Game won't start on Win 7

[NoAardvarksAllowed]

I upgraded to Windows 7 64-bit from my trusty XP, and now I can't get the game to start at all. After installing the OS, I re-installed Steam and then Skyrim from the DVD. It updated itself by downloading a 118 kB Update.esm file. I keep Steam online, the game is set to "always keep up to date" and under status it says "ready to play". I chose Play game and the small Skyrim menu appears. I click play, whereupon I get a "User Account Control" pop-up asking me for permission, which I grant, but then I'm returned to the small menu again. I try again and again, but the game won't start--I just keep getting the pop-up and then nothing. The same thing happens if I try to start it directly with the TESV icon inside the Skyrim folder.

 

I'm thinking the problem lies with Win7 not allowing the game to run, as some sort of internal, anti-virus safety measure, or something. However, I have no idea what I would need to do to change this. I'm running as administrator.

 

I have tried to install the whole game again, but that made no difference. And isn't there supposed to be a "verify integrity" option in the drop-down menu for the game in Steam? There is none for me.

 

Also, I wonder if the game has actually patched itself fully. I'm sure I used to have a (ticked) file called Update.esm in the Skyrim Data Files section, while now there is only the Skyrim.esm file.

 

Does anyone have any ideas of what causes my problem and how to solve it? Any help would be appreciated.

 

--Edit: Forgot to state that the game ran perfectly on XP, and that I have updated all my graphics and sound drivers.

Edited January 3, 2012 by No_Aardvarks_Allowed

[Iv000]

Open your control panel > System and security > Action center, and on the left you should see a blue line saying "Change User Account Control settings". Click it, and drag the slider to the bottom to disable it.

Try it now, it should work.

[AnonDraco]

Verify integrity of game cache is found in Properties (right click skyrim in steam) ->Local files

UAC (user account control) is a *censored*. I have never used it. (that is the popup)

You can turn it off in Control panel->System and Security->Change User Account Control settings->never notify.

 

It's a security feature, and some prefer to keep it on, but in my opinion, it causes more harm than good.

[NoAardvarksAllowed]

Thanks for the help, guys, that fixed it! Guess my noobish powers are no match for the Almighty Microsoft.