Reinstalling Skyrim - question about using old saves

[kevkiev]

After being solid as a rock for about the first 100 hours, then reasonably stable for about the next 100, my game started to go nuts recently.

 

 

Missing textures (like, big gaps of missing roads, missing castle towers, purply mannequin textures, etc), mannequins going naked despite the mannequin fix mod, companions disappearing into walls and floors (I could hear the clunk you get with objects inside meshes/textures) and CTDs like every 30 seconds. This was all happening despite not adding a heck of a lot of mods lately, except for some straight up texture prettification mods

 

 

I'm not sure if was dealing with corrupted saves or not, though I did notice they'd become around 15mb up from the avg. 5mb size I was getting for ages.

 

Anyways, I'm DL'g skyrim anew from steam (yawn), and I've have saved all my NMM mods (and the overwrite files, though I don't think I need those) and I also copied my saves. Figure I'll just re-activate my mods on NMM and try from a recent save. (I'd really rather not start over.)

 

I'm wondering: If I run into similar problems after re-installing, perhaps because my saves are corrupted, (I think that would be a likely explanation) could I just start a new game from that point and be confident it was clean? I.E. would a new game, after having played prior saved games, import any stuff from those saves?

 

Hope that made sense.

 

Also: I did a buncha console commands awhile back to some companions (eg. I removed the hidden bow and some clothing so I could weaponize them and give them fine clothes to wear; I also buffed some stats to fix the "non-leveling" thing and make combat stats more in line with their specialties). Will those be preserved once I reinstall? I guess I'll find out soon enough, but actually I kinda hope they aren't because some of what I did is fixed by the unofficial patch and other mods (in a cleaner way, I'm thinking - again, if that makes sense).

Edited April 30, 2012 by kevkiev

[killazys]

Good luck. I tried reinstalling Skyrim and now my saves won't load. I'm nearly 100% certain I'm still using the same esps/esms as the saves, too.

[kevkiev]

Good luck. I tried reinstalling Skyrim and now my saves won't load. I'm nearly 100% certain I'm still using the same esps/esms as the saves, too.

 

Egads, that's not good news. Though I did a reinstall awhile back and was able to re-use saves (no guarantee this time 'round, granted). The more I think of it, the more I might just start a brand new game clean and fresh. Only problem being that I foresee a summer spent indoors in that case! (This game takes forever to explore every nook and cranny, and I just can't help but do that.) And I cringe at having to start again with zero skills etc. and get killed a lot. :tongue:

[fms1]

 

Snip:

I'm wondering: If I run into similar problems after re-installing, perhaps because my saves are corrupted, (I think that would be a likely explanation) could I just start a new game from that point and be confident it was clean? I.E. would a new game, after having played prior saved games, import any stuff from those saves?

 

Hope that made sense.

 

Also: I did a buncha console commands awhile back to some companions (eg. I removed the hidden bow and some clothing so I could weaponize them and give them fine clothes to wear; I also buffed some stats to fix the "non-leveling" thing and make combat stats more in line with their specialties). Will those be preserved once I reinstall? I guess I'll find out soon enough, but actually I kinda hope they aren't because some of what I did is fixed by the unofficial patch and other mods (in a cleaner way, I'm thinking - again, if that makes sense).

 

A new game shouldn't have any previous save's corruption. And what you changed with the console is stored in your save, also 14mb save's for 200 hours isn't bloated (Mine are 14mb on 250+ hours patch 1.4.21).

[kevkiev]

A new game shouldn't have any previous save's corruption. And what you changed with the console is stored in your save, also 14mb save's for 200 hours isn't bloated (Mine are 14mb on 250+ hours patch 1.4.21).

 

Ah, thanks man, I kinda figured but wasn't sure. And I feel better about my file size now too. :thumbsup:

[mensch8maschine]

Hi!

 

Could you post how exactly you reinstall your skyrim? sort of a step-by-step guide. i'm having a similar predicament, my companions are messed up (it may have been one of those companions enhancement mods).

 

What do you guys think, would reinstalling the game "fix" the companions?

 

btw, this is my thread regarding the above problem, if you have the time to look it over and maybe help, that would be very much appreciated!

 

http://forums.nexusmods.com/index.php?/topic/663109-how-do-i-reset-a-broken-questline/page__p__5236278__fromsearch__1#entry5236278

[fms1]

Hi!

 

Could you post how exactly you reinstall your skyrim? sort of a step-by-step guide. i'm having a similar predicament, my companions are messed up (it may have been one of those companions enhancement mods).

 

What do you guys think, would reinstalling the game "fix" the companions?

 

btw, this is my thread regarding the above problem, if you have the time to look it over and maybe help, that would be very much appreciated!

 

http://forums.nexusmods.com/index.php?/topic/663109-how-do-i-reset-a-broken-questline/page__p__5236278__fromsearch__1#entry5236278

 

Looking at your thread, you may be able to go back far enough on a save to fix it, or start a new game and be ok (could be only the save corrupted somehow). If you do have to reinstall, just read this thread, and disregard moving Skyrim to another HDD. Adding a new hard drive and moving Skyrim onto it

[mensch8maschine]

@ fms1

 

thanks for the link! unfortunately it doesnt really adress what to do with already installed mods, or stuff like SKSE, bc. i really want to continue where i left off, not restart again (i'm lvl 40 now an sunk some serious time into this game)

 

i considered this method, what do you think:

 

1. backup the COMPLETE skyrim installation folder incl. mods

2. backup the savegames

3. backup the appdata/local/skyrim folder (plugins.txt etc.)

4. uninstall

5. clean registry, defrag disk

6. reinstall in same location

 

i just wondered, knowing windows (i'm on vista), i believe that files and folders that are not part of the program arent removed but are simply left in place. SO, if i reinstall at the same location, all the non-vanilla-skyrim stuff would be in the same place again. am i correct?

 

and to come back to my initial question: would that actually fix my Companions?

Edited May 2, 2012 by mensch8maschine

[fms1]

Installed mods, I need to know what utilities you use, and any Steam Workshop mods (not a list of them, just if you use those), SKSE, Script Dragon, Script Dragon plugins, mod utilities- you will have to reinstall those too. About your saves- you may be able to go back before they got corrupted with whatever caused this and be ok on that, if not then sorry they are almost certain to be corrupted and will continue this problem- Yes this is really BAD.

 

1. copy\ paste- good idea, Win backup- bad if reinstalling, because it will replace good install with old- same thing you have now if you ever roll back to it.

2. If you have old ones you want to keep- yes, if you think you can reinstall and use current saves- no, because they are now corrupted with what caused the problem.

3. yes- great idea, save these now, and after you uninstall all mods with manager- save this also, and keep separated and labeled so you know which is which.

4 yes

5 yes

6 yes, but install out of program files like (C:)Steam\............, and then defrag after all utilities and mods are installed

 

If you mean same location as in file path ((C:)Steam\........, then yes, if you mean same location as where it is physically stored on HDD- no, it will put it wherever

 

About it fixing Companions, if it's a mod that corrupted it and you didn't install it- yes, assuming you don't use the current corrupted save, if it's a game bug from patches and whatnot- no

 

Hope this helps you out.