The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition

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Eriane 28 Oct, 2016 @ 6:16am
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Troubleshooting and Crash Resolution Thread [Good place to start]
Last Updated: May 24, 2021
- Game crashing every 15 minutes bug
- How to use Event Viewer (Absolutely important to know, it's in the second post)

Introduction
PLEASE READ THIS WHOLE POST! 99% of ALL CRITICAL ISSUES CAN NOW BE RESOLVED WITH THIS LIST

And don't add me to steam for troubleshooting help, I don't accept random invites.

Hello everyone! I hope you are enjoying your copy of Skyrim Special Edition, if not, this thread is for you.This thread is dedicated to help resolving critical game-breaking issues that may occur while playing or attempting to play the game. This comprehensive list of fixes took a considerable amount of time to compose and I'd like to thank everyone who's helped contribute to it (you have been tagged accordingly). If you don't see a solution that works for you in this post, consider searching through the topic using the search bar found on the right -->

If you have a problem that is not listed here, please be sure to include the copy+paste response to help us diagnose your situation as knowing more about your setup will be very helpful. You can find this information at the bottom of this post (not thread). Please note that this thread is reserved for critical game-breaking bugs in other words bugs that make you unable to play the game. If you have a list of mods, consider creating your own thread as this thread is for vanilla (mod-free) skyrim. Thank you, and good luck! May Talos be with you.

General Fix Guide
The first reply to this post contains a general repair guide. You can start there and then come back here for very specific problems.

If you have mods
The instructions here are for "vanilla" Skyrim SE, meaning there are no mods installed. The intention here is to help people play the game when there's a critical issue. Please search / create your own thread if you have installed mods and it's not working. Thank you for understranding!

Premiliaries
Please make sure that before anything, you have both windows and your drivers updated! After installing Skyrim it's also adviseable to reboot your computer or at least Steam. Try Skyrim without mods before modding it.

NVIDIA Drivers: www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx?lang=en-us
AMD Drivers: http://support.amd.com/en-us/download
DirectX Updates: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/179113
Windows Updates:
Windows 7: Start -> All Programs -> Windows Update Windows 8 : Start -> Search for: Windows Update Windows 10: Open the Settings menu and go to Update & security -> Windows Update

Friendly tip: To find out exactly what Video card you have click on the Start Menu, then Run (or search) and type in dxdiag.exe Once there, click on Display and your videocard should appear there.

Avoid installing Skyrim SE on an external hard drive! Keep it simple, use C:\ and all should go well. If you're having issues and you're using an external drive or something else than C:\, try installing it on C:\ and C what happens (bad pun?)

Either disable your antivirus / antispyware application and/or make sure that all skyrim related directories are whitelisted by it. If you are having issues, make sure your antivirus application isn't treating it as a virus.

Backup your save files whenever possible! Do not add mods after starting a new game, only do it before you create a new save. You will thank yourself later.

Skyrim Special Edition Third-Party Software Requirements
- Direct X 11 - .NET Framework 4.6 - Visual Studio C++ 2015 Redistributable (x86 and x64 Editions)

Troubleshooting Checklist
- Disable your Antivirus / Anti-spyware application and make sure that your Skyrim directories are whitelisted
- Ensure that your Windows OS is up to date <- There is no reason why you shouldn't do this if you experience problems. Do it before complaining!
- You absolutely NEED the .NET Framework 4.6 windows update!
- Download the latest version of DirectX
- Ensure that your video card is up to date
- Ensure that your sound card is up to date
- Have Skyrim SE installed on the C:\ Drive (Not any other letter and not the external drive)
- Don't have mods installed (This is for troubleshooting!)
- Make sure you have both skyrim ini files in your my games folder
- Run the launcher
- Verify the Skyrim ini files are there, if they are, make sure they have data in them and are not blank
- Set your Monitor to 60Hz (You should do this for the video card as well, enable vsync and disable gsync)
- Unplug things like wacom, thumb drives, external drives (This is for something else but it helps debugging)
- Ensure that Visual Studio C++ 2015 Redistributable x86 and x64 are correctly installed on your system, if you're not sure -- uninstall them both and install them again manually using Microsoft's website. Don't use what came with Skyrim SE, get it from Microsoft.
- Download and install any missing KB package
- If you are still getting errors maybe a dll error and you tried to fix the C++ Redistributable, try running the command prompt with administrator rights and type "sfc /scannow" without quotes. Microsoft suggests running this command up to 3 times. This will fix any system files that may be broken on your computer.
- If Skyrim keeps CTD at this point, set Default Device's Advance options to and uncheck "Allow applicatinos to take exclusive control of this device" and make sure the Default format is 16 bit, 44100 Hz (CD Quality)
- If Skyrim still has CTD, perhaps every 15 mins or so -- Disable "Touch Keyboard and Handwriting" service (Although some people may still need this to switch between languages)
- If Skyrim runs but it is slow or you experience flickering or the phsyics has gone mad, verify that Skyrim did not set your videocard information to integrated graphics inside your GPU's Control Panel (NVIDIA / AMD). Set Skyrim SE to use anything but integrated such as Hardware / Dedicated.... G-Sync should be disabled and V-Sync should be enabled and set to 60Hz
- Last but not least, bring down your game settings such as grass distance and see what works.

You can scan through this post for more detailed explanation on how to do just about everything here. There are more things you can do but this "checklist" should cover most issues.

Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Skyrim Special Edition installed?
You should make sure to install it in the C:\ Drive and not a separate drive to avoid issues. It should be located in:
C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Skyrim Special Edition

Where is Skyrim.ini and SkyrimPref.ini located?
C:\Users\YOUR NAME HERE\Documents\My Games\Skyrim Special Edition

How do I find out what .NET Framework version I have?
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh925568(v=vs.110).aspx

You must have at least .NET Framework 4.6

How do I find out what my computer specs are?
Press Ctrl + R Type in the box "dxdiag" without quotes and then press CTRL+SHIFT+ENTER This will launch the Direct X Dialogue in administrator mode

What is this sfc /scannow thing and how do I do it?
sfc /scannow is a scanning tool developed by Microsoft and everyone has it installed on their computer. It scans your system files to make sure that the files are not corrupt and not missing. By running this tool 3 times as suggested by Microsoft, it will fix your system files if they are broken and files do break. To do this:
Press Ctrl + R Type in the box "cmd" without quotes and then press CTRL+SHIFT+ENTER This will launch the command prompt in administrator mode Type "sfc /scannow" without quotes and wait until it's complete. Repeat this command another 2 times.

I don't have permission to update Windows or not updating!
You will have to talk to the person who administrates your computer about this. If you can install Skyrim SE, you can update windows under normal circumstances. If the windows Update is stuck in a loop and won't update, you can update the .NET Framework to 4.6 and manually install Visual Studio C++ 2015 Redistributable (x86 and x64). As for fixing windows updates, that is beyond the scope of this FAQ. Please consult Google.

Do I need to disable my Antivirus / Antispyware?
Various antivirus and similar applications will assume Skyrim SE is a virus of some sort and because that, you may not be able to save your game or even install it properly. That is why there's a big emphasis on the required third party software because antivirus applications tend to block those types of background installation when installing a game. The game may think it installed everything correctly but your antivirus may have quarentened some important files making it impossible to play.

How do I opt into the Skyrim SE Beta?
http://gtm.you1.cn/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=182912431

Game crashes out of the blue recently (Creation Club Issue)
Lately a lot of people have been having issues with the creation club. It isn't known why that is but this issue supposedly also exists with Fallout. One workaround is to either disconnect from the internet or block Skyrim from accessing the internet. This is not ideal particluarly if you are subscribed to the Creation Club but it helps in a pinch. You are best to contact Bethesda about this issue. At the present time there no other known solution and it doesn't seem to affect everyone.

The launcher said I should run it on < Ultra??
Please ignore this, it seems rather buggy. Try it on Ultra and see if it works fine. If it's slow then you can toggle things off and even follow some of the instructions found below to improve the performance.

I can't type the @ symbol in my E-Mail!?!?
The creation club update made it so you can't use the @ symbol at this time. If you're having difficulties, change your keyboard language to EN-US (English US) and press shift+2.

My game crashes / black screen / inifnite loading after X hours of playing the game
Solution 1: Welcome to a Bethesda game! When you play any Bethesda game, be sure to save a copy of your save file frequently. It sounds tedius but save files might eventually crash. This happens either on its own for whatever reason or because of a mod or after adding/removing a mod after starting a new game. Always mod before you start a game and don't forget to backup!

Game keeps crashing every x minutes!
- Added May 24, 2021
There is an issue since Windows 8 and persists with windows 10 where a broken dll file causes the game to crash every few minutes. It could be 5 minutes, 10 minutes, 15 minutes, 20 minutes or even 30 minute intervals.

How to fix:
1. Click the windows menu icon
2. Search for services.msc, open it in administrator mode
3. Find Touch Keyboard and Handwriting and stop the service
4. Now right click and open the properties
5. Set it from Enabled to Disabled (or Manual, but Disabled might be better)

This should fix it.

My game crashes at the Mods page in Skyrim SE
There are no known solution as of yet but it has been reported by a few people. This may be related to Bethesda.net?

My Mouse / Keyboard doesn't work
Solution 1: Some have reported that unplugging or changing the gamepad setting in the settings fixed this.

Solution 2 (By Smellsbad): If you have a USB device such as a microphone, memory, or even a webcam, try unplugging them and see if this fixes it. Some have reported that the USB microphone was the culprit.

Animations are ridiculously weird and sometimes all over the place / carriage bug
Solution 1: Many have reported that vsync should be enabled/forced and limted to 60hz. This can be done in the NVIDIA/AMD control panel.
Solution 2 (By BeastMomba11): Go to \Documents\My Games\Skyrim Special Edition\SkyrimPrefs.ini and set iVsyncpresentinterval to 0 if using a G-Sync compatible system. You may also want to do this in the NVIDIA/AMD control panel specific for the game and as an added bonus, it should speed up the game's performance according to multiple accounts.

But I want to play at 120FPS+!
Solution 1: This solution is experimental and not fully tested but you can read the guide here: https://www.reddit.com/r/skyrimmods/comments/5aao95/possible_fix_to_allow_skyrim_to_run_on_120fps/?st=ivs5uyz4&sh=b1394ed2

My achievements do not work!
By using mods or by porting an old save that used mods over to Skyrim SE will prevent you from completing achievements.
Solution 1: You can patch this "issue" by using the following mod: Nexus[www.nexusmods.com].

Trees and other models have patches of gray
Solution 1 (By ⇋ɌλⱫ☢Ɍ⇌ẆłɌΣ⇌): Try setting video game quality to High Quality in your AMD/NVIDIA control panel.

I get the double mouse bug when I alt-tab!
Welcomeme to Skyrim! This issue was never fixed it seems, try the unofficial patch found at the Skyrim Special Edition Nexus.

The savegame cannot be loaded because it is outdated
This tends to occur when either your save file is corrupt or you have conflicting mods. If disabling certain mods did not help or you're not using mods of any kind then you're in a pickle so here's what you can do.

Solution 1: Restore your save file from a backed up copy or load an earlier save. Eventually there will probaly be a save file that isn't corrupted. You will lose some progress unfortunately.

Solution 2: Assuming you didn't save a copy of your save file (Do this after every time you play the game or just create a scheduled task, google this if you don't know how) but you have system restore enabled, you might have a copy still on your computer from before this mess. Right click on your save folder and click on Restore Previous Version... This may be found either in the context menu or in Properties. If there's no previous version then I'm sorry but it seems that you're out of luck.

I'm getting terribly low FPS!! (Laggy) / Skryim is Flickering a lot!
Solution 1: By default Skyrim MIGHT set your GPU to integrated graphics instead of dedicated. From what I've seen this is mostly an nVidia issue.Go toyour NVIDIA control panel and then go to "Mange 3D settings". Add Skyrim SE if it's not in the list and then change its settings from Global/Integrated Graphis to High performance NVIDIA processor.

Solution 2 (By Timptation): Disabling G-Sync can vastly improve performance and remove stuttering.

Solution 3: If you have an Nvidia 1060GTX and have 375.86 drivers installed, roll back to version 375.70 by downloading http://www.nvidia.com/download/driverResults.aspx/110603/en-us then uninstalling your old drivers, reboot and then install the new drivers using the install file you downloaded. Aparently the latest edition as I'm writing this has many issues. Here is the discussion

My game crashes with an AMD RX-- Card
Solution 1 (By Zack): If updating the drivers did not help try setting the GPU down to 1115mhz at stage 7 of wattman. This was done for an AMD RX480 but it may work for other cards as well.

Skyrim SE keeps crashing!
Solution 1: If you are using mods, please make sure your mods aren't using any scripts and have reliance on other mods that uses scripts.

Solution 2: Don't forget, mod order is important and make sure you have all the mods which your mods rely on. For instance, some mods might sometimes rely on the unofficial skyrim patch and if you don't have it, it will crash. Try playing without mods first and see what happens.

Solution 3: Various people have reported that changing the Language helps prevent crashing. You can change the language in Skyrim.ini. If you have a foreign language OS it might not understand your computer so well, using an English or a supported language for your OS (as seen on the steam Skyrim SE store page) may be helpful.

Solution 4 (By BigDally): If Skyrim SE doesn't launch or crashes a lot try rebooting your computer. Rebooting is always a good first step because certain things may require a restart such as Vredist which is installed with Skyrim SE. Try restarting the game or at least Steam.

Solution 5 (By jesusleton): Try activating triple buffer in your nvidia control panel.

Solution 6: (By Captain5260): Try setting the priority level of SkyrimSE.exe to Real Time in Windows 10. To do this go to the Task Manager (ALT+CTRL+DEL) and find Skyrim. Right click and set prioirty to Real Time.

Skyrim SE keeps freezing shortly after loading!
Solution 1 (By Sinciple): This bug occurs during a grid transition, if staying in the same grid, the game would run fine and not crash but leaving the grid, it would crash. Disable your antivirus (reported using Avast) and the issue may be gone.

Skyrim SE won't start! / Black Screen
Solution 1: If you are not using any mods and it's just not starting, change the "skyrimSE.exe" and "skyrimSELauncher.exe" permissions to run as Administrator and to run as windows 7 compatibility. Right click on the exe files (found in your Skyrim SE game directory) then click properties. Now click on the compatibility tab and then set windows 7 compatibility and run as administrator.

Please note that because of Skyrim SE's infancy, Special Edition modding guides may not yet exist. Please be patient for this.

Solution 2: You may wish to change Skyrim SE's video setup to borderless and window mode. This has been reported to help many.

Solution 3: (By ScrubLordBlunticulus): Change your Skyrim SE display graphics from Intergrated Graphics to High-Performance NVidia processor in your Nvidia control panel. ATI cards may have similar issue.

The launcher crashes / stuck in a loop
Solution 1 (By Orik162): Restart Steam. This method is easy and super effective.

Solution 2: Try enabling Adminstrator mode and Windows 7 compatibilty to both exe files in your Skyrim SE folder.

Solution 3: There have been multiple reports that deleting the exe files in your skyrim folder and then checking file integrity using Steam, it will re-download the exe files and then it will work correctly.

Solution 4 (By Trmin): Rename SkyrimSE.exe into SkyrimSELauncher.exe and renamed the "normal" SkyrimSELauncher.exe into something else.

I can't get passed the Logo/Title screen!
Solution 1: This cause can be related to mods not loaded in the right order or requiring other mods to run correctly.

Solution 2: Set your monitor to 60hz, there are "hacks" to get it higher but they are experimental and unreliable. Reddit has some suggestions on going about this.

Solution 3: (By Incineroar): Assuming you don't have mods installed which could easily cause problems if you don't have the right mod dependencies, the load order is wrong, the mod is broken or it conflicts with another mod. Then Go to your My Games folder in Skyrim Special Edition and delete both Skyrim.ini and SkyrimPrefs.ini. Launch skyrim again and it should work.

I want to use Skyrim SE in Ultrawide mode!
Solution 1: Go to \Documents\My Games\Skyrim Special Edition\Skyrim.ini and add the following if it's not already there:

[General] SIntroSequence=1

Then save and edit SkyrimPrefs.ini and change these settings:
bBorderless=0 bFull Screen=1 iSize H=1440 iSize W=3440

Note: UI might be cut a bit but it's the best solution so far until we get SkyUI for SE.

My Skyrim SE ini files are not there!
Solution 1: You have to launch Skyrim first and it will create the necessary configuration files for you.

Solution 2: Make sure you don't have any weirdly named account name for your windows operating system. Characters that aren't English might not work with Skyrim. (Bethesda, make your game UTF-8 General compatible already!) Go to your users settings in windows and change your account name into something English.

Solution 3: Disable your antivirus application. Make sure all of your antivirus antispyware and antimalware (really everything like it) is disabled. Everybody has Windows Defender installed now, it's part of the OS. Disable that too. These applications like to assume that Skyrim is a virus. Once it's disabled, launch skyrim again, if it's not working still, try verifying the game data's integrity using steam.

Solution 4: Make sure you have the correct permissions set your your My Games/Skyrim Special Edition folder. Set it to administrator mode, in fact; set both skyrim exe files to administrator mode just to be safe.

Solution 5: If all else fails, try copying somebody else's ini files and use them. This seems to work as the last resort.

I can't bind any Keyboard keys!
Solution 1: Some have suggested that disabling the controller in Options will allow you to bind keys.

ERROR 0xc000007b / VC_redist errors / "The program can't start because api-ms-win-crt-runtime-{1-1-0.dll is missing from you computer"
These errors are caused because something went wrong with the installation of Visual Studio C++ 2015 redistribution package. You will need to uninstall both X86 and X64 versions and install them again from Microsoft's website. This issue doesn't seem to be related to Skyrim but the library files that it requires. However, it may also require another dependency based on a windows update (KB Package). When following these instructions, make sure you have your antivirus disabled so that your installation can go smoothly. AS Noted by Zed Mercurez, you need to download them from microsoft and not use the ones that came with the game. They sometimes can download corrupted and won't work no matter how many times you try. Go get them directly from microsoft.

Solution 1 (By Danim): - You'll have to give Windows Update a chance here. Install all updates it detects until you see that KB2919355 is going to be installed through it. No point trying to download this one and trying to install, it will give always an error.
- Once you are absolutely sure you have KB2919355 installed through Windows Update you might have to go there again and click "Check for Updates" so Windows gets a whole new list of 1+GB to download. This can take hours... I left my computer doing this overnight. You can stop here though! No need for more downloads if you don't want!
- Download your version of KB2999226 (https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/2999226). I downloaded 64bit for Windows 8.1. Try to install it. It should work. If it gets stuck on a small window saying something about "searching for updates", you need to do what I said about updating the Windows Update uodates list.
- Try to run the game. If it still gives the error you might have to reinstall vcredist 2015, the one from SteamApps\common\Skyrim Special Edition\_CommonRedist\vcredist\2015.

Solution 2:The problem is that the KB2999226 (Universal CRT) which is part of the Visual C++ Redistributable for Visual Studio 2015 failed to install or some other package in the VC packages failed at some point in time, it could even be an older package from 2012 or earlier. The easiest, sure-way to fix it is to first uninstall every Vistual studio redistributable package and then restart your computer when you're done. Begin with 2015 and see if it fixes it, if not, try an earlier version and so forth... You can also click on the Visual studio c++ redistributable and click repair, this may work but uninstalling and installing from a fresh download is likely the safest route.

Now once you uninstalled them all, visit https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=48145 and download both the 64bit and 32bit. Now this is important; Install the 64bit package first and then restart. Then install the 32bit package and restart. Once all of that is done, there shouldn't be any issues.

Solution 3 (By Avias 813): Put both exe files from the Skyrim folder in Windows 7 compatibility mode and then use windows update to download KB2999226 or download it manually from Microsoft's website.

Solution 4 (Sir Peter): Please take note that I do not know the legitimacy of this website and downloading drivers from a third party website is not recommended. However, according to a few steam members (in this thread), this method worked for them and I encourage you to proceed with caution should you use this method.
Download correct versions of ''d3dx9_42.dll'', ''xinput1_3.dll'' and ''x3daudio1_7.dll'' from https://www.dll-files.com/. They should be the same bit as your system. x64=64 bit | x86=32 bit Copy these files to C\Windows\System32 and SysWOW64 Try to run the game.

Solution 5: Run the command prompt in Administrator mode and type in the following command:
sfc /scannow
Press ENTER and let it scan your system files. This should automatically correct any corrupt / missing system files on your computer. This is a command by Microsoft and is perfectly safe to use. Microsoft recommends running this command up to 3 times to ensure everything was repaired correctly.

ERROR: 0xc0000005
Reports show that it's either a registry error or video card driver issue. You may want to re-install or update your video card drivers from the official website and use a registry cleaner/fixer if all else fails. Please confirm if either solution worked for you.

Skyrim SE keeps crashing every 15 minutes on Windows 10!
Solution 1 (By secretlemur): You must Disable the "Touch Keyboard and Handwriting Panel Service" service. Click your windows button, type in "services" and select that app it finds, which should be called "Services". In services, scroll down until you find the "Touch Keyboard and Handwriting Panel Service".

Double click the service name. For "startup type" select "disabled" Then click the stop button.

Solution 2 (By Asuramaru): Unplug your Wacom Device and it should work. Perhaps try unplugging other devices and see if that helps.

Solution 3 (By tony[y7]): If you use RealTek/Windows 10 combination try this. In Windows, right click on volume control and click on Playback devices. Click Properties on your playback device (ie: speakers) and navigate to the advanced tab. Uncheck "Allow applications to take exclusive control of this device".

More information / Experimental
Upon further research it seems that Touch Keyboard from Windows XP to Windows 10 (for other games) can have conflicts with audio drivers and for Skyrim Special Edition it's affected in Windows 10. As far as I can tell, Skyrim <> RealTek HD Audio <> Windows 10 seems to be a bad combination. So I propose two experimental solutions. Please only attempt Solution 2 if you are confident in your skills in installing drivers should things go wrong.

Solution 1: Right click on your volume control and click on Playback devices. Next, select your playback device and click on properties. Navigate to the Advanced tab and change the Default Format to 16 bit, 44100 Hz (CD Quality) if it's not already set. Press OK and try to play.

Solution 2: Navigate to Windows\System32 and find xaudio2_7.dll
CUT and Paste that file to your Desktop and perhaps rename it to something else for good measure. Try playing the game and see what happens. If it doesn't resolve anything reboot and see if it changed. If it did nothing still, rename the dll file back to xaudio2_7.dll and place it back into your system32 folder. NOTICE: Playing with system files can cause driver issues and if you delete the wrong file it may cause system instability or the inabilty to logon into windows.

I can't get passed the chopping blog / intro
Solution 1: This isn't exactly a solution but a workaround, there's an alternate start mod on the Nexus that allows you to bypass this step. Please note I haven't tried this mod yet and if it doesn't clear all objectives, Helgen may have issues especially for "Return to helgen" related quests. Please read the mod description carefully and make sure it does work fine.

http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/272/?

Solution 2: IF you have the unofficial mod patch installed, disable it until you get passed this section. Once you get passed the prologue you can enable the mod again.

Skyrim keeps overwriting my videocard settings
Solution 1: Try Setting your Skyrim ini files to read only. Go to your C:\Users\YOUR USERNAME HERE\Documents\My Games\Skyrim Special Edition, right click on Skyrim.ini and go to Properties. Click on the checkbox where it says READ ONLY and then OK. Do the same for SkyrimPrefs.ini.

Skyrim won't load, it just appears in task manager
Solution 1 (By Neb): This can happen if you have a mod installed that is using a .bsa from normal skyrim and hasn't been converted. In order to use the mod you must extract the contents of the bsa. DON'T use old bsa archives in Special Edition.

Clicking PLAY from the launcher just re-launches the launcher
No solutions were provided yet. Try deleting both exe files and scanning Skyrim SE for file integrity using Steam.

The water is missing!
Solution 1: Add the following lines to Skyrim.ini (EXPERIMENTAL SOLUTION)
bUseCubeMapReflections=1 fCubeMapRefreshRate=0.0000

I'm stuck in slow motion by bandits who can slow time
Solution 1 (By Cid): Kill all the mobs and then wait in-game for an hour.
Solution 2 (By Cid): You can also uninstall the unofficial patch if it's installed.

I have issues saving
Solution 1 (Riórdian): Disable Bitdefender or your antivirus / antispyware application. Skyrim might cause a false-positive and be incorrectly labeled as a virus. You may wish to whitelist your save and skyrim folders in your antivirus application.

How to get SKSE to work if you updated your Skyrim SE client
By: Mcholypotato
Taken from Reddit:
https://www.reddit.com/r/skyrimmods/comments/7bdzz1/skyrim_se_is_just_updated_so_skse64_is_blocked_now/

press win+R, paste: steam://nav/console
in steam console, paste: download_depot 489830 489833 911281757511576655
the v1.5.3 exe will download to [...]steamapps/content/app_489830/depot_489833

Replace the downloaded exe with the one that was updated and be sure to turn off auto updates. To do this, simply right click on your install in your Steam library and select "Properties" and go to the "Updates" tab. Change it to "Update when launched". Since the game is launched through SKSE, it won't update.


MY ISSUE WAS NOT RESOLVED, HELP!
Okay, not a problem. Here's what you will now do.

Step 1: Make sure you followed the troubleshooting list if you haven't already. This fixes 99% of all issues.

Step 2: Write your post clean and consise. Make sure you write as much detail as you can including steps which lead you to this critical error. Minor bugs don't matter in this thread, we're talking about game-breaking bugs that make it impossible for you to play / save / etc...

Step 3: Post your computer's specs.
My Operating System is: Did I update Windows?: Did I make sure that the .NET Framework 4.6, Visual Studio C++ 2015 Redistributable (x86 & x64) were installed?: My Video Card Model is: My Screen Resolution is: My Processor is: I have this much RAM: My Sound Card is (Optional): Did I try the "sfc /scannow" command in windows command prompt in admin mode 3 times in a row?: Did I try to enroll in the Skyrim SE Beta Updates: I have the following USB/eSATA/other devies other than my monitor / keyboard / mouse / speakers connected: Event Viewer Crash Report Pastebin Link: (Optional) Am I using Mods?: The nature of the problem (Be very specific):

To get your computer specs, please use dxdiag.

If Any of the solutions above worked, please let me know for confirmation. Thank you!

More on the way with additional problems with solutions.

If you found a solution to a bug, please use the h1 tag so it catches people's attention. Thank you!
Last edited by Eriane; 24 May, 2021 @ 8:06am
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Showing 1-15 of 2,531 comments
Eriane 28 Oct, 2016 @ 6:22am 
UPDATED 5/24/2021

Alright, so I created a more TL;DR version which doesn't go into every major issue but it does cover the basis to get the game running.

Any time you experience serious problems with your games, you need to consider the following:


1. What useless programs are running?
Go through all the running tasks and familiarize yourself with them by googling the process name like explorer.exe and see what's running it. If it's not important, uninstall it. If you're not sure, keep note on what the application is and re-install it later. You don't need a audio control panel, or network control panel etc... i would recommend to keep your AMD/NVIDIA control panels though. Mind you that factory built computers that you buy from Best Buy are filled with malware / junk software, get rid of all of it.


2. What useless programs are running on startup?
Whether you have a virus or not, knowing what is booted when you turn on the computer is important. There are three spots for this, technically.

1. The startup Registry which can be found by typing 'msconfig' by using the run dialog (windows key + r) but this was replaced by the task manager in windows 10, so you have to do a Alt+ctrl+del and go to startup. Disable everything that you don't care to see booted. Auto updates, adobe, etc... None of that is needed.

2. There is a start menu item called Startup or something like that. I'm on my mac right now so the name escapes me. Delete any shortcuts found there.

3. The third method uses windows events, I won't explain this because it's a very advanced concept.


3. Do I have multiple Antivirus / Malware scanners?
You don't need Norton or any other third party antivirus scanner. Why? Because your computer already has one called Microsoft Defender. Running two or more A/V at once will basically make them not work well. Get rid of Norton and stuff, they are not needed and why spend money on something that acts as spyware anyway?

Second thing to consider is disabling your antivirus any time you are installing a new game from steam. Even Microsoft will accidentally block the installation of certain files.


4. Did the installation process succeed?
Odds are, if you are having problems, something went wrong with the download and installation process of the game. Perhaps Visual Studio libraries weren't fully installed with the game, or perhaps a file or two became corrupted during the download, this happens more often than you think.


To solve Visual Studio Errors:
Install both x86 and x64 versions of the said visual studio installers from the post above

To solve Game errors:
Verify game files integrity from steam. Sometimes this doesn't work 100% so be weary

To solve windows errors:
Instructions on this is found in the post above, but you use the CMD line in admin mode and use: sfc /scannow. Look at instructions at top

To solve Video card and audio issues:
Download and install the latest drivers directly from the manufacturer's website and install them with your A/V disabled.


How do you know which issue you are having? Well, it's kind of an advanced concept but you should definitively go through the list and make sure everything is taken care of. By doing all of this you are pretty much making sure everything is working perfectly.

5. Using Event Viewer
- Added May 24, 2021
There's a nifty tool bundled with Windows and it's called Event Viewer. It keeps logs of whenever your system crashes, reboots, or something noteworthy happens. You can use this log tool immediately after Skyrim crashes and find out what might be the culprit.

1. Press the start menu
2. Type in Event Viewer and click on it
3. The left Pane lets you navigate between Event Types, expand Windows Logs

From here you can look through Application, Security, System and sometimes Setup for most issues. It's organized by time so keep track of when it crashed and you can figure out what log is skyrim from there. A red icon means error, yellow is warning standard gray is information.

When you find the log you want to look into, click on it and you'll see more information underneath. Copy whatever error message (not the whole thing) but what seems appropriate to search. Most of the time the error will be obscure but there will likely be an answer somewhere. If you wrap the text in quotes in Google, it will search for phrases containing exactly that information. "DX11 ERROR MESSAGE" will search websites that has exactly that string of text.

6. The game is still not working right!
1. Make sure you started a new game with no mods. You should only mod once you know the game works.

2. Check your My Documents\My Games\Skyrim SE folder if all files are there. If you're missing some files, the chances are, your antivirus deleted it or is preventing any files to be added here. Skyrim should generate the files automatically but if not, re-install the game without an A/V enabled.

3. If your computer is using a foreign language other than English, check these boards and see if others have experienced the same thing. I've seen it where you have to change the language of the game or operating system to English for it to work.

4. Where did you install the game? Do not install the game on a USB based hard drive! Games don't really run well on those.

5. Sound drivers are particularly finicky with skyrim. Changing the bitrate of your audio may matter. Many people have reported this to be true.

6. Ask bethesda. Really, at this point you did practically everything you could do. You could still use Event Viewer and get details about the crash but you'll need to know how to read it and search the error online. This is out of the scope of my explanation.


BONUS: Is your computer even able to support the game? Compare your specs to the minimum required. VRAM is different than RAM, and 32bit OS is different than 64bit.


But whatever you do....

NEVER do a factory reset just to get Skyrim working!



(Yes, it's been about a year since I reserved this post but it came in handy!)
Last edited by Eriane; 24 May, 2021 @ 8:07am
Black Album 28 Oct, 2016 @ 6:27am 
Congrats ... a sea of clam in all this insanity
Ice Axe 28 Oct, 2016 @ 6:33am 
Skyrim SE won't start! Ye but what's if evry game work great but skyrim get bugged on :api ms win crt convert l1 1 0.dll
Eriane 28 Oct, 2016 @ 6:44am 
Originally posted by Babadook:
Skyrim SE won't start! Ye but what's if evry game work great but skyrim get bugged on :api ms win crt convert l1 1 0.dll

I'm not sure I understand what you mean.

Also as an update: Added 2 new solutions.
Ghostpro71 28 Oct, 2016 @ 6:44am 
Finally, an important thread!
messlinger76 28 Oct, 2016 @ 6:53am 
Hey Hedgie. I too was unable to even launch the game. I tried solution one you posted but that one didnt work for me. I tried a few others as well with no luck. The solution for me was to manually install a windows update that I didn't have directly from microsoft https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/2999226
You need to pick the right version for your operating system. I'm using x64 Win 7. But this was my solution anyhow.
Eriane 28 Oct, 2016 @ 6:55am 
Originally posted by Babadook:
Skyrim SE won't start! Ye but what's if evry game work great but skyrim get bugged on :api ms win crt convert l1 1 0.dll

Okay I updated the answer. For your question. Had to do a little bit of googling.

Originally posted by messlinger76:
Hey Hedgie. I too was unable to even launch the game. I tried solution one you posted but that one didnt work for me. I tried a few others as well with no luck. The solution for me was to manually install a windows update that I didn't have directly from microsoft https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/2999226
You need to pick the right version for your operating system. I'm using x64 Win 7. But this was my solution anyhow.

Funny thing is that I had JUST edited my answer. I will add your link in there as well since your link is better.
BigDally 28 Oct, 2016 @ 7:01am 
I think alot of these crashes are due to the Vredist install needing a system reboot in order to complete. They have bundled a Vredist install with this game that steam tries to install the first time you fire up the launcher. When I dug into my launch issues further I noticed that the 64bit Vredist was complaining about needing a reboot. This error is not visible to the user.
Last edited by BigDally; 28 Oct, 2016 @ 7:01am
Eriane 28 Oct, 2016 @ 7:13am 
Originally posted by BigDally:
I think alot of these crashes are due to the Vredist install needing a system reboot in order to complete. They have bundled a Vredist install with this game that steam tries to install the first time you fire up the launcher. When I dug into my launch issues further I noticed that the 64bit Vredist was complaining about needing a reboot. This error is not visible to the user.

Thank you! I have added your solution to the list. :)
necronight 28 Oct, 2016 @ 7:30am 
i get error 0xc000007b
SuddenlyAHero 28 Oct, 2016 @ 7:31am 
Commenting for future use
wiko 28 Oct, 2016 @ 7:38am 
Great thread, thanks.
I'm experiencing "Skyrim SE won't start!", I click play and the process dies without even showing logo. I installed VC redist ans restarted, made .exe files run with admin rights.
Nothing helps.
Eriane 28 Oct, 2016 @ 7:39am 
Originally posted by necroniight:
i get error 0xc000007b
From what I can find, it's likely related to VC++ 2012 runtime package or whatever edition Skyrim SE is using now. Try uninstalling the Visual studio runtime package and installing it again from Microsoft's website. Take note on the correct edition. If that doesn't work, try uninstalling an older version and re-installing it. Please let me know if this resolved your situation.
Eriane 28 Oct, 2016 @ 7:42am 
Originally posted by wiko:
Great thread, thanks.
I'm experiencing "Skyrim SE won't start!", I click play and the process dies without even showing logo. I installed VC redist ans restarted, made .exe files run with admin rights.
Nothing helps.

Can you enable system logs on your computer and view the crash report from event viewer? There should be some information regarding your crash.
Spawn of Totoro 28 Oct, 2016 @ 7:44am 
I will go ahead and pin this as it may be helpful.
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