thanks for replying cougar.have deleted all the hd of oblivion and run the game without the extra content.it works fine as far as i can tell.have resorted to reformatting the hd and re installing the discs again (i know it’s a bit drastic ;-).i just do not know what to do,if it still doesn’t work.i tried downloading another update from microsoft,but it’s the same as the one i already have.i just do not understand why the update from the game isn’t working (have also checked the discs for scratches,but they seem fine) have just tried again (after re installing all discs/still no luck DOH! have e mailed bethesda also about this,hoping that they might be able to shed some light on the problem.p.s sorry for long winded reply,but had exactly the same problem with my previous copy a few years ago (somehow i managed to get it to work that time)