Skyrim stuck on loading screen, corrupted all save files

Arikadesu · 11-21-2011, 09:14 PM

I have been playing the game for 30+ hours and during a loading screen the game stopped responding. I could see the animation on the loading screen but the game would not let me alt tab, alt + f4 nor would ctrl + alt + del work. I had no way to shut down Skyrim. I waited on this screen for 10 minutes hoping it would recover and it wouldn't. Finally, I shutdown my computer and restarted. After reentering the game it gives me an error saying the save file is corrupt. It' isn't just the last save file though, it is every single save file I have ever made, over 150+ save files all say corrupt. Some save files say the version is wrong, version 0 instead of current 8 while the others just say corrupt, cannot load.

This is pretty pathetic. It is bad enough the game is completely unstable and crashing to desktop at random (none of the fixes I've seen were able to resolve this) but now I have lost all progress in the game.

What a joke. If anyone has any ideas on how to recover the save files It would be greatly appreciated. As it stands now though I'll never be purchasing another Bethesda game.

smilefortim · 11-21-2011, 09:47 PM

I have the same problem which is being stuck at the loading screen. After hearing people's save files got corrupted, I immediately made a back up of my saves.

I did validated my game but no bad files as a result. So, I might have to reinstall my game tonight. This little 18 mb update really screwed up my game.

ironclawx · 11-21-2011, 10:31 PM

This hasn't happened to me, although it is concerning.

If a mere .exe updater corrupts saves, what the hell is the Thanksgiving patch going to do?

Sure, they assure us that it 'will not wipe save games', but how many people believe that?

I'm willing to bet the Thanksgiving patch will make our saves incompatible and we'll have to start again. Quite frankly, I can't be arsed trudging around discovering 250 different locations all over again.

Arikadesu · 11-22-2011, 01:50 PM

Just wanted to let you guys know, I reinstalled the game and copied my save files over and Skyrim was able to load all of them except the one that was in use when the hang happened. Since I save every few minutes I didn't really lose any progress. This is still pretty ridiculous though.

ValorElf · 11-22-2011, 01:59 PM

My question is this. Did the .exe update only affect folks who use the large ram tweaks and mods?

It would seem so. I've not used a single one, and haven't noticed any changes with the small patch.

I just hope that they fix the ram issue, and make a larger ram size an actual part of the game, instead of forcing folks to get a mod in order to stop the CTDs.

11-22-2011, 02:07 PM

I had the same issue. Couldn't leave Dragons Reach into Windhelm.

It was weird. Stuck on the load screen. Looks like its working but Task Manager says its not responding.

I tried going to different locations in Dragons Reach, load old saves, turn all my settings to 'low'. Eventually (on the 20th time) it just started loading again.

I see your frustrations. I'm starting to get a bit over it myself.

dgenem · 11-23-2011, 10:35 AM

All my saved games past 4:30 yesterday became corrupted. Games that I loaded before even are corrupted.

I am a huge ES fan and this game is killing me with all the fast travel crashes and constant saved game losses.

At first it was really rare. But now it happens ALL THE TIME. I've checked my files and there are no errors found. Going to just reinstall and hope for the best.

I don't know if my character is corrupt or the game.

arcon97 · 11-23-2011, 11:32 AM

careful if you install mods which conflict with each other. I had this happen to me then had to uninstall a mod and things worked fine thereafter.

FearItSelf23 · 11-23-2011, 11:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ironclawx

This hasn't happened to me, although it is concerning.

If a mere .exe updater corrupts saves, what the hell is the Thanksgiving patch going to do?

Sure, they assure us that it 'will not wipe save games', but how many people believe that?

I'm willing to bet the Thanksgiving patch will make our saves incompatible and we'll have to start again. Quite frankly, I can't be arsed trudging around discovering 250 different locations all over again.

... K I'll take that bet. How much are we betting?

-_- patch isn't going to force you to start over that would be ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥. Corrupted save != incompatible save and they aren't going to make old saves incompatible with new versions of the game.

11-23-2011, 12:00 PM

I wish I was so lucky. I can't seem to open the game at all. It's stuck at the boot menu. Every time I press play, it closes out and reopens the menu.

thametz · 11-23-2011, 12:39 PM

You can try the Previous Versions trick if you have System Restore turned on for your machine.

Go to My Documents/My Games/Skyrim and right click on your Saves folder and click on Restore Previous Versions... It should bring up a window with several copies of your Saves folder from different dates. Make a copy of your folder from a date before it got corrupted and replace your bad saves.

If this does not work then you can check your Saves folder for the back ups of your last few auto and quick save. Sky automatically backs these up in a .bak file.

quicksave.ess.bak
autosave1.ess.bak
autosave2.ess.bak

Look for files like these and if you want go ahead and make a copy of them or put them in a zip file to back them up but then go ahead and rename them and remove the .bak so the game recognizes them. If the Save folder already contains corrupted auto/quick saves you will need to delete these before renaming the .bak files to avoid conflicts.

quicksave.ess.bak -> quicksave.ess

Good luck!

smilefortim · 11-23-2011, 05:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thametz

You can try the Previous Versions trick if you have System Restore turned on for your machine.

Go to My Documents/My Games/Skyrim and right click on your Saves folder and click on Restore Previous Versions... It should bring up a window with several copies of your Saves folder from different dates. Make a copy of your folder from a date before it got corrupted and replace your bad saves.

If this does not work then you can check your Saves folder for the back ups of your last few auto and quick save. Sky automatically backs these up in a .bak file.

quicksave.ess.bak
autosave1.ess.bak
autosave2.ess.bak

Look for files like these and if you want go ahead and make a copy of them or put them in a zip file to back them up but then go ahead and rename them and remove the .bak so the game recognizes them. If the Save folder already contains corrupted auto/quick saves you will need to delete these before renaming the .bak files to avoid conflicts.

quicksave.ess.bak -> quicksave.ess

Good luck!

Oh man! Your solution fixed my problem! My saves finally loaded, thank you man. +rep

xIZeratulIx · 11-26-2011, 05:14 PM

If u were a true PC master race, you need to make backup files. so you are the joke. Not the game

files on PC and make back ups for it? wow easiest thing ever to do on a PC

12-01-2011, 12:35 PM

I got Skyrim from Steam also, and I have not used any type of mods or anything whatsoever, just the steam install. It's validating okay, but it's still getting stuck at the loading screen, showing tips and with the smoke animation going in the back.

Does anyone know if a reinstall has been fixing this?

12-11-2011, 10:35 AM

Hello guys after some research with me PC and skyrim graphic options I belive reason why u are stuck on loading screen is related to ,,Distant Object Detail'' under Skyrim options/View Distance. MAKE SURE U WILL KEEP IT ON HIGH. NO ULTRA. THis working for me and it was tested by myself. U migh find with your pc to keep it even on lower option.
Good Luck

11-21-2011, 09:14 PM	#1
Arikadesu Join Date: Jan 2009 Reputation: 4 Posts: 74	Skyrim stuck on loading screen, corrupted all save files I have been playing the game for 30+ hours and during a loading screen the game stopped responding. I could see the animation on the loading screen but the game would not let me alt tab, alt + f4 nor would ctrl + alt + del work. I had no way to shut down Skyrim. I waited on this screen for 10 minutes hoping it would recover and it wouldn't. Finally, I shutdown my computer and restarted. After reentering the game it gives me an error saying the save file is corrupt. It' isn't just the last save file though, it is every single save file I have ever made, over 150+ save files all say corrupt. Some save files say the version is wrong, version 0 instead of current 8 while the others just say corrupt, cannot load. This is pretty pathetic. It is bad enough the game is completely unstable and crashing to desktop at random (none of the fixes I've seen were able to resolve this) but now I have lost all progress in the game. What a joke. If anyone has any ideas on how to recover the save files It would be greatly appreciated. As it stands now though I'll never be purchasing another Bethesda game.

11-23-2011, 12:39 PM	#11
thametz Join Date: Jun 2010 Reputation: 26 Posts: 247	You can try the Previous Versions trick if you have System Restore turned on for your machine. Go to My Documents/My Games/Skyrim and right click on your Saves folder and click on Restore Previous Versions... It should bring up a window with several copies of your Saves folder from different dates. Make a copy of your folder from a date before it got corrupted and replace your bad saves. If this does not work then you can check your Saves folder for the back ups of your last few auto and quick save. Sky automatically backs these up in a .bak file. quicksave.ess.bak autosave1.ess.bak autosave2.ess.bak Look for files like these and if you want go ahead and make a copy of them or put them in a zip file to back them up but then go ahead and rename them and remove the .bak so the game recognizes them. If the Save folder already contains corrupted auto/quick saves you will need to delete these before renaming the .bak files to avoid conflicts. quicksave.ess.bak -> quicksave.ess Good luck! Last edited by thametz: 11-23-2011 at 12:49 PM.

12-11-2011, 10:35 AM	#15
revollucion Guest Posts: n/a	possible solution Hello guys after some research with me PC and skyrim graphic options I belive reason why u are stuck on loading screen is related to ,,Distant Object Detail'' under Skyrim options/View Distance. MAKE SURE U WILL KEEP IT ON HIGH. NO ULTRA. THis working for me and it was tested by myself. U migh find with your pc to keep it even on lower option. Good Luck

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11-21-2011, 09:47 PM	#2
smilefortim Join Date: Jul 2009 Reputation: 0 Posts: 22	I have the same problem which is being stuck at the loading screen. After hearing people's save files got corrupted, I immediately made a back up of my saves. I did validated my game but no bad files as a result. So, I might have to reinstall my game tonight. This little 18 mb update really screwed up my game.

11-21-2011, 10:31 PM	#3
ironclawx Join Date: Sep 2011 Reputation: 24 Posts: 460	This hasn't happened to me, although it is concerning. If a mere .exe updater corrupts saves, what the hell is the Thanksgiving patch going to do? Sure, they assure us that it 'will not wipe save games', but how many people believe that? I'm willing to bet the Thanksgiving patch will make our saves incompatible and we'll have to start again. Quite frankly, I can't be arsed trudging around discovering 250 different locations all over again.

11-22-2011, 01:50 PM	#4
Arikadesu Join Date: Jan 2009 Reputation: 4 Posts: 74	Just wanted to let you guys know, I reinstalled the game and copied my save files over and Skyrim was able to load all of them except the one that was in use when the hang happened. Since I save every few minutes I didn't really lose any progress. This is still pretty ridiculous though.

11-22-2011, 01:59 PM	#5
ValorElf Join Date: Jul 2011 Reputation: 6 Posts: 62	My question is this. Did the .exe update only affect folks who use the large ram tweaks and mods? It would seem so. I've not used a single one, and haven't noticed any changes with the small patch. I just hope that they fix the ram issue, and make a larger ram size an actual part of the game, instead of forcing folks to get a mod in order to stop the CTDs.

11-22-2011, 02:07 PM	#6
Shtoiveo Guest Posts: n/a	I had the same issue. Couldn't leave Dragons Reach into Windhelm. It was weird. Stuck on the load screen. Looks like its working but Task Manager says its not responding. I tried going to different locations in Dragons Reach, load old saves, turn all my settings to 'low'. Eventually (on the 20th time) it just started loading again. I see your frustrations. I'm starting to get a bit over it myself.

11-23-2011, 10:35 AM	#7
dgenem Join Date: Mar 2010 Reputation: 0 Posts: 20	All my saved games past 4:30 yesterday became corrupted. Games that I loaded before even are corrupted. I am a huge ES fan and this game is killing me with all the fast travel crashes and constant saved game losses. At first it was really rare. But now it happens ALL THE TIME. I've checked my files and there are no errors found. Going to just reinstall and hope for the best. I don't know if my character is corrupt or the game.

11-23-2011, 11:32 AM	#8
arcon97 Join Date: Jan 2011 Reputation: 0 Posts: 47	careful if you install mods which conflict with each other. I had this happen to me then had to uninstall a mod and things worked fine thereafter.

11-23-2011, 12:00 PM	#10
Cdr. Fallout Guest Posts: n/a	I wish I was so lucky. I can't seem to open the game at all. It's stuck at the boot menu. Every time I press play, it closes out and reopens the menu.

11-26-2011, 05:14 PM	#13
xIZeratulIx Join Date: Mar 2011 Reputation: 30 Posts: 335	If u were a true PC master race, you need to make backup files. so you are the joke. Not the game files on PC and make back ups for it? wow easiest thing ever to do on a PC

12-01-2011, 12:35 PM	#14
f0cus' Guest Posts: n/a	I got Skyrim from Steam also, and I have not used any type of mods or anything whatsoever, just the steam install. It's validating okay, but it's still getting stuck at the loading screen, showing tips and with the smoke animation going in the back. Does anyone know if a reinstall has been fixing this?