When should you NOT clean a mod via TESVEDIT?

[Adder1]

I'm really curious about this one. Since I first learned how to clean mods through TESVEDIT, almost every time I install a new mod or update an existing one, I run an automated cleaning of it. Now, in Gopher's vid of this, he mentions specifically not to clean the unofficial patches. That has me wondering- is it actually a good idea to clean these mods if there's no warning about dirty edits in the BOSS log?

[ripple]

You should not clean the unofficial patches because they have already been checked and cleaned by the USKP team--and you should not repeatedly clean a plugin (cleaning should be done just once per plugin, when required, and if the mod author has already cleaned the plugin prior to loading it, then it shouldn't be done again). If a plugin has not been flagged by BOSS as containing 'dirty edit', it usually means the plugin is clean, but it could also mean no one has reported to the BOSS team even if the plugin contain dirty edits. If you are familiar with reading plugin records in TES5Edit, you can check it yourself and see if the plugin needs cleaning. Otherwise, you should just leave them alone unless they have been flagged by BOSS.

 

[edit]

Oh, except for plugins not recognized by BOSS. They should be checked at least to see if they contain dirty edits (since they are not recognized by BOSS, the BOSS log will not display them as in need of cleaning even if they are), reported to the mod author if there are some. If the mod author does not know why they are there or cannot provide an explanation why the mod retained duplicate to master entries, then they should be cleaned.

Edited February 24, 2013 by ripple

[Adder1]

Thanks kindly for the reply. That certainly clears things up.