I have in my backups files that say 65171change_5495149_withshelf5495001_(60926 whatever all these numbers mean. is this the latest one or what is the deal?

REDkit is the official modding tool for The Witcher 3, see https://www.thewitcher.com/us/en/redkit.
If you're not going to make mods, you don't need it.

Your library gives you all the information you need on the latest version.
TW3 CE: (73662)
TW3 GOTY classic (9709)
TW3: (73883)
TW3 classic (9709)

If you're too far behind, not all updates might be available anymore. Download the installers again and reinstall the game (don't delete savefiles) or use Galaxy to update it for you. Though that might mess with installed mods.

where do you got those numbers? I can't see nothing like that in the library
edit: so i've clicked on changelog and it says something like 4.02 patch march 13th, 2023 but there is no indications which of the numbers I have on the actual files I've downloaded, what that patch is.

never mind I've looked at the information on the exe file and is dated december 2022. I have an outdated version in my backup. probably forgot to download the more recent versions.

Those numbers are in the name of the installer files when you download them. Some kind of GOG build number.

I find is really hard to find information about the actual files names when games are frequently updated.

anyway I've downloaded the latest version. I don't remember getting so many crashes, this is just ridiculous

The current executable installer for the Complete Edition is:
setup_the_witcher_3_wild_hunt_-_game_of_the_year_edition_4.04a_redkit_update_2_(73662).exe
Game version: 4.04a_redkit_update_2
GOG build number: 73662

One of the patches:
patch_the_witcher_3_wild_hunt_-_game_of_the_year_edition_4.04a_REDkit_(73519)_to_4.04a_REDkit_Update_2_(73662) .exe
Game version to update from: 4.04a_REDkit
Game version to update to: 4.04a_REDkit_Update_2
The numbers between () behind that are the GOG build numbers for those game versions. It is possible for a game version to have more than 1 GOG build number. For instance if there was an issue with the GOG installer.

The only time I had issues with the classic was in the year after launching. I installed from 1.01 and updated it every single time till 1.2x. At some point it became unstable. Reinstalling from the up-to-date installer fixed that.
Since than I always make sure to install from the latest full version of the installer.

I recently played through the CE. I had only 1 CTD during my entire play through.
Two other issues occurred several times:
1. Alt tabbing during loading would freeze the game and the desktop every single time. Most commonly when it was close to finish loading. Allowing only to reboot or sign out of Windows. I used the Fast Launch mod, which might have something to do with this.
2. A few times the game didn't fully close. The music kept playing and the game tried to use 100% of my CPU. I had to close it through task management.

is really unstable, for example, this is a screen from a new game, after the scene with the griffin eating the horse and before entering the inn in the village. died from those drowers in the screen instead of loading the save, geralt spawned on the ground with no life, the hud was visible but it was included in the screenshot. so I could move the camera around but there was no way to bring up the menu. I've had to kill the game from the task manager.

anyone know if there is any way to report a bug?