Hey all,

Since updating with the new patch, I have been unable to launch Skyrim. The first options screen pops out (Play, Data Files, Options, and so on), and when I select Play, the permissions window pops out. After I permit the program to make changes to my computer, the first screen with the Play - Data Files - Options - etc pops out again, ad infinitum. I tried all of the following, without success:

1. Restarting Steam
2. Restarting my PC
3. Disabling the User Control permissions window.
4. Verifying integrity of game files
5. Deleting all the contents of my /Skyrim folder and verifying integrity of game files.
6. Disabling/Deleting any mods I had running and trying all of the above again.

This is getting extremely frustrating. I have logged about 100 hours of play (all at Ultra High settings if it matters) and suddenly I am unable to start when the patch comes out. I am out of options except for a clean install, I guess, which is a bit of a hassle, so if anyone has any suggestions to throw my way, it would be appreciated greatly.

The only thing I could suggest would be to try and run Skyrim through the Nexus Mod Manager.

Sounds to me like some sort of firewall/security/permissions issue, like something's blocking it since the update.

Thanks for the suggestions guys, but nothing worked.
I've googled it, and I've noticed many have had this problem. Apparently most have been able to resolve it by verifying integrity of game files through Steam, which, like I said, didn't do anything for me. I tried it over and over, on the off chance that, y'know, seventh time's a charm and all, but nothing. About permissions specifically - I've enabled it on all fronts firewalls, security, and what have you, I even disabled the permissions window completely, and no dice.

Howdy!

I've been experiencing the exact same issue.


I was able to resolve this confounding issue by doing the following:

- Right click on TESV.exe

- Go to the Compatibility tab

- Under the Privilege Level section, deselect 'Run this program as an administrator'.

I no longer receive the User Control pop-up window after deselecting that and no longer experience that hellish not-launching-loop.

The game now launches correctly for me. I've no idea if this will rectify your issue. Hopefully it will.


(I also had an additional issue. I was receiving a very short fewer-than-one-second message regarding 'The color scheme has been changed to Windows 7 Basic'. To stop that from occurring, within that same Compatibility tab, I deselected the 'Disable desktop composition' under Settings. How or why either of these issues are happening, I don't know. I was able to 'fix' them, for now...)

Thanks for the input, I appreciate it a lot. Unfortunately your advice came a few seconds too late! I'm re-installing the whole mess in the hope it'll work this time around, but if I get the same error, I'll try your solution (instead of gouging out my eyeballs with a rusty fork, which I was ready to do even though I didn't really expect it to help). I'll report my findings here.

Oh, MANY thanks Nepentheia! That fixed it!!!! Only wished I'd have caught this thread before all of the re-installs I've done tonight.

Well, I fixed mine too. Turns out the culprit was ScriptDragon, however, it wouldn't give out the usual dialog that the version you are trying to launch is not supported and so on as it usually does. I had to go and reinstall the whole game, then disable the "Run as Administrator" like you suggested for a dialog window to finally pop up and give me a clue to the fact that I hadn't completely uninstalled it!

So, if anyone is having trouble getting their Skyrim to launch beyond the initial options screen (Play, Data Files, and so on), try any of the methods here, and be advised if you have ScriptDragon, you need to remove its .dll files from the game directory to effectively "uninstall" it, or else the game won't launch (and it won't tell you why, either, just will remain in an endless loop in the options screen).

Well this just svcks. I have tried everyone of the suggestions listed here. Been away from game for several weeks only to see it wont launch. I too am in a loop with the initial play screen and nothing does the job. Any more suggestions? I am getting really ticked with all the complications this game dredges up. I would rant heavily too if I thought I could get a game rep on.

So, should one just reload everything for a couple of hours of fun that will not solve anything? Any Dev troubleshooter willing to help out those of us who have paid good money for the privilege of workarounds?

And another frustration. the small game manual customer support phone number takes you to some hospital desk instead of Bethesda troubleshooting.

Did you any of the ones in the first post? Verifying integrity of game files seems to have worked for a lot of people. If that doesn't work for you, try deleting the files (and files only, not directories and their contents) inside your /skyrim folder, and verifying game integrity again. What that does is force re-downloads of the game files, which may make it work for you. Remember to back up your Skyrim.ini and SkyrimPrefs.ini, as verifying will replace them with the original files (with vanilla settings). If that still doesn't work, let me know, and I'll see what else I can dig up. You may just want to re-install the game from scratch, though, after backing up your save files.

What happens when you press play? Do you get any warnings?

If you don't get a warning follow these steps to disable steam overlay:

https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=8882-bmxl-0801#overlay

Then try again, and see if you can an error message.

Also what are your system specs?