Skyrim Special Edition Refuses to start (As do some other Steam Games)

[Zaereck]

I recently installed Skyrim Special Edition and it's not starting when I try to launch it. It's a common problem I have with steam games; the games "run", without starting (and without giving me enough time to use task manager to see if they're even running in the background), then "stopping" (If they were even running in the first place.

If anyone knows how to resolve this issue, I'd greatly appreciate it. As mentioned above, this is a problem common to several of my steam games- as is a seemingly related issue where several of the games have no sound, and no source I've been able to find have been able to solve either problem. (I'm asking this in advance, since two of the games that formerly had this issue ended up launching, but still have no sound.)

[leonardo2]

Try to delete the ClientRegistry.blob file in the Steam folder, if you have that file and I know it's safe to delete that file, as it is known to cause issues for people who wants to install a game through Steam.

 

http://steamcommunity.com/discussions/forum/1/627457521163246470/

[NewThalos]

I'd recommend a couple best practices for your PC environment, assuming you've not already done so. It may seem like an indirect remedy to the situation but sometimes our PC gets confused about what to do with some files due to conflicting information.

 

In this order:

1. Clean & Optimize your Environment
   • DiskMax <-- Clean, zero adware, created by Microsoft employee
   • Absolutely zero downside to using this.
2. Clean Registry
   • CCleaner <-- My go-to registry cleaner. Free version, no adware, lots of tools.
   • Great additional tools such as Startup control, etc. Zero downside to using this.
3. Getting rid of unused software, programs, and other tools that you don't use anymore.
   • This is pretty good practice, this is often a culprit for why active programs like Steam et al don't work properly because we have some old program that is set to use certain files (DLL's etc) by default which inhibit the software that we actually do use from working efficiently or properly.
   • I use Revo Uninstaller, but I use the Pro version, I've never used the freeware version, but I assume it rocks just as much. Check it out.
   • Revo is great because it does a scan of all leftover junk files after uninstalling, including erroneous leftover registry entries.
4. Clean Registry again!
   • Always clean your registry every single time after uninstalling/deleting/removing programs from your computer. This is often one of the #1 reasons your PC slows down, runs into conflicts, and other issues ranging from hard-to-get-rid-of adware, spyware, scamware bits on your computer. It's almost always a registry entry hidden.
   • Not bad practice to clean your registry once a week, along with the above DiskMax.

Once you've done the above, and we have a good starting point to work with, we can dig in a little deeper into your issue. You might find that the above practice fixes your Steam issue as well. Looking forward to hearing your results!

 

Cheers!

[Zaereck]

Deleting the client registry.blob didn't work.

 

I'm dubious about the other solution- that's a lot of programs to install off the internet. Are you really certain they're all safe?

 

I looked them up; CClearner in particular was hacked recently, and doesn't seem reliable at all. I ran the other two programs though; didn't help at all.

Edited February 23, 2018 by Zaereck

[leonardo2]

Well, your next step is to exit all programs that are auto-run programs that starts everytime you're rebooting Windows. Just to free up memory and increase performance for your system.

 

Also, where is Steam installed, in what path?

[Zaereck]

It is installed in the standard location; C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam. (I have previously tried having it installed in different locations, which always produced similar results with other games that were having this glitch; namely, that the problem was not fixed.)

 

I'm not sue how to exit all auto-running programs, though.

[leonardo2]

It is installed in the standard location; C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam. (I have previously tried having it installed in different locations, which always produced similar results with other games that were having this glitch; namely, that the problem was not fixed.)

 

I'm not sue how to exit all auto-running programs, though.

Then remove Skyrim and install it outside of the C:\Program Files(x86) folder and the reason for avoiding that folder is the User Account Control (UAC) in Windows Vista or newer.

 

The same thing applies for Steam too. Although, that folder is the default folder for Steam, but that can be changed during the installation of Steam.

 

 

As for removing auto-start programs, just click on the Start button then find the Autostart folder for shortcuts and remove all shortcuts there is, but remember some programs needs to be started when booting up Windows hence for having shortcuts in the Autostart folder via the Start button.

[Zaereck]

I've done that before, in the hopes that it would fix this issue- as I said before, I've tried installing steam in different places. It made no difference- I kept getting the same error.

 

Also, my main issue with stopping autostarts is that it's hard to tell what needs to not be autostarted.

[leonardo2]

I've done that before, in the hopes that it would fix this issue- as I said before, I've tried installing steam in different places. It made no difference- I kept getting the same error.

When that happen, did you have Steam Client loaded, I mean the icon for it in SysTray next to the clock?

[Pippboss]

I seem to remember having the same issue few years ago (not skyrim related) but it was through Steam. I don't recall if I managed to fix it as not long after my PSU exploded and took out the motherboard. (Also not steam related).