xbox 360 Controller for Windows recommended)

Supported Graphic Cards for Assassin’s Creed III:

• AMD Radeon: HD 4850 / 5000 / 6000 / 7000 series
• NVIDIA: GeForce 8800 GT / 9 / 200 / 400 / 500 / 600 series

Launcher & Multiplayer Connection issue:
If you face issue with Launcher & Multiplayer Connection than you can follow below steps:

• First update the anti-virus or firewall program that you might have installed on your system
• If issue continues than allow below network ports in configuration of your router/ modem/ firewall

1. Assassin’s Creed III Ports - UDP: 21200, 7959, and 3074
2. UPlay Launcher - TCP: 80, 443, 13000, 13005, 13200
3. Achievements - UDP & TCP: 14001

Xbox360 Controller doesn’t work:
If your doesn’t work for Assassin’s Creed III than first updated xbox360 controller driver. If issue continues than unplug and re-plug the controller and restart the game.

Assassin’s Creed III Freezes on Loading or while loading Save Files:
If Assassin’s Creed III Freezes on Loading or while loading Save Files than first verify the game cache from Steam. If issue continues than delete the save game file and restart the game as there are possibilities where you’re save game might have got corrupted.

Assassin’s Creed III Game Unavailable on Steam:
If you find Assassin’s Creed III Game Unavailable on Steam than this is likely to be an issue with steam and not your system. You can try exiting and re-running the Steam. If issue continues than you can restart your along with your modem or router.

d3dx9_27.dll Error in Assassin’s Creed III:
If you try to launch Assassin’s Creed III and you get d3dx9_27.dll Error than install the latest update of DirectX for your system.

msvcr71.dll, msvcr100.dll and msvcp100.dll Errors in Assassin’s Creed III:
If you try to launch Assassin’s Creed III and you msvcr71.dll, msvcr100.dll and msvcp100.dll Errors than install below packages for your system as per windows version.

• Microsoft Visual C++ 2005
• Microsoft Visual C++ 2008
• Microsoft Visual C++ 2010

System Reboot during Gameplay or Hanged/Freezes while running Assassin’s Creed III:
If your system reboot during Gameplay or gets Hanged/Freeze and in case if you have overclocked your system than revert back to factory settings and run all your hardware at their clock speed.

Mouse Lag, No Cursor or Out of Control Cursor while running Assassin’s Creed III:
First disable PostFilter, Shadows, AA and AF effects if they are turned on. If issue continues than you can try lowering Sound Hardware Acceleration. For Sound Hardware Acceleration, go to start, click on run, type “dxdiag” without quotes and hit enter. Once dialog box gets opened, select Sound tab and move "Hardware Sound Acceleration Level" slider to left for disabling Full Acceleration. Just make sure that you are saving the changes before exiting.

Black Screen or launcher doesn’t respond while running Assassin’s Creed III:
Many people have reported that they get back screen after launching the game or their launcher doesn’t respond at all. The most common cause of this issue is that the game might have been installed on external hard drive and not internal. So if you have done the same thing than install the game on internal drive again.

You get Server Busy notification for Assassin’s Creed III:
Since Assassin’s Creed III is one of the most awaiting game. Many people might have started downloading the game because of which Ubisoft server might have gone busy. This usually occurs in first three days after release of the game, so in that case you can have some patience and try downloading the again later. If issue continues after 3 days as well then there are possibilities that there might be something wrong with your router/modem. So to fix that issue you can update or install latest firmware of your Router. If issue continues than restart the router or use direct from modem.

Bad FPS and Slow Performance while running Assassin’s Creed III:
If you get Bad FPS and Slow Performance while running Assassin’s Creed III than turn off V-Sync from Graphic Options first. If issue continues then try running Assassin’s Creed III on low graphics settings.

Antivirus Detects Assassin’s Creed III Files as Virus/Threat:
If your installed Antivirus Detects Assassin’s Creed III Files as Virus/Threat than you should first verify your Steam game cache files. If no corruption is found than you can try updating your Antivirus or Firewall Programs, adding game to firewall and antivirus exceptions. If issue continues than you will have to disable your Antivirus or Firewall Program before starting the game.

DirectX Problems with Assassin’s Creed III:
If you face any problem with DirectX for Assassin’s Creed III than you should install or update latest DirectX. Just make sure that you are installing the latest lasted version of DirectX for Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7 accordingly.

Assassin’s Creed III Crashes to Desktop or results in Black/White Screen:
If Assassin’s Creed III Crashes to Desktop or results in Black/White Screen after launching it than run the game as Administrator first. If that doesn’t makes any difference than try running the game in compatibility with Windows XP SP3. For running the game in compatibility mode, right click on the game exe, select properties and click on compatibility tab. Now in compatibility tab, check the option saying “Run this program in compatibility mode” and make sure that you are selecting Windows XP SP3 in the drop down list and saving the changes before exiting the windows. If you get the same response after running the game in compatibility with Windows XP SP3 than you can try out other compatibility options in the drop down menu.

If you have latest graphic card driver installed and still the same issue continues after trying out the above things than you can disable VSync, sampling and lower down the environment detail. You can try running Assassin’s Creed III on different resolution options on your PC as well.

Assassin’s Creed III Crashes at menu, while launching, while playing, while loading:
If Assassin’s Creed III Crashes at menu, while launching, while playing or while loading than you can try out the below resolutions:

• Turn off unnecessary background applications before starting the game
• Delete all temporary files from your computer
• Disable your anti-virus programs before launching the game
• Make sure that your firewall is not blocking the game
• Install latest version of your DirectX
• Install latest graphic card driver
• Disable multi-core processor

Assassin’s Creed III doesn’t start or run after preparing to launch details:
If Assassin’s Creed III doesn’t start or run after preparing to launch details than you can try out below resolutions:

• Install all recommended windows update
• Verify the game cache files
• Install latest driver for all your hardware like Graphic Card, sound card, Motherboard etc
• Turn off all unnecessary background applications including Antivirus Programs, Internet Security Programs and Firewalls

Low or Bad Frame rates, Black Screen after Intro Video while playing Assassin’s Creed III:
If you get Low or Bad Frame rates, Black Screen after Intro Video while playing Assassin’s Creed III than you can try out below resolutions:

Low or Bad Frame rates-

• Install latest driver for Graphic Card, sound card, Motherboard and other relevant hardware of your system
• Run Assassin’s Creed III on lower graphic settings and turn off Motion Blur, Shadows and Triple Buffering in case they are on.

Black Screen after Intro –

• Verify the game cache for errors
• Disable your Antivirus or Firewall programs before stating the game
• Try launching the game with Novid added to launch options of Steam.
• If issue continues after trying out all of the above solution then you can try uninstalling and reinstalling steam.

Keyboard & Mouse Problems while playing Assassin’s Creed III:
If you face Keyboard & Mouse Problems while playing Assassin’s Creed III than you can install latest drivers for your Mouse and Keyboard. If issue continues than you can try out below resolutions:

If you are a windows xp user:
Go to Control Panel > click on Mouse icon and disable Display Pointer Trails, Smart Move and Acceleration in Games option. Make sure that you are saving the changes by clicking on OK or Apply before closing the window.
If problem persist than go to Control Panel > click on Accessibility Options and disable “Use StickyKeys”,” Use FilterKeys’ and “Use ToggleKeys’ options. After that click on settings and uncheck “User Shortcut” and make sure you are saving the changes by clicking on ok before closing the window.

If you are a windows 7 user:
Go to Control Panel > click on Mouse icon > Click on “Pointer Option” Tab and disable Display Pointer Trails, Smart Move and Acceleration in Games option
If problem persist than go to Control Panel > Ease of Access Center > click on “Make the Keyboard easier to use” and disable “Use Sticky Keys”,” Use FilterKeys’ and “Use ToggleKeys’ options. After that click on “Set up Sticky Keys and Set up Filter Keys” and uncheck “Turn on Sticky Keys when SHIFT is pressed five times and Turn on Filter Keys when SHIFT is pressed for 8 seconds options”. Make sure that you are saving the changes before closing the window.

NVidia Optimus Problems while running Assassin’s Creed III:
If you are running Assassin’s Creed III with Optimus technology having graphic cards than you might face Black screens and crashes. In order to deal with them, install latest drivers for NVidia Optimus Graphic Cards and install latest DirectX for your version of windows. If issue continues then try running it on medium or lower graphic settings

Assassin’s Creed III Crashes on PlayStation 3 & Xbox360:
If Assassin’s Creed III Crashes on your PlayStation 3 & Xbox360 than you can follow below resolution for them accordingly:

If you have PlayStation 3:
First delete the Game Data from PS3 Game Data Utility. If issue continues than create a temporary PS3 profile and re-run the game. You should also make sure that there is nothing wrong with the disk, I mean there is no scratches, dust, dirt or other damage on it.

If you have Xbox360:
First clear the cache by going in to Xbox>System>Settings>Device Options>Clear System Cache. If issue continues than create a Silver Xbox Live Gamer tag and re-run the game. You should also make sure that the game disk doesn’t have any scratches, dust, dirt or other damage on it.

No Sound, Low Sound, Delayed Dialogues Voices and Sound Stuttering while playing Assassin’s Creed III:
If you don’t get any sound or Low Sound, Delayed Dialogues Voices and Sound Stuttering while playing Assassin’s Creed III than you can try out below resolutions:

• Install latest version of direct for your version of windows
• Try reducing sound acceleration, for doing that do to start > click on run, type “dxdiag” without quotes and hit enter. Once you get a new window opened than click on sound tab and Reduce Sound Acceleration from there.
• Try running the game in 44k Stereo settings, for doing that you can go in to Sound Manager>Properties>Advanced Settings and change the settings accordingly.
• If issue continues after trying out all of the above steps than you can uninstall current sound driver, restart your system and let your system detect and install the driver for it.

Steam Problems and Issues for Mac with Assassin’s Creed III:
If you are running the game on Mac system than your game will roll back to entire game in case it gets any update. This has been a common issue and the cause of this issue is "Time Machine". In order to fix this issue one will have to remove Steam from Time Machine. For doing that run Time Machine > click on Preferences > Options > exclude directory and add /Users/[username]/Library/Application Support/Steam/SteamApps/ folder to the exception list.

If you face Freezing issue on your mac while playing Assassin’s Creed III than install all new update for your Mac. You just have to click on the Apple icon at the top-left of the screen and click on Software Update. You will see a list of new update and you can install them by simply clicking on the updates. If issue continues than verify game cache files, if it comes up with any corruption than you will have to uninstall and reinstall the game.

Error ‘The Application failed to initialize properly (0xc000007b). Click Ok to terminate.’ Or Visual 2005, 2008 and 2010 Run Time Error while launching Assassin’s Creed III.
If you get the above error while launching Assassin’s Creed III than you can download and install Microsoft Visual C++ 2005, 2008 or 2010 for your version of windows.

Steam error while playing Assassin’s Creed III:
If you come across below steam error while playing Assassin’s Creed III than you can follow the solutions mentioned for fixing them.

SteamInstall.msi and Error 1316 – If you get Error 1316 saying “A network error occurred while attempting to read from the file SteamInstall.msi” then you might be having outdated Windows Installer or it might have got corrupted. In both cases you will have to install latest Windows Installer.

Error 1327, Invalid Drive – If you get Error 1327 saying “Invalid Drive” then you will have to use Steam Fixer Tool to fix the error.

Error while login – If you get an error message saying "This account <account name> has never been accessed on this machine before and a connection to steam servers cannot be made. Some services will not be available. Steam will continue to attempt the connection and services will be available upon success." Then there might be something wrong with network, you can have patience and try logging in after some time.

Error code 51 or Game failed to start – If you get Error code 51 saying “Game failed to start” then you can disable background applications as there are possibilities of them to be interfering with steam.


Assassin’s Creed III doesn’t work on Windows 8 systems:
In case you are not able to run Assassin’s Creed III on windows 8 then you can try running it in compatibility with “Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3)”. In order to run the game in compatibility mode, right click on game exe > select properties > Click on compatibility tab > Check mark “Run this program in compatibility mode”, select “Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3)”, save the changes by clicking on Ok and launch the game again.

Missing Texture while playing Assassin’s Creed III:
If you see Missing Texture while playing Assassin’s Creed III than you can follow below resolution for fixing it:

• Install latest driver for hardware like graphic card, sound card, motherboard etc.
• Verify the game Cache files
• Disable Post Processing Effects from the game option
• Try running the game on different resolution along with lower graphic settings

Can’t See Main Menu while playing Assassin’s Creed III:
If you can’t See Main Menu while playing Assassin’s Creed III than Verify the game cache in Steam. If it comes up with any corruption then reinstall the game. If that’s not the case and you still don’t see the main menu than defragment Cache Files from Steam then restart you game. Also make sure that you are having latest graphic card driver installed as well.

Assassin’s Creed III doesn’t work on Windows system:
If you are running windows vista in your system and you are not able to run the game then install latest recommended updates from windows. If issue continues than install Vista update (KB971512), you need to download the update for Windows Vista (32-bit) or Windows Vista (64-bit) accordingly.

Installation error: "Description: Incompatible Version of the RPC Stub" while playing Assassin’s Creed III:
If you get the above Installation error while playing Assassin’s Creed III than you can download and run mcrepair.exe for fixing it.

Launcher error "You are not allowed to continue because your do not have the proper privileges. Please log in using an account with administrator privileges and try again." while playing Assassin’s Creed III:
If you get the above launcher error while launching Assassin’s Creed III than you can run the game as administrator. In case you are already running the game as administrator then make sure that you have enabled all administrative privileges for that account.

Error "Failed to create D3D device” while playing Assassin’s Creed III:
If you get the above error while playing Assassin’s Creed III than install latest DirectX for your version of windows. If issue continues than make sure that you have installed latest version of driver for your graphic card.

Error “Assassin’s Creed III Display Driver Has Stopped Working” while playing Assassin’s Creed III:
If you get the above error while playing Assassin’s Creed III than go to program files > steam > steam apps > common > Assassin’s Creed III > Right click on “portal application” and click on “Troubleshoot in-compatibility issues” for fixing the error.

Error “Assassin’s Creed III.exe Has Stopped Responding” while launching Assassin’s Creed III:
If you get the above error while launching Assassin’s Creed III than install some old driver for your graphic card. This has been a common issue with NVidia or ATI beta drivers.

Error “The application was unable to start correctly (0xc0000142)” while launching Assassin’s Creed III:
If you get the above error while launching Assassin’s Creed III than download .NET 4 and install it manually.