Help request: SKSE crashes immediately

[𝑲]

Everything was running well until I reset Windows (different disk) so I would get that sweet start up time of a fresh OS again. Now I click Run SKSE a.k.a. run the game, MO2 forms the virtual file system, then a command prompt window shows for a blip and MO2 unwinds being unable to launch the game.

A log file is produced in My Games called skse64_loader.log. It is a short log and I can paste it, but the relevant lines seem to be:

Originally posted by skse64_loader.log:

hook thread complete
launching
WARNING: something has started the runtime outside of skse64_loader's control.
SKSE64 will probably not function correctly.
Try running skse64_loader as an administrator, or check for conflicts with a virus scanner.

Some rumours online say it has to do with Windows Security settings. I added the entire mod folder as an exception, but there is not much else to do in those menus. I shouldn't need to do that anyway since it was working before on an up-to-date Win11.
Any help or suggestions would be appreciated

[Nabinkemper]

Initially, I would say to:
1. Add SkyrimSE.exe, SKSE64_Loader.exe, and Steam as exceptions to Windows Defender.
2. Be sure you have Steam open before using SKSE.

I'm on mobile and can't do a lot of research. Alex may be along to help.

[𝑲]

Thanks for your suggestions. I added all to exclusions. The only difference is the skse log did not generate.
I wonder what is meant by "the runtime".

[Nabinkemper]

Here's the info from a quick web search for 'runtime error SKSE Skyrim se':
"Remove the files from Data/SKSE/Plugins and try again. Mods using plugins probably need to be updated. Before contacting us, make sure that your game launches properly without SKSE first."- silverlock.org (SKSE main website).

Hope it helps.

[𝑲]

I saw that the registry key was absent, so I think my mistake has been not installing the game again. I am getting other errors about missing Xinput and DirectX dll, too, so I will wait for now and reinstall once the download is finished. I am on 1.6.659 actually, so I need to download then rollback using Galaxy. I'll keep the install files instead of zipping the already installed game. So I will report back in a few hours.

[Nabinkemper]

The game must first be launched from Steam before using SKSE. This is why there is no registry entry and exactly why you have the issue.

You may be seeing a blue update button and was trying to setup an older modded version to keep an old modded save alive, as you mentioned.

As you have noted, a clean reinstall of the current version may be needed if you don't have a full backup of the entire game folder you could use.

I recommend keeping the latest version for modding unless there is an old mod you can't live without.

[𝑲]

The problem is fixed by reinstalling. To clarify, I am on the GOG version 1.6.659. I installed the new 1179 version since that is the one available to download now. I then deleted it and moved back in the 659 game. Even though I had made the registry key before, there must be something else the install process does. No problems running the game now.

Once some mods update to 1179 (e.g., Simply Knock), I will change how I back it all up. At the moment I have been packing the game files and mod files in the same 7zip archive (separate folders with relative filepaths in MO2) and it always worked so far by extracting the lot onto a non-C disk. But for a completely new Windows install, I should have kept the install packages and the mod files in separate archives for the game to be installed correctly while the mods can still simply be extracted.

[Nabinkemper]

Well, I'm glade it is working.

I have a copy of the vanilla game (v. 1.6.640) made a year ago when I performed a clean reinstall. I made a full copy of the game folder as well as having a couple of backups of my modded game that are about a month apart. This totals about 170GB. Hard drive space is cheap right now.

It is very handy for Steam users as I could update the game to 1.6.11[3,7]0, delete the entire folder when complete, and then copy in the backup. This allowed me to change the blue update button back to green when it got annoying to look at.