So im keen to add some graphical mods to Oblivion before playing again, but im hitting a bit of a brick wall, so im wondering if someone can help me, heres what ive done so far.

1) downloaded a fresh install of Oblivion from Steam

1a) made a copy of the install location

2) Downloaded and installed Wrye bash

3) Downloaded LOOT

4) Run Wrye bash

5) Run LOOT

6) Clicked sort plugins in loot

6) Launched Oblivion from within the Wrye Bash application

7) CTD, oblivion no longer installs.

so i

8) Downloaded the Unofficial patches for the game, installed them using the Wrye Bash installer,

9) Ran LOOT reorder again

10) Launched Oblivion, and CTD before i even get to the menu.

is this a know problem? what am i missing

It sounds like you have a missing master. Why don't you post your load order from Wrye Bash. Put spoiler tags around it.

Have you tried running Oblivion from the shortcut on the desktop, rather than running it from inside Wrye Bash?

Are you using the Oblivion Script Extender (OBSE) or any mods that depend upon it?

Also, you should not install Oblivion in Program Files. Where is your Steam installed?

Hello there, thanks for that.

Ive made a little bit of progress since last night, although not much. it seems the there must have been conflict or corruption in my save game folder, i finally managed to get into the game using wrye bash by deleting the contents of the oblivion folder under my documents.

So now i can load mods using wrye bash, and sort the order using LOOT,

and the mods are working, ive added qarls and some other texture mods, and the game looks great.... until i attempt to move my character, at which point it crashes?

any steps for a hint on this error, lol

Ouch. There goes your oblivion.ini (that's the start settings file) just for a start. I'm amazed the game got as far as it did. I think you might consider starting afresh with a new install.

I'm also puzzled by :

I don't quite get it, does this mean you trying to operate on this copy or what?

Nothing specific to add, but I found http://wiki.theassimilationlab.com/tescosi/Main_Page a godsend when I was starting out with Oblivion.

Obviously something is not installed right. You may want to do as Tegueus- Cromis suggests and reinstall the game. If you do that, the guide Dragon recommends is a good one to follow. You also will want to make sure your game works vanilla before you add mods and then install mods one at a time, testing each one in game to make sure it works before installing another. That way, when you run into a problem, you will have a good idea as tot he cause.

Before you do anything though, can you answer me this question: What is the directory of your oblivion installation?

Real important point. Which I didn't ask because it's a Steam install (my OB copies are all disk), so question is where is Steam installed to? My Skyrim is in c:\games\steam, so a Steam Oblivion directory would be

c:\games\steam\steamapps\common\oblivion

with bash installers at

c:\games\steam\steamapps\common\oblivion mods\bash installers

This avoids the deadly \program files directory and its security permissions. But you may have to reinstall Steam itself if you have it in a less useful place. The point is that everything done via Steam will work, but you may have problems using Wrye Bash and other utilities that work outside the Steam framework if you are in \program files.

I've had the failure to launch problem when Wrye Bash couldn't write its configuration data because of security settings. Even with it all in a Games folder instead of Program Files, you can still get issues if you switch accounts.

If you swap accounts, it can cause unexpected application problems all over the place. But I only ever use the one, and I've not had any problems running WB for Skyrim or WF for Fallout NV in the games\steam folder. Oh, another thing, it can help to privilege WB (and maybe BOSS) as Administrator too. (Or at least I find I have done that. Think it got me out of some pickle years ago when I was still figuring this stuff out. It can't do any harm anyway...)