Steps to move Vortex to a new computer?

[zarantha]

I plan on getting a new laptop soon and setting it up properly - ie, without disabling UAC and potentially messing up my permissions this time.

I'm expecting the file permissions would be corrected on a copy, while a restore to the new pc would still have the admin vs user permissions.... If I'm wrong, go ahead and correct me.

 

Would these be the correct steps to migrate Vortex to a new pc?

 

-- Install Vortex and setup paths for mods

-- Copy \Vortex Mods from the old disk/old pc to the new disk/new pc

-- Deploy mods

 

Also, what would I need to copy over to the new pc to keep the current settings? %appdata%\Vortex?

[rmm200]

How are you installing your games on the new PC? Just copying them over?

I am a cautious sort. I would:

 

1) Copy over my games to where I want them

2) Fire up Steam and set the install path

3) Have Steam validate the data files I copied over

4) Copy over the mod archives

5) Install a new copy of Vortex

6) Drop the archives into Vortex and let it install them

7) Try playing

 

I hesitate to mess with any system data, like in appdata. I would rather recreate it cleanly.

Another poster might be able to tell you about safe shortcuts.

[capella6707]

I'm also getting a new computer and have come up with the below plan. It is my intention to exactly mirror the locations of Vortex, Skyrim and all related folders on the new computer such that I can just copy over all related files & folders and then run the game (installing programs as necessary for proper Windows installation, of course). I have a NAS on my home network that I will be using to transfer files from the old computer to the new one.

1. On old computer
   1. Note all settings in Vortex (especially Mod staging folder & download folder)
   2. Note Steam\Skyrim install location
   3. Note Vortex install location (I think this is not customizable under normal circumstances)
   4. Purge mods in Vortex
   5. Copy full SSE folder in My Docs to the network drive (OneDrive syncing may put this on the new computer automatically)
   6. Copy full SSE Steam\Skryim install folder to the network drive
   7. Copy Vortex AppData folder to the network drive
   8. Copy Vortex Mods Staging folder to the network drive
2. On new computer
   1. Install Steam
   2. Install SSE
   3. Run SSE first time
   4. Install Vortex
   5. Install 3rd party tools (WryeBash, SSEEdit, etc)
   6. Set Vortex settings as noted above
   7. Copy Skyrim game folder from the network drive
   8. Copy Vortex AppData folder from the network drive
   9. Copy Mod Staging folder to the network drive
   10. Start Vortex to make sure it runs as expected
   11. Deploy mods (un-purge)
   12. Fire up Skyrim and pray it works!

There are a couple of caveats I foresee to this plan:

1. If I recall correctly, when setting the Downloads folder in Vortex, it has to be empty - if this is the case, I'm wondering if it would work to temporarily move the archives in the Vortex Downloads, and then somewhere between steps 5 - 9 move them back, or would that be taken care of when the AppData folder is copied to the new computer?
2. For that matter, if I'm mirroring everything and copying everything over to the new computer, wouldn't the AppData folder hold all of the settings, thereby negating the need for step 6 on the new computer?

Any way you cut it, the more I think about this, the more I'm wondering the likelihood of this even working! But I'm going to try it, since, if it does work, that'll save me from having to reinstall 270+ mods!

Comments on this would be appreciated. It'll be a couple of weeks yet until my new computer ships, so I've got some time to ponder this.

[zarantha]

I'm planning on just re-installing the games from scratch. This would have the added benefit of making sure I don't have any stray loose files in the game directory other than the ones I currently need. I'm only playing SSE at this time so I'm not doing the whole steam library up front.

 

After SSE is installed I would install Vortex and setup my paths for the game folders. This should prevent any problems with Vortex needing empty directories for any of the downloads or game folders. Most tools are extract only or are mods themselves (Wryebash is the exception), so just copying those over should work. My thought is that the shortcuts on the dashboard aren't validated except when run, so it would be fine to wait on that until the Vortex settings are synced one way or another.

 

I didn't think about purging mods on the old PC, but that's probably a good idea. Once that's done, I'm taking out the secondary drive where Vortex and mod tools live on the old pc and connecting it to the new pc using a USB to SATA cable. From there, just a straight disk to disk copy to put everything in the new folders. My user folders are on this disk too, so I should be able to copy the appdata files for Vortex as well.

 

I've got around 400 mods. I really don't want to reinstall them all again. I did that when I messed up the NMM to Vortex migration. It'll be a few weeks before my new laptop gets here too, we're holding out for the sales before buying. So I've got time to work this out and make sure it's as foolproof as possible. I'm pretty sure this should work. If it wasn't for the custom theme I've done for Vortex, I think I could leave off copying appdata as well and just copy the staging and download folders into the new folders after they're setup. It wouldn't take much to get the tools setup again, it's just pointing to the exe's.

 

So it seems using capella's extended steps, I would be doing:

1. On old computer
   1. Note all settings in Vortex (especially Mod staging folder & download folder) (old D:)
   2. Note Steam\Skyrim install location (old D:)
   3. Note Vortex install location (Program Files is old C:, user folders is old D:)
   4. Purge mods in Vortex
   5. Shut down the PC and remove the secondary disk where the data lives (old D:)
2. On new computer
   1. Install Steam to new D:
   2. Install SSE to new D:
   3. Run SSE first time
   4. Install Vortex to new C:
   5. Set Vortex settings as noted above (paths are empty at this point)
   6. Connect the old secondary disk as a USB disk on the new computer
   7. Copy Vortex AppData folder from the attached disk
   8. Copy Mod Staging folder from the attached disk
   9. Copy mod tools to new D:, install Wryebash
   10. Start Vortex to make sure it runs as expected - If the previous steps went as expected, then as far as Vortex is concerned there is no change to any paths.
   11. Extract scripts manually in SSE data folder for SSE CK
   12. Install SKSE and other DLL mods that go in SSE root path
   13. Deploy mods (un-purge)
   14. Confirm tools start from the Dashboard shortcuts
   15. Fire up Skyrim and pray it works!

[capella6707]

@zarantha,

 

Looks a good plan. I'm glad someone else out there is working on migrating Skryim & Vortex, too. It looks like I'll be diving into this before you, though: I just got an email that my computer shipped!

 

I'll post my results/experience here when I do the move.

[zarantha]

Sounds good. Mine will arrive the first or second week of December, so I look forward to seeing how this works out for you.

[HadToRegister]

I got fancy and exported my registry keys for each installed program, then imported them on the new computer.

[capella6707]

Okay, guys. Migration is in progress.

 

I'm at the point where I started Vortex after copying all of the backup folders over to the new computer.

 

When I started Vortex, I was thrilled (and relieved) that the Dashboard tools were all there and all of the tools worked. :)

 

However, things aren't looking quite so rosy for the mods themselves. On the Mods tab, they are all Enabled, but I don't specifically remember what their state was when I Purged them on the other computer. Can someone confirm whether they stay Enabled after a Purge?

 

The real "un-rosy" part is on the Plugins tab. They are all disabled - even after hitting the Deploy button. I tried Purging and then Deploying again, but that had no effect.

 

I'm not really sure what to do about that. I certainly don't remember which ones were enabled!

 

Suggestions, please!

[HadToRegister]

 

 

I'm not really sure what to do about that. I certainly don't remember which ones were enabled!

 

Suggestions, please!

 

Yup, we need a feature that lets you tag (maybe with an asterisk) mods you have purposely disabled in your load order (like Binjin Warmaidens, NPCs, Wives) in order to use an AIO esp etc.

[capella6707]

I think I resolved the disabled plugins issue:

 

I'm sure you've noted that changes made in WryeBash and Vortex are updated as they happen when the programs are open. (Disable a plugin in Vortex and its box is unchecked in WryeBash)

 

When I first opened WryeBash it was listing all plugins as disabled (unchecked) except the official masters. I was thinking that I should be able to check all of the plugins in WryeBash and then build the Bashed Patch, which will disable any of the plugins that are included in the Patch.

 

In case it might fix the issue - or at least help, I tried copying from the old computer to the new computer the Mopy folder in the SSE program folder and the /Skyrim Special Edition Mods/Bash folders that WryeBash creates as well. I fired up Vortex then WryeBash, hoping that something in those folders retained the state of the plugins, but that didn't change anything - the plugins were still disabled.

 

So I checked all of the plugins in WryeBash and built the Bashed Patch. (Actually, I found that I have 263 plugins, so I checked 254 of them, then checked the bashed patch, built the patch, checked the remaining plugins, then rebuilt the patch again). Viola! All plugins enabled in WryeBash, the ones included in the Bashed Patch have a plus in the checkbox, and the plugins are enabled/disabled accordingly in Vortex. Happy dance time! :dance:

 

Unfortunately, at the moment I'm not able to fire up the game to test it (I'm accessing my computer remotely from work - if you tell my boss, I'll deny everything! o_O) I'll be able to test-run Skyrim tomorrow morning, but at this point, I'm pretty confident it'll work. Once I do that, I'll post my final migration steps here.

 

I'm wondering if Purging the mods prior to copying the folders may have caused this and may not have been necessary. It'd be great if one of you guys that plans on doing a migration as well could try it without purging the mods first and report back on what the plugins look like when they start up Vortex after the folder copy.