When adding many mods into your game, even if you are using a mod manager or optimization tools, you might eventually have to face some critical problems.
These are a few simple advices and tips you can follow to help you avoid frustrations or headaches in case anything goes wrong with your game:
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BACKUP
If you have just recently installed Skyrim and...
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you have enough free disk space:
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Do a backup of the whole game folder.
Usually, after you install the game, the Skyrim install folder will be located at
"C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Skyrim"
It occupies aproximatedly 14GB, with the official DLCs: Dawnguard, Dragonborn, Hearthfire and the official High Resolution Texture update.
All mods are installed inside the \Data folder, but if you pretend to use ENB mods, then some other files will be put in the main folder as well. All other files and folders outside of the \Data folder, occupy only about 160MB.
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you do not have enough free disk space:
If you do not have much disk space for a backup, or if you don't want to backup anything, just be careful when installing mods so you won't corrupt any game files. Even if you know what you're doing and you'd rather install/uninstall everything manually, it's recommended to use a mod manager to install/uninstall most of the mods.
But even when using mod managers, such as Mod Organizer or Nexus Mod Manager, and tools like LOOT and TES5Edit, you might make some mistakes when messing around with mods, eventually. We may find ourselves installing literally hundreds of mods and although those programs above mentioned are powerful, there's nothing perfect. Some mods still require that you do a manual installation or that you edit .ini files and so on. So a backup is always welcome.
If you already have Skyrim installed with some mods:
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Backup your saved games, preset profiles of your characters, configs of your mods and .ini files.
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Saved games usual location:
"C:\Users\<username>\Documents\My Games\Skyrim\Saves"
When using ENB presets, it's recommended to use an ENB manager to add/remove ENB presets and to backup your ENB files.
Pros
Anything goes wrong, you can quickly fix it using your backup files;
You won't need to download the whole game again nor reinstall it
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Cons
Needs extra disk space
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INSTALL INSTRUCTIONS
Read attentively the mod's description written by the mod's author. It may be required for you to install an update, a DLC, a tool or maybe another mod before installing some specific mods.
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Most mods will only work for the most officialy updated version of the game, which is version 1.9.32.0.8. Many mods will require official DLCs, like Dawnguard or Dragonborn, to already be installed, and a lot of mods will require that you have installed SKSE (Skyrim Script Extender). In fact, if you are going to use mods, it is recommended that you install SKSE right after you install the main game, its official DLCs, updates and patches.
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AVOID/FIX ERRORS
Whenever possible, use a mod manager to install/uninstall your mods. If you must do a manual step during the process, double check the author's instructions to make sure you are doing everything right.
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Use only one tool to organize your mods load order. Using two or more tools for that may cause conflicts and completely mess up with your load order, causing game crashes.
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Careful when overwriting files during a mod installation, because it may corrupt previously installed mods and you'll have to uninstall/reinstall them all again, or even reinstall the game.
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UNINSTALL INSTRUCTIONS
Before uninstalling a mod, if you want to keep your saved game files:
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Deactivate/uninstall the mod in-game through the MCM* (Mod Configuration Menu) *MCM comes with SkyUI;
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Save your game with the mod deactivated;
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Uninstall the mod using a manager (recommended) or manually (not recommended)
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