Reinstall skyrim se and keeping mods after reinstalling windows

[Mig35]

Hello all,

 

It seems unavoidable for me to reinstall Windows 11 because I cannot seem to find the cause of a regular returning BSOD.

I do not like that at all because I have to reinstall Skyrim again as well and maybe I also have to reinstall all my mods.

 

Is it in any way possible to preserve my mod setup in MO2 and bring it back to a new skyrim installation without having to reinstall everything mod by mod again?

Edited April 17, 2023 by Mig35

[Deleted3576383User]

Yes, it is easy with MO2.

I don't know how you set up your directories, if you use MO2 portable, if you use Steam or GOG edition of the game, or if you desire to keep a certain stasis on your updates (such as preserving 1.5.97), so I will describe how I do it on my computer and you can learn from it.

 

1. On C:\ there is Skyrim, where the GOG version is installed with SKSE and ENB files. Within that Skyrim folder is a folder called MO2, which has the portable MO2 install. MO2 is set to recognise mods, profiles, saves, tools (LOOT), etc., from the directories within its own folder (e.g., C:\Skyrim\MO2\mods). Within the MO2 application, file paths are relative using the % sign, not hardcoded to be on a specific drive in case I want to install elsewhere next time.

I haven't seen any advice not to work in this way and I have encountered no problems using this file structure. [Edit] Best to keep the folders separate, I have discovered some tools including Root Builder need separation.

To backup my complete modded game, all I have to do is to make a compressed 7zip of the single Skyrim folder and keep it on a hard disk physically separate from the PC. To this 7zip I also add an offline copy of the Visual C++ installer which is needed for some of the mods to work. To test the backup, extract the folder onto another drive if you have one (or rename the original folder temporarily) and try running SKSE through MO2. It should "just work".

Depending on how you set up MO2, you may need to adapt your backup plan to include different folders (especially if saves are not saved in the profiles folder, but are in My Games instead).

If you do not care for backing up the game's files, just compress the MO2 folder and include SKSE and ENB if you use them with a reminder to reinstall them in the right folder.

 

2. DynDOLOD, if you use it, should not be in the tools directory in the game/mo2 folder, but it is a good idea to install it later for the most up to date version instead of backing it up.

 

3. Custom rules for LOOT can be backed up from AppData\Local\LOOT.

 

4. Before closing MO2, hit the backup buttons on the plugins and mods lists. In case they get scrambled (never happened to me, but just in case) you can recover their orders and enabled/disabled status with the restore buttons.

Edited August 31, 2023 by Guest

[Mig35]

Oh my, I missed your answer completely. Thank you for the explanation, wil prepare the zip file and all soon. Haven´t given up on solving my BSOD's just yet.

[Mig35]

Yes, it is easy with MO2.

I don't know how you set up your directories, if you use MO2 portable, if you use Steam or GOG edition of the game, or if you desire to keep a certain stasis on your updates (such as preserving 1.5.97), so I will describe how I do it on my computer and you can learn from it.

 

1. On C:\ there is Skyrim, where the GOG version is installed with SKSE and ENB files. Within that Skyrim folder is a folder called MO2, which has the portable MO2 install. MO2 is set to recognise mods, profiles, saves, tools (LOOT), etc., from the directories within its own folder (e.g., C:\Skyrim\MO2\mods). Within the MO2 application, file paths are relative using the % sign, not hardcoded to be on a specific drive in case I want to install elsewhere next time.

I haven't seen any advice not to work in this way and I have encountered no problems using this file structure.

To backup my complete modded game, all I have to do is to make a compressed 7zip of the single Skyrim folder and keep it on a hard disk physically separate from the PC. To this 7zip I also add an offline copy of the Visual C++ installer which is needed for some of the mods to work. To test the backup, extract the folder onto another drive if you have one (or rename the original folder temporarily) and try running SKSE through MO2. It should "just work".

Depending on how you set up MO2, you may need to adapt your backup plan to include different folders (especially if saves are not saved in the profiles folder, but are in My Games instead).

If you do not care for backing up the game's files, just compress the MO2 folder and include SKSE and ENB if you use them with a reminder to reinstall them in the right folder.

 

2. DynDOLOD, if you use it, should not be in the tools directory in the game/mo2 folder, but it is a good idea to install it later for the most up to date version instead of backing it up.

 

3. Custom rules for LOOT can be backed up from AppData\Local\LOOT.

 

4. Before closing MO2, hit the backup buttons on the plugins and mods lists. In case they get scrambled (never happened to me, but just in case) you can recover their orders and enabled/disabled status with the restore buttons.

Instead of making a .zip file, can I also simply copy the whole folder to my separate data harddrive on the computer and copy everything back once I have reinstalled WIN and skyrim? Will it work the same for the Skyrim ENb config folder and the ENB files that need to be copied in the skyrim folder in the steamapps folder? In other words, no zipping, just copy to data drive and copy back. Will it work?

[Deleted3576383User]

 

Yes, it is easy with MO2.

I don't know how you set up your directories, if you use MO2 portable, if you use Steam or GOG edition of the game, or if you desire to keep a certain stasis on your updates (such as preserving 1.5.97), so I will describe how I do it on my computer and you can learn from it.

 

1. On C:\ there is Skyrim, where the GOG version is installed with SKSE and ENB files. Within that Skyrim folder is a folder called MO2, which has the portable MO2 install. MO2 is set to recognise mods, profiles, saves, tools (LOOT), etc., from the directories within its own folder (e.g., C:\Skyrim\MO2\mods). Within the MO2 application, file paths are relative using the % sign, not hardcoded to be on a specific drive in case I want to install elsewhere next time.

I haven't seen any advice not to work in this way and I have encountered no problems using this file structure.

To backup my complete modded game, all I have to do is to make a compressed 7zip of the single Skyrim folder and keep it on a hard disk physically separate from the PC. To this 7zip I also add an offline copy of the Visual C++ installer which is needed for some of the mods to work. To test the backup, extract the folder onto another drive if you have one (or rename the original folder temporarily) and try running SKSE through MO2. It should "just work".

Depending on how you set up MO2, you may need to adapt your backup plan to include different folders (especially if saves are not saved in the profiles folder, but are in My Games instead).

If you do not care for backing up the game's files, just compress the MO2 folder and include SKSE and ENB if you use them with a reminder to reinstall them in the right folder.

 

2. DynDOLOD, if you use it, should not be in the tools directory in the game/mo2 folder, but it is a good idea to install it later for the most up to date version instead of backing it up.

 

3. Custom rules for LOOT can be backed up from AppData\Local\LOOT.

 

4. Before closing MO2, hit the backup buttons on the plugins and mods lists. In case they get scrambled (never happened to me, but just in case) you can recover their orders and enabled/disabled status with the restore buttons.

Instead of making a .zip file, can I also simply copy the whole folder to my separate data harddrive on the computer and copy everything back once I have reinstalled WIN and skyrim? Will it work the same for the Skyrim ENb config folder and the ENB files that need to be copied in the skyrim folder in the steamapps folder? In other words, no zipping, just copy to data drive and copy back. Will it work?

 

It will work. The reason I like zip is because it can be compressed so it takes up less space.

 

When you reinstall, do not move the folder. Copy it so if something goes wrong you can redo.

 

Make sure to copy the folder in My Games as well as your INIs (skyrim.ini, skyrimprefs.ini). (This is not always necessary, but it depends how you have set things.) Don't forget any mod tools/addons that are outside steamapps, the mod organiser configs (MO2 can make backups of the mod order and plugin lists).

 

When using Steam there are some extra bits to remember.

If your mods work on a version of Skyrim that you have prevented from updating, reinstalling will update the game and likely break some mods.

If you copy the backup into steamapps after having reinstalled Windows, Steam will not recognise it is installed and not let you run it. When you start the Steam install, it downloads over and 'verifies out' what you copied.

• If you don't mind running the latest version of the game, start the download through Steam and let it finish before copying across your backup. In this case, you don't need to backup core game files, only the stuff you have added.
• If you want to preserve the version of Skyrim that you prevented from updating, start the download in Steam and stop it without downloading much. Exit Steam, go to the steamapps folder and set appmanifest_489830.acf to read only. Then copy your backup across.

Some mods require Visual C++ Redistributable and if your game crashes after restoring your backup that might be the cause.

[Mig35]

@1Hat, quite a late reply but good news. I reinstalled windows and restored Skyrim SE modded and all to glory again. I did not do it completely the way you told me, I copied everything seperately without zipping it.

Strangely enough as soon as I started skyrim again, the folders I used for MO2, ENB etc where there again but in older versions. I replaced them all with the files I saved and reinstalled MO2. I did not make any adjustments or installation points in the past or whatever. ??? That means however it should be possible to make certain adjustments in order to restore all your settings. Do you or anyone else here have any ideas? I could save me a lot of work in the future.

[Deleted3576383User]

Well done on your good news! I don't understand your question, though.

[Mig35]

Well done on your good news! I don't understand your question, though.

Well, I wonder how it could be possible that all the files where there again directly after re-installing MO2 without me doing anything? I completely reinstalled windows and I reinstalled Skyrim and MO2 and I made no online backup or something like that but the game was restored to the situation of some time ago and save files where placed back as well but only from a few months ago. I had place back the most recent files manually anyway but at some point this means it should be possible to have everything restored automatically... Perhaps you might know how?

[7531Leonidas]

Do you have your Skyrim set to sync with Steam Cloud? You can check/disable in settings for Steam.

[Mig35]

Do you have your Skyrim set to sync with Steam Cloud? You can check/disable in settings for Steam.

Could be, not sure, but Steam is only about the installation of the game, Skyrim, itself. MO2 has nothing to do with that, or so I think.

Edited July 14, 2023 by Mig35