Striker879

When a similar thing happened to me it was just some of the doors between some areas in the IC that I noticed, so I do understand the frustration. If it's only affecting weapons I'd work down the list deactivating mods one at a time that add or alter weapons (or weapons and armor if appropriate). Keep a log of what you've tried and work your way through those you think most likely first. I don't see much that I'm familiar with myself on your list, The Loth's Blunt Weapons mods jump out at me, but that's only because I think they're a less commonly used mod. I would think that if this problem existed with the mainstream mods like your FCOM_RealSwords.esp for example it would be reported and corrected. If you do track down the culprit please post here and report the issue in the mod comments.

Not sure if this will help you or not, but MarkInMKUK posted this the other day and has graciously agreed to let me repost when it may help (I've added emphasis on the merge mods part):

It will be a mod by a German modder. A quick glance at the guide you linked doesn't tell much about what mods you used and which you passed on. Post a mod load list either via OBMM or Wrye Bash, enclosed in ["spoiler"] your mod list here ["/spoiler"] tags (without the quote marks used so that they would display as text in this post).

There does seem to be a lot of OBGE problems lately (they must have had an update).

The two versions of the game that are supported by OBSE are the retail disk versions (from the original all the way up to the GotY) and the version offered for sale on the Steam download site. The versions offered for sale and download at Direct 2 Drive and Impulse are encrypted, and it is illegal for OBSE to inject it's required code into those (the teams at OBSE and Steam worked together to make sure the Steam version could use OBSE ... required for most modern mods). Because the Steam version uses a different method to enable OBSE there are two different install methods, outlined in the OBSE readme.

Mods that are downloaded but not installed to Oblivion\Data won't be a problem (if I'm reading your post correctly and you download to a folder separate from your Oblivion install). After they have been installed to Oblivion\Data and then deactivated via either the Oblivion launcher or OBMM they can still create some issues (for example they will still count against your 255 mod limit). If you have the downloaded archives of all your mods saved in a folder completely separate from your Oblivion install I would suggest a structured troubleshooting approach. After a clean install of just Oblivion and Shivering Isles patched to version 1.2.0.416 and before adding any mods at all, try starting a new game. If that works then save at the sewer exit, apply any of the unofficial patches you want. Chances are that in this day and age you will require OBSE as many newer mods use script functions added by OBSE, so if you are going to, this would be the ideal time to install it. When you start adding mods only add one or two at a time and test between additions. When you start out from a working vanilla install and don't add many mods at a time, troubleshooting is easy.

Thanks for the update.

When you extracted the download was the folder structure Data\meshes, Data\textures and Data\sound? If that is so then the way to install is to right click the Data folder from the extracted archive in your temporary folder and select 'Copy' from the right click menu. In the folder with Oblivion installed find the folder Oblivion and right click it. Select 'Paste' from the right click menu and then answer yes to the prompt about overwriting folders. The rule of thumb is always paste into one folder level higher than you copied (i.e. if you copy data and it's subfolder contents you paste into the Oblivion folder ... if you copy the meshes folder you paste into the Data folder). If you look in your Oblivion folder now you should see Oblivion\meshes, Oblivion\textures and Oblivion\sound (judging by your description of how you installed). The game will only look in specific places for different types of resources. The esp files always go into the Data folder (when copying files as opposed to folders you paste into the folder you want it to wind up in, so in this case you'd right click Data and select paste). Sometimes mods will come already setup with the esp located in the data folder so it gets copied to the correct location when copying and pasting the Data folder. Other times, especially when there are different esp files for different aspects of a mod, the esp files will be located outside the Data folder when you first extract the archive, and you will select which esp you're going to install and only copy that esp to the Data folder. Your note above about never being prompted about overwriting is the best way to know you're not copying to the correct folder ... the right way will always trigger the overwrite prompt. If you look at your folder structure with Windows Explorer and see either a meshes, textures or sound folder in your Oblivion folder or you see a Data inside your Data or a meshes inside your meshes, textures inside your textures etc. you know you've copied in the wrong folder. Just delete the misplaced folder and copy/paste to the correct spot.

Koroush's Tweaking Companion is the first one to go through, but I'll admit it is a rather lengthy read. I have a copy printed off and highlighted to help make setting up a new machine a bit easier. Unfortunately I'm not at home for the summer and don't have access to that copy. I myself don't use all of the suggestions. If I get a chance later today I'll have a look through the online version and see if I can highlight some pointers for you.

Have done any driver updates or antivirus software upgrades/changes?

I'm not hands on familiar with OBGE so consider this a shot in the dark. Here's an excerpt from Koroush Ghazi's Oblivion Tweak Guide (emphasis added): What things have changed on your machine since you had it working right (here I'm thinking along the lines of video card drivers or settings)?

If you a running either Windows Vista or Windows 7 the location you installed the game is very important to getting mods to run. Both Vista and Win 7 use a Microsoft security feature called User Account Control (UAC) to help protect your machine from malware and viruses. Any programs, including games, that are installed in the folder C:\Program Files are protected by UAC from being changed. Unfortunately that's what mods need to do to Oblivion. If you used the default location when you installed Oblivion then your game will be installed in C:\Program Files\Bethesda Softworks\Oblivion and UAC will interfere with mods. The solution is to uninstall Oblivion and then re-install it into a folder outside of Program Files (most commonly suggested is create a folder C:\Games\Oblivion, which can be done during installation). One of the moderators here, bben46 has posted this unistall/re-install guide to help get a proper and complete job done of it.

Vanilla Oblivion sounds aren't unpacked from the bsa ... the game accesses bsa resources as it needs them on the fly (part of the stuttering situation). That doesn't mean your sound files within the bsa couldn't be somehow corrupted by a scratched disk. Depending on how badly scratched it is you may be able to recover the disk.. If you have a GameStop nearby they might be able to repair the disk. You could also try this method for repairing the disk yourself (or this site's suggestions).

Thank you for posting your findings!

Good that you've found a work-around. So if you cast soul trap between flashes you don't get any joy? It may help if you post your load order here ... perhaps someone will see the problem mod. In any case if you ever track down the problem please post your findings.

You probably haven't installed the sound files, or installed them in the wrong folder. Have a look for a sounds folder in your download that's missing or misplaced in your Data folder. Not sure which version you're using ... the original Verona House Bloodlines or Verona House Bloodlines SI Fixed (updated by Arthmoor). I see a Verona House Bloodlines V12 Normalised Voices as well (for the original if I'm not mistaken).

I lean heavily on Koroush Ghazi's Oblivion Tweak Guide for troubleshooting info. The only things left from his guide to try are his TweakGuides Tweaking Companion[/url and [url=http://www.tweakguides.com/Graphics_1.html]Gamer's Graphics & Display Settings Guide coupled with his ATI Catalyst Tweak Guide. Have a look through his Oblivion Tweak Guide and see if anything I haven't thought of pops out. I use his Tweaking Companion on every machine I build, and I find his explanations clear and suggestions conservative. If anything else comes to mind I'll pop back in with a suggestion.

I'm a manual install type myself, but if I ever installed something like OBGE I'd probably use OBMM or BAIN (well BAIN if I ever learned how to use it). Score one for the old school guys.

Will do ... keep updating your progress and results. Another thing that springs to mind is audio. Problems with audio drivers and codecs can cause problems. If you get to the stage where the game is installed but still crashing when you try to start it, open your oblivion.ini in Notepad (you'll find it in Documents and Settings\[username]\My Documents\My Games\Oblivion ... don't edit the file oblivion_default.ini located in your game install directory) and find the following three entries: bDSoundHWAcceleration, bMusicEnabled and bSoundEnabled. Set all three to zero (i.e. bDSoundHWAcceleration=0). This will disable all sound for testing purposes. Yet another thing to try is temporarily disabling your antivirus (make sure you're disconnected from the internet first, and re-enable it before going back online).

And thank you for posting your solution.

From what I read on this site you should be able to run Oblivion on your laptop. The other thing to get right from the start is what folder you install Oblivion. The default location runs into problems with the Microsoft security feature UAC. Install the game to C:/Games/Oblivion/... (and not any subfolder off Program Files). I use multiple accounts on my own machines, an administrator account that I only log into for administrative tasks and a regular user account for all other things including gaming. When I install a game I change my regular account to an administrative account while installing and first run of the game and then switch it back to a regular account. There are a few games that won't run from that regular account even after taking those measures, but Oblivion isn't one of those (I just use Run As and my administrator log-in in those cases). However you set up your machines, I'd at least make sure the account I want to use for Oblivion is an administrative one during the install and first run. Some modern graphics chipsets don't get recognized by the installer on first run, but usually all that happens is the game starts and uses the default settings for graphics (640 x 480 screen resolution). That can be changed later. Another thing to check is your settings in your Catalyst control panel. Make sure antialiasing (AA) is set to application controlled or off until you get things working (application controlled should be the default). Give these ideas a try and see how you make out.

Coolio ... glad you got something to splash around in again.

Here's an excerpt from the UESP Wiki for Umaril the Unfeathered that has some tips that may help you:

OK what I'd try next is to download the latest version of OBSE (in case your saved version is somehow corrupted) and then delete all your previous installed OBSE files. Make certain you have the required version of Oblivion showing when you start the game without OBSE (should say version 1.2.0.416 in the lower left of the startup screen). Install the version of OBSE that's appropriate for your game installation (Steam or DVD install ... Direct 2 Drive and Impulse versions of the game will not work with OBSE). Either start a new game or load an old save that works with vanilla Oblivion but wasn't made with your old problematic OBSE install. I'd get the game working with OBSE before activating any mods at all. Also keep in mind that deactivating mods doesn't stop the game from seeing them. You may need to completely uninstall mods if your problem is actually mod related (and then I'd do that one at a time in reverse order of installation, testing in between until I found the culprit).

There may be some who could make heads or tails of the logs ... not sure I'd be in that group myself though. If the logs are long enclose each in ["spoiler"] your log here ["/spoiler"] tags (without the quote marks required here so that they show in this post).