UESP Forums

Hey guys!
First of all, sometimes specefic mods wont work with OBMM.
And so I install them manually, which can cause many problems
So sometimes I kinda mess up the game and so i have to re-install it
Today i had to do it (re-install)
However! The Revo-uninstaller (which i was using) crashed in the middle of the de-installation! The normal de-instalation was already complete and it was searching for files that werent deleted by it. It already deleted some uhh... i dont know what to call them ,OBMM etc., and it was about to delete files. Then CRASH!
So it didnt deleted the folder of oblivion. I would have deleted it myself but before I wanted to de-install OBMM. (it's wierd, it already found it when I was deleting Oblivion but I still had to de-install it )
When it was searching for files which werent deleted it found the Oblivion directory and so ii deleted it...

So I go to install oblivion again and when the installation starts this happens: (the dots are actually spaces)
_____________________________________
Feature Transfer Error
-------------------------------------
Feature:...Oblivion
Component:..........Oblivion
File:
Error:.....................Access is denied.
....................................._________
...................................|.....OK.....|
____________________________________

The reason I told you how I de-installed it is because I think it had something to do with it, since I re-installed Oblivion about 15 times now and never had a problem...

I HOPE you help, since I dont want to have to buy oblivion again!

You could try cleaning out your registry and removing all traces of Oblivion's existence. I use CCleaner for that kind of thing. Beyond that, I think we'd better wait for h8ball.

@Tom

Coo-ee! Guess who's heard your call!

@Hex Link

Tom is right. It looks suspiciously like the Windows registry entries for Oblivion haven't been removed properly, or are maybe corrupt. Oblivion Setup still "detects" Oblivion is already installed and won't let you install it again.

Cure: Use Windows registry editor as follows:-

1. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Bethesda Softworks
2. Delete the Oblivion subkey (looks like a folder)

Setup checks for the existence of the Oblivion subkey (or one of the subkeys or values under it) to determine whether Oblivion is already installed. The uninstall should have removed it. If not, deleting it should fool Setup into allowing you to install Oblivion again.

When you install a program, you run its Setup utility, which creates new Windows registry entries, folders and files. It also creates a "uninstall" log file somewhere on your machine which contains a list of everything Setup created, in the order it created them. When you run the program's uninstall procedure, it simply goes through the uninstall log in reverse order, deleting everything. However, if new files have been created in the folders SINCE Setup was run, they're not deleted and, if folders still contain files, those folders are not deleted.

The reason the Oblivion folder wasn't deleted is that many of the files in there didn't match the ones in the uninstall log (because afterwards, you patched Oblivion and installed utilities, mods, etc, i.e. MORE new folders/files). This is INTENTIONAL behaviour, to ensure that you can uninstall Oblivion (if corrupt) then reinstall/patch it and still have all mods and their files as intact as possible. That way, Oblivion should pick up your mods again the first time it runs. It doesn't work in every case, but at least it avoids you reinstalling ALL mods from scratch every time.

As long as Oblivion uninstall has run OK (and deleted what it can, including the Windows registry entries), it's safe to delete the Oblivion folder to complete the uninstallation manually.

You should ONLY ever use a 3rd party uninstaller to delete leftover traces of a program if you NEVER intend to reinstall that program again. After all, if you're reinstalling, Setup will overwrite existing traces anyway, so why bother deleting them only to have Setup simply recreate them again?

@ALL

Tip Top Tip: You can avoid 99.9% of the highly complex, error-prone and stressful hassle of reinstalling Oblivion, patching it, then reinstalling ALL utilities and mods from scratch. Here's how...Hope this helps.

Ok, you seem to know your way around computers

But I could not yet try out what you told me, since....well, I dont know where to find the registry
I'm running windows 7 btw.

@your TipTopTip
Im going to do that from now on!
Even If it takes a lot of disk space....I got too much anyway
What I always did, was having a folder with all my oblivion mods in it (in subfolders of course)
So when I had to reinstall Oblivion I had all the mods there
But the 'Tip Top Tip' looks a lot easier

Can't find the registry? Little wonder. There are NO shortcuts to it, to prevent people messing about with things they shouldn't, giving Windows a thermonuclear enema and having to reinstall it from scratch. Don't worry, though. As long as you ONLY delete the Oblivion key, you'll be fine. Just don't delete any others.

OK, to run the registry editor on Win7, click the Start button and enter REGEDIT in the Search box. If UAC (User Access Control) asks you to authorise running it, take the option to run it.

Now, we'll go step-by-step so you don't make any mistakes...

In the left pane, you'll see what look like folders. These are registry keys. OK, let's navigate to the one we want...

1. At top level, double-click HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE to open it
2. Under that, double-click SOFTWARE to open it
3. Under that, double-click Bethesda Softworks to open it
4. Under that, you should see an Oblivion key listed. That's the one we want.

If NO Oblivion key is there, just close the registry editor and let me know, since something else must be wrong.

If it IS there (which I strongly suspect), click once to highlight it then press DELETE on your keyboard (or right-click the Oblivion key and select Delete from the context menu). Confirm the deletion, then close the registry editor. Restart Windows to force it to reload the edited registry, then try installing Oblivion.

Hope this helps.

Ok this doesnt seem good
There is no bethesda softworks folder in 'HKEY_LOCAL_MASCHINE/ SOFTWARE
I also searched if it was in a subfolder, but didnt find anything...
So i searched the registry for 'bethesda' and found 4 datas.. and then I searched for 'Oblivion' and it found 2 datas in:
HKEY_LOCAL_MASCHINE/SOFTWARE/Microsoft/RADAR/HeapLeakDetection/DiagnosedApplications/Oblivion.exe

So..... any suggestions?

OK, don't panic! That was only the "Doctor" giving his initial examination, equivalent to quickly feeling the head to see if there's any obvious lumps that might indicate a concussion.

I've done some research and found the most likely cause of the "Feature Transfer Error". You're logged in to Windows as a user with limited permissions and Setup is unable to copy files to a destination folder that doesn't have write permission. For limited users, C:\Program Files has read-only permission so you can't write files to that folder or any of its subfolders.

If you were logged in as a limited user last time you installed Oblivion, the registry path you should look for is HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Bethesda Softworks\Oblivion. Make sure the Oblivion key is deleted from there before continuing.

To install games, you should always log in to Windows as user Administrator who has FULL permissions to everything. Setup should then work correctly in every case, and I'd suggest installing games as follows under Windows Vista or 7:-

Before running Setup, create a C:\Games folder, right-click it and select Properties, go to Security tab, give it Full Control permission for the Authenticated Users group, and click OK.

The reason for doing the above is to create a folder which has FULL permissions for anyone who logs in to Windows and, under Vista/7, is NOT monitored by the UAC (User Access Control) Service so will never be virtualised. It means you don't have to log in as Administrator to install patches, mods, etc, and, under Vista/7, you never have to look in VirtualStore for game files because they're never virtualised (which confuses most users).

I'd recommend installing ALL games to C:\Games\<nameofgame>. E.g. Install Oblivion to C:\Games\Oblivion, Morrowind to C:\Games\Morrowind, Doom 3 to C:\Games\Doom 3, etc.

When installing any game, if Setup prompts you to install for "All Users" or for "Current User Only", always choose "All Users". This means that, when you log in as your normal username, the game will be available to you.

I find it's easier to simply log in as Administrator ALL the time. That way, I don't have to bother with permissions because I have FULL permission to everything anyway. I'm the only user of my PC, so why should I need permission to access what's mine anyway? With a well-configured Firewall and Antivirus in place, the security risk is minimal. I've only had two minor malware infections in nearly 10 years, both dealt with within an hour. I'm using Windows XP which doesn't have UAC anyway, and I don't see any need for it (just Microsoft being paranoid). My Father has a laptop with Vista and I've disabled UAC on it. He's VERY new to PC's, but he's had ZERO malware infections in nearly a year of use because I secured his PC like Fort Knox, just like mine! If you want to know how, I can start a thread in General > Tech Desk to tell you all.

Hope this helps.

Ok this is wierd....
But first things first:

I kind of didnt look into that folder...If you read on you'll know why
_____________________________

I tried that already yesterday before I even asked since I know about these problems, however it did not work
Now here's the wierd thing:
Since I desperatly tried to install Oblivion I tried it again (installing when logged in as an admin) and...it worked!!

I have NO idea why it works now. I didnt install ANY programms or changed my computer in anyway which could've affected that...
The only thing, which may have solved the problem was restarting my PC

I appreciate your help h8ball (next time I have a tech problem I know who to ask) - even tho the problem seemed to have solved itself

PS: Now that I installed the game I looked in the regestry and there still wasnt a 'Bethesda Software folder well... at least i couldnt find one, its probably in there somewhere

I'm glad you got the problem solved!

It's likely worked BECAUSE you were logged in as Administrator, who has FULL permissions to everything, and I mean EVERYTHING. Here's roughly how it works...

User: Administrator - Permissions are simply NOT enforced (so can do anything)

Group: Administrators - ALL permissions granted but enforced (may cause problems)
User: Admin (member of group Administrators) - As above

Permissions are not enforced for Administrator because it would make it possible to log in AS Administrator then remove the permission to grant permissions FROM Administrator. Enforcing this makes it impossible to grant it BACK again. You're then hopelessly stuck in the perfectly logical situation, "You can't grant permission to grant permissions because you don't have permission to grant permission to grant permissions"! The only solution is to reinstall Windows from scratch! This is why I always log in as user Administrator, not as a member of group Administrators.

If the above logical statement made your brain melt, remember that a computer is the ultimate idiot. It has an IQ of precisely zero. It can and WILL use perfect logic to tie itself into a perfectly logical knot that can never be untied! This is often termed an "infinite loop", the cause of many a program going into a "not responding" state. It's up to programmers to anticipate infinite loops and avoid them, which is what Microsoft did when they decided not to enforce permissions for Administrator.

As for the registry key, don't worry. If Oblivion is working, it's in there somewhere.

Did you install to C:\Games\Oblivion as I suggested? This certainly makes things easier, since UAC is out of the picture and can't interfere.

Since your problem is now solved, you could PM one of the mods to lock this thread. You can always contact me by PM if you have further problems.

Always glad to help.

Hello! I have had the same problem as Hex Link for a while now and i've tried many ways to solve it but had no luck. Really wish someone could help me :X

Here's the story:

I was trying to make some space in the almost-full hard drive of my pc so I unwittingly copied the oblivion games folder into an external hard drive. With the original games folder still on my desktop, I inserted the games disk to start the game. Then....i kind of forgot what happened but the game couldn't launch and several things led me to delete that folder completely. The one in my external hard drive is also gone.

For a few days I inserted the installation disk and my pc had problems detecting it, it'd just keep whirring in the dvd/cd rom compartment and nothing would happen. Somehow it is working today (after some long spinning of the cd every try) and I clicked on the setup.exe option that pops up. It'd start the installing shield and an interruption would follow-" Unable to find Oblivion installation. Please reinstall Oblivion". (my heart sinks every time i see this, i know..but i really wanna return to this game.Barely went through one-eighth of the main quest)

In my attempts to reinstall the game, I followed a few suggestions i found and deleted everything related to bethesda and oblivion. Went through HKEY_LOCAL_MASCHINE/ SOFTWARE and HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE and other softwares available but couldn't find any more folders that I should delete. I created a folder for Oblivion and gave it Full Permission. Restarted the com but still got the same " Please reinstall prompt"... this makes me sad.. so very sad.

Looks like you deleted the Oblivion folder without uninstalling the game first. Not a good idea, because Oblivion Setup "sees" that the game's Uninstall key is still there in the registry and thinks the game needs to be uninstalled before it can be installed again, but borks itself because it can't find any files TO uninstall. The Uninstall key is "orphaned", pointing to a non-existent folder, and this confuses Oblivion Setup.

You'll have to remove the orphaned Uninstall key to UNconfuse Setup so it will allow you to install from scratch again.

For Windows XP, go to Control Panel > Add or Remove Programs, find Oblivion in the list, right-click it and choose Remove. Windows will give you a warning about not being able to find files, then ask you whether you want to remove the orphaned Uninstall key from the registry. Choose the option to remove it.

For Windows Vista/7, go to Control Panel > Programs and Features which works basically the same way as above.

This page may help, as it contains instructions for removing an orphaned Uninstall key under Vista/7. If you have to do it by manually editing the registry, the manual instructions should work for XP as well because the registry path is the same for all 32-bit Windows versions. For 64-bit Windows, the registry path may be slightly different, but it's the same principle.

Moral: Don't just delete a program folder. Always use the proper uninstall procedure to ALSO get rid of its registry entries. If not, you can cause Windows and/or any Setup program to lose track of whether a program is installed or not. They get themselves tied into the logical equivalent of a Gordian knot that YOU have to unravel!

Thank you so much for replying! Unfortunately, I did everything you said, had already deleted the game folder under software before I came here for help, and tried the methods to remove the orphaned uninstall key but I can't find any keys that sound like it's Oblivion-related.. So it still says that the Oblivion installation couldn't be found and tells me to reinstall. Do you have other suggestions? What would be my last resort?

The registry part isn't all that simple. I know H8Ball won't really like what I'm about to say... no hard feelings, eh m8?

Earlier in the thread The Tom mentioned CCleaner, and I've been using another kind-of-like program for a couple of years now, and haven't noticed any problems. It's called Free Window Registry Repair, and it's freeware. It cleans / fixes your registry. The one thing to remember, should you try it, is to go to options and ask it to make a restore point - that way you can go back, in case something unexpected happens. Hasn't happened to me, though.

Another basic thing would be - please note that I'm not an engineer, not even a very technical person altogether - to use e.g. Auslogics Disk Defrag to defrag and optimize your disk. It's freeware too.

What I would do:
1. Run the registry
2. Defrag and optimize the disk
3. Reboot
4. Install Oblivion

Anyway, I hope you get it running. And welcome to the Forum, Soybe. You actually did a necro post with style... but no problems. If you feel for it, go and say Hi in Welcomes and Goodbyes - there's many with hugging fever over there.

Hi, first time poster - please excuse any ignorance!

H88ball, it seems you really know your stuff, maybe you can help me?

It's Christmas evening in Australia, and one of the presents I gave my brother was the Oblivion 5th Anniversary Edition (for when we've had enough of Skyrim I suppose!). We already had the vanilla Oblivion on our PC.

We popped disc one in, and it still played as normal, so we tried to uninstall the game first. This is what we got:

>SetupDLL \SetupDLL.cpp (390)
PAPP:Oblivion
PVENDOR:Bethesda Softworks (bethsoft website, the forum says i can't post the link though)
PGUID:35CB6715-41F8-4F99-8881-6FC75BF054B0
$11.0.0.28844
@Windows XP Service Pack 3 (2600) IE 8.0.6001.18702

OK

Upon clicking "OK", I get "Setup has experienced an error, yada yada... Error Code: -5001

I looked online, and tried uninstalling via Add or Remove programs, and got the same thing.

In a probably rash move, I deleted the Oblivion folder, but to no avail.

Please help me!

We're running Windows XP.

I just want my brother to be able to enjoy his Christmas present

I know you probably won't be able to reply and help me in the next few days (no doubt either playing Skyrim still or celebrating the holidays with your family!), but when you can, we'd appreciate it greatly

thanks, Rach