Just reinstalled oblivion and have been spending time gathering the mods I want to make my experience different from the last and only time I completed the game. I have encountered a problem after installing OBMM where when I try to start it it crashes before it even lods. I am running windows XP sp3 .net framework updated to 4.0. I have been trying to find a solution and so far to no avail I am having no luck.

The error is as reads "Oblivion Mod Manager has encountered a problem and needs to close. We are sorry for the inconvenience."

Any help with this matter, or an alternative to using OBMM would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance for the help.

Use Wrye BASH instead. It has come of age and it makes installing and uninstalling mods much safer, provided you use it for EVERYTHING, it can't magically restor a mod it didn't install itself.

If it's been a while since you had to install or restart from scratch with Oblivion, unless you have been actively keeping up with them you may not have an accurate view of the mod manager options today. The good news is that there has been a constant flow of 'lessons learned' you can benefit from. Please forgive the belaboring of things you already know. (This is adapted from advice I give to complete new-comers to the game.)

The first of these 'lessons learned' is: you do not want to try to manually install mods unless you are willing to 'get deep into the weeds', where the 'weeds' are the technical details of how the main game engine works with mods. So instead you need to invest a little time up front in learning to use a current generation 'mod manager'. There are two front runners (Oblivion Mod Manager, abbreviated http://tes.nexusmods.com/downloads/file.php?id=2097; and Wrye Bash, abbreviated http://tes.nexusmods.com/downloads/file.php?id=22368), but only one real choice: which is Wrye Bash. There is also the Nexus Mod Manager (http://tes.nexusmods.com/content/modmanager/), but it's still under development and I have no experience with it. Hopefully someone else will offer their comparison. (That WB is 'best' is a subjective opinion but pretty much the consensus among the players with the longest stable games and/or the most active mods.) WB is still being maintained and improved, while OBMM is pretty stagnant. WB is more of a 'Swiss Army Knife' of tools, but because it does more it's worth the time to learn to use it. And fortunately you don't have to learn all of it's features at once. Start with the 'http://tes.nexusmods.com/downloads/file.php?id=35230', which is also kept current. While WB often scares people with all of it's features, just bear in mind you only need to concentrate on one part at a time.

And the BAIN part of WB can install OBMM files, though it doesn't use the OBMM scripts. Start with BAIN (below). But if you are downloading updated versions of mods, get the 'BAIN Ready' versions. If you can figure out the OBMM scripting language, you can create your own 'BAIN Ready' packaged version of an OBMM download. (See the WB documentation, which is currently being rewritten by wrinklyninja. Drafts are sometimes available in the WB Thread here.) And some people have made available 'BAIN Wizards' or 'BAIN Conversion Files' (BCFs) for popular older mods.

The second lesson is that it is critical to get 'the two orders' correct. The two orders are: 'Install Order' (IO), and 'Load Order' (LO). Most people who have played a while are aware of the importance of LO, but didn't realize the importance of IO when they started.

'Install Order' refers to the sequence in which you install your mods. This is because the more mods you install the more likely a later one will overwrite something of an earlier mod. Mods are made up of many records, each pertaining to some element of the game. This involves what is referred to as 'The Rule of One': the last mod to 'touch' a record 'wins'. Only the last change to a record takes effect. But when installing, you aren't talking about 'records' but rather entire files. If you install a mod and then install another mod that changes some of the same files that make up the first mod, the second mod 'wins' ... always. It's version of those files are all that are there. And if there is not a 100% replacement of files between the two mods ... wierdness results. Fortunately most modders know they need to keep their mod's versions of files unique. And sometimes the mod is deliberately making changes to 'vanilla' Oblivion files, such as the 'Official' and 'Unofficial Patches'. Which is another important element of 'Install Order'.

The Wrye Bash 'Installer's Tab' is also called the 'BAIN' (BAsh INstaller) tab, and the order you place mods in BAIN determines your 'Install Order' (higher number 'wins'). The major advantage of WB over OBMM is that if you install both mods and later decide to remove one (regardless of their order), WB/BAIN remembers which files were replaced and restores the ones they had replaced. OBMM can't do that. But WB/BAIN can only do it for mods that were installed through BAIN. If you manually install mods, then BAIN doesn't know about them and can't restore things. It will work with them but it will not 'manage' them. Consequently, planning and setting up your Install Order before actually doing anything is worthwhile and important. Please note you can setup the Install Order without actually installing anything, and then install and test mods one at a time.

What makes for a 'good' Install Order? Start with the Installation Guides on TECOSI [Link: http://tescosi.com/wiki/Main_Page%5D. Also, Be sure to check out the 'Complete Installation Guide for Oblivion' page. In fact, the entire site should be carefully perused before you install. It's whole purpose is to help people in your situation to 'get it right the first time'.

The Load Order refers to the sequence in which mods are loaded by the game. The primary tool used for managing the LO is BOSS. Wrye Bash works together with BOSS to sequence your LO. Again, this is dealing with the 'Rule of One', but now on the individual record level. What Wrye Bash brings to the table is the ability to more finely tune 'what is touched', and thus allow more elements from different mods (even different elements of the same record) to work together. This is done through the 'Bashed Patch' (BP). You do NOT have to use the BP, but it is one of the major features of WB. As you install more mods, or wish to customize more aspects of game play, it will be to your advantage to go back to the WBPictorial Guide and the WB Documentation to read about it. But not when you are just starting out with it.

In addition, be sure to read the pinned thread 'http://www.gamesas.com/topic/775917-compatibility-and-you/' section for 'Mod Users'.

Hope you find this helpful.

-Dubious-

http://www.gamesas.com/topic/1084204-bain-mod-installation-projects/

Any questions just ask.

As a heads up, the Nexus Mod Manager can work with OMOD files, in case you have some mods which you can't find in other formats.
But yes, Wrye Bash is the way to go these days. I only have the NMM for reordering my LO in Skyrim, and I'll be dropping it once Wrye Bash is able to sort my mods again. Just not my cup of tea.