Skyrim Unable to Set Display Settings

[Datadas]

Hello everyone,

As I'm sure you can all imagine, I'm here to address an issue I've been wrestling with quite a bit.

The scenario: I've recently reinstalled Skyrim after a long hiatus, and as I've described in the topic line, the game is unable to establish any set display settings. Every time I launch the skyrim launcher I get a message that states "Skyrim will now detect your video hardware and set video options accordingly." followed by a message stating "Video settings have been set for Ultra High Quality." Despite this, when I actually open up the options menu and look at the display settings windowed mode is checked, and resolution is set to 800x450 (hardly "Ultra High Quality" if you ask me). Here's the kicker: If I try to uncheck windowed mode and hit "ok," then go back into the options menu, windowed mode is magically checked again. Baffling...

Things I have tried: One would think this points to some kind of issue with Skyrim being able to write to the documents folder right? Because that's where skyrim.ini should be located which houses all the display settings etc. And, indeed, I am lacking that skyrim.ini file. Now, I can create the file myself. I do have an old skyrim.ini file from a previous playthrough (along with an entire skyrim folder from "C:\Users\UserName\Documents\My Games\Skyrim from a previous playthrough) that I can copy/paste into my documents folder. And, doing so does get the game to run perfectly fine with those settings. However, that does not fix the core issue of Skyrim not being able to create/write to that file by itself. Now one might think it has something to do with system permissions, but if I right click on the documents folder and go to the security tab it is clearly stated that both the SYSTEM, me as a user, as well as Administrators all have permissions for full control (all checkboxes are set for "allow" and not "deny"). This, of course, includes Read and Write access. One puzzling thing is that the Properties menu for the documents folder does have the box for "Read-only" filled in, but much like my windowed mode if I try to unfill that box (and hit apply and ok), it refills itself when I open the menu back up. I also don't know what the difference is between a filled in box for "Read-only" and a checked box for "Read-only." I've also tried making sure my graphics drivers are up to date, I've tried logging into the game and creating a new save file (which the game is also unable to maintain), and I've tried completely reinstalling the game... again. None of which has produced any fruit.

System specs:

Graphics: GeForce GTX 1080 Driver version 390.65 (latest version)

Processor: AMD Ryzen 5 1400 @ 3.2 GHz

RAM: G. Skill Trident Z 2x8GB DDR4 3200 (Running @ 2333 because... Ryzen >.>)

PSU: Seasonic X-Series 1050W

Game Version: 1.9.32.0.8

SKSE Version: 1.7.3 rel 48

Now I cannot stress enough that this is an ENTIRELY unmodded game - not even the unofficial patches. The one key exception is I do have SKSE installed (mostly because I can't really figure out how to uninstall it since I installed it via silverlock's installer). However, I'm running the game through the official skyrim launcher and not through SKSE (though I have tried both with the same results).

Any help is greatly appreciated. I'm sorry about the wall of text. I just wanted to give as much pertinent information as possible so as not to repeat troubleshooting steps that have already taken place.

[Datadas]

It's been over 36 hours at this point. I guess no one has any ideas? I've now also tried entirely uninstalling steam and reinstalling it, followed by a reinstallation of Skyrim - same result as before. It's also worth mentioning that my OS is Windows 10.

[DarkRudra]

One puzzling thing is that the Properties menu for the documents folder does have the box for "Read-only" filled in, but much like my windowed mode if I try to unfill that box (and hit apply and ok), it refills itself when I open the menu back up. I also don't know what the difference is between a filled in box for "Read-only" and a checked box for "Read-only."

 

The filled in box means some files in the folder are set to Read-only and some others are not. A checked box means everything in the folder is set to Read-only.

 

I agree it sounds like a permissions issue. A couple of thoughts:

 

1) Where is the game installed? e.g., is it in C:\Program Files\Steam\(etc. etc.)? If so, maybe try moving it to C:\Games\Steam\(etc. etc.). That tends to get around a lot of permissions issues. Those tend to be more focused on requiring admin access to C:\Program Files, but might help in your case.

 

2) If C:\Users\UserName\Documents\My Games\Skyrim doesn't already exist, create it. Leave out the old files, just make that directory and make sure it's not read-only. See if the file is created/saved then.

 

 

 

The one key exception is I do have SKSE installed (mostly because I can't really figure out how to uninstall it since I installed it via silverlock's installer). However, I'm running the game through the official skyrim launcher and not through SKSE (though I have tried both with the same results).

 

Get the non-installer version from silverlock, delete the matching files from the steamapps/Skyrim folder. The installer just copies files over, as I recall.

[Datadas]

Thank you for your feedback.

 

To answer your first question: The game is installed in C:\Games\Steam\steamapps\common\Skyrim, so I don't think it's an issue with Program Files requiring admin access etc.

 

For question #2: C:\Users\UserName\Documents\My Games\Skyrim does exist. And, in fact, the game is able to install that folder on its own when installing as well as download save files from the steam cloud into the "Saves" folder found within. It also downloads a SkyrimPrefs.ini file when installing. Still, it is unable to put anything in that folder AFTER installation, so far as I can tell...

[DarkRudra]

Strange, very strange! Okay, after thinking on this for a while, I have a few ideas. I don't know if these will pan out or not.

 

1) Try doing a search on your system, using Windows' built in file search, for Skyrim.ini. Maybe the game is, for some reason beyond me, creating that file in a different location than what we'd expect. Like, maybe it's putting the file in Windows' System folder, or another user's folder or such. I don't know why it would, but it's an idea that is easy to eliminate.

 

2) If you're not already, try forcing Skyrim's TESV.exe or the launcher to Run as an Administrator from their Properties menu. It might be inconvenient, but if it is a permissions issue, that might get around it.

 

3) Maybe try running the game in Compatibility Mode? That's in the Properties menu of the files as well. I've never had an problems running the game in Windows 10, but some folks have. Using the Windows 7 or Windows 8 mode occasionally fixes some issues. Maybe it'll help here...

[Datadas]

I figured it out! BitDefender has been blocking it this whole time! I DID try to check my antivirus before but previously I was unable to find a program exception list. Apparently, BitDefender stores such information in its "notifications" portion. I was formerly unaware of that fact >.> Thank you for all your help all the same!

[DarkRudra]

No problem, I'm glad you were able to solve it! :) Antivirus. They save our bacon a lot, but they can really be a pain at times, too.

[kiwiflyboy]

Wll heres one for you Datadas, my last card a GTX1080, Skyrim detected it and set video settings to ultra, game ran smooth as butter, my new card GTX 1080 Ti, Skyrim detects it and sets video settings to high and now i get some lag moving into new outdoor areas, go figure that ?, don't know whether to laugh or cry, also switch to Panda Cloud, been using Panda for over 5 years now, so light it has no impact on games and you don't even notice it there.