This will be long and detailed, as I'm trying to figure out where things went wrong, so please bear with me...

First off, I basically followed this post http://www.reddit.com/r/skyrim/comments/n2fn2/i_broke_skyrim_with_fortify_restoration_help/c35qqy8.

So I created a Fortify Alchemy/Fortify Smithing gear set, with +28% on a Falmer Helmet, Circlet, Bracers, Ring, Necklace, and Body (just Smithing on Body and just Alchemy on Helmet/Circlet -- Bracers, Ring, and Necklace with both Alchemy/Smithing). I then equipped it and created Fortify Restoration potion. Drank it, un-equipped my gear, re-equipped my gear. I repeated this process with the bonuses (for both the Fortify Restoration and my gear) improving exponentially each time. I stopped drinking potions when the Fortify Restoration potion bonus turned negative.

The last Fortify Restoration potion I drank had +814,025,792% on it. My resulting crafting Gear bonuses was +227,927,232% better on each of the above pieces. So I then brewed up a few dozen Fortify Enchanting potions (+ 170,945,440% stronger) and a few dozen Fortify Smithing potions (+ 683,781,760% better).

Next, I headed to the Enchanting station in Dragonreach (still wearing the same gear so that none of the Active Effects would wear). I popped one of those Enchanting potions and created a new set of the above gear. Reason being that, once I remove the current gear I'm wearing (with +227,927,232% bonus), the Active Effects of them disappear and they revert to their base of +28%. But if I enchant gear using the Fortify Enchant potion, that stuff is permanent. Hope that made sense.

Okay, so my end result on that was that I now have a Helmet, Circlet, Armor, Bracers, Necklace, and Ring again where each piece's respective bonus is +1,172,307,968% better.

So now I head over to the Smithing station just inside the Whiterun gates. At this point, I am still wearing the ORIGINAL gear (+227,927,232). I already have Smithing perks to upgrade Magical gear and so I go to the Workbench and choose the Guild Master's Armor (just as an example for this post), which has a base of 110 Armor. Selecting it to upgrade (before actually upgrading it) tells me the resulting upgraded Armor would become 239,483,392. Okay, big number for the lulz, and I know Armor caps at 567 anyway, but this is for pure fun.

I also know that Weapon damage does NOT cap, so let's try upgrading my Nightingale Bow that has a base Damage of 46... Selecting it for upgrade tells me it will become 995 Damage instead. Awesome, though much much lower for some reason than the Armor. Whatever (I'll get to Weapon upgrade issues in a bit).

Now, on the other hand, if I do the above two pieces while I pop that Fortify Smithing potion (+ 683,781,760% better)... then suddenly, my gear pieces are all grayed out... I can select them, but I cannot press X to actually upgrade them. In fact, when I do select them, they don't even increase in armor or damage! And when I do go to press X to upgrade anyway, I am told that I lack the skills necessary to upgrade them! But I just tried this before the potion and was able to do so! So I don't understand!

Lastly, I've replicated this whole process as I typed this post. Last night I did it all before heading to bed frustrated... only, rather than having worn my original gear with the +227,927,232 bonus, I tried it with my newly made +1,172,307,968% crafting gear. When I wear that, even if I don't pop that Fortify Smithing potion, I'm still not able to upgrade anything (same thing of no visible increase upon selection, as well as "you lack the skills" message).

Some other stuff I don't quite understand... so I went up the right side of the Smithing tree, up to unlocking Daedric Smithing. I also have Arcane Blacksmith, as I mentioned. But here is what is in my current weapon inventory and the resulting upgrade available at the Grindstone (with the original +227,927,232% gear and not the Fortify Smithing potion):

Item (Base Damage -> Upgraded Damage)
Daedric Battleaxe (31 -> 104)
Daedric Bow of Petrifying (46 -> 199)
Daedric Dagger (26 -> 196)
Daedric War Axe (36 -> 196)
Daedric Warhammer (34 ->104)
Ebony Bow (Epic) (61 -> 199)
Ebony Dagger (Epic) (43-196)
Hunting Bow of Souls (17 ->199)
Iron Battleaxe (20 -> 520)
Iron Dagger (9 -> 981)
Iron Warhammer (23 -> 520)
Mehrunes' Razor (26 -> 981)
Nightingale Bow (46 -> 995)

How is it that Daedric weapons, which start with the highest possible base damage, are upgrading so poorly? The Battleaxe and Warhammer only went from 30s to 104, whereas the Dagger went from 26 to 196! Furthermore, the Iron gear (which so much lower base damage) surpassed the Daedric -- the Dagger went all the way from 9 to 981! I don't understand the mechanics of this and it's driving me nuts.

Look, in the end, I know the numbers I'm working with are astronomical, and that I did get a working version with insane numbers -- for armor. But I've also heard of weapons with thousands (and even a million) damage and while my Nightingale Bow went from 45 to 995, most of the other weapons (with starting higher base values) were not able to upgrade as high. And I know I've got the Perks ("skills required")... at this point, at least for my own understanding, I'm trying to figure out why I am unable to upgrade when I wear the +1,172,307,968% gear and/or use the Fortify Smithing potion... Are the numbers just too high? And, if so, how the hell does it prevent me from using the skills I already unlocked? And how would I be able to get higher damage weaponry?

I'm thinking that there must obviously be some "cap" of some sort where I can upgrade with a certain percent. Obviously, 227 million is doable (though there's still the weapons upgrade anomaly), and 1.1 billion is not... so it's somewhere in the middle, but I'm not sure what it is or how to get to it. And, even though it's really pointless in the end, I want to know what it is!

If you made it this far, thanks for reading and I hope you have some answers!

There's another post detailing how to do this and it mentions going over 16million breaks something. The cap for armor is in the 500s something anyway , so no real point there , but I guess getting insane weapons etc. could be a fun hobby when you get bored. I'm not well-versed in this exploitation but the 16million figure I'm pretty sure was stated.It's possible the iron didn't hit some wierd cap because there's no perk to make it stronger , even if you don't have the perks for daedric etc. some people have noticed glitches associated just because the perk exists in some cases.

Well I'm back lol...

So I was trying to find Youtube videos of how people had million+ damage weapons and found this one:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lK2Zg_XAQE&feature=related

Dude had 1.5 billion damage on his bow! But I noticed that his bow only said a certain value on its description, whereas the bottom of the screen showed the real damage value... when I had been at the grindstone, I was not able to see these real values... so I went back and upgraded my weapons (using the +227,927,232% and no potion) and, although the numbers for each weapon DID display within the upgrade window as posted above, the ACTUAL numbers once I backed out and went to my inventory screen were as follows:

Daedric Battleaxe (31 -> 104,033,096)
Daedric Bow of Petrifying (46 -> 199,196,416)
Daedric Dagger (26 -> 196,212,176)
Daedric War Axe (36 -> 196,212,208)
Daedric Warhammer (34 -> 104,033,096)
Ebony Bow (Epic) (61 -> 199,196,416)
Ebony Dagger (Epic) (43 -> 196,212,176)
Hunting Bow of Souls (17 -> 199,196,384)
Iron Battleaxe (20 -> 52,016,552)
Iron Dagger (9 -> 98,106,088)
Iron Warhammer (23 -> 52,016,556)
Mehrunes' Razor (26 -> 98,106,112)
Nightingale Bow (46 -> 99,598,240)

WOW - what a difference! Now, the guy in the video was able to get 1.5 billion, so I still haven't hit his mark yet. And I know that popping my Fortify Smithing +683,781,760% potion breaks Smithing... but what if I pop a standard Blacksmith's Elixir (+50%) and try this? Well, then I get these results instead:

Daedric Battleaxe (31 -> 156,049,648)
Daedric Bow of Petrifying (46 -> 298,794,624)
Daedric Dagger (26 -> 294,318,304)
Daedric War Axe (36 -> 294,318,304)
Daedric Warhammer (34 -> 156,049,648)
Ebony Bow (Epic) (61 -> 298,794,624)
Ebony Dagger (Epic) (43 -> 294,318,304)
Hunting Bow of Souls (17 -> 298,794,592)
Iron Battleaxe (20 -> 78,023,824)
Iron Dagger (9 -> 147,159,136)
Iron Warhammer (23 -> 78,024,824)
Mehrunes' Razor (26 -> 147,159,152)
Nightingale Bow (46 -> 149,397,328)

Much better... but still not as high as it COULD go... problem is, I just don't know what that cap is. I could keep experimenting -- and maybe someday I will -- but I think these numbers are "acceptable" to continue playing the game with my godly gear, since it will one-shot anything as is anyways.

Also, I'm thinking that the prevention of upgrading gear that I was getting when either wearing my Fortify Smithing +1,172,307,968% gear and/or using a Fortify Smithing +683,781,760% potion must be related to that negative number I eventually hit that then makes the game think I've got negative Smithing skill and prevents me from upgrading. I am still dying to know what that magic number is, though! Considering that the last Fortify Restoration potion I brewed before things turned negative was +814,025,792%, it must be a figure between that and the 1.1 billion amount. Oh well, perhaps some day I will find it and learn what the max damage that can be done is. Although, as evidenced from the numbers shown above with the Ebony Bow and Dagger that were already upgraded (to Epic status) before this, perhaps this number can also be inflated... the possibilities taunt me!

Anyway, just wanted to share the update to my escapades.