Skyrim black screen. Skyrim won't launch

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Cult game The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, released back in 2011, is back again! Five years later, Bethesda decided to release a re-release for everyone's favorite Skyrim. A huge number of patches were released for the original game at one time. As a result, everyone expected that it will come out obscenely polished. However, everything turned out wrong.

Players have encountered an impressive list of problems: the game won't launch, the inability to find INI files, the game gets stuck on the loading screen, crashes on startup, low FPS and a black screen.

In this article we will analyze all these problems and try to solve them. However, before you start, check out the system requirements for It’s worth doing this because the requirements for the game have increased significantly compared to the original version.

CPU: Intel i5-750/AMD Phenom II X4-945
RAM: 8 GB
Video card: NVIDIA GTX 470 1GB /AMD HD 7870 2GB

OS: Windows 7/8.1/10 (64-bit version)
CPU: Intel i5-2400/AMD FX-8320
RAM: 8 GB
Video card: NVIDIA GTX 780 3GB /AMD R9 290 4GB
Hard drive: 12 GB free space

Now let's move on to solving problems and errors.

Solutions to various problems, bugs and errors in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition

Black screen in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition

Be sure to make sure you have the latest drivers for your video card. Although this is a re-release of an old game, specially optimized drivers were most likely released for video cards by this time. Go to the official website of your video card manufacturer and download the latest drivers from there. You can use these links:

http://www.nvidia.ru/Download/index.aspx?lang=ru - for cards from NVIDIA.

http://support.amd.com/ru-ru/download - for cards from AMD.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition won't launch

Most often, a simple check of the game cache via Steam helps in this case. To do this, do the following:

Go to your game library on Steam.
Find the Skyrim re-release, right-click on it and go to "Properties".
Go to the tab "Local files" and select "Check cache integrity."
Wait for the process to complete. If any damaged or missing files are found, Steam will download them again.

I can't find INI files in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition

Unfortunately, at the moment there are no really worthwhile solutions. However, you can try to restart the game again, but only with the antivirus already disabled. There is a possibility that it might have blocked some files for some reason.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition freezes on loading screen

As already mentioned in the first point, make sure that you have updated your video card drivers.

You can also try running the game as Administrator. This may have helped some players.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition, a remastered version of the original game, is finally available on Xbox One, PC and PlayStation 4. This special edition of the game offers all three DLC releases and a complete graphical overhaul for consoles, as well as mod support. But, the launch on PC did not go as smoothly as we would like, because the game suffers from many problems such as crashes during launch, low FPS, black screen and others.

The game won't start
To resolve this issue, follow the instructions below. In the game folder you will find two executable files: "skyrimSE.exe and skyrimSELauncher.exe".

Right click
- Go to Properties
- Click on the Compatibility tab
- Select Windows 7 compatibility mode
- Below, select Run as administrator

Black screen on startup

To resolve this issue (for Nvidia users), simply go to the Control Panel and switch/change the video card the game is using.

Skip Bethesda intro

Step 1
Open Notepad (or any other text editor). Save an empty text file called BGS_Logo.bik

Step 2
Now open the Skyrim SE Data folder and then Video. The default path should be something like this: C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Skyrim Special Edition\Data\Video

Step 3
Rename the existing BSG_Logo file and save as a backup. Move the text file you saved earlier to this folder.

How to transfer your old saves

Step 1
Find the folder with your original saves. They can be here C:\Users\[Username]\Documents\My Games\skyrim\saves

Step 2
Find (or create, if it doesn’t exist) the saves folder for saves
Special Edition at: C:\Users\[Username]\Documents\My Games\Skyrim Special Edition\

Step 3
Now just drag and drop your old saves into your Skyrim Special Edition saves folder

Low FPS

Right click on desktop
- Select NVIDIA Control Panel
- Select "Manage 3D Settings" under 3D Settings
- On the main part of the window, go to the Program Settings tab
- Look at the list, and if Skyrim Special Edition is not there, add it. You can do this by clicking Add and finding the game in the menu that appears
- Now select Skyrim SE. Options will appear. Select Use global settings for high-end Nvidia processors
- Click Apply

The game does not start after installing mods

Go to your game folder. The address could be C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Skyrim Special Edition
- Find the contents of the mods folder
- Go to the Data folder and delete everything except the things listed below:

Video folder
Dawnguard.esm
Dragonborn.esm
Hearthfire.esm
Files starting with Skyrim
Update.esm

Now all your mods have been removed. You must install them again, but there is one caveat: install no more than five mods at a time. If you want to install more, bet the first five, then exit to the main game menu, and then bet five more. Repeat this process until all the mods you need are installed.

The game often crashes/crashes
To fix this, disable the "touch keyboard" Windows service (press Windows key + R and run services.msc).

Change permission to your own

Go to C:\Users\Username\Documents\My Games\Skyrim Special Edition
- Select the file "SkyrimPrefs.ini" and open it with notepad
- Find the following lines

BFull Screen=1
iSize H=1024
iSize W=1280

Now change the aspect ratio to yours and save the result. For example:

BFull Screen = 1
ISize H = 1024
ISize W = 1280

After completing all the above steps, do not change the graphics settings in the game menu, otherwise you will have to edit the file again.

All games differ from each other not only in genre or plot, but also in their own set of bugs, lags and launch problems. Unfortunately, owners of computers and laptops will have to come to terms with this.

Unlike consoles that come with standard hardware, computers have very different components, and therefore it often happens that the game does not start due to problems with one element.

In most cases, the cause is a weak video card, lack of drivers or necessary software, but there are exceptions. So let's talk about the fact that why Skyrim won't start and what can be done to rectify the situation...

Skyrim won't launch due to sound card settings

It is not known exactly why, but sometimes The Elder Scrolls of Skyrim does not start due to the sound adapter settings. In this case, after selecting “Play” in the launcher, the game most likely will not even start. If you open the task manager at this moment, you can see two processes appearing for a second or less. One of them belongs directly to the game, and the other belongs to the system utility responsible for errors.

Solving the problem takes no more than a minute. At the bottom right of the taskbar (in the tray), you need to find the speaker icon and right-click on it. Select “Playback Devices” from the drop-down menu. Having selected a standard playback device from the list (most often these are speakers), you need to open its properties and go to the “Advanced” section. After decreasing the sampling value the problem should go away.

You need to check the minimum system requirements

Skyrim was released in 2011, and therefore most modern computers run it at least on medium graphics settings, but problems may arise with weaker devices. Before you start any game, you need to know its minimum system requirements.

For TES: Skyrim they are as follows: Windows XP or newer, dual-core processor with a clock speed of 2 GHz, 2 GB RAM, 512 MB video card, DirectX 9 support.

If lags, freezes or crashes occur, you need to lower the graphics settings and restart the game. Don’t forget about programs that allow you to overclock your processor and video card and optimize their performance.

Need to update your computer software

Also if Skyrim won't launch, it’s worth checking whether all drivers are installed on your device, and whether they work correctly. If there are problems with some software, a set of drivers for a laptop can be found on the manufacturer’s website or on forums, but for a PC you will have to look for each driver separately.

If the game is running from a laptop, it must be set to maximum performance mode and connected to the mains. In addition, when launching Skyrim, the high-performance graphics card must be activated, not the integrated one.

In addition, the latest versions of DirectX, VisualC++ and Java must be installed on the computer, and their bitness must be the same as that of the operating system.

Troubleshooting configuration file errors

If the game does not start after all the previous manipulations, you can try resetting all settings to standard by deleting the SkyrimPrefs.ini and Skyrim.ini configuration files in the game directory along the path “My Documents/MyGanes/Skyrim”. Or edit the Skyrim.ini file, changing the language from ENGLISH to RUSSIAN. After this, the game must be opened without using the launcher and with administrator rights. To be on the safe side, you can disable all background unnecessary programs and disconnect unused USB devices. if Skyrim won't start!

Slow game loading from Steam

In Steam settings, try changing the download region to any other.

The game does not start or crashes after startup with the error “Missing X3DAudio1_7.dll”.

Update DirectX.

The game does not recognize the Nvidia video card

Open NVIDIA Control Panel
Select 3D Settings\Manage 3D Settings
On the “Global Settings” tab, in the “CUDA - GPUs” section, select your video card.

If the problem persists:

Open the "Program Settings" tab
Select “Valve Steam” from the list of programs
In the “CUDA - GPUs” section, select your video card.

"The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - error on Steam - game temporarily unavailable"

Log out of Steam and log back in.

How to make English voice acting + Russian subtitles?

From the English version, copy the files Skyrim - Voices.bsa and Skyrim - VoicesExtra.bsa, located in the Data folder in the game directory. Then change the language in the game properties to Russian and replace the localization files with those copied from the original.

English-language console in Russian version.

Go to the Data\Interface folder
Open the fontconfig.txt file with notepad
Change the line map “$ConsoleFont” = “Arial” Normal to map “$ConsoleFont” = “FuturaTCYLigCon” Normal.

If after this there is no change, make English the default input language:

RMB on the language icon in the taskbar => Settings.

Where is the Skyrim.ini file located?

Windows XP: My Documents\My Games\Skyrim
Windows 7: Documents\My Documents\My Games\Skyrim
Windows 10: Documents\My Documents\My Games\Skyrim

The "Files" button is inactive in the launcher

Open the SkyrimPrefs.ini file, find the bEnableFileSelection=0 section and line and change it to bEnableFileSelection=1.

The game sound is too quiet

Open the SkyrimPrefs.ini file, find the line fAudioMasterVolume= and set it to 2.0000 to start with. Still quiet? Cancel the change and enable loudness compensation:

RMB on the sound icon in the tray => Playback devices => RMB on “Speakers” => Properties => Improvements.
Find the “Loudness” item in the list, mark it and apply the change.

When starting the game the computer starts beeping intermittently

Disable the Xbox 360 controller in the game settings or in the SkyrimPref.ini file, find the line bGamepadEnable=1. Change the value to 0.

How to disable vertical sync?

Open the Skyrim.ini file, find the section and add the line iPresentInterval=0 at the end of it.

Magic effects continue to appear on the hero even after their duration has expired

In the console (~) write sexchange, then repeat the command to change the character's gender to the original one. Or turn into a werewolf and then take on human form.

When loading the game, after the Skyrim logo appears, the game freezes for a while and then crashes

RMB on the sound icon in the tray => Playback devices => RMB on “Speakers” => Properties => Advanced => Select the value “16 bit, 48000 Hz”

In the Skyrim.ini file, change the line sLanguage=ENGLISH to sLanguage=RUSSIAN.

If after all the manipulations the game still does not start, delete the Skyrim.ini file.

How to rotate items in inventory?

Hold down the left mouse button and move the manipulator. If you need to zoom in on an item, move the cursor over it and roll the mouse wheel, or simply press the C key.

Where are the saves?

The saves will work, and you don’t even need to do anything for this - they are in the same folder as the licensed version. But achievements already received will not be counted.

You can find saves here:

Windows XP: My Documents\My Games\Skyrim\Saves
Windows 7: Documents\My Documents\My Games\Skyrim\Saves
Windows 10: Documents\My Documents\My Games\Skyrim\Saves

Shadows have no anti-aliasing, although the quality settings are at maximum

In the SkyrimPrefs.ini file, find the line iBlurDeferredShadowMask= and set, for example, 7. The shadows will become blurrier and less detailed, but not a trace will remain of the “ladder”.

For owners of powerful systems, an option with increased shadow resolution is suitable. To do this, in the SkyrimPrefs.ini file, find the line iShadowMapResolution= and set the value to 8192. If after these manipulations crashes/brakes begin, reduce the value in increments of 512 until the game runs stable.

Two cursors are displayed on the screen - game and system

Do not minimize the game using Alt+Tab, close background programs, disable desktop composition (Win7).

The game unexpectedly crashes to the desktop (during transitions, loading)

Checking the loading order of mods:

dawnguard.esm
HearthFires.esm
Unofficial Skyrim Patch.esp
Unofficial Dawnguard Patch.esp
Unofficial Hearthfire Patch.esp

The character displays various effects that have arisen due to game glitches (burning eyes, steam, smoke, mob auras)

in 3rd person mode, open the console and write player.addspell spell_ID, where spell_ID is the value of a certain “effect”
close the console
open again, write player.removespell spell_ID
close the console

For example, to get rid of draugr eyes on a character, instead of spell_ID, enter F71D1.

Problems with launching the game Skyrim Special Edition, what to do if a black screen appears, how to skip the intro from Bethesda and much more

Skyrim Special Edition won't launch

To resolve this issue, follow the instructions below. In the folder with the installed game you can find two executable files (.exe) - skyrimSE.exe and skyrimSELauncher.exe.

Step 1. Right-click on one of them.
Step 2: Go to Properties.
Step 3: Choose to run in compatibility mode.
Step 4: Set to Windows 7 compatibility mode.
Step 5. Just below, select “Run as administrator.”

Black screen at the beginning of the game

This is one of the most annoying and common errors faced by gamers. However, it can be eliminated very easily! How the error manifests itself: after launching the game, when users click on the “Play” button in the launcher, they only see a black screen with background music. To resolve this issue, Nvidia players should go to Control Panel and switch or change the Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) being used.

Bethesda Intro Skip

Step 1. Open notepad or any other text editor. Create and save an empty file named BGS_Logo.bik. Keep in mind that when using Notepad, you must change the file type to ALL FILES.
Step 2: Now open the folder where you installed the game Skyrim Special Edition, find the folder called Data. The default path should be something like this: C:Program Files (x86)SteamsteamappscommonSkyrim Special EditionDataVideo.

This path may differ slightly for you if Steam is installed on a different drive than the Program Files folder.

Step 3: Rename the existing BSG_Logo file here and save it as a backup copy so that if something happens you can change the name back to it. Move the BGS_Logo.bik file created in the first step to this folder.

Fix for low frame rate (FPS)

Some players are reporting low framerate issues. It seems that this is how the game fights back against unscrupulous users who try to use the built-in one instead of a dedicated graphics processor (video card). To fix the low FPS issue, follow the instructions:

Step 1: Right-click on your computer desktop.
Step 2: Select NVIDIA Control Panel.
Step 3: Select "3D Control Settings" under "3D Settings" on the left side of the screen.
Step 4. In the main sector of the window, select “Program Settings”.
Step 5: Check out the list provided here. If Skyrim Special Edition is included, then proceed to step seven. Otherwise, see step "6".
Step 6. Click on the “Add” command and find Skyrim Special Edition.
Step 7. When Skyrim Special Edition is in the list, select it. You will see the settings. Change the "Use Global Settings/Integrated Graphics Engines" option in the drop-down menu to "NVIDIA High-Performance Processor".
Step 8. Click on the “Confirm” command to save all settings.
Step 9. Launch the game, the error should be resolved.

Frequent crashes in Skyrim Special Edition

To fix this problem, all you have to do is disable the Windows touch keyboard service. To do this, press the Windows + R key combination and write in the line services.msc. You will see a list with all the service tools. Find the one you need.

You can read about this procedure in any guide. Before complaining about any errors or crashes, update your video card drivers to the latest versions.

Keyboard or mouse does not work

There are several solutions to this problem, namely:

Fix 1. Disable or change your gamepad settings in options.
Fix 2. Disconnect all USB devices connected to the computer. Such as a microphone, storage devices (flash drives), web cameras, etc.

Few users know that it is the USB microphone that can become the main cause of problems with the keyboard or mouse.]

Crashes on Windows 10 every 15 minutes

You need to disable a service called Touch Keyboard and Handwriting Panel Service. How to do this is described above in the section “Frequent crashes in Skyrim Special Edition”.

If you still have problems with crashes in Skyrim Special Edition

There are several reasons why Skyrim Special Edition fails. All of them are listed below. Check them all out and take advantage of them. One of them will definitely help you!

Fix 1. You can install mods, but make sure that the one you use does not contain any scripts and does not depend on other mods that use scripts.
Fix 2. More often than not, one mod depends on another to ensure it works properly. Therefore, you must keep track of all the mods that certain modifications rely on. For example, some mods for Skyrim work with an unofficial patch. If you don't have it, the game will crash over and over again. It's best to try playing Skyrim Special Edition without any mods.
Fix 3. A small part of users solve problems by changing the language. Try this using the Skyrim.ini file. Perhaps you have an operating system installed in a different language, so your computer cannot understand which one is best for you. In general, try it, it works for some gamers.
Fix 4. If you are experiencing crashing issues with Skyrim Special Edition, try restarting your computer. Rebooting is always an easy and good option because some installed programs may only work after restarting the operating system. We are talking about the same Vredist, which must be installed in parallel with Skyrim Special Edition. Try restarting the game, or even the Steam client.

Error message during startup: Run Skyrim Special Edition on less than Ultra Setting

If you happen to be one of those who are “lucky” to see this message, then all you need to do is ignore this seemingly important bug. Try ultra graphics settings in Skyrim Special Edition and see how the game runs. If performance is poor, try lowering the settings.

Bugs with animation

To fix this error, you need to enable the VSync function and limit its value to 60 Hz. You can change this option in the AMD or NVIDIA Control Panel. If this doesn't help, try the option below:

Go to the folder UsersYourNameDocumentsMy GamesSkyrim Special Edition and select the SkyrimPrefs.ini file. Find the iVsyncpresentinterval line and set it to 0 if you are using G-Sync compatibility mode.

You can also do this in the AMD or NVIDIA control panel specific to this game.

Error 0xc000007b/VC_redist

Some users receive a window with the following message: The program can"t start because api-ms-win-crt-runtime-(1-1-0.dll is missing from your computer).

Steam has a solution to this problem.

The problem is that the KB2999226 (Universal SRT) package that is part of the Visual C++ Redistributable utility for Visual Studio 2015 or another Visual C package cannot be installed. This can even include packages from older versions, such as Visual Studio 2012 and earlier. The easiest and most reliable way to fix this is to uninstall Visual Studio and then restart your computer.

After all components have been removed, visit the following link https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=48145. Download the version for 64 and 32 bit. Next steps are very important! Install the package for 64 bit and then restart your computer. Only after this, install the package for 32 bit and, as you already guessed, restart the computer again. Once all this is done, the problem should go away on its own.

Error 0xc0000005

This is a registry or video card error. You need to reinstall or update your graphics card drivers by downloading them from the official website of your GPU manufacturer. Also use CCleaner or another program to clean the registry.

Other options for skipping the intro

Below is a workaround as you will have to use an additional mod. There is a mod available on Nexus that allows you to bypass Bethesda's intro. The mod has not yet been properly studied, so take your time. There may be problems in Helgen, especially with the quest “Return to Helgen”.

Also, when installing the mod, try to disable the unofficial patch if you have used it before. Keep it disabled until you get through this section with Helgen. Once this is done and you have completed the prologue, you can reactivate the unofficial patch.

Skyrim overwrites video card settings

To stop Skyrim Special Edition from overwriting your graphics card settings, you need to set the Skyrim.ini file to Read Only. To do this, go to the following section (it changes depending on where you installed the game): C:UsersYour username WindowsDocumentsMy GamesSkyrim Special Edition.

Now find the Skyrim.ini file, right-click on it and select Properties. Check the "Read Only" box. Do this for the SkyrimPrefs.ini file too!

Skyrim Special Edition appears in task manager but won't launch

The reason you are encountering this problem is because you have a mod installed that uses the .bsa from the mod for the regular version of Skyrim. That is, this mod was not converted to Skyrim Special Edition. To use this modification in Skyrim Special Edition, you will need to extract the contents of the old bsa file. Still, it is recommended not to use old bsa archives in Skyrim Special Edition.

Missing water problem

You should add the following lines to the Skyrim.ini file, the location of which has been mentioned several times above. This is an experimental solution that may or may not work in your case. These are the lines:

bUseCubeMapReflections=1
fCubeMapRefreshRate=0.0000

Slow motion of bandits

There are two solutions provided by Steam user CID. Try them:

Fix 1. Kill all the mobs and then wait until an hour has passed in the game (in-game time).
Fix 2. If an unofficial patch was installed, get rid of it.