Oblivion dump me into desktop

[zelazko]

I have this problem that after playing while Oblivion tends to dump me to desktop. Game does not crash it dumps me into desktop. It does not crash because when I check in task manager it's still running, but I can't resume it by clicking on the oblivion tab. When I resume it from desktop the window with game appears but you can't see the game. The window is transparent. I even noticed that when I go to world map menu in the game and drag the place that is not no the map the window with game moves and I can see fragments of my desktop! I check the options/setting and I have fullscreen enabled but it does not help.

Anyone knows how to solve it? Sometimes it's just annoying when in the middle of the game, the game dumps you. lol

Edited October 1, 2011 by zelazko

[Keirgarth]

You have something running in the background that occasionally takes focus away from the game. Oblivion doesn't like it when you tab out or lose focus and it will stop responding to your input or will not show you the image. I would suggest looking at the task manager and ending task on any processes that are running in the background that are not needed for the system to work. This should resolve the issue.

 

Typical programs that could do this are auto updaters, programs with scheduled tasks, virus protection etc. If you need to get out of the game by alt-tabbing, the easiest way would be to be sure that you have a web page open before you start the game, and when you need to alt tab, you open the console then do the alt tab. There is no guarantee that this will work, but it works most of the time.

[MShoap13]

The game's primary problem with alt+tab is that once you've taken focus off of it, Windows begins moving Oblivion's resources to the page file on your HDD. If you're running on a rig with 4 Gigs or more RAM you can try turning off the page file. It may help with your issue and could also increase general responsiveness of Windows if you're on Vista or 7.

 

To help close out background processes that eat resources and could interrupt Oblivion long enough to cause this kind of issue, I highly recommend Game Booster. It probably won't give you a noticeable increase in overall FPS unless you're on a single core system with 1 Gig or less RAM, but it could increase stability and possibly give you a boost to your minimum FPS (less laggy spots).

 

On top of all of this, keep in mind that Oblivion is a generally buggy and underdeveloped program as is the normal for Bethesda's games. On one hand they put out games with amazing gameplay, visuals, and replayablilty, on the other they release them to the public as late stage Alpha's and patch them up to what most other major gaming companies would call Beta, then practically quit supporting them.

 

Fast Exit 2, and weocps could also be helpful in keeping Oblivion more stable. Some people also swear by Streamline, though I personally find it makes my Oblivion more likely to crash at loading screens and during combat no matter what settings I go with.

 

Edit: The Unofficial Oblivion Patch, Unofficial Shivering Isles Patch, Unofficial official Mods Patch (For all DLC besides Shivering Isles) and the Unofficial Oblivion Patch Supplementals are also highly recommended if you don't have them installed. All of these are available here on the Nexus.

Edited October 1, 2011 by MShoap13

[TrueOrigin]

The most effective way WOULD be to eliminate the paging file, but that's still quite important under normal circumstances. The simplest thing to do without having to use outside software or eliminating the paging file, is to simply use task manager to assign Oblivion higher resource priority, so even when it runs in the background it wont sent the data to your HDD.

[bben46]

What you are experiencing is a crash. This particular crash is commonly called crash to desktop and abbreviated as CTD. It can be caused by many things, usually by what was already said - some other program - usually a background program is stealing focus (taking up CPU cycles) and the game looses track of where it is and goes out to lunch. You will have to use the windows Ctrl-alt-del to open the windows task manager to shut the game down. As BethSoft didn't make a graceful way to get out of this situation. :rolleyes:

 

More advice. Here is a link to Bben's Crash Help

http://wiki.tesnexus.com/index.php/Oblivion_crash_help

[chakaru11]

Errr.... not to be the party pooper here, but this is not caused by background processes or anything else. It's a common bug that appears after alt tabbing one too many times out of the game in window mode.

 

 

Solution: Delete your INI file in your files->documents->my games->Oblivion

 

Then start the game. Oblivion automaticalle recreates the Ini file and runs the game with vanilla graphic settings. Set your graphic settings back to what they were before and you should be fine.

 

Only real hassle: If you are running a custom UI like DarN, there is one more step you have to follow: after you started the game to make it generate a new Ini file, close it and open OBMM. Deactivate your UI OMOD and then immediately activate it again. Done.

Edited October 2, 2011 by chakaru11

[bben46]

And loose all of your ini edits? :rolleyes:

 

This happens without using alt-tab also. In essence, Windows is paying more attention to a background process than the game. The result is like talking on a cell phone while driving - and missing your exit.

 

These background processes will not always cause a CTD, it depends on what the game is doing at the time and how long the background program has the focus.

 

And Yes, I, as well as others have tested this theory. And our results are - if you kill the background processes you get fewer CTD crashes. One of the programs we tested it with was xfire. Based on the results of tests made by people on the Bethsoft forums, xfire made changes in how it worked with Oblivion. I have seen skype and Magic jack cause CTDs when there is an incoming call. And have tested on a auto defrag program that when it started its defrag in the background not only caused an increase in CTDs, but would slow the game down when it didn't CTD.

 

This was much more of a problem with WinXP - on my old WinXP system I was unable to use alt-tab at all without a CTD. Almost any interruption by a background program gave the CTD. on my Win7x64, My CTDs are much reduced. I use alt-tab all of the time with no problems. I have answered a skype call and then put the game on pause It works MOST of the time. - and have NEVER had to delete my heavily modified Oblivion.ini file. If you are having to regenerate your ini file every time you CTD, there is something else wrong.

[Keirgarth]

Aside from everything that bben has mentioned, there is also the point that the OP has stated that his game is not running in windowed mode.

 

....I check the options/setting and I have fullscreen enabled but it does not help.

[zelazko]

MShoap13 - thanks for program fast exit2. I dunno about its existence and finally my game does not crash upon exist. The only reasonable solution so far I found is to play in windowed mode, it does not dump me into desktop anymore and on my second PC that I use less often, I can enhance the performance by playing in windowed mode.

 

I noticed some programs (on the screen I uploaded lower right corner - the yellowish circles) turn on after lunching the game and more I play the more of them I can see. Maybe they have something to do with it?

Edited October 2, 2011 by zelazko

[MShoap13]

Whatever program that icon belongs to is most likely your issue. Get Game Booster and use it to turn off background processes before starting Oblivion. You can configure Game Booster to only turn off what you'd like it to. Once you've configured Game Booster it takes one click to turn off a handful of processes, and when you're done playing, it's one click and a few seconds to turn them all back on.