PsyferNexus Posted April 25, 2013 Share Posted April 25, 2013 Like the title says. I was just thinking of a way to test a mod with out really installing or modifying any files. I have used Sandboxie to test out software/apps and it works great and was wandering if it could be used to test mods without changing any files at all. I haven't tried this out yet due to redownloading Skyrim via Steam, but was wandering if anybody has. Thoughts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whateveroo Posted April 25, 2013 Share Posted April 25, 2013 How will a mod work if it doesn't add anything?How will a home mod work if it doesn't add the walls of the home and change the interior?That was the first thing that came to my mind.Nexus mod manager seems to remove the mods added by it effectively, i once deleted all my mods (~ 40 at that time) with it and i found no leftovers and well it is easier than manual install. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PsyferNexus Posted April 25, 2013 Author Share Posted April 25, 2013 If you ever used Sandboxie, then you should know how it works. If not, then here, let me explain it. Sandboxie makes a space on your hard drive for "temp" file changes. The app you want to run in the sandbox will have access to any files and folders, including the registry, but with read only rights. Any changes to files are made in the "temp" location wile Sandboxie manages everything. This will let you install an app and test it. When your done with the app, just delete the contents of the sandbox and your done. No changes to files, folders or the registry are made. I have used this for several apps that I needed for a one time use. This is great for apps that want to change settings on you PC that doesn't clean up after itself. Check it out at http://www.sandboxie.com/ Anyway, Steam has just finished downloading Skyrim. So I will try this out for myself and report back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acidzebra Posted April 25, 2013 Share Posted April 25, 2013 Make savegame > install mod > test > remove mod > revert to save. Easy enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Demonasius Posted April 25, 2013 Share Posted April 25, 2013 You could also use Mod Organizer to create different profiles with specific mod configurations for testing purposes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PsyferNexus Posted April 25, 2013 Author Share Posted April 25, 2013 You could also use Mod Organizer to create different profiles with specific mod configurations for testing purposes. Yes, I just thought of that but then I would probably have to deal with file over writes, deletions, and most of all, saves. If Sandboxie works like I'm hoping, all I will need to do is start NMM and Skyrim with Sandboxie in the same sandbox. Then just delete the contents and no changes were made. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PsyferNexus Posted April 26, 2013 Author Share Posted April 26, 2013 (edited) Wow. It works! I just run NMM with Sandboxie. I installed a couple of mods that I would immediately see then started Skyrim from NMM. I did have to temporarily bypass Steam's DRM due to Sandboxie blocking access to it, but it worked. I closed out Sandboxie which in turn closed NMM and delete the "temp" files (NMM data base of current installed mods, files of the installed mods, etc). I then removed the Steam bypass and launched NMM without Sandboxie, launched Skyrim from NMM and there was no trace of the mods. Even the save I made when testing Sandboxie wasn't there. So this is great. That means I can test mods without worrying of damaging my current mod/save setup. Edited April 26, 2013 by PsyferNexus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PsyferNexus Posted April 26, 2013 Author Share Posted April 26, 2013 (edited) Just a thought. I would have tried this when I tested out Sandboxie. You should be able to close out Steam and relaunch it through Sandboxie in the same sandbox with NMM. If everything is running in the same sandbox, they all should be able to see each other. This should remove the need to temporarily bypass Steam's DRM. Thou, if any patches, downloads, installes, etc.., are made from within the sandbox, they will not be saved. Sandboxie will ask you if you want to recover files, just hit no and then delete the contents of the sandbox after you close Skyrim, NMM and Steam. Edited April 26, 2013 by PsyferNexus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PsyferNexus Posted May 10, 2013 Author Share Posted May 10, 2013 I can confirm that running Steam in Sandboxie along with NMM works. There is no need to bypass Steams DRM at all. Tried several mods and when all done, I just close and delete the sandbox contents and all the changes are gone. Its like I never changed anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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