Vortex triples the mods

[Hiskarian]

 

 

 

once I deleted the vortex files I kept throwing errors and I had to reinstall it

 

What Vortex files did you delete? My suggestion for saving space was to delete archives, which would not have created Vortex and/or game errors. If you deleted more than that then of course you will get errors. Do you know the difference between an archive and an installed mod?

 

directly delete the folder

C:\Users\...\AppData\Roaming\Vortex\skyrim\mods

 

since I had a pretty decent skyrim that I wasn't going to play much then I thought they would still be installed in the skyrim directory

 

 

 

You're going to be back in here asking where your mods went...

 

Those are the ARCHIVES you downloaded from the Nexus.

THEN, when you install them, Vortex extracts the ARCHIVE, into the Mod Staging Folder, where Vortex then makes Virtual Links from the mod in the mod staging Folder, to the Game Directory Folder.

 

What you've done, is deleted ALL of your downloaded mod archives, so if you uninstall the mod, it will no longer exist on your hard drive ever want to install them again, you'll have to download them again, but Vortex will complain, because you deleted the entire Directory, and Vortex won't be able to find it.

 

I never downloaded any files directly from vortex, so to a manual download then the file was imported, I still had the mods, well that happened a long time ago I am currently using MO2 and I am doing great, thank you very much for the information

[hasto123]

omg :ohmy: 30GB in my local disk C..

[VulcanTourist]

Deleting the entire Vortex Mods staging folder DOES NOT destroy the file contents if there are deployed hardlinks. You misunderstand how hardlinks function: they are NOT like Windows shortcuts. Deleting the entire Mods folder REMOVES THE ORIGINAL HARDLINKS BUT DOES NOT DELETE THE FILE CONTENTS, the data. That file data is ONLY deleted when the last remaining hardlink to it is removed. Since there are in fact still hardlinks to all of it - in the game folders - the file data was actually preserved.

 

The mods will continue to function as expected, BUT those hardlinks are now the last remaining references to all those files. The hardlinks are probably no longer managed by Vortex, but that depends upon how Vortex tracks the hardlinks it creates; even if Purge still works, you wouldn't want to use it because it would DELETE THE FILES and not just the hardlinks.

 

The only hope here is that Hiskarian deleted the Mods folder to that drive's Recycle Bin and can recover everything from there. If not, then the mods that were deployed are now effectively loose unmanaged files in the game folders. Deleting the game folders or trying to use Purge at this point will permanently remove the deployed mods and leave nothing behind except the mod archives.

 

This is a cautionary tale for the future development of Vortex. If there's a means of placing safeguards against the casual removal of critical folders, that should be implemented to prevent people from doing Dumb Things and creating a support nightmare.

Edited October 24, 2020 by VulcanTourist

[HadToRegister]

 

omg :ohmy: 30GB in my local disk C..

 

 

Yes, this is normal if you download a ton of mods, so what's the problem?

 

You can move your downloads folder USING VORTEX, to another drive with more space if you want, but 30 gb of Mods, has NOTHING to do with Vortex or how it functions.