Save Games backup/restore error - 'save data unavailable'

+
Save Games backup/restore error - 'save data unavailable'

I recently reinstalled my OS, and before doing that I backed up my 'C:\Users\username\Documents\The Witcher 3\gamesaves' folder to an external drive. It had all my saves and autosaves in the folder, along with a .bmp image for each one, which I imagine was the thumbnails the game pulls.

After installing the OS, I started the game, realized my saves weren't there, and closed the game. Went to the folder location listed above, and copied all my old saves from the folder into the new folder the game created for me. When I start the game, I am given the option to 'continue' or 'load game'. When I press continue, it tries to load the game for a moment, then gives me the error message 'save data unavailable'. The same message occurs when I try to start it from the 'load game' option. The saves are all there, but none of the thumbnails load and neither do the saves when I choose one.

Any help is greatly appreciated, I was pretty far into the game and I'd rather not start over from scratch, won't have enough time to play it again properly with all the upcoming games being released.
 
Can you try to start a new game, then save as soon as you can, to make sure it will save correctly. If it does, then check the location of the save and the permissions. Make sure your older saves are in the same location and have the same permissions. If you've done an OS reinstallation, it's possible that the permissions are no longer the same.

Also check this thread to see if it's applicable:
http://forums.cdprojektred.com/threads/54877-Windows-10-upgrade-save-the-gamesaves
 
I tried your suggestion, the new game saves correctly and loads properly. It also shows the in-game location 'Kaer Morhen' (obviously since it's a new game) and the thumbnail. The old saves, which are in the same folder and same permissions ('full control' for all users) do not show the in-game location and thumbnail.

I tried a couple things mentioned in the other thread you linked, nothing on that front either.

I haven't played in a few months (computer components took a dump), would the game version be breaking this at all, should I try to roll back to a different update in GOG Galaxy client? I can't see why the newer version wouldn't be able to read the older save though, so I'm at a loss.

Thanks for your suggestions though!
 
There shouldn't be any problem in this direction. Do you know what version it was on when you last played?
 
I think by location you were supposed to check path to the save game data, not the region in the game world. Move the save games you copied to this location if it differs from your current information.

Also rather than "continue" use the "load game" option. Not sure whether that will help, but it may be that you lack a registry entry that links the game to the 'current' save.

I know that I've manually backed up and restored a checkpoint save because I wanted to keep the save state and there was no option to manually save before cutscenes and dialogue progressed the story.
 
Top Bottom