Every time I start it from Steam, it automatically detects settings and despite what is a really good rig, and despite it setting itself for 'high' settings, the game runs in standard aspect ratio. This makes it a teeny tiny box on my widescreen.

Help, please!

I think I know what is happening but don't know how to fix. When it autodetects for high settings at the outset, it still stays at 4:3 and 800x600. Then, if I click "default" it runs the autodetect procedure again, and again says high. But after that, the resolution will read 1920x1080. I hit okay (there is not an apply button, it seems). If/when I hit play after that even, it still plays in the tiny window of smaller resolution and 4:3 ratio.

If I click options again, it is back to showing 800x600 even though nothing has been changed. I think it is just not saving the resolution. I check the .ini files though and they read correctly.

Here's my specs:


Intel® Core™ i7 CPU 960 @ 3.20GHz
Mem_Capacity: 4096MB
Mem_BankLabel: DIMM #1
Mem_Type: DDR3
Mem_Bandwidth: PC3-10660 (1333 MHz)
Mem_Frequency: 1336MHz
Memory Module
Mem_Capacity: 4096MB
Mem_BankLabel: DIMM #2
Mem_Type: DDR3
Mem_Bandwidth: PC3-10660 (1333 MHz)
Mem_Frequency: 1336MHz
Memory Module
Mem_Capacity: 4096MB
Mem_BankLabel: DIMM #3
Mem_Type: DDR3
Mem_Bandwidth: PC3-10660 (1333 MHz)
Mem_Frequency: 1336MHz
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580

Same at me.
gonna tell you if i find out anything

I can't get anything to save. Whatever I change in the launcher, it just does whatever it wants. If I try to lower a setting, whenever i'm in the game it's still the same. I tried changing stuff through the ini files, but still, the game just does what it wants. No clue wtf is goin on here.

I started another thread earlier about the same thing. In a way I'm glad someone else has the same problem.
I've found the cause of my problem. Another thread said that the skyrimprefs.ini file in the skyrim folders wasn't being used to save settings. So I looked for my My Documents folder to find the file, but my My Documents link was missing. I regenerated that, re-ran the launcher and all my ini files got created there.

I don't have a "my documents" folder on Win 7.

Yes, its called something different, but if you type My Documents\My Games, it will work.

If you want to manually find it, its

Computer >> (under Libraries in left panel) >> Documents >> My Games >> Skyrim

Edit the "SkyrimPrefs.ini" in your mygames folder(I dont know where its at in win7) not the one in the Steam folder
do a windows search to find it.

Thanks, Nio and Dirk. I will try that and report back.

I am redownloading the game now (I deleted it in slim hope that somehow reinstalling would fix it).

Just reinstalled. That folder isn't there. I have the "My Games" where you indicated, but Skyrim isn't in it.

Hmm that's weird try running Skyrim at least once.

I had exact same problem. I had just same small box (800x600).

I don't know how to play in fullscreen mode, but if you want to play in windows mode in bigger resolution, you need to do next.

At first I deleted skyrimprefs.ini file from where i had installed the game.

Then I searched "skyrim" from my computer, and found another skyrimprefs.ini file. There read iSize H=600 and iSize W=800, so I just changed the resolution manually and saved the file. Then it worked.

Okay. I think I got it. I have no idea why this happened.

It looks to me like for some reason the "owner" of the "My Games" folder was not open to me (I'm the only 'administrator' user on the system (there is another account set up for my kids with all sorts of filters, etc.). I found this out when I tried to manually put a skyrimprefs.ini file from the Steamaps folder into the Skyrim folder I manually made in "my games." It let me do this, but when I went to edit the copied file in my games, which went fine, and then save it, it refused to let me. I thus googled the permission/owner thing and came up with something else to try.

Yet another reason why I should (wifey!!) have a dedicated rig for ME and they can have their Facebook, Poptropica, Webkins and miscellaneous garbage machine.

Anyway, my guess is the software wasn't being allowed to put items in the 'my games' location. I got down to this after moving Steam to my unused D drive, which still didn't help (but did take a long time).

Then I was about to erase the whole thing and impose said "you will now have your own computer for what you do and we'll buy it at Costco and you won't touch mine" rule when I figured out I should check ownership of those folders.

I haven' had issues with other games, but maybe they put their stuff in their own spot.

Anyway, it seems to work.

Does anyone know what would cause folders I started with having full access to all of a sudden restricted??

Here is the link I used to figure this out in case anyone else has this problem of "ownership."

http://www.addictivetips.com/windows-tips/windows-7-access-denied-permission-ownership/

I'm going to cut and past this to the Bethesda forums.

I swear, pc gaming is a young man's game (or else someone with lots more free time than I have...!).