Problems with Downloads and Mod Staging File Paths

[CHULiving21]

Required Info:

Vortex 1.4.15

The Elder Scrolls Skyrim Special Edition

0 Mods Installed Now

Windows 10 x64, and I don't know how much RAM I have.

 

So... I tried to move my mods to a different folder outside of vortex, and I kept getting warnings saying that I could not use a subdirectory of the download file. Then I got a warning for the same thing in the download file when I tried to change it with regards to the mod file. I changed it again, and then I lost gigabytes worth of mods that I spent days downloading at 200 KB/s. POOF.

 

I need told what to do. I only did all this because I read that the mods cannot be saved in the vortex file. All those guides and videos seem to presume that I have a base of knowledge that just does not exist in knowing how to apply what they are referencing. I need help like this:

 

Vortex ->Setting -> Downloads -> Downloads Folder -> I don't know what to put here. Does this need to be changed?

 

-> Mods -> Mod Staging Folder -> I don't know what to put here. Or is it this that needs to be changed?

 

And no, I do not have another partition that I can use. Everything must be on the first drive (C:).

 

Please help? Please don't refer me to another video that I can barely see or understand? I am more than a little overwhelmed by this whole mod thing and you'll just confuse me if you start referring to all-encompassing how to guides for things far beyond what I think I'm asking for here.

 

-CHULiving21

[Guest deleted34304850]

you dont move mods - mods stay where they are because, well, they're mods.

you can move the archives that contain the mods once they're installed.

if you've moved your mods - then you can reinstall them from the archives you downloaded.

i'd give you more information on this, but it involves videos and reading and all that stuff that you say you don't want to do, so at this point - reinstall from your mod archives and come back when you're done with that and we'll figure out how to move your mod archives.

[CHULiving21]

Where are these archives? I searched my whole computer for the lost mods and they don't appear anywhere. You're saying that I don't have to download them again? I see my download history on Nexus, but as far as I know that is just good as a reminder for what I've lost right? There is some good news that I found 8 refugee mods that I had copied and pasted into a file that Vortex didn't wipe clean for whatever reason. So...that's good at least. If I do have to download everything again it'll be a few days until I can return to ask about the next steps.

 

Thank you for keeping it simple for me. Everyone else is playing Chess here while I'm still playing Go Fish.

[Guest deleted34304850]

go to settings then the download tab. there should be an indicator there saying download folder and it will look like this;

 

<your path\Downloads>

 

thats where vortex downloaded your archives to. take a look in there. if they're not there, then you've done something else which isn't documented above.

[rmm200]

Given your experience level, Downloads might be hiding from you in AppData.

Check C:/Users/{your id}/AppData/Vortex/downloads.

 

After you find your downloads, tell Vortex in Settings to use somewhere easy for you to find. I recommend c:/Vortex/Downloads.

Same for your mod staging folder. C:/Vortex/Mods would be good. Don't specify the game name; Vortex does that for you.

 

Vortex will move these directories for you when you specify the new path. Especially never move the mod staging folder yourself.

[AugustaCalidia]

Let's hope that the OP will follow 1ae0bfb8 and rmm200's advice and solve his problem. In the meantime, I'm puzzled as to how the OP got himself into this predicament. Since he apparently has only a C:\ drive to work with, there was no need for him to move anything at all in his Vortex installation. The Vortex default settings would have taken care of everything for him without need of adjustment.

[Guest deleted34304850]

didn't want to watch vids or read instructions, so just went off and did crazy stuff.

[CHULiving21]

Oh! They were in: AppData>Roaming>Vortex>downloads>skyrimse . All the links I had to recent locations were broken, I thought they were all gone!

 

That path is a little different than what you both recommended to look at. Does that matter?

 

Isn't this what the warning I've read before was about? If these files are in a Vortex sub-file won't they get erased when it upgrades?

 

So: For downloads folder use: C:/Vortex/Downloads , and for mod staging folder use: C:/Vortex/Mods is that correct? Are those the whole addresses? Nothing like my username or anything in front of Vortex?

 

Thank you both 1ae0bfb8 and rmm200. Although it wasn't just going off to do crazy stuff without cause. I read the pinned message saying not to download the mods into the Vortex files. I thought I was doing the right thing? But you're both suggesting to put file paths back into a Vortex sub-file? So there won't be a problem with the mods being deleted when Vortex upgrades?

[rmm200]

The warning is to never put files into the Vortex INSTALL path. That is where the executable lives, under Program Files.

That whole directory gets deleted when you install a new version.

Anything in AppData is safe. I just don't personally recommend it. It is too hidden.

 

Those paths you list are what I would use.

[CHULiving21]

I just hope I don't make a mistake going forward that compromises my computer. It's not that I haven't been reading the tutorials and watching the videos, it's that I'm way out of my comfort zone. I honestly didn't know that warning was referring to the install path until you said that. It's like that scene in Zoolander when Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson were trying to get the files out of the computer by physically cracking it open. That's me.

 

Thank you once again for giving me this assistance.