I was having a great time with many mods, loving my first gaming PC rig in 8 years... the game was beautiful... for some reason I decided on a clean install and a fresh download of the mods I likes... That was 6 hours ago and I've destroyed my computers ability to play Skyrim it seems...

So here's the details as much as I understand...

Everything worked great, so I decided to break it...

First I un-installed and deleted all mods through NMM, then NMM itself...

Then I removed Skyrim from the folders on my computer along with the remove option from Steam...

It appeared everything Skyrim was gone from my computer (I just bought and built this rig maybe 3 weeks ago and haven't really done anything on it but Skyrim)

When I re-install Skyrim either from disk or download it acts fine, says complete, but the launcher still only says "install" instead of play... and when I click on that it just cycles back to the launcher...

I'm lost... and will never delete this game again if I can get it working again!

Any and all help appreciated! I can only keep my eyes open for another hour so if you have advice or need more info I promise I'll respond/follow through in the AM if not tonight!

I'd suggest having Steam verify the files. It may take a bit but it should find anything missing or corrupted.

Should have mentioned that I've done that 4 or 5 times now... doesn't take long at all and does not come up with any errors...

Have you tried navigating to ./Steam/steamapps/common/skyrim and running SkyrimLauncher.exe or TESV.exe?

Thanks for the suggestion. Just tried, and both files launch the launcher, which still only displays "Install"

Of note on the launcher is "Options" and "Data Files" are greyed out...

Try clicking on the install button 3 times, doing that seems to make the launcher write the install path to the registry and it should come up as play.

Well if not try this:

create a txt file in notepad containing the number 72850 and then save it as steam_appid.txt inside the skyrim folder.

Now try launching TESV.exe directly.

Ok, the first thing that went through my mind there was, "wut".

I'll check, but I don't think those files even reference the Install option. I could be wrong, but I'll check my data later once I get back to my main computer.

Er, have you tried SKSE's loader?

Also, where is Steam installed?

You know, I must sound ridiculous but it is not in my Game folder where it used to be... but Steam took an hour downloading it so where the hell is it?

I see the launcher and TESV under program files (x86)- Steam- SteamApps, Common, Skyrim...

Bingo. Move Steam: https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?p_faqid=231

Not sure what happened, but see if that resolves it.

Thanks, tried it... no luck... now I am following instructions for completely deleting Steam...

Just to clarify, what have you tried so far? It's getting kinda hard to follow here with me mentioning multiple things in the same post and all. >.>

Sorry, I've tried everything mentioned so far... I just finished deleting Steam registries... about to hopefully get a good Steam install...

Gotcha. Sorry, I just tend to have trouble following things that aren't explicitly specified.

OK, so fresh Steam install, installed Skyrim off my disk, waiting for the update to download... at 2.2MB/s it may take a bit... 12% right now...

Most likely it was simply a registry issue.

Make sure

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Bethesda Softworks\SkyrimorHKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Bethesda Softworks\Skyrim

Has the String "Installed Path" linked correctly.

Hopefully a ground up install of Steam/Skyrim addresses that... in 63% more of the update I'll know...

It should. However, verifying the game cache most likely won't fix any registry related issues, for future reference.

LOL, wish I knew that... but hopefully I'm learning... Now my update has paused... doesn't look like I'll know until morning at this rate...

OK, now I'm thinking there may be an issue with how Steam is downloading the update? Why is it still paused?

OK, since it was paused I validated the game cache... now it seems to have abandonment getting the update? Sorry if this is obvious but this is my first time using Skyrim and first PC in years...

OMG... well..... at least the installer says "Play" now instead of "Install", and the Options and Data choices are not greyed out anymore... but clicking Play results in a short windows curser loading animation then nothing.... ARRRRRRRRGGGGGHHHHHH!

I'm going to bed.... Please let me computer work tomorrow.....

And thanks for all who read and offer advice, you all rock.

G'nite'

I noticed that Skyrim seemed to patch slowly when I recently patched it (HD pack).

Verifying the game cache shouldn't be used unless to know there is an issue with a corrupted/missing file. I've never done it during a update so I don't know if it could cause issues. You can try going to the Steam options and setting the region/download server to another location.

***

You can try manually deleting the directory, after uninstalling the game via Steam

\Steam\steamapps\common\skyrim

and any Skyrim related .ncf in the

\Steam\steamapps

directory.
Steam's Skyrim uninstaller may leave certain files which could cause problems during re-installation.

When downloading Steam game updates, don't do ANYTHING except office apps and pause/resume downloading. When paused, you can do Internet stuff. Now, since this happened, you should exit and restart steam. It will begin downloading again. Sat nite is the worst time to download, the next worst times are Sat & Sun daytime. GL.

This may be a silly question, I'm sure youve already tried but Just incase....Have you tried running Steam and Skyrim (both of them) as Administrator? I have mine set up that way because a couple of the older games in the series would do things like, not save my settings if I didnt. So I set up the steam program to prompt for admin access, and when i click to play skyrim, it also asks for admin access.

Second, do you have Windows set up to create system restore backups automatically? You may be able to revert your system to the state it was in before you tried to remove the game. Ive seen this work a bunch of times, though not for skyrim specifically (It hasnt come up, so I havent had to try.) But this is often helpful, and of course, its the last thing you can do before...

Theres only one other solution I have for you. And I can basically guarantee it will work, but you wont like it: Format your computer and reinstall everything. EVERYTHING. Dont just write over with a new install of windows, format it first and then install. But really, Im hoping it wont come to that. But there have been games...no recent ones for me but...there have been games ive palyed where something went so horribly wrong that I had to format the entire computer to get them to work. Its a bit drastic but..may end up being the only thing that works.

Best of luck.

Just an FYI that may help at some point. NVSE bypasses the launcher, so if you are having launcher issue, you could give that a try.