Hi Everyone,

As the title suggests, that's the specific error I keep getting. It has started since the DRM patch, and no matter what I do, I can't seem to fix it.

Some things I tried:
- Deleting TESV and verifying integrity of game cache
- Uninstalling the game and reinstalling it
- Deleting my whole save folder, including the INI files, reinstalling from the CD (which didn't work), then uninstalling the game and reinstalling (which also didn't work)
- Loading it up directly from TESV or Skyrim Launcher (which results in "Application load error 3:0000065432")
- Having steam in offline mode
- Deleting clientregistry.blob and having steam download it on start up
- I even tried to download that 4GB patch and installing it but no go

I can't run the Windows 7 specific fixes as I am running Windows XP. The game is unmodded.

I'm running:
- Intel Core i7 2.67ghz
- 2552mb RAM
- ATI Radeon HD 4870

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks .

run a file integrity check via the steam right click menu on the game..

after which try..

if you want to use the LAA patch.. you have to use the 4GB Launcher (i'm only aware of the old LAA patch causing error 51 due to the file being encrypted 21st of november)

I already ran a file check, and I even tried to defrag the cache.

The game is unmodded so it shouldn't be giving me this error... The only reason I tried to install the 4GB patch in the first place is to try and potentially fix this somehow

Then i would suggest uninstalling Steam completely.. deleting your entire steam folder (to make sure).. and then redownloading and installing steam.

A few people that were having weird issues with the game like your experiencing found that steam was actually messed up causing the grief...

I was about to suggest you don't meet the minimum requirements (according to the sticky), but checking the back of the box you actually just about do. I still would be concerned about running the game with that amount of RAM, and the 4GB patch is NOT recommended in your case.

Wouldn't that delete all my games though? I can't really afford to that as re-downloading all of them would go way above my monthly download limit


So far I've been running the game on maximum graphics since the day it released without any problems. I have somewhere along the lines of 50 hours logged in on Steam. It's only since the most recent patch (November 24th) that I've been unable to play

I can only agree with DHJudas then - your Steam might be in a bit of a twist. Definitely try reinstalling it. You can always back up your game content.

If you are concerned about download limits... then i suggest you do a backup of each game... make sure they have saved properly to a specific untouchable location.. and proceed to remove it..

I would still suggest You can even attempt to backup skyrim..... just make sure everything is backed up... then remove steam.. reinstall it.. restore skyrim first and see if it works.. if it still doesn't.. remove skyrim/steam... and then reinstall and redownload skyrim fresh and hope that your case will be solved that way... restore your other games after your done.

Never had to reinstall Steam before. Is there a way to do it without deleting all my games? Is it just a matter of moving the folders somewhere else or is there a proper way to back up my game content?

you can either right click on the steam game... then go into the properties and select backup... and it'll compress backup files to wherever you want to store them..

alternatively you can go into steam~>Steamapps~> and MOVE everything in there to a safe location (which will be the fastest).. then uninstall steam.... reinstall it... then go to where you copied those files and for the time being.. only go into the COMMON folder and select Skyrim and copy it to the steamapps/common location.

I moved everything out of the Steamapps folder, I uninstalled Steam. I then made sure there was nothing there when it was done. I also moved the whole Skyrim folder out of my documents to make sure it was a completely fresh install. Installed Steam, installed Skyrim from the CD, exact same error, exact same problem... Sorry if I'm starting to sound a little discouraged here, but I have been working on trying to fix this for almost a week now (posted on several forums, e-mailed Bethesda and Steam, and still nothing...)

Unfortunately i can't really suggest anything else...

something is changing/modifying or preventing steam from acknowledging your skyrim install or something... i can't say ... without me actually sitting down at the machine and looking at it thoroughly i'm out of suggestions at this point in time.

That's alright, I appreciate your help.

At this point I give up though. Any idea how does the warranty work for this? I've never returned a PC game before (this is the first time one just simply refuses to work), but I dont think EB Games (in Canada) will take an open game back, and I don't want the +$60 to go to waste.

You can't return a Steam game.

I purchased it in a store originally, not online on Steam.

when you purchase the game, it comes with an activation keyed lisence... when you install it.. steam takes that key and registers it online with your account.... you can't remove it unfortunately.. IF you had made a purchase through steam.. you'd be fine as you'd be able to email steam about your issues and attempt a return and they'd remove the game from your account... but the whole system doesn't work very well if you bought through a retail store.

I'd say give it a day or 2... they are planning on launching the 1.2 patch tomorrow.... so maybe something will be fixed for you... we'll see

here is a link to an error 51 thread where someone got a game with the error working, who knows might do the trick.

http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1596741

and more info

https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=2235-YXVB-8261

https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=9828-SFLZ-9289

That's irrelevant unfortunately. You activated the game with Steam, it's linked to your Steam account. You can't refund it.

I guess I got lucky, spoke to the guy at the retail store and he was super nice about it. I got to replace it with an xbox copy of the game (which works just fine).

Just wanted to say thank you to everyone that replied in this thread, I really appreciate it.

(and x3n0n1c, I am not running F-Secure so that does not apply to my situation, either ways, thanks for the reply.)

I do not have this airfoil program or F-Secure and i am having the same trouble with the error 51. I backed up my games and uninstalled Steam then reinstalled it. Same trouble. I am looking into another idea but I am not sure about it.

Has anyone ever solved this? If I try to start the game from the Steam client, I get an error 51. If I try to use the Skyrim Launcher, I get "Application load error 3:0000065432."

It just started happening to me yesterday and a complete uninstall/re-install from the purchased disk didn't help. Applying and/or removing the beta patch didn't help. Applying and/or removing the beta Steam client didn't help. Cache check says everything is fine.

Like the last poster, I have neither Airfoil nor F-Secure (the only two problem apps that Steam mentions on their troubleshooting page).

I need help!

Found it! The problem was with the new nVidia 295.51 beta driver. I switched back to 290.53 and all is well again.