Fix: Application Load Error 5:0000065434

The Application load error 5:0000065434 is an error which appears after starting up a Steam game and it prevents you from playing it at all. The error appears across several Steam games, including The Elder Scrolls Oblivion, The Elder Scrolls Morrowind, Fallout series, etc.

The error appears because of several reasons, especially if you like to mod your Steam games manually or by using the Nexus Mod Manager. It often appears when playing Bethesda games as you can see from the paragraph above but that seems to be merely a coincidence. Some methods may require some advanced troubleshooting but the problem can be solved easily for the most part.

What Causes Application Load Error 5:0000065434

The error is often caused by the game’s installation not being in the same folder as the Steam’s installation, causing the error to be solved by playing a Steam executable in the folder or by linking it using certain commands in Command Prompt.

The problem can also be caused by faulty game files which need to be redownloaded or simply by a cache which needs to be reset.

Solution 1: Delete the Game’s Folder in Documents

This solution tends to be one of the easiest ones and that is why we wanted to display it first so that you can try it out. Deleting the game’s folder in Documents can be very important as it will reset some settings and start the game fresh.

However, you need to be very careful as plenty of games use this folder to place the save files which hold your in-game process and you should always backup these files. They are either located right there in the folder or in a sub-folder named in a self-explanatory manner. No matter which game you are struggling with, you should always conduct a Google search to see where the files are saved and save them to a different folder before proceeding with the solution.

1. Open This PC on newer versions of Windows operating system or My Computer on older ones depending the one you have installed.
2. You can get there by opening your Windows Explorer interface by clicking the Libraries icon at the taskbar or by opening any folder and clicking on Documents/My Documents at the navigation pane at the left side of the window.

3. Look for the folder named exactly as the game you are trying to troubleshoot. It might be there or in a subfolder inside Documents called My Games.
4. Right-click the folder and choose the Delete option from the context menu which will appear. Confirm your choice to delete the folder and reopen the game to see if the Application load error 5:0000065434 still appears.

Solution 2: Place Steam.exe Executable in the Game’s Folder

This is yet another quite simple solution you should try out before heading on to the more complex ones. This method is especially helpful to users who have Steam installed on a different drive than the game which is throwing this error. It’s really simple and you really shouldn’t skip it when troubleshooting the problem.

1. Navigate to your Steam root folder. If you haven’t made any changes during the installation process of the Steam client regarding the required installation folder, it should be Local Disk >> Program Files or Program Files (x86) depending on your OS.
2. However, if you have the Steam program’s shortcut on the desktop, you can simply right-click on it and choose the Open file location option from the context menu which will appear.

3. The Steam.exe executable should be selected when the Steam folder opens so make sure you right-click on it and choose copy. Next, locate the library folder where your problematic game is located (the default location is Steam >> steamapps >> common) and make sure you open it.
4. Right-click inside this window and choose the Paste option from the context menu in order to paste the Steam.exe executable. Try running the game again to check if the error still appears.

Note: If you are using Nexus Mod Manager, you should also try placing the Steam.exe executable in the Nexus Mod Manager folder which should be located in the Program Files folder on your main Local Disk drive if you didn’t change its location during the installation.

Solution 3: Use a Helpful Set of Commands

This next method can be thought of as an advanced version of the previous since you are now linking the Steam.exe executable to the folder which will actually fool the Steam client to think the game is installed where it should be. This method has helped countless users and it’s definitely worth taking a shot.

First of all, there are two locations you should take note of. The root folder of the Steam’s installation which is the same folder you navigated to in the step above and it can be anything you chose during the installation. By default, the path should be:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam

Second of all, you need to find out the location of the library where the problematic game’s installation is located. Most users who suffer from this problem experience the issue because the game is located somewhere else but the default path is:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common

We will refer to these locations as <SteamFolder> and <GameFolder> and you will need to use the format as seen above in the commands we will launch below.

1. Search for “Command Prompt” by typing this text either right in the Start menu or by pressing the search button right next to it. Right-click the first result which will appear at the top and select the “Run as administrator” context menu entry.
2. You can also use the Windows Logo Key + R key combination in order to start up the Run dialog box. Type in “cmd” in the dialog box which appears and use the Ctrl + Shift + Enter key combination in order to run Command Prompt with admin privileges.

3. Type in the following set of commands and make sure you press Enter after typing each one to confirm it. Wait for the “Operation completed successfully” message or something similar to know that the command has worked and you haven’t made any mistakes.

cd "<GameFolder>”
mklink "steam.exe" "<SteamFolder>\steam.exe"

Note: Make sure you don’t forget the quotation marks. Also, after typing in the SteamFolder entry, it should be followed by a backlash immediately with the “steam.exe” text.

4. Reopen the problematic game on Steam and check if it will now launch properly.

Solution 4: Verify Integrity of Game Files

This is yet another method which is able to solve more than half Steam game related errors and problems and the Application load error 5:0000065434 error is no exception. This method is used to redownload the missing or corrupt files from the game’s installation folder and it should help you fix your problem as it did for countless other users.

1. Open the Steam app by double-clicking its entry on the Desktop or by searching for it in the Start menu simply by typing “Steam” after clicking the Start menu button.

2. Navigate to the Library tab in the Steam client at the menu located at the top of the window, and locate the game which is giving you the issues in the list of the games you have tied to your Steam account.
3. Right-click the game’s entry in the library and choose the Properties option from the context menu which will appear. Click to open the Local Files tab in the Properties window and click the Verify Integrity of Game Files button.

4. Wait for its process to finish checking your game files and try relaunching the game afterwards to see if the problem still appears.

Solution 5: Restart Steam as an Administrator

If the Steam client is acting up again as it has the habit to do so, the problem could be fixed simply by closing Steam and reopening it as this worked for some lucky users. Others suggest that running Steam as an administrator managed to solve the problem and they never heard of it again. This method is a combination of these simple fixes so make sure you try this out to make sure.

Right-click the Steam icon located at the system tray (lower right part of your screen) and choose the Exit option in order to close the Steam client completely.

1. Wait for a while before you try to locate the Steamapp app on your desktop or by browsing for it in File Explorer. You can also search for it in the Start menu, right-click its result, and choose Open file location.
2. Either way, right-click the executable called Steam.exe when you have found it and choose Run as administrator.

3. The problem should now be resolved. However, if the issue persists the next time you try to run the game, you can set the app to be run as admin always. Right-click the executable again and choose Properties.
4. Click to open the Compatibility tab and check the box next to the “Run this program as an administrator” option under the Settings section and click on OK. Reopen the Steam client and the problematic game to see if the error still appears.

Solution 6: A Method for 4GB Patch Users (Fallout New Vegas)

The 4GB patch is used by people who have noticed memory problems with the Fallout New Vegas game which only utilized 2GBs of RAM at max. However, they fail to run the game properly because of the Application load error 5:0000065434 and they should follow the instructions below.

Before you start, you will need to learn the Steam App ID of the game. In order to find out the game ID of a Steam game, click on this link, search for your respective game, and check the numbers under the AppID column.

1. Locate the executable of the 4GB patch you downloaded and which you use to run the game, right-click on its shortcut and choose Properties from the menu which will pop up.
2. Locate the Target text box under the Shortcut tab and paste “-SteamAppId xxxxx” without the quotation marks where the ‘x’ letters stand for the actual App ID.

3. Try reopening the game and check to see if the error still appears when running Fallout New Vegas.

Solution 7: A Fix for GeForce Experience Users

This fix is highly applicable for GeForce Experience users who are trying to add a game to the Gamestream list in the program. The game simply fails to launch and it displays the Application load error 5:0000065434 instead of launching. The fix is quite simple and it can be executed easily by following the steps below.

1. Open the Steam app by double-clicking its entry on the Desktop or by searching for it in the Start menu simply by typing “Steam” after clicking the Start menu button.

2. Navigate to the Library tab in the Steam client at the menu located at the top of the window, and locate the game which is giving you the issues in the list of the games you have tied to your Steam account.
3. Right-click the game’s entry in the library and choose the Properties option from the context menu which will appear. Stay in the General tab and click the Create Desktop Shortcut button.

4. Open the GeForce Experience program on your computer by searching for it in the Start menu simply by typing its name with the Start menu open. After it opens, click the gear-looking icon next to your user name at the top right part of the window in order to open Settings.
5. Navigate to the Shield tab in the Settings window and the Gamestream option should pop up. Drag the shortcut for the game you created to the Games & apps list in the window and try launching the game via GeForce Experience to see if the problem still appears.