How To Fix The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered Unhandled Exception Error
By Ahmad HassanPublished on April 30, 2025
Xbox and Bethesda released The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered right after announcing it. Developer Virtuos has updated the game with Unreal Engine 5 (UE5), and it looks gorgeous. However, UE5 games on PC have a track record of experiencing errors and crashes. PC users report experiencing the “Unhandled Exception: EXCEPTION_ACCESS_VIOLATION” error. Here, I have compiled the best fixes that will resolve the unhandled exception error in The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered on your Windows PC.
Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered Unhandled Exception Error Fixes That Work
PC users report that Elder Scrolls 4 remastered keeps crashing with the “Unhandled Exception: EXCEPTION_ACCESS_VIOLATION” error. The following is the full error message that PC users are experiencing with the game:
PC users also report experiencing errors with the game, like the Out of Video Memory error. There are multiple reasons why you are experiencing the Unhandled Exception error with Elder Scrolls 4 remastered, like corrupt or missing files, drivers for third-party peripherals interfering with the game, incompatible DirectX shader cache, and more. The following fixes will help you resolve the Unhandled Exception error on your PC.
Fix #1 – Delete DirectX Shader Cache
The DirectX shader cache on your PC is either corrupt or has compatibility issues, which is crashing Oblivion Remastered with the unhandled exception error. You can fix the error by deleting the cache, and here is how it can be done:
Open Windows Settings and navigate to System > Storage > Temporary Files.
Check the “DirectX Shader Cache” option and click the “Remove Files” button.
Play The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered, and the Unhandled Exception error is now fixed.
Fix #2 – Remove Third-Party Peripherals
A lot of PC gamers use third-party peripherals, like controllers, to play games however they like. However, the drivers or software for such devices often clash with the game, which crashes them to the desktop with the “Unhandled Exception: EXCEPTION_ACCESS_VIOLATION” error.
If you are using third-party peripherals, then it is the reason for the Unhandled Exception error with Oblivion Remastered. You can fix the issue by removing all the necessary peripherals, plugging them back one by one, and playing the game to figure out which peripheral is causing the crash. Once identified, remove the device when playing Elder Scrolls 4 remastered.
Fix #3 – Repair System Files and Visual C++ Components
Corrupt or missing system files are crashing The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered to the desktop with the “Unhandled Exception: EXCEPTION_ACCESS_VIOLATION” error. Visual C++ components are necessary to run any game on your Windows PC, and they often get removed or damaged with frequent Windows updates. You can fix the error by repairing the Visual C++ component and system files. Here is how it can be done:
Install or Repair Visual C++ Components
Go to the Steam Library and type “Steamworks” in the search bar.
Right-click “Steamworks Common Redistributables”, navigate to Manage, and click Browse local files.
Open _CommonRedist\vcredist in the explorer window that opens on your screen.
You will get a list of folders with names in years starting from 2010.
Open each folder one by one and run the VC_redis for both x64 and x86 versions.
Repair or install Visual C++ Redistributables.
Restart your PC, launch Remedy’s Control, and you will not get the Visual C++ Redistributables Installation Failed error.
Type “Steamworks” in the Steam search bar. Right-click “Steamworks Common Redistributables” > Manage > Browse Local Files.Install or repair the Visual C++ Redistributable.
Over time, Steam cleans out the Steamworks redistributable, and chances are you will find the vcredist folder empty. In that case, you can manually download the installers from the official website and run them to fix the Unhandled Exception error.
Run SFC and DISM Scans to Repair System Files
If installing or repairing Visual C++ components didn’t fix the “Unhandled Exception” crash, then run the SFC and DISM scans through the command prompt. These are built-in Windows tools that scan for any missing or damaged system files and replace them. Here is how to run these scans:
Open Command Prompt (CMD) and run it as an administrator.
Type DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth and press Enter.
Let the scan complete.
After the DISM scan is complete, type sfc /scannow and press Enter.
It will scan for any missing or corrupt system files and replace them.
After the scans, play Oblivion Remastered, and the Unhandled Exception error is now fixed.
Type DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth and press Enter.
Fix #4 – Disable Ransomware Protection
Some PC users report that The Elder Scrolls 4 remastered crashes when they load their save and displays the “Unhandled Exception: EXCEPTION_ACCESS_VIOLATION” error. The game is crashing with this error due to Windows Ransomware protection. Disable ransomware protection to fix the issue, and here is how you can do it:
Go to Windows Settings, click Privacy & Security, click Windows Security, and then select “Virus & Threat Protection”.
You will find “Manage Ransomware Protection” under “Ransomware Protection”. Click it and turn off “Controlled Folder Access”.
Launch Oblivion remastered, load your save, and it won’t crash with the “Unhandled exception” error.
Open Windows Settings and go to the “Privacy & Security” tab. Then
go to Windows Security and click the “Virus & Threat Protection” option.Turn off the Controlled folder access.
Fix #5 – Change Windows Timeout Detection and Recovery Settings
Timeout Detection and Recovery (TDR) is a Windows feature that recovers the GPU driver in the event it stalls or refreshes it if it takes too long to respond. However, TDR isn’t a perfect system and often causes games to crash to the desktop. Oblivion Remastered is crashing with the Unhandled Exception error due to TDR, and you can fix it by tweaking it. Here is how you can tweak Windows Timeput Detection and Recovery to fix the error:
TDRLevel
You can fix the Unhandled Exception error by creating the TdrLevel file in the Windows Registry that resets the GPU driver when TDR detects a driver stall. Here is how to do it:
Open “regedit” and run it as an administrator.
Go to “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE -> SYSTEM -> CurrentControlSet -> Control -> GraphicsDrivers”.
Right-click in the right panel in the ‘blank space’ and select New in Windows Registry.
Select DWORD (32-bit) Value and name the file TdrLevel.
Open the “TdrLevel” file and select Modify.
Confirm that the value is 0.
Restart your PC.
TdrDelay
Windows TDR has a default 2-second timer for the GPU driver to respond. If the driver takes more than 2 seconds, the OS resets the graphics card. This is crashing Oblivion Remastered on your PC with the “Unhandled Exception: EXCEPTION_ACCESS_VIOLATION” error. You can fix the crash by setting up Timeout Detection and Recovery Delay in the Windows Registry, which gives the driver more time to respond or recover.
Type regedit in Windows search and run it as an administrator.
Go to “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE -> SYSTEM -> CurrentControlSet -> Control -> GraphicsDrivers”.
Right-click on the right panel in the ‘blank space’ and Select New in Windows Registry.
Select DWORD (32-bit) Value and name the file TdrDelay.
Open the “TdrDelay” and select Modify.
Confirm that the value is 10.
Restart your PC.
Fix #6 – Update BIOS
The BIOS is often why games crash to the desktop with the “Unhandled Exception” error. If none of the above fixes have worked for you, then update your BIOS, and the issue will be resolved. Besides, it is a good practice to keep your motherboard’s BIOS up to date.
Once you have updated the BIOS, play the Elder Scrolls 4 remastered, and the Unhandled Exception error is now fixed.
Fix #7 – Recompile Shaders
As stated, Oblivion Remastered utilizes Unreal Engine 5 for its visuals. However, the game engine relies heavily on shaders for its visuals and performance. This is why the game performs a shader compilation step when you launch it for the first time or when the game or GPU driver is updated.
The Elder Scrolls 4 Remastered’s shader cache is damaged, which is crashing it with the “Unhandled Exception: EXCEPTION_ACCESS_VIOLATION” error. You can fix the error by deleting the cache and recompiling the shaders. Here is how you can do it:
Go to the “Documents” folder on your PC.
Find and open the “My Games” folder. There will be folders for multiple games here.
Find and delete the Oblivion Remastered folder.
Play the game, and it will automatically recompile shaders. This fixes the “Unhandled exception” error.
That is all for our fixes for the Unhandled Exception error in Oblivion Remastered. If you are experiencing errors and crashes in other games, also see our fixes hub for commonly occurring errors for PC and handhelds.
