Restoring Vortex after Windows reinstall.

[CactuarP]

So as the title says, i have had my Windows OS die on me and restored from a HDD image backup, whcih led to losing all the /AppData/ folders, including Vortex's configs. Fortunately, i have kept the game's folder, Vortex's install folder and mods deployment folder intact. However, Vortex wouldn't recognise the old deployment folder because it's not empty. It still detects all the installed .esp's, but i'm not sure if it will work correctly. I would appreciate any advice on restoring my setup with the files i have got left, becuase redownloading and reinstalling 200+ mods does not sound like a good time.

[AugustaCalidia]

So as the title says, i have had my Windows OS die on me and restored from a HDD image backup, whcih led to losing all the /AppData/ folders, including Vortex's configs. Fortunately, i have kept the game's folder, Vortex's install folder and mods deployment folder intact. However, Vortex wouldn't recognise the old deployment folder because it's not empty. It still detects all the installed .esp's, but i'm not sure if it will work correctly. I would appreciate any advice on restoring my setup with the files i have got left, becuase redownloading and reinstalling 200+ mods does not sound like a good time.

 

Have you reinstalled Vortex? If you haven't, it may be a good idea to do that. Are any of the detected .esp's enabled? If disabled, can you enable them? What, if anything, do you see on your mods page? What is in your game data folder? Are your hardlinks intact? Have you tried to purge and re-deploy?

[CactuarP]

I have reinstalled Vortex into the same location, all the .esp files have been detected but none are enabled. Mods page is empty. Data folder has a lot of .esp and .bsa files as well as mod subfolders, however i did not install mods manually or use another mod managers on this install so it must be Vortex's work. I'm not sure how to check the hardlinks. As for re-deploying, i think without any mods detected by Vortex, it would have none to deploy.

 

Update: My game also starts normally aftre enabling the .esp files i had enabled before, and loads the (heavily modded) savegame normally so i think it's safe to bet hardlinks are intact too. However, i would still like the ability to use Vortex for adding or deleting mods to my current setup. At this point, i think, it boils down to making Vortex recognise its old deployment folder.

[AugustaCalidia]

 

Update: My game also starts normally aftre enabling the .esp files i had enabled before, and loads the (heavily modded) savegame normally so i think it's safe to bet hardlinks are intact too. However, i would still like the ability to use Vortex for adding or deleting mods to my current setup. At this point, i think, it boils down to making Vortex recognise its old deployment folder.

 

How did you start your game? Did you start the game from Vortex, or did you start it in some other way? Because of hardlinks, it's not necessary to have Vortex running in order to start and play a game. If you were able to start and load a game independently of Vortex, then you're right - the hardlinks are in place and working. And you're also right - the issue now is how to make Vortex recognize the mod staging folder.

 

My apologies, but I have no immediate answer. It's late here, and my brain wants some sleep. Hopefully tomorrow I can come back with some constructive suggestions.

[CactuarP]

Not sure it helps, but i started the game directly through SKSEVR's executable. Thanks for the help anyway, i'll be waiting for any advice.

[AugustaCalidia]

Not sure it helps, but i started the game directly through SKSEVR's executable. Thanks for the help anyway, i'll be waiting for any advice.

 

That's helpful information and confirms what you said about the hardlinks. Here are a few more questions. When you say that the Vortex install folder was intact after you restored the OS, does that mean that you did not have to reinstall Vortex? Does "mods deployment folder" refer to the "mod staging folder?" When you open that folder, does it contain all of the mods that you installed prior to the OS failure? What is the folder's full path? Do you have a download folder containing all the downloaded mod archives? Does it contain everything that you downloaded prior to OS failure? What is that folder's full path?

 

Given that the hardlinks work, you may want to try purging and redeploying. If nothing shows up on redeployment, then shutdown Vortex and restart it. Before doing this I would strongly suggest making a backup copy of your mod staging folder, just in case something goes wrong.

 

However, this remedy may be doomed from the start, as you have already pointed out. If no mods and their .esp's are detected, how will Vortex know there are hardlinks to purge and redeploy?

 

Have you tried to install a new mod? If not, you may want to try the following as a test. Manually download a mod and drag and drop it into the Drop File(s) box at the bottom of the mods page. If you do that, what happens?

[CactuarP]

Vortex did launch after the OS reinstall, however following your advice, i installed it again, to the same folder. Mods deployment folder setting in Vortex, however, was set to its default value, i don't remember exactly what it is.

Mods deplyment folder's path is E:\Games\Skyrim Mods. It contains everything i had deplyed and, after some testing, i could safely say that my Skyrim install is working fine. I did not save any downloads because that would use up quite a lot of space.

The thing with downloading and installing a new mod is: i'm gonna have to set up a new mods deployment folder and that new mod would be deployed there, making new hardlinks. I'm not sure it could help with Vortex not detecting existing folder.

I have tried getting a new mod and installing it through vortex. As expected, it has deployed into the new folder i set up and shown up in the vortex UI. I have tried copying some mod files from the old deployment folder to the new one and they show up on the Vortex's plugins page too. Maybe i could just cut and paste everything from the old folder to the new one, however, i don't feel too safe doing that.

To me, the best way to fix this seems to be either somehow forcing Vortex to accept non-empty deployment folder or manually setting up the path to it in Vortex's config files. I think that if i manage to do it, i will virtually have the same Vortex setup i had before the OS crash.

[AugustaCalidia]

Vortex did launch after the OS reinstall, however following your advice, i installed it again, to the same folder. Mods deployment folder setting in Vortex, however, was set to its default value, i don't remember exactly what it is.

Mods deplyment folder's path is E:\Games\Skyrim Mods. It contains everything i had deplyed and, after some testing, i could safely say that my Skyrim install is working fine. I did not save any downloads because that would use up quite a lot of space.

The thing with downloading and installing a new mod is: i'm gonna have to set up a new mods deployment folder and that new mod would be deployed there, making new hardlinks. I'm not sure it could help with Vortex not detecting existing folder.

I have tried getting a new mod and installing it through vortex. As expected, it has deployed into the new folder i set up and shown up in the vortex UI. I have tried copying some mod files from the old deployment folder to the new one and they show up on the Vortex's plugins page too. Maybe i could just cut and paste everything from the old folder to the new one, however, i don't feel too safe doing that.

To me, the best way to fix this seems to be either somehow forcing Vortex to accept non-empty deployment folder or manually setting up the path to it in Vortex's config files. I think that if i manage to do it, i will virtually have the same Vortex setup i had before the OS crash.

 

It sounds like you're making some progress. Have you checked to see what mod staging folder path is displayed in the settings menu? Is it the old path or the new path? If the new path, what happens if you change the setting to the old path?

 

If you can't make the old path work, then you will probably have to transfer your mod files from the old mod staging folder to the new one. However, it's best to err on the side of caution. Copy and paste a few mod files at a time and then check to determine if everything is working properly. If there are no problems, then you can erase the files in the old mod staging folder.

[AugustaCalidia]

Any progress? Have you gotten Vortex to work?

[CactuarP]

To be honest, i have decided against meddling with my current install for the time being. Don't want to risk losing everything i have installed and my 10 hour save file. I'm pretty happy with the mod setup i got now, but if i decide to change it up, i'll post my results in here. Still, appreciate all the support you've provided.