This Is All So Screwed Up... Help Plz :(

[Suludi]

I just couldn't leave the game alone, could I...

 

On 11.11.11, I installed Skyrim and Steam to my [old PC] on drive C:. Everything went fine until I bought a new PC. Since I didn't want to reinstall everything, I simply added the old C: drive to the new PC and renamed it to E:, so both Steam and Skyrim launched from there and I had access to both drives.

 

However, the E: drive was too slow and too cluttered for my taste, so I decided to shovel it all onto the new C: drive and doubled my mighty RAM of 4 GB to 8.

 

I put Steam on C:\Program Files, it installed everything nicely, so I added the usual suspects (NMM, BodySlide, FNIS) to that folder, and when I tried to launch any of them, the computer told me I had no writing rights to C:\Program files, screw me.

 

So I dragged everything to C:\Games, everything went fine... and I got no writing rights.

 

I changed my user and admin rights and unlocked millions of folders and files, which is basically a risky thing and doesn't sit really well with me, and now whenever I move something to my FUCKING DESKTOP, it gets locked and inaccessible.

 

And then I discovered that Steam refused to update on C: anyway and consistently reinstalls on bloody E: and refuses to even acknowledge that there might be a new fucking C: drive to fucking install to, and I'm now pissed off beyond belief because basically, I can't do ANYTHING skyrimrelated with Steam anymore - no updating of workshop files cause they all go to fucking E:, and no validating of game files cause then Steam starts downloading the entire shit thing back to E: and won't allow me to interrupt the fucking download.

 

Creating a symlink from E: to C. resulted in the message "A file can't be created if it already exists" which combines the sage wisdom of ancient China with a profound modern WHATTHEFUCKness because there IS NO SUCH FUCKING LINK ON MY PC, that's WHY I tried to create it!

 

In the entire process of royally fucking things up, my game got even more screwed and suddenly developed a horrible flickering thing that makes it impossible to play no matter on which drive the game sits.

 

https://vimeo.com/95399010

 

If anyone knows how to solve this shit, I'd be eternally grateful. Sorry for my unladylike language but I'm really close to rage quitting the entire game and playing Minesweeper until my brain bleeds out.

[Sarathis]

Not sure why your computer is telling you have no writing rights, so I can't really help you there. I think I know why you're having problems with Steam updates, though.

 

I'm no expert on how Steam works but it sounds as though you installed Steam from your old drive (E) onto your new one, C: Games without completely uninstalling from (E). Unfortunately, Steam adds registry values when you first install it to tell streamed downloads where to go. If you don't completely uninstall you're not deleting those old registry values, so when you tell Steam to start it's attempting to download to where its original registry entry is telling it to, your E drive. 

 

As I said, I am NOT an expert at this process so take what I say next under extreme consideration before doing anything. SCREWING WITH THE REGISTRY IS RISKY!

 

The cleanest way I know of to fix this is to manually change the registry key for where Steam places installs. 

 

- Go to Start > Run and type in regedit.

 

- For 32-bit operating systems:
In the left-hand column of your registry editor, navigate to:HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Valve\Steam. 

- For 64-bit operating systems:
In the left-hand column of your registry editor, navigate to:HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Valve\Steam.

 

- In the right pane Right Click "Install Path" then select "Modify". 

 

- It probably says something like E:\Program Files\Steam on your system ("E:\Program Files (x86)\Steam" if you're on 64 bit windows). You're going to want to change it to C:\Games\Steam. Check to make sure that's the correct path to where your Steam is currently located before you make the change, don't just take my word for it! 

 

- Press OK then close the Registry Editor by clicking the X in the right hand corner.

 

 

After doing this your computer SHOULD start sending updates to the correct location where your Steam is placed. If that doesn't happen you're probably going to have to uninstall Steam (After dragging and dropping your steamapps folder somewhere temporarily safe to save your game installs), then use RegEdit to delete your Valve registry entry completely before reinstalling. 

 

Steam gives directions along these lines on this page: https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=9609-OBMP-2526

 

Again, this is only my advice on how to fix what seems to be your issue. It's very possible I could be wrong but based on how you've described your issue this is what's going on. Please be very careful if you try these steps. 

 

I hope I've been of some help and you get your problem fixed quickly. I know it's frustrating but hang in there. Good luck and don't be shy about letting us know how it goes or if you need more help.

[Suludi]

Thank you so much! I'll try it right away.

 

 

edit: Okay, I changed the reg entry but Steam basically ignored me, so I completely uninstalled it. Following those instructions, I'm now going to reinstall it on C: ... I hope.

[Suludi]

Installation's working!

 

:D :D :D :D

 

 

 

 

Now I need to get rid of that horrible flickering shadow...

[Sarathis]

Excellent! I'm glad it worked.

 

Not sure what's going on with that flickering. It doesn't seem to happen when you're looking at a menu, though, which leads me to suspect it's a mod or ENB that's causing it. Could also be your video card driver but I tend to suspect mods before anything like that. 

 

The person in this video had a similar issue, though his flickered more quickly, and fixed it through this method: 'Open enblocal.ini and then set EnableVSync=true in [ENGINE]' It's worth looking into.

[Suludi]

I don't use an ENB...

[Sarathis]

Guess it's not that, then! 

 

I'm not sure what's going on there. My first guess would be something with the GPU or your graphics driver that's freaking out when you're playing, i.e. when the game is in motion and not static on a menu. Have you updated your drivers lately? If so you may want to try rolling back to the previous version. You said it was working fine on the previous install, yes?

[Suludi]

I may have screwed up the skyrim.ini... but I've screwed up so many files in the past three days that I really don't know.

[Sarathis]

That's also possible. Have you made a list of changes you made back when your Skyrim was playing normally? You could always temporarily uninstall your mods and delete your skyrim.ini and skyrimprefs.ini then start a fresh, vanilla game. Wait until the Skyrim logo fades away while you're in the wagon with Ulfric then save and quit. This should generate a new, default version of the .ini files. If you know the changes you made previously you can re-add them, reinstall your mods then try the game and see how it goes.

[Suludi]

That's a good idea, I'll do that. Thank you so much for helping me.

[Sarathis]

You're very welcome! I'm happy to help. Lets hope we can find a way to fix all your game's problems. I know how frustrating it can be when things aren't going right and you really want to play.

[Suludi]

Yes, that really gets to me.

 

It's not in a new game but in all old ones regardless of the ini version, so I guess I'll try the Savetool next.

 

 

 

 

 

 

edit: .... AAAAAAND that fixed it, so it was in a mod. Now I just need to find out which mod it was, and I'm all fine again!

[Sarathis]

Awesome! Then you're on your way to playing again. That's fantastic. Glad you were able to solve most of your issues.

[Suludi]

Couldn't have done it without your help. Kudos ad lots of Likes to you.

 

And I'm really glad I didn't lose my current char who's a werewolf with a bounty of 50,000+ on his head and hundreds of bounty collectors on his trail. I love playing him. ^^

[Benmc20]

I don't use an ENB...

 

You can try one for testing ... Maybe the Bleak Realistic performance version ? With the ENBoost integrated, you may be surprised.

[Suludi]

Thanks but I'm still in the process of getting everything back to work, so I'm not going to risk anything new. ^^

[Sarathis]

Couldn't have done it without your help. Kudos ad lots of Likes to you.

 

And I'm really glad I didn't lose my current char who's a werewolf with a bounty of 50,000+ on his head and hundreds of bounty collectors on his trail. I love playing him. ^^

 

Anytime! I'm just happy it all worked out.

 

Geez, what'd you do to get that kind of bounty, kill every citizen in Solitude? Burn down the orphanage? Pee in Ulfric's corn flakes?

[Suludi]

I changed into a werewolf. A lot. Whenever possible. ^^ And I broke out of every single prison, ate the guards, made Ulfric pee himself in a corner and ran through towns. People tend to disapprove of such behaviour.

[Sarathis]

Turn into a werewolf and eat a few hearts and what do they do? Put a bounty on you. This is the thanks you get for being a legend who rids the world of the most powerful dragon in existence? People these days... No gratitude.

[TheGoldenCoin]

Yes, that really gets to me.

 

It's not in a new game but in all old ones regardless of the ini version, so I guess I'll try the Savetool next.

 

 

 

 

 

 

edit: .... AAAAAAND that fixed it, so it was in a mod. Now I just need to find out which mod it was, and I'm all fine again!

 

Did you by chance have Wet and Cold installed as one of your mods? That flickering looks identical to the raining or blizzard effects on the vision.

[Suludi]

I did but I haven't reactivated it yet. This is worth looking into, thank you very much! I had no idea where to start looking, and since I always immediately turn off blizzard/rain blindness, I have never seen this effect. But it did look like blinking to me.