Skyrim stuck on dragon logo at startup. Very frustrating.

[LurkerSyl]

I hope I'm posting in the right place. I also hope that someone can help me before I have a mental breakdown and throw my mom's laptop across the room.

THE STORY:
My mom offered to let me install Skyrim on her laptop after seeing me play it on mine a lot. Her laptop has better specs than mine and can actually load all the pretty textures and stuff. Or so I hoped. I installed Skyrim just fine and got to the main menu to create the .ini file. But, being like a majority of people, I wanted to improve the experience and so installed several mods using NMM. Most of the mods I have used before without issue on my other laptop (apart from an occasional crash) and I also decided to use a couple new ones. I downloaded LOOT and sorted my load order with it. The problem now is the start up. It launches just fine through both the normal launcher and the SKSE launcher, but after the Bethesda logo fades and the Imperial dragon logo appears, the game just sits there. No smoke effects, and the menu never appears. It doesn't do a "Skyrim has stopped responding" or anything like that, and the only way I've found to stop it is to ALT-Tab to desktop and close the Skyrim window from the bar (for some reason it won't let task manager show up over the program). When I do ALT-Tab or use CTRL-ALT-DELETE, the game goes blank and the window is visible (as in, it's no longer full screen).

WHAT I'VE TRIED:
Changing the speaker settings to 16 bit/48k Hz
Following Ilja's guide to validate the master files (http://steamcommunity.com/app/72850/discussions/0/535150948617437868/)
Setting shadows to "LOW" (if possible I would like to keep the overall settings at "HIGH", because that's what I'm using my mom's laptop for...)

WHAT I'D LIKE TO AVOID
If possible, I'd like to avoid uninstalling and reinstalling Skyrim. It was a 2-hour download and I'd like to make it work without resorting to that. I'd also like to avoid any overly complex solutions, but if that's what's necessary, I ask that you take pity on me and do a thorough step-by-step explanation because I'm a moron when it comes to coding.

MODS AND LOAD ORDER (copied from LOOT)

0 0 Skyrim.esm
1 1 Update.esm
2 2 Dawnguard.esm
3 3 HearthFires.esm
4 4 Dragonborn.esm
5 5 Unofficial Skyrim Legendary Edition Patch.esp
6 6 Falskaar.esm
7 7 Campfire.esm
8 8 ApachiiHair.esm
9 9 RSkyrimChildren.esm
10 a WM Flora Fixes.esp
11 b JSwords.esm
12 c ETaC - RESOURCES.esm
13 d SkyUI.esp
14 e dD - Realistic Ragdoll Force - Realistic.esp
15 f RaceMenu.esp
16 10 RaceMenuPlugin.esp
17 11 AMatterOfTime.esp
18 12 ETaC - Complete.esp
19 13 Complete Crafting Overhaul_Remade.esp
20 14 WetandCold.esp
21 15 WetandCold - Ashes.esp
22 16 Immersive Orc Strongholds.esp
23 17 Immersive Whiterun.esp
24 18 Cloaks.esp
25 19 Cloaks - Dawnguard.esp
26 1a Run For Your Lives.esp
27 1b Guard Dialogue Overhaul.esp
28 1c Immersive Weapons.esp
29 1d UFO - Ultimate Follower Overhaul.esp
30 1e Immersive Solstheim.esp
31 1f ETaC - Dragon Bridge South.esp
32 20 Sneak Tools.esp
33 21 The Paarthurnax Dilemma.esp
34 22 Apocalypse - The Spell Package.esp
35 23 ApachiiHelmetWigs.esp
36 24 The Eyes Of Beauty - Elves Edition.esp
37 25 TheEyesOfBeauty.esp
38 26 When Vampires Attack.esp
39 27 XPMSE.esp
40 28 Larceny - Pickpocketing Remastered.esp
41 29 DSerArcheryGameplayOverhaul.esp
42 2a Crossbows_Basic_Collection_EN_LL.esp
43 2b FaceMasksOfSkyrim.esp
44 2c FaceMasksforNPC.esp
FaceMasksOfSkyrim_IdentityConceal.esp <- not checked because it says it needs SkyRe, which I don't want to use
45 2d RSChildren - Complete.esp
RSChildren_PatchUSKP.esp <- not checked because it said it needs the Unofficial Skyrim Patch, but I use Legendary so I'm confused by it
46 2e Sneak Tools Vanilla Masks.esp
47 2f Sneak Tools Vanilla Hoods.esp
48 30 UIExtensions.esp
49 31 Babette.esp
50 32 BarenziahQuestMarkers.esp
51 33 FNIS.esp
52 34 Chesko_WearableLantern.esp
53 35 Dual Sheath Redux.esp
54 36 Bucklers-Complete.esp
55 37 Patch - ETaC Complete - RS kids.esp
56 38 DiamondCrossbow.esp
57 39 FamilyJewels.esp
58 3a AddItemMenu2.esp
59 3b VioLens.esp
60 3c KS Hairdo's.esp
61 3d DiamondWeaponsN.esp
62 3e Alternate Start - Live Another Life.esp

 

 

SPECS

Windows 8.1

Processor: AMD A8-6410 APU with AMD Radeon R5 Graphics 2.00 GHz

Installed Memory (RAM): 8.00 GB (6.96 GB usable)

System type: 64-bit Operating System, x64-based processor

 

 

If you need more info I'd be happy to provide it. Just tell me where to get it from. I truly hope someone can figure out what's going on...

 

[sarojz]

OK

1.) First of all you are going to want to take a look at that load order and make sure you have cleaned your mods with TES5Edit. http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/25859/? Start with the Major Bethesda .ESMs first than all others.
2.) Next after cleaning sort again. Really sounds like classice load order issue but make sure you have ALL available patches for mods and such, update if needed.
3.) This may sound wierd but you are gonna want to defrag your drive, specifically any save games from Skyrim that shows up in the analyzed list defrag them, will make a big difference.

4.) As for your loadorder you've got some quirky plugins,

UFO - Ultimate Follower Overhaul.esp, make sure you have the latest update to this aas it has not been updated for two years.

FNIS.esp - Again check for update as well

XPMSE.esp - Seem to recall racemenu and this did not play well together.

5.) check the Skyrim launcher to make sure mods it is managing are up to date or haven't been removed.

6..) Use this Savegame script scalpel - Disassembler - Diagnostic Tool - Papyrus Data Transfer http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/53045/? but only after you've done all other fix attempts. Can have a steep learning curve but to start off just follow the first steps advised and nothing more unless you are comfortable.