Hello, when I try to launch Skyrim, I get this error message:

"C:\Program Files (x86)\Skyrim\Skyrimlauncher.exe

The application has failed to start because it's side-by-side configuration is incorrect. Please see the application event log or use the command-line sxstrace.exe tool for more detail."

However, when I try to launch the game with TESV.exe in the game's directory, it launches, but only in windowed mode which you cannot change to fullscreen without the launcher.

Also, this is only for Skyrim, all the other games I have work fine.

Things I've tried:

1. Reinstalled the game

2. Reinstalled DirectX, Microsoft Redistributable packages

3. Rebooted the PC

4. CCleaner

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

C:\Program Files (x86)\Skyrim\Skyrimlauncher.exe <=== This path doesn't make sense. Skyrim is a Steam game. It should be under .......\Steamapps\common\.......

What does a game cache verify do?

It's a retail version from a DVD, so I installed it there.

Retail or not, it doesn't matter. The path is suspect. SKyrim is a steam game. Even retail DVDs will install Steam first.

Where did you buy the copy?

If you are bypassing Steam it could cause an error similar to that.

Also it could be a corrupt System file. Try running the following command:

sfc /scannow

If it detects a damaged System file that it cannot repair, you'll need the Windows DVD and to perform a repair install.

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Also you can use the Event Viewer to find out why the application is crashing. Press the Windows Key (to open the Start Menu), type: Event Viewer , in the search box and press Enter. Go to Windows Logs >> Application. Find the listing for TESV.exe or SkyrimLauncher.exe.

Post the entries.

This is how to realized that Creative ALchemy was causing a crash-on-exit for Skyrim.

Faulting application name: TESV.exe, version: 1.9.32.0, time stamp: 0x51437ce5Faulting module name: ~df394b.tmp, version: 0.0.0.0, time stamp: 0x4003cad7Exception code: 0xc0000005Fault offset: 0x0005f64aFaulting process id: 0x29bcFaulting application start time: 0x01d0576775ec1fbeFaulting application path: D:\Steam\steamapps\common\Skyrim\TESV.exeFaulting module path: C:\Users\Nidhoggr\AppData\Local\Temp\Creative_ALchemy_AL6_Cleanup.0001.dir.0001\~df394b.tmpReport Id: bf064f5e-c35a-11e4-901b-00248c479fa4

The problem is that the error log never appears in the event viewer.

There has to be something, either related to Skyrim directly or SideBySide (SxS). Look at the time stamps. It could related to Visual C++, but I am just guessing until you can post the error message in detail.

K?$ ! 8 ? ?˙˙°8=?˙˙T ? P P ??@$ ?￡￠L??J?óūiū?üd d | b? P P ±?@$ ?￡￠L??J?óūiū?üf e |
C : \ P r o g r a m F i l e s ( x 8 6 ) \ T h e E l d e r S c r o l l s V S k y r i m \ C : \ P r o g r a m F i l e s ( x 8 6 ) \ T h e E l d e r S c r o l l s V S k y r i m \ S k y r i m L a u n c h e r . e x e e n - U S e n ? ? P P ó@$ ?￡￠L??J?óūiū?ün h | C : \ P r o g r a m F i l e s ( x 8 6 ) \ T h e E l d e r S c r o l l s V S k y r i m \ S k y r i m L a u n c h e r . e x e

That's what I managed to get using the sxstrace tool in command prompt

To check if the Windows Event Log service is started or not, press Start (windows orb) and at the run command windows that appears (just in front of you), type services, select it ans scroll down to: Windows Event Log

Ensure that the Startup type is set to Automatic and that the services is Started !!!

Also see that, in the Recovery tab, all two drop down boxes, show the option as Restart the Service, in case of Failure. <Reboot if required.>

http://i.imgur.com/SWl7mhK.png

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Why is your game not installed in the right Steam directory ???

Parse the text correctly:

sxstrace parse -logfile:sxstrace.etl -outfile:sxstrace.txt

... All I can glean from that is that the program used a VC90 call.

You can try installing the VC++ 2008 redist, link: http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=29

Go to your Windows\system32 directory. Type: < cd windows\system32 > at your command prompt.

If your log file has the name: myfile for example...

Type: sxstrace parse -logfile:myfile.log -outfile:myfile.txt

...after go to your windows/system32 folder, find the myfile.txt - open it - and write down what you see. !!!

C : \ P r o g r a m F i l e s ( x 8 6 ) \ T h e E l d e r S c r o l l s V S k y r i m \ S k y r i m L a u n c h e r . e x e

Either he has pirated the game or bought a bootlegged copy. Buy a legal version and install it.

Or he's trying to bypass Steam with hacks and can't get them to work properly. That is also illegal.

Honestly Steam isn't that bad just install it and the way it's supposed to be installed and use it. Go in offline mode if you want to.

Most of the data can be installed off the disc.

What other games do you play?

I play Far Cry 4, Far Cry 2, Max Payne 3 and they all work just fine. It's not a steam related problem, I had Skyrim on windows 7 and it worked fine, now after I got windows 8.1, its not working anymore

Whether it worked before or not, that install path is still extremely suspicious. Do you have legit copy (bound to Steam) or not?

If you don't have legit copy, you won't be getting any help.

Well, he said: It's a retail version from a DVD, so I installed it there.

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To the OP:

Why you wont let the disk install Skyrim executables at the default directory ???

C: \ Program Files(x86) \ Steam \ Steamapps \ Common \ Skyrim \

...and see what happens ???

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If you get any error trying to Launch SkyrimLauncher.exe

Try to set the games language to English, it could be the case, that it's set-up to your Operating system language.

To change the language of the game to English go to your Steam Library, right-click Skyrim and select Properties. Select the Language tab and choose English as the language.

Thanks everyone for the advice, I got it to work by simply reinstalling my Windows 8.1.

You don't choose the install path with Steam like that. You can choose a different library to install games to. However, both cases will have the .....\Steamapps\common subdirectories.

Installing it anywhere other than that indicates either piracy, bootlegged DVD, or circumventing Steam. IMO if you choose this path you are on your own.

Indeed, even when installing out of Steam's directory, it will still generate that \steamapps\common\ folder structure. I know this since I have a few games installed on an another drive and Steam did do that.

This stinks a bit but I'm willing to give a chance to explain thoroughly.

Obviously the OP has fixed his problem. So it was OS related, i guess...

Problem solved. !!!