Loading Screen CTD's

[Beccy]

Hi, Really sorry if this post wastes anyones time, but i've run searches here, and on google, and the only posts i can find relevent either their fixes havn't worked / arn't available, or the problem isn't quite the same, I have tried :(.

 

Problem

I've recently re-installed Skyrim after the release of Dawnguard, I followed that up, by downloading a whole bunch of my favourite mods, and while playing randomly crashed untill i nearly pulled out all of my hair. It happens 99% of the time during loading screens, or just after. I walk through a door, CTD. I fast travel CTD. This isn't every time, and its not after a certain period of time either, it can happen 5 mins after i launch skyrim, it can happen 2 hours into a game, or 5 hours.. its completly random. Only once (1%) can i remember it crashing in the middle of a conversation with someone, i.e. not in loading, its never happened in combat, even during big battles with multiple NPCs (Followers + enemies) so i'm reluctant to think its graphical.

Attempted Fixes

I have tried the following :

• Uninstalling all mods and playing vanilla, (even without Dawnguard, but with all of the steam required updates)
  
• Set Skyrim and SKSE launcher/exe to run as administrator
  
• Watched my Task Manager Performance window during a CTD (No noticeable spikes)
  
• Removed or canceled any background programs, including removing my desktop background image. (The only programs left running that weren't vital were Steam and Skyrim itself.)
  

 

Once again, really sorry if this post seems to double back on some other posts, but i'm at my wits end here. before uninstalling around 2 months ago, skyrim ran fine on my PC, it never CTD'd at all, and now i'm wary of playing because i'm never sure when its going to drop!.

 

N.B.

For added information some basics on my PC setup

 

AMD Phenom 9600 (2.3Ghz)

4GB Ram

Widows Vista SP2 32bit

 

Not really sure what else would be of interest but if there is anything i've left out, anything anyone can think of that may help, i'd really appreciate it, thanks.

 

Becs

[sinnerman69]

Does vista have any other updates? or service packs, like SP3?

 

 

my main laptop uses Windows 7 premuim and my notebook uses Windows 7 basic

Edited August 19, 2012 by sinnerman69

[Beccy]

Does vista have any other updates? or service packs, like SP3?

 

 

my main laptop uses Windows 7 premuim and my notebook uses Windows 7 basic

 

 

Not that i'm aware of, usually Windows updates all that jazz by itself.

 

The latest service pack for Windows Vista is Service Pack 2 (SP2). To install Windows Vista SP2, you must first have SP1 installed.

So i'm guessing this machine is up to date. Edited August 19, 2012 by Beccy

[sinnerman69]

I read another thread where a guy had stopped the steam exe in task manager and it solved his game problem, ctrl+alt+delete and the game has to stay running, so he might of did alt+tab and then launched his task manager fo to stop the steam exe

[Beccy]

Just tested the forcing steam closed thing, didn't seem to have any noticeable effect, still CTD's randomly. (Quite quickly this time too)

[Georgiegril]

Bben's mod troubleshooting blog, and also installation/reinstallation.

 

Edit: And if you have Creative X-fi sound drivers, you may want to look at your task manager to see if the problem is a audiodiag.exe file memory leak. If so, check out this.

[Beccy]

Bben's mod troubleshooting blog, and also installation/reinstallation.

 

Edit: And if you have Creative X-fi sound drivers, you may want to look at your task manager to see if the problem is a audiodiag.exe file memory leak. If so, check out this.

 

Thanks for the link Georgie, i don't have Creative X-fi though, and this is my fourth reinstallation of Skyrim within the same amount of days its really begining to get me down.

 

(Question though, why the link theres nothing on those forums that i can see similar to my situation?)

[bben46]

I see this a lot. My own idea is that some of the game engine changes that were made cause mods to not be uninstalled consistently - some scripts seem to hang around while others do not. :pinch:

 

I don't have a real solution that I know works yet. Here is a suggested procedure to get back to the vanilla game

Uninstall the game completely - this does not remove any mods, save games or the working ini files so we have to remove them manually to have Skyrim completely removed from your computer.

 

Delete all of the game folders relating to Skyrim - including the data folders, save game folders, all of the ini files. (instead of deleting you could rename them)

Reboot your computer (important as this allows the registry to flag any Skyrim entries as orphans)

Run a registry cleaner - I use Ccleaner, but any reputable cleaner will do. Remember - it may kill any settings or passwords for some programs - so be sure you have your passwords backed up somewhere first.

 

Reboot the computer again - this allows Windows to do some registry housecleaning

Reinstall the Game and test to be sure the base game works before adding any mods or the DLC.

 

Make a backup of the vanilla data folder with a different name (original_data will work)

Make any changes to the ini files that you use - and test - make a backup of the working ini files

Now, install the DLC and test - Make another backup with another new name (DG_Data or something that you will recognize)

Now, start adding mods - be sure to make backups of the data folder every few mods so you will have a fallback if there is another major problem.

 

And last, Please lat me know if this works and any other suggestions you have I hope to eventually have a working complete Skyrim disaster recovery procedure to add to the troubleshooting blog. :thumbsup:

[Beccy]

Thanks for the reply Bben, i've gone through most of this procedure myself already (Deleting Skyrim and all related files. My docs > My Games > Skyrim and all other sources, even taking away NMM) but i've not been quite so thorough with the other parts you mentioned. (Hell i don't even understand half of it :D) But i'll follow your instructions and let you know what i get.

 

Its just really annoying that these CTD's don't give you an error log or anything you can work with, makes the process of fixing it so much more random.

[Beccy]

Progress Report :

 

1) Uninstall game, and all related folders - Check

• Uninstall Skyrim Game - Check
  
• Delete remaining Skyrim folders in Steam directory - Check
  
• Delete remaining folders in My Documents > My Games directory - Check
  
• Reboot system - Check
  
• Download, install and run CCleaner - Check
  
• Reboot Computer again - Check
  

2) Re-download skyrim vanilla from steam - Check

 

3) Test Vanilla game - Check

• Test on High Settings - 30-40 fps outdoors, 60+ fps Indoors - Check
  
• Tested battle of Whiterun + Bleakfalls 20-30 fps outdoors, 60+ fps Indoors - Check
  
• 2+ hours of gameplay without a single stutter, or even close to a CTD. - Check
  

4) Backup Vanilla game data folder then add DLC and testing - Check

• Testing Dawnguard for 2 hours - Check
  

5) Backup DLC game data folder before adding mods and testing - Check

• Backed up DG Data + My Docs folders. Check
  
• Redownload Nexus Mod Manager and retest before installing any mods. Check
  
• Downloaded and isntalled the first 8 mods i feel are essential to gameplay. Check
  

 

I'm Happy to say it seems to have worked, and my modlist now is almost identical to previously (I'm missing body replacers and some other aesthetic stuff) Really not sure why, unless it was the restarts after uninstall + cCleaner, I didn't really do anything else differently, but with a good 12 hours testing in total its been perfectly stable. Thank you Bben, and i hope any feedback i've left here will be of some help.

 

but for now! Let the master immerson gameplay begin!.

Edited August 20, 2012 by Beccy