Complete Loss of Mods Controlled Through Vortex

[BrckSnper]

Back in June, I started modding Fallout 4 using Vortex for the first time. Things went pretty smoothly, all things considered. About a week into my endeavor, however, Vortex informed me that I had no more space for mods. This perplexed me, as I have a 2 TB external drive that I use for most of my games and larger downloads. As it turned out, I had actually installed Vortex on my C: drive, when all my games being modded were on my E: drive. This meant that all the mods I had downloaded were on my C: drive, and I was out of space. And here is where the cockup-cascade began.

 

I tried to move the Vortex application to my E: drive, and eventually succeeded, but my actual mod-download and mod-staging folders managed by Vortex (not the ones in the game directories, the actual downloaded files that were then copied into their respective game directories by Vortex) remained on my C: drive, and eventually ended up getting both folders wiped.

 

Vortex now thinks that I have no mods downloaded for any of my games. The thing is, all my mods are still installed in my game's respective directories and Data folders, and there are even Vortex's various .JSON files still spread throughout all the different mod folders and game folders.

 

The mods are all still properly installed, they just aren't being detected and managed by Vortex because they are no longer listed in Vortex's staging and download folders.

 

I don't have any relevant backups for Vortex, but I am very curious if there is anything I can do to finally fix this mess, shy of just purging my game directories and starting from scratch.

 

Any help is appreciated.

[HadToRegister]

Firs thing...I really, really HOPE, you PURGED your mods before moving everything, because using Windows to copy/move Download and Mod Staging Folders will cause Windows to turn the Hardlinks into the actual files themselves, doubling the required Hard Drive Space.
It also sounds like you moved everything by using Windows File Explorer, rather than PURGING your mods, then using VORTEX to move your Download, and Mod Staging Folder, and Moved Vortex as well.

Because you moved Vortex to a different drive, Vortex remembers where everything USED to be, not where it is now.
You cannot move programs and folders around at will and expect the program to know what you just did, because windows stores these things in the appdata folder and in registry entries.

There are a bunch of threads where people move Vortex and/or the Mod Staging Folder and Download folder, using Windows to do it, then expect Vortex to miraculously know that the folders were moved.

You don't have to move Vortex, all you had to do was go into the SETTINGS TAB, and go to the MODS tab and DOWNLOADS tab and move the Directories


DOWNLOADS

 

 

 

MOD STAGING FOLDER

 

 

This is how you would change Folder Locations for practically every program out there, by using the Settings or Options menu, and specifying the folder locations for that program.
Vortex is no different in that regard.

Unfortunately, you now have a mess on your hands, and will likely have to start over, unless you're successful in undoing everything you did, and then doing it the proper way like I mentioned above.
At this stage, you can try moving everything BACK to where it was, using Windows File Manager (Which I'm convinced you used at first), then see if Vortex recognizes everything again, and if so, then PURGE, and do what I showed above.

That's the best advice that anybody can give at this juncture