Skyrim Retail vs. Steam

[chaosforge]

I've never had an issue with it Xaliqen, but that IS good information for those that do.

 

I give the default directory when it is asked about for the simple fact that most using mods for the first time wouldn't consider NOT using the default instilation folder.

 

Vista and I had a.......conversation......a while back. It doesn't mess with me now. It is afraid. :devil:

[someONEgood]

C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\skyrim\Data

 

If you're using Windows Vista or Windows 7, it's usually a good idea to move your Steam install path to C:\Games\Steam rather than C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\

 

Programs placed in the program folder can experience interference due to UAC in recent versions of Windows, and this crops up especially if you're running mods.

 

See this helpful Steam support page for more information on moving your Steam install.

 

Very good suggestion. This is a an absolutely fantastic method. Personally, all my games are installed to D:\Games\etc. I like to keep my C:\ partition strictly OS, with the pagefile on another HD at the head of the drive, and games/utilities in their own partitions as well. So far it's worked absolutely fantastic, with no UAC issues at all. :) Also, moving all your temp directories to another parition really helps with defragmentation. My OS drive never gets above 2%-3% usually.

 

Something like:

HDD1

P1: OS

P2: Programs (Games/Utilites)

P3: Games/My Documents/Downloads, etc (Stuff that doesn't require quick access like pictures, music etc)

 

HDD2

P1: Pagefile

P2: Temp Files (TEMP/TMP directories, Chrome/Firefox temp directories, etc)

P3: Storage

 

Now just need to make the jump to an SSD :D

[xaliqen]

Also, moving all your temp directories to another parition really helps with defragmentation. My OS drive never gets above 2%-3% usually.

 

For anyone who has multiple internal HDDs, then splitting up your games/applications and OS onto separate disks can boost performance.

 

As you imply, once larger SSDs come down in price, they will be ideal for games. I'm just waiting for 250 gig SSDs to reach 150 U.S. dollars or so.

[SealCubClubber]

For what it's worth, I bought the Oblivion GOTY Deluxe edition on Steam last year and had zero problems modding it, on Windows 7 64-bit and even with Steam installed into C:\Program Files (x86). I launch it through Steam and have OBMM working with it fine. Edit: So I don't foresee any problems with modding Skyrim.

[anandus]

A tip, I do this with all the Bethesda games:

Make a copy of the Skyrim-folder, now it is still clean and everything. Just name the folder skyrimcopy or whatever.

 

Then you can mod, etc all you want and when you want a clean installation, you can just delete the modded folder, rename the copy and presto, a clean installation in 10 seconds!

No need to redownload it again or re-install it from disk.

 

(But don't forget to make another copy for the next time, though ;) )