Oblivion: Can't play,uninstall,check data files, anything

[westride]

Okay, hopefully this topic isn't removed like my other topics dealing with a problem with Oblivion (don't know why they were). Started out with an error code 5001 when I tried to uninstall. Fixed that error by renaming InstallShield to InstallShieldOld. Tried uninstalling again, new error code, 6003. "Fixed" that error by running Disk Cleanup, selecting Oblivion to get rid of, which resulted in error 6003. Went back to launch screen, clicked uninstall, InstallShield said it was going through process, asked if I wanted it completly off the computer, said yes, and it displayed the progress screen at one one bar. It stayed for a while at one bar then said uninstallation complete, not quite. Oblivion still existed and everything. I don't really want to stop playing Oblivion I just want to reinstall it. Tried setup.exe from disc and it did that uninstall thing again without success. Also, when I click on the now iconless shortcut for Oblivion it brings up the uninstall thing. Yes iconless. Even CS doesn't have an icon, at least not it's original. EVERYTHING that has to do with Oblivion directly.....doesn't have the appropriate icon, just some white box with blue at the top.

 

Well, some info that might need to be explained other than error crap. Bought Oblivion at a store, not downloaded. I am the PC admin. so I get access to InstallShield stuff. The file data1.hdr or something like that does exist. (different site said I needed to confirm the last two).

 

I found that when I click Data Files on the launch screen it says none existed and that my "Oblivion installation appears to be damaged. Please reinstall". Can't. When I try to play Oblivion it says "Couldn't find Oblivion executable. Please reinstall". Can't. All the sites I went to stated for me to uninstall Oblivion to fix it. I CAN'T. I noticed alot of other people have the same problem but never got a response. Maybe this problem is impossible to fix I don't know but I don't want to be in a fog. If there is anything anyone can tell me whether good or bad, do it. I'm tired of having a great game in front of me and not being able to play it. It SUCKS! Well, if anyone has a question or a solution please keep the wording simple, I've only had a good computer for a couple of months and I'm still getting used to it's technology. Thanks

[Vagrant0]

Put the oblivion DVD in the drive, ignore the autorun, go into MyComputer, and Explore the dvd. Look for setup.exe on that dvd, it should let you uninstall. If that doesn't work, you'll pretty much have to go in and manually uninstall oblivion by deleting components and removing registry keys... However this is something that will likely break your computer if you don't know what you're doing, and may not solve the problem.

[westride]

It doesn't work so......what files do I need to delete and where would I find the registry keys?

[JDFan]

It doesn't work so......what files do I need to delete and where would I find the registry keys?

 

Here is a guide for manually uninstalling the game :

 

1.) Copy any saved games that you want to keep to a new folder (create a new folder and copy or move C:\Documents and Settings\Username\My Documents\My Games\Oblivion\Saves folder into it using Explorer)

 

2.) Copy and save any Mods that you want to keep (Or as a better alternative redownload the mods that you want to install - this will ensure that you get clean installs of them also including any updates since the last install)

 

3.) Set a system restore Point - To do this: Go to START - Help and support - Under "Pick a Task", select "Undo changes to your computer with SYSTEM RESTORE", then check create a restore point and follow the steps. (this is just in case something goes wrong you can restore your system to this point - should not be needed but better safe than sorry)

 

** Note for steps 4 through 9 if the file or folder is not there skip to the next step **

 

4.) Go to Add/remove programs and uninstall Oblivion (If it shows on the list). If the add/remove procedure results in an error - skip to the next step and continue as it will still remove the game with the remaining steps.

 

5.) After or If the uninstall finishes go to Start - Run - type regedit - hit Enter - click on the + sign next to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, click on the + sign next to SOFTWARE, click on the + sign next to BETHESDA SOFTWORKS, right click on Oblivion (if it is still there) and then delete.

 

6.)Now still in Regedit find HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\{35CB6715-41F8-4F99-8881-6FC75BF054B0} and delete it the same way you deleted oblivion in the last step.(If it is still there - this is the uninstall key for add\remove programs)

 

7.)close regedit.

 

8.)Go into explorer find the C:\Program Files\Bethesda Softworks\Oblivion folder (if it is still there) and delete it.

 

9.)find the folder C:\Documents and Settings\USERNAME\My Games\Oblivion (Substitute your username for USERNAME) and delete it (Again if it is still there)

 

By doing this it will delete all traces of the game from your computer . Then you should be able to reinstall !!

[Vagrant0]

It doesn't work so......what files do I need to delete and where would I find the registry keys?

Odd question, but did you somehow install it twice, or are you using a modified .exe in order to bypass the dvd checks?

 

Try removing everything in the oblivion folder (backing up any mods or saved games you might still use first) then running setup from the dvd again. Since you've already done alot of unusual things to try and get around the various errors, you may have screwed up the uninstall process entirely. Since you don't know what registry keys there are, or how to edit them... and I really wouldn't be able to tell what you need to remove since I've never had to go that far, you might just have to wait until you do a reformat of your computer (assuming that you can, and have most of what you need burned to cd or placed on a non-system drive) before you can play again. You might be able to remove some using a program like registry mechanic which might detect all the invalid entries, but even that is unlikely. Reinstalling the construction set might also allow some of those invalid entries to be foxed enough to do the uninstall, but that is literally a shot in the dark.

[westride]

Odd question, but did you somehow install it twice, or are you using a modified .exe in order to bypass the dvd checks?

 

Maybe I dunno.

 

Thanks for the instructions, I'll see if it works right away.

 

Vagrant07, is your quote true, patch 1.2 screws up mods? I patched Oblivion with that and that's when all hell broke loose. So, the mods that require that patch I should just ignore or what? There's alot of good mods out there that need it.

[JDFan]

Odd question, but did you somehow install it twice, or are you using a modified .exe in order to bypass the dvd checks?

 

Maybe I dunno.

 

Usually this will happen if you close the window after the install when it asks if you want to view the readme - If you uncheck viewing it -sometimes it seems to lock up and if you shut the window at that point without waiting for it to completly finish the install when you go to uninstall this will happen (can also be caused for other reasons but that is the usual cause)

 

Thanks for the instructions, I'll see if it works right away.

 

They should work - as the steps have beeen used by several hundred users on the Bethesda Game Studios Forums over the past year - (They have been placed in the Pinned Hardware and software Faq's )

[westride]

Sweet! It worked. And it did install Oblivion twice, I found the Oblivion folder in Oblivion.exe and in My Documents. Crazy how that could happen 'cause what you told me is not what I did. Kudos to you man, kudos.

 

 

Edit: This isn't a big deal but why does Sonic Update Manager keep trying to install everytime I get on the computer? Even if I wanted to install it nothing would work because I don't even own the product. Anyway to prevent it from popping up again?

[Vagrant0]

Edit: This isn't a big deal but why does Sonic Update Manager keep trying to install everytime I get on the computer? Even if I wanted to install it nothing would work because I don't even own the product. Anyway to prevent it from popping up again?

It seems to be a Dell problem... Try googling it, you might understand a bit better than I could explain, frankly I don't know wth that is or what its purpose is.

 

As far as 1.2 goes... Yeah, it still causes alot of problems for alot of people. Take a look at how many times 1.2 has come up whenever an error is being talked about on this board. It's somewhat playable with the SI version with beta patch as long as you aren't using any major mods, but even that seems to differ alot between people.

[westride]

I'll do that google thing later but now I have, yet another, question. (man I feel selfish to be asking you all these questions) OBSE, I got it but won't work. It says I need to put it in the oblivion .exe folder. I did that and it says the same thing. Whats up?

 

About the patch...the Bullet Time mod is small enough to not be courrupted by 1.2 right? I think it's size is 58.6 KB.

 

Edit: Success! Googled it, got a bunch of threads about it popping up, fixed it.