CTD on startup

[Rhyme27]

I just started getting CTDs on startup. My computer is able to handle Oblivion, so I know that is not an issue. I have installed several mods and they have not been of issue until recently. I began to get CTDs pretty frequently in game, so I thought perhaps the load order was of issue. I have both Wrye Bash and OBMM and used them to adjust my load order, but after doing that then the game began to crash on startup. I tried deleting the leftover files of deleted mods, but that didn't seem to work. I do not have OOO or Francesco's mods and the mods that I have all have the master file intact. I am not sure what the problem could be, so any suggestions are appreciated. If this cannot be resolved I may have to resort to reinstalling oblivion.

Thanks in advance for your help.

[dezdimona]

General Load-Order Guidelines

Here are the guidelines that I adhere to, personally.

 

~ Unofficial Oblivon Patch should always be first on the list. The fixes are great, but most aren't essential, so if a mod overwrites them its not a big deal, and the fixes have the potential for screwing up other mods if loaded later.

 

~ Offical Content (DLC's) should be loaded last, until you complete all quests associated with them (that includes buying all furniture for the houses and whatnot). Once they're complete, they can be safely moved up in the list. This is especially important for Knights of the Nine, which will have some fairly major problems unless loaded last (unless you get the UOP for KotN)

 

~ Major overhaul mods (OOO, Frans, MMM) should be loaded near the end. That gives you the most complete experience with any of those particular mods. It also lets you carefully choose which other mods to load afterwards... only move mods that you know will conflict and that you want the changes from. For example, I have Improved Soul Gems below OOO because I know that OOO changes the icons of some of the SG's, and ISG needs to be below to show through.

 

Some people will recommend putting larger mods first, but personally I disagree. There are a number of mods out there that make minor tweaks, and loading after a large mod will end up completely overwriting a chunk from one of the bigger mods because of the way conflicts work in Oblivion (even one minor change will take precedence over the entire record... for example, simply tweaking the speed of a weapon can cause every stat of that weapon to be retained to vanilla levels if loaded later).

 

So basically, it stacks up like this...

 

Oblivion.esm

Unofficial Oblivion Patch

<Minor Mods / DLC's (Post-Completion)>

<Major Overhaul Mod/Mods>

<Mods that specifically conflict with overhauls and need to take precedence>

<DLC's (Pre-Completion)>

Note: If using Mayu's Overhaul Mod. I recommend loading it after OOO or MMM

 

 

Expanded Load-Order Guidelines

by dev_akm

 

I would extend this to include:

 

Oblivion.esm

Unofficial Oblivion Patch

<Weather/Environment/Sound Mods>

<Minor Mods/New Items/Houses/DLC's (Post-Completion)>

<Major Overhaul Mods>

<Mods that specifically conflict with overhauls and need to take precedence>

<DLC's (Pre-Completion)>

<Quests>

<Compatibility Patches/UOMP/Merged Leveled Lists>

 

And a special-case warning for Knights.esp (Knights of the Nine) -- you may not be able to move it earlier than some other mods (some people have had problems after moving it before OOO, for example).

 

That's basically the structure I use and I have 140+ mods working well together.

 

Another way of describing this (posted by DMan77):

....

Oblivion

unoffical patch

Deeper realism mods that add sights and sounds

added content like weapons/items

gameplay changes, like 'must eat and sleep'

The OOO type

the 'new begining' type mod..

................................................................................

.................

 

also shut off any programs running in the back ground as these will cause oblivion to crash

[bben46]

The most common cause of what you describe is trying to run with a mod that requires OBSE without starting OBSE first.

Check any recent mods for OBSE requirements, and be sure you are launching through OBSE if it is required.

 

Otherwise:

Crashes are a part of the Oblivion experience. It's the game's way of telling you that you need to take a break. :whistling:

 

There will always be some crashes, all we can do is minimize them.

 

Save often, it will keep the frustration level down. :wallbash:

 

Anything running in the background can cause a crash. Especially a program that likes to call home, such as an antivirus program that updates without warning, or an instant messaging program trying to connect. :down:

 

Start by disabling everything that accesses the internet when you play. that includes the Vonage, Skype, IM, xfire and anything that calls in or out.

 

You might even disable internet access altogether.

 

Many programs use an auto update feature - such as HP printers (how often does your printer driver need updating?)

MS auto update can cause crashes. Some of these will even try to connect when the internet is disabled, and keep trying every ten minutes or so. If you can, disable the autoupdate function, at least while playing. :(

 

Then look for programs that run in the background, they are stealing time from the game and if they don't give control back quick enough - crash. MS indexing service, antivirus progs that scan everything in the background, Auto defrag programs, Scheduling programs all steal cycles from the game. Any of these can cause crashes. >:(

 

After you have cut down the crashes caused by external stuff, start looking at your mods. Some mods just don't play well with others. And for some the

 

load order is very important. BOSS works for most load order problems, but it can't set them all. There are over 15,000 mods on Tesnexus alone.

 

Another often overlooked source of crashes is removing a mod. If you remove a mod that affects game play, it can cause a crash when something from the missing mod is referenced in game. The most common is the unable to enter Bruma crash. This is caused when you complete a part of the main quest with one character, make a new character, load an old save and try to enter Bruma with the new character. There is something (spoiler) in Bruma that references your old character - which is no longer in the game.

 

Then there are the Nvidia black screen crashes. A quick way around them is to disable both AA and HDR in your video settings. Then after you are passed the point where the black screen occurs, re-enable whichever you use. There are many posts telling what has worked for some, and not worked for others, along with several mods that help.

 

Try this, Windom Earle_s Oblivion Crash Prevention System :thumbsup:

 

http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=22282

 

It completely eliminated my crash on exit as well as some others (but not all)

 

Note, it is not a mod and doesn't install like a mod, so be sure to read the instructions. :closedeyes:

 

New info. A lot of unused .exe files left in the /data folder can cause problems. It seems that Oblivion likes to look through all of the unused files and even the extra folders in the /oblivion folder. new recommendation, make a new folder - OUTSIDE of /oblivion to keep this unused stuff. such as Bethesda/Oblivion_Mods. Note that Later versions of Wrye bash already do this with the ghosting feature. If you have a folder for unused mods in your /Oblivion folder, move it into the new/Oblivion_Mods folder. :rolleyes:

 

Essentially, clean up your Oblivio/data folder and move everything not needed in /Oblivion and /Data to a new folder outside of /Oblivion.

 

If you are keeping your original or copies of zipped downloads inside of the /Oblivion folder, move them out too.

 

Also, if you can, empty the windows prefetch folder it may be keeping info on older now unused mods, and Oblivion will look for them if it sees that they are supposed to be there.

 

You probably won't be able to get rid of all of them, but you can minimize them. :thumbsup:

[Rhyme27]

Thanks for your replies. It is crashing even through OBSE on startup. I would like to clarify that it is crashing on startup, not ingame.