So this is a problem I have been having recently. Skyrim was running fine for months, but suddenly, every time I play the game invariably crashes. This does not always happen at the same time: some times, I can play for 15-20 minutes before the game crashes to Desktop, and at other times, it crashes as soon as I load up a fresh save file. There is no error message, no error sound, the game simply closes off as if I had alt-F4'd. Has anyone else ever had this problem? I tried disabling all of my mods, as well as disabling Dawnguard, and it doesn't help at all.

Also, does this mean my save file is corrupted? I tried telling Steam to verify the Integrity of the Game Cache, and I keep getting the message "1 file failed to validate and will be reacquired," but besides the message I get nothing.

The missing file thing is an ongoing thing. Don't worry about it.

Are you running any mods? Have you fiddled with your graphics settings?

Most importantly, have you posted your problem on the software/hardware problem forums?

Edit: Doh! Just saw thread had been moved there...