Timed Crashing: Savegame decay?

[Ethre]

I was 14(?) and it was my first time really playing with Windows. I didn't know much about the registry, and was looking around in it trying to figure out what it did. I don't remember exactly what I did, but I think I was messing with some of the explorer entries. Suffice to say, one of my edits made booting the machine a bit difficult.

 

But I learned pretty quickly what not to do. Since then, I've been real careful with entries that I don't know about.

 

I do find that registry cleaners miss a good deal though, and so I manually go through every once in a while.

[bben46]

There is a lot you can do by manually editing the registry. But first rule is to make a backup first. NO exceptions. I have used several other registry cleaners and found ccleaner to not only do a better job, but to err on the side of safety while getting rid of MOST junk entries. It's also the fastest cleaner I have tried. It can be set to clean out other things besides the registry too.

[CrimsonKing1990]

I think my saved game has the same problem as well. mine crashes at around 4:54 game time. though strange thing is, only my main saved game crashes. If I start a new game it doesn't crash o_O.

 

Can you tell me the exact steps I need to take to fix this? Preferably without having to uninstall everything, since it would take me literally hours to reinstall the game along with the mods.

[bben46]

It sounds like you are crashing at around 5 hours. The Original post was precisely 2:12:30. If you are crashing at exactly the same time every time, you may have the same problem. And Bethesda recommended a completer uninstall and reinstall to clear up a corrupted registry entry.

 

However, if your crash is not at exactly the same time every time, your problem may be different. Crashes are a part of Oblivion. 5 hours is a decent time to play without a crash. My first suggestion is after about 2 hours, take a break. Make a new save. Exit Oblivion. Turn off the computer to give it a rest.

 

Do something different for a short time. Get something to eat, take a walk, Talk to your significant other, check your email.

Then go back and restart, load your save and play for another two hours. - repeat above.

 

Then go back and play again. watch the time If you play for over 2 hours, then your problem is different. If it crashes after about an hour then it MIGHT be the same problem.

 

If it is the same problem, then you will have to go through the complete uninstall, including removing the registry entries, either manually as in the Bethesda recommendation, or using a registry cleaning program as I recommend.

 

If you find a fix, especially one that does not involve uninstalling, please let us know.

 

Here is my recommended uninstall reinstall procedure that leaves you with a clean install plus a backup clean install so you don't have to do it again, and saves all of your saved games and mods so you can put them back in or not as you want.

 

This, along with other help files is available at my site, The Storm Raven Library

http://s1.zetaboards.com/TheStormRavenLibrary/index/

 

 

 

When you uninstall Oblivion it doesn't really uninstall everything.

 

It does not remove your mods, save games or Oblivion.ini. It also does not remove helper programs such as OBSE, OBMM, Wrye Bash, The construction set or any other programs you have installed in the \Oblivion folder or the save game folder. I recommend that you go ahead and delete them, then re download and install the latest version of them again later. After you have verified that the game works.

 

Then when you start adding mods before you have started the game, some things may not get initialized properly. Here is my recommended procedure for uninstalling and reinstalling.

 

I would appreciate any feedback on this as it is something I expect to post often and I hate to give bogus or useless information.

 

Uninstalling Oblivion

 

My instructions assume you are using Windows XP and have installed Oblivion into the default location. If you are using Vista or Linux, the file locations may be different, however, the procedure will be the same.

 

For a full reinstall, first you can try to preserve your mods and save games. I recommend that you save them in a new folder with a new name. Create the new folder in C:\Program files\Bethesda Softewrks. Name it Old Files. So it will be C:\Program Files\Bethesda softworks\Old files.

 

Then copy the data folder where your mods are to the new folder - do not erase them, copy them. And in the new folder, rename the \data folder to \olddata. Then copy and rename the folder that has your saved games and Oblivion.ini, C:\documents and settings\your user name\my documents\My Games\oblivion to something like \My games\Old Oblivion - this saves your saved games and the oblivion.ini file.

 

Then, using the original CD, NOT the Launcher on your Hard drive. Select uninstall.

 

After it completes the uninstall, reboot your computer - this is important as it allows Windows to remove some references to the original Oblivion.

 

This would be the time to erase all of the helper programs you have in the \Oblivion folder. Such as OBMM, OBSE and some others. The simplest way is to erase the folder completely. The new install will re create the folder for you along with a fresh oblivion.ini and when you start the game and make a save, a new save folder and new \data folder.

 

This would also be a good time to do a file clean up and defragment your hard drive.

 

If you are worried about the registry entries that were left behind. There are several good programs for removing left behind entries. The one I use is ccleaner. Be sure to reboot before using it, and again after. It is available here: http://majorgeeks.com/download4191.html

 

 

Now to Reinstall.

 

Again using the original CD, install Oblivion.

 

Special instructions for Vista only: Do not install to the default location - make a new folder such as C:\Games and install there. That way you will not be bothered by the problems caused by the Vista UAC security not allowing mods to work.

 

Before adding any mods, patches, helper programs, Shivering Isles or anything else, start the game and make a save. This initializes some stuff that needs to be initialized.

 

If you are using the Game of the Year version of Oblivion you should not need any patches, skip the patching part.

 

Now, If you DO NOT use Shivering Isles, patch the game using ONLY the latest Oblivion patch. All of the stuff from the earlier patches is included.

 

Be sure you use the proper language patch. If you use the wrong one it may work, but with a strange mixture of languages. (Germanglish?) Or it may crash.

 

NOTE: there are two English Patches UK & US and they are different. (Some people actually think we speak the same language) Use the one that matches your original disk.

 

If you use Shivering Isles, Install it now. DO NOT install the Oblivion patch. Install Shivering Isles, then ONLY the latest Shivering Isles patch. All of the updates for Oblivion are included. There is only one Shivering Isles patch for both US & UK English

 

Now, again start the game and make a save. Test to be sure everything is working right (No purple objects or yellow blocks)

 

Before adding any mods, back up both your \data folder and the save game folder. Copy them, don't move or rename them, to a different folder - such as \Bethesda\Clean Oblivion\data and \Bethesda\clean Oblivion\saves. Note that this is a different folder than the one used for your old data and saves.

 

Note, Your Oblivion.ini file is in the same folder, but separate from, the save game folder.

 

Now, if you want to try to run with your old mods, first rename the original folders. The \data folder to \newdata and the \oldata back to \data. this restores all of your mods. You should now have 2 data folders \data, and \newdata in your \oblivion folder

 

To restore your original saves and ini file, rename the new My Games\Oblivion to something like \New Oblivion. and the \Old oblivion to \oblivion - this restores all of your saved games and your original Oblivion.ini file.

 

DO NOT erase the files you renamed. These are your backup files in case the original mods do not work or give you the same problem.

 

If you have the same problem, it is most likely caused by a mod. However, you now have a clean install to fall back on. You can rename the files back to what they were and be back to your clean install without having to reinstall again.

 

Sounds like lots of work, but you will have a clean install and a back up clean install when you are finished.

 

Post your comments here: http://s1.zetaboards.com/TheStormRavenLibrary/forum/236320/

[CrimsonKing1990]

Actually, by 4:54, I meant the game clock, not play time. And unfortunately, I saved about 1 second before that time, so my game crashes almost immediately when I start the saved game. If I start the same save from a backup saved file, it still crashes at around that time.

[CrimsonKing1990]

Double post x.x