70% of saves broken after manually "uninstalling" a mod

[CrusaderX]

Hi,

First of, I usually know my way around simple PC related stuff such as NMM, but I'll leave any assumptions etc. out for now, because whatever I thought might fix my problem didn't work.

 

 

I have about 130~ hours playtime in Fallout 4, which is quite a lot considering my work schedule.

During my last session I noticed that the "Pipers Trench Coat Retextures" by Dala was active, even though it did not show up in my NMM list.

 

This was causing some texture/clipping issues, so I decided to manually uninstall the mod.

However I couldn't find the files in the standard NMM mods folder, so I used the Windows search function and ended up finding it in another one.

 

Now please don't lynch me for this, but little ignorant me thought that simply deleting the mod folder would work, and it kind off did but did not at the same time.

 

At this point the mod folder was in my Windows recycle bin, but the mod popped up in NMM as active, so I used NMM's uninstall option to uninstall it properly.

After doing so, I launched the game, selected my latest save, got the "standard" message about how some files appear to be missing (which I assumed was simply because the modded textures were gone) and the game started loading like every time, nothing unusual.

 

But after about 20 seconds (that's how long it usually takes me to load into the game), Fallout 4 crashed without any error popup.

 

 

Here is what I tried, which didn't work:

-Running the game without any mods

-Restoring the deleted mod from the Windows reycle bin

-Re-installing the mod using NMM

-Using Steam's file checking/repairing function

 

 

 

However, for whatever reason, the early saves I made during the first 30 or so hours of the game still work fine, both with and without mods.

I even replayed all of the missions I had a the time, trying to re-create whatever could "trigger" the issue.

 

 

At this point I'm utterly clueless, but I will try my best to give anybody that could help me all the information they need.

[motormatt48]

I had it with FO4 for now...To much BS like you and a lot of us are going through right now...I`ll send ya a post card from Skyrim...

[CrusaderX]

I had it with FO4 for now...To much BS like you and a lot of us are going through right now...I`ll send ya a post card from Skyrim...

 

Yea, Bathesda definetely won't be getting any money from me anymore, if at all possible.

 

But I'd still like to get my saves back.

[SharraShimada]

I would assume, the issue here is, that too much info is stored within the savegame. So, the game tries to load data, no longer availlable, because the savegame tells it to do so. For skyrim we had some kind of savegame-cleaner, but not for FO4 yet. Thats the main problem with uninstalling mods from a running game. It will ruin your savegame sometimes. The advice to NOT install or uninstall mods to a running game, is there for a reason. Nearly everything gets stored in the saves in one or another way. Most of the time, you are fine with this, but sometimes, the save will be corrupted. As there is no cleaner availlable for now, you could edit the save by hand, and try your luck, but if would not count on a success.

[CrusaderX]

I would assume, the issue here is, that too much info is stored within the savegame. So, the game tries to load data, no longer availlable, because the savegame tells it to do so. For skyrim we had some kind of savegame-cleaner, but not for FO4 yet. Thats the main problem with uninstalling mods from a running game. It will ruin your savegame sometimes. The advice to NOT install or uninstall mods to a running game, is there for a reason. Nearly everything gets stored in the saves in one or another way. Most of the time, you are fine with this, but sometimes, the save will be corrupted. As there is no cleaner availlable for now, you could edit the save by hand, and try your luck, but if would not count on a success.

 

While the game is running?

Not even I am stupid enough to delete files of an active application.

[llamaRCA]

 

I had it with FO4 for now...To much BS like you and a lot of us are going through right now...I`ll send ya a post card from Skyrim...

 

Yea, Bathesda definetely won't be getting any money from me anymore, if at all possible.

 

But I'd still like to get my saves back.

 

 

This isn't a Bethesda issue, it's a modding issue. Modding your game is always a risk.

[CrusaderX]

 

 

I had it with FO4 for now...To much BS like you and a lot of us are going through right now...I`ll send ya a post card from Skyrim...

 

Yea, Bathesda definetely won't be getting any money from me anymore, if at all possible.

 

But I'd still like to get my saves back.

 

 

This isn't a Bethesda issue, it's a modding issue. Modding your game is always a risk.

 

 

Well, games like The Witcher, Dragon Age, Arma etc. never had any issues that I couldn't solve myself.

And the mods I have in Fallout 4 are incredibly basic compared to the ones in those games.

[Gilibran]

Your savefiles are probably not corrupted but are simply missing files because you deleted to much. Not sure if Steam verify cache scans all folders and sees missing textures and meshes which will cause CTD and reinstalls them.

 

Your best option of saving 130+ hours:

 

Uninstall all mods with NMM

 

Back up your save files and do a clean install of FO 4 Uninstall via steam and empty the folder off any left behind files but not any NMM directories. ( or you have t re install it and re-download all mods.

 

After reinstall start it once for the ini files to be created and play through the intro making a hard save just before leaving the vault and one after exiting.

 

Optional: if you have the disk space make a backup copy of the entire Fallout 4 folder in Steamapps and the newly generated ini files, but at least those 2 hard saves

 

Copy a few of your old saves back into the mygames savefolder.

 

First, try loading one of those old saves to see what happens. Sometimes your lucky and the save will load. Off course any items, buildings etc added by mods will be gone but you have at least saved your progress. Now start rebuilding. Most items you can get back through console player.additem. Stats perks and level are not affected unless modded. Chances are slim but worth a try. If it does not CTD make a hard save and start activating mods again.

 

If it still CTD's

 

Start activating all mods one by one, start the game loading one of those two "vanilla" saves untill it crashes or not. If it crashes check for known issues/conficts/loadorder for the last activated mod, dl any compatibility patches if there are any. If there are no compatibilty patches and loadorder does'nt matter then leave it unchecked. If it conficts with another mod, decide which one you want to keep.

 

Once you have all mods you had previously activated, and the game does not CTD on those vanilla saves, you can try loading one of the old ones and hope it does not crash again.

 

It's a tedious, time consuming job, but your only option to try to save your progress and get as much modded content back.

 

One last tip, make a "test" profile in NMM and never ever install a new mod or uninstall one from your " play" profile before you test what happens on the "test" profile. If you ruin that no problem, simply copy the main profile and saves to the test profile and start again.

 

I have been installing mods since Morrowind long before mod managers, loot, Boss and what not, all manually. Even with brilliant programs like NMM and Mod Organizer and all the other good stuff be prepared to break your game more then a few times when you start modding your game and reinstalling it.

[CrusaderX]

Your savefiles are probably not corrupted but are simply missing files because you deleted to much. Not sure if Steam verify cache scans all folders and sees missing textures and meshes which will cause CTD and reinstalls them.

 

Your best option of saving 130+ hours:

 

Uninstall all mods with NMM

 

 

Uninstall, or disable?

Wouldn't uninstalling make it so I need the manually download each one later?

 

Back up your save files and do a clean install of FO 4 Uninstall via steam and empty the folder off any left behind files but not any NMM directories. ( or you have t re install it and re-download all mods.

 

After reinstall start it once for the ini files to be created and play through the intro making a hard save just before leaving the vault and one after exiting.

 

Optional: if you have the disk space make a backup copy of the entire Fallout 4 folder in Steamapps and the newly generated ini files, but at least those 2 hard saves

 

Copy a few of your old saves back into the mygames savefolder.

 

First, try loading one of those old saves to see what happens. Sometimes your lucky and the save will load. Off course any items, buildings etc added by mods will be gone but you have at least saved your progress. Now start rebuilding. Most items you can get back through console player.additem. Stats perks and level are not affected unless modded. Chances are slim but worth a try. If it does not CTD make a hard save and start activating mods again.

 

If it still CTD's

 

Start activating all mods one by one, start the game loading one of those two "vanilla" saves untill it crashes or not. If it crashes check for known issues/conficts/loadorder for the last activated mod, dl any compatibility patches if there are any. If there are no compatibilty patches and loadorder does'nt matter then leave it unchecked. If it conficts with another mod, decide which one you want to keep.

 

Once you have all mods you had previously activated, and the game does not CTD on those vanilla saves, you can try loading one of the old ones and hope it does not crash again.

 

It's a tedious, time consuming job, but your only option to try to save your progress and get as much modded content back.

 

One last tip, make a "test" profile in NMM and never ever install a new mod or uninstall one from your " play" profile before you test what happens on the "test" profile. If you ruin that no problem, simply copy the main profile and saves to the test profile and start again.

 

I have been installing mods since Morrowind long before mod managers, loot, Boss and what not, all manually. Even with brilliant programs like NMM and Mod Organizer and all the other good stuff be prepared to break your game more then a few times when you start modding your game and reinstalling it.

 

 

Will try this asap, thanks in advance.

[Gilibran]

No, uninstall, not just deactivate, that's why you do not delete the NMM folder if you put it there. When you setup NMM you had to set a few file paths, one was where downloaded mods should be stored. Should be the same hd but a folder outside of steam or wherever your fallout is.

 

NMM installs the mod from that folder and even if you uninstall the game the mods will still be there, ready to be installed again when you reinstalled the game. If you do not uninstall them before deleting fallout, NMM thinks they are still installed.

 

Hopes this makes some sense, if in doubt also look at the S.T.E.P. Wiki. It has an extensive discription what to do and how to before installing mods. Will save you alot of frustration. Not sure if they updated for FO4 but anything that applies to Skyrim, applies to FO4