Missing executable

[Dohva.]

Please...for the love of the gaming gods...does anyone know how to fix this error message? I have uninstalled and installed Skyrim twice: from the cd AND steam. Steam updates fine but when I try to open Skyrim it says: error message failed to start game (missing executable).

Contacting Steam is waste of time (tried that before) so I'm hoping someone on here has seen this before. I'm wondering if I have to reinstall windows.

[Musicman247]

It's just saying that the Skyrim.exe isn't where the launcher thinks it should be.

Open up Windows Explorer and browse to C:\Program Files{x86)\Steam\Steam Apps\common\Skyrim and look for the .exe (Application) there. You should be able to double click it to launch manually.

[Dohva.]

Thank you! I'll give it a shot and see what happens. I hope this doesn't mean I have to open it up manually every time. What a pain.

[Musicman247]

In Steam you should be able to right click on the fame in your library and choose settings. From there you can set the path to the executable.

[Dohva.]

It still isn't working. I wonder if I jacked up the registry by dragging the saved games into the skyrim folder before opening a new save. The game wont even load manually.

[Musicman247]

Does it give the same error when you Double Click on SkyrimLauncher,exe or TESV.exe?

[Dohva.]

Yes. My husband seems to think that what is preventing steam from launching the game is the fact that I carried the saved gamed without opening skyrim and doing a save first. We are both stumped. A new install of windows is next on the list. Unbelieavable.

[Musicman247]

Whoa. New install of Windows? That's a bit extreme.

What do you mean by you "carried the saved game without opening Skyrim and doing a save first"?

[Dohva.]

Supposedly a new game is supposed to be started before the saved files are placed in the games folder...so that Steam can verify the connection or whatever.

EDIT: The exec says that the "application configuration is incorrect. Reinstalling application may fix problem". So yeah, this is a Visual C++ error. I was getting the same error message sometimes when I would play the game. There are a couple ways to fix it...good thing I have tomorrow free.

[Andere]

I agree with Scozzar. Definitely no need to re-install Windows because a game doesn't work. If Windows works, it works, and the game not working... it's a different matter. If you have it on a HDD, a simple defrag may help.

What language are you running? Have you tried another language?

[Dohva.]

Well, the thing is that we want to switch back to Windows 7 (long story). Thank you for the suggestions and I will SURELY try them. I've kind of given up for the moment until my anger with the whole thing subsides.