SKSE Slow Launch

[Siegmeyer]

Hey, so recently I've had this problem where launching the game with SKSE takes significantly longer than it used to. Normally I would see the command prompt for a second or so, then about 5-10 seconds later the game window would appear, black screen for a few seconds, then the menu screen appears and loads. However, as of recently the command prompt stays up for 20 seconds or more, and the black screen is there for close to a minute before the menu appears. I've searched all over to see if others have this problem, but I couldn't find anything of the sort.

 

I don't think this issue is mod-related, as I haven't installed, removed or updated any mods since before this started happening. The only thing I've changed about my Skyrim game is the ENB I use (I've been experimenting with new ENBs a lot lately). I've never had experiences with ENBs altering Skyrim launch times in the past, though, so I don't think that's the problem either.

 

I tried disabling some mods after this, since I know lots of plugins can cause slow startup, but the time remains the same. 

 

Any idea what could be the cause of this? If it isn't mod-related, would simply reinstalling the game alleviate the problem?

I'm using the up-to-date version of SKSE, ModOrganizer for mods. The ENB I installed right before these problems occurred was Kalicola, and the current one I'm using is a tweaked version of MATSO ENB. Other than the ENB and HiAlgoBoost, nothing is present in my Skyrim folder but vanilla game content.

 

EDIT: I've also tried launching the game with SKSE from the Skyrim folder instead of MO. Same results.

[Arhon]

I have almost reached the mod limit yet skse launches fine( at its normal speed), however the first time always is slow for me. Also if you use MO never launch the skse from its foldier and always launch it from MO.

[Siegmeyer]

Could you elaborate on the "at its normal speed" thing? Also, SKSE is abnormally slow to launch every time, not just the "first time".

I've also just now discovered that if I alt-tab to minimize the window, I can't re-open it again. 

I'm going to try restarting my computer next to see if that's the problem. 

[bahamut2119]

It takes a good min from when I launch to but my pc is old as shit and I start attack lite as my launcher plus skse/enb loads so I expect it exp with 271 mods (counting merged with wire bash)

[Siegmeyer]

I don't think you understand. The problem isn't that it's slow. The problem is that it is suddenly 10x slower than normal, and I have done nothing that would bring about this change. Not to mention it's strange that alt+tab is also no longer working.

[Siegmeyer]

Restarted my computer and the problem continues. I'm next going to try reinstalling Skyrim and SKSE to see if that helps. I'm beginning to think the issue might be with my computer instead of Skyrim, but everything else on my PC works fine (and again, haven't changed anything on my desktop recently either).

 

Now SKSE won't even launch at all. The dialog pops up and then freezes, and I get a "program not responding" message.

[bahamut2119]

Ya you got something else going on then for sure have you scanned for viruses/adaware/spywear they can all impact your system and wouldn't be as noticeable on light system load programs. Also I would try reinstalling skse just to make sure nothings messed up there.

[lidowxxx]

ENB definitely have an effect on launch time, of that I can assure you, I switch/experiment ENB presets often enough to know certain ones will launch a lot slower than the others, notably the presets that come with lots of proxies, Air enb/True vision enb/Real vision enb take about 5 sec to get to the main menu on my system, whereas the Mistveil enb takes about 20 sec or even more. 

 

Since you just changed your ENB, I'd suggest you revert to your old ones and try it again, then you can be sure whether it's indeed the new ENB is causing you the problem. Also check your hardware usage as well, make sure nothing in the background is eating your CPU/RAM resources.

[Arhon]

I dont use ENB just Sweetfx presets also if you want Alt Tab to work in Skyrim (heavily modded) then download OneTweak mod

[joemonco]

would simply reinstalling the game alleviate the problem?

 

No.  It's probably not a virus either.  Sometimes SKSE just needs more time to allocate the memory, just be patient and allow it to do its thing.

[Siegmeyer]

Thanks for the advice. I'll look into OneTweak and try reverting my ENB settings. 

I am pretty sure CPU/RAM isn't the issue, as I tested this just after restarting the computer (before any background programs had a chance to load). 

Malware isn't the problem; I've already performed full scans with two different utilities. Again, if I had a malware problem I would likely see my computer acting up in other ways, which isn't the case.

[Storms of Superior]

If you alt tab out of the game, try alt tab to get back in; at this point it should behave as though alt tab isn't working. Click to Skyrim icon on the task bar and alt tab again. That's the way I have to do it.

[Siegmeyer]

Unfortunately my old ENB settings are experiencing this problem as well. Guess I'll go back to my previous plan of reinstalling everything (luckily since I use MO, it shouldn't take too long).

 

 

would simply reinstalling the game alleviate the problem?

 

No.  It's probably not a virus either.  Sometimes SKSE just needs more time to allocate the memory, just be patient and allow it to do its thing.

 

Except this isn't "sometimes", it's every time and has only suddenly started to do this. It doesn't seem natural for the game to take several minutes to start up when mere hours before it loaded in less than 2.

[Siegmeyer]

If you alt tab out of the game, try alt tab to get back in; at this point it should behave as though alt tab isn't working. Click to Skyrim icon on the task bar and alt tab again. That's the way I have to do it.

 

I usually click the minimized Skyrim icon on the system tray, press the Windows start menu key on my keyboard, then click the Skyrim window to restore it. What's been strange is that lately, after I click the window, the screen remains black for about 1-2 min and then minimizes itself again. This problem started at the same time as the slow startup, so I'm certain they're related.

[ousnius]

That's the shaders of ENB and/or SweetFX. Every time you launch the game, it will compile all of them using the CPU. Some ENB's compile almost instantly, some take longer. Shouldn't have something to do with SKSE.

[Siegmeyer]

Tried removing all of my SweetFX stuff (current ENB doesn't use it anyway) and some .dll files I'm not currently using; still getting slow startups. 

[Siegmeyer]

So I re-installed Skyrim and SKSE, so far so good. I'm going to next try loading in my ENB files and see if the problem comes back.

[Siegmeyer]

Loaded all my ENB files and optimization stuff, still works fine. I've yet to put my ModOrganizer folder back in but I'd say it's fixed. Reinstall did the trick.

[bahamut2119]

Usually does for me I had a nasty bug for awhile tried reinstalling twice to no avail but did it again with fresh downloads and a slight changeover of my mods and boom bugs gone.