Emergent launcher issue, need input

fireshine6623

I wanted to get a thread going for an error that came out of nowhere for me, I'll open a ticket as well. I've been playing for nearly 8 years, and on the same computer for the last 3 (windows 10). The game has run perfectly, and I've logged in daily without issue until today. Any ideas would be appreciated, but I don't think it's my computer settings tbh.

I'm not getting what seems to be an “old issue” of a file permission error when launching



Based on old posts, what I've tried, none have worked:

-I restarted my computer (the no brainer)
-I ran repair several times, which is where the codes came from.
-I set the program to run as administrator (the error number disappeared, but the file permission error text persisted). The launcher looked like it was trying to download files, but was unsuccessful.
-I gave specific permission in my windows firewall which was never needed before (the file error number returned).
-I checked in the task manager that no eso/zenimax files were running in the background, none were.
-I checked the file permissions for the entire Zenimax folder. Full permissions were already set.

I'm happy to uninstall and reinstall the game, but I honestly don't think that will fix the problem. It will just install with the same settings that, again, previously worked that no longer do.

Keep in mind our current context of today 4/3/2024:

Jester's festival is currently happening, rolling in to the anniversary event.
Eso free play week started just yesterday and ends on 4/9/2024
A patch was issued on 3/24/2024

With all this activity, I suspect something went amiss, so this is partly a heads up for @staff. When the launcher repair function no longer works like it used to, and long standing working installations of the game just stop working at random, it tells me there are some problems lurking around that are likely to get worse.

Again, any help would be appreciated, thanks!

fireshine6623

I meant I'm "now" getting the issue, a typo sorry

Izanagi.Xiiib16_ESO

Select all the files, right click > Permissions and untick the read only flag, see if that clears it.

If you uninstall and reinstall be aware that you will need around 160GB + space free because the game doesn't install in a nice way so requires double the disc size at the time of downloading.

fireshine6623

Thank you for helping out! It has become a big game.

I unchecked the read only box on the Zenimax Online folder to make them all read-write, and nothing. Still getting the above error box at the end of repair. It looks again like it's trying to download files, but the game still will not launch.

GuuMoonRyoung

Are you in the beta launcher? If so, maybe you could try reverting to the old launcher. If you are on old launcher, maybe try upgrading to the beta launcher and try this process again. Just so you know, I could be very wrong about this, so try anything at your own risk. Well who am I kidding? No matter who provides a solution, the risk is still on you... tragedy...

fireshine6623

Launcher is 1.3.6.2xxxxx. I think it's the regular launcher, not the beta one. As I said above, this same default set up has worked for years. Not sure why it's giving me a problem now, I suspect it's due to a recent change on Zos's end like tweaks for the free play weekend etc. This is stock windows 10, completely updated, as is the ZOS launcher. Still failing to see why it suddenly won't work.

I'll check out the beta launcher. Might have do a re-install, I have the space. Thanks.

ZOS_Lunar

Hello!

We have a troubleshooting article for this error, found here. This generally occurs when the launcher can't access certain folders due to permissions.

If you continue to receive the error, please submit a tech support ticket with us HERE.

fireshine6623

This is going to sound weird... the plot thickens, and it resolved itself for at least one log in so far. I am the only user (administrator) on windows 10 and the files keep reverting to the checked read only no matter what I do. This is also true for a second computer I have eso installed on (windows 10, same identical set up except RAM amount). On both the read only box was checked and would not stay unchecked for the zenimax online folder. However, when the game launched and was running, I checked the zenimax online folder and it was set to read only (the checkbox, although deeper permissions were full read/write). When it did launch successfully I got an antivirus notice saying that eso wanted to modify "usersettings.txt" which I've never gotten upon launch. This might be related to the user status for the free to play that started yesterday. Just a heads up.

These are the same windows settings I've used for multiple years and eso ran fine. I wonder why I got that error now. I'll try launching a few more times, if it works I'll shout resolved here and close the ticket I opened. Thanks for your help all!

fireshine6623

Multiple successful launches now, seems resolved. Still not sure what happened, but thanks everyone for the input. I"ll close the ticket as well.

ZOS_Volpe

Hi!

If further assistance is needed, we went ahead and moved this thread to a category that will be more helpful for this topic, PC Tech Support.

Thanks for your understanding!

ZOS_Bill

Thank you for updating us on this launcher issue. Since this issue is now resolved, we will be closing the discussion from any further comments.