Move Skyrim and its mods to another hard drive ( NMM )

[giuliohe151]

Hi, 
I recently tried to move Skyrim and its mods from my SSD to my HDD cause of room issues ; I failed miserably and had to re-install everything and make sure everything worked again....BUT....even though it does I definitely feel the difference between a SSD's loading times and an HDD's....so while I desperately try to make room on it I'd like to know about what's the right way to move Skyrim and/or its mods ( I'd still like for my SDD not to get flooded by my 180 gb of mods + skyrim's extra weight ) to another drive without breaking anything.
I am using NMM, I am aware of the fact it is outdated and I should use ModOrder / Vortex....but as I already stated....I have a damn lot of mods installed and would rather not have to re-install them again.

Thank you in advance.

[Pauduan]

(Non-NMM solution)

 

C:\Users\[username]\Appdata\Local\Skyrim - this directory should contain your load order in a text file.

 

When moving Skyrim directory, ensure the plugins.txt file in this directory is the correct load order. Ensure that your drive letter remains the same or you will need a reinstall. Ensure your save directory matches the installation. Backup these three directories, and you'll be happy as a Reikling riding a boar.

 

I have six (yes, six) Skyrim directories and simple .bat file for switching them at will for six different load orders, profiles, saves and playthroughs. All are configured for different target hardware configurations (in terms of graphcal mods, ENBs etc) and I can literally switch in a second once I have installed a new card (I am a bit restless).

 

Obviously this takes HDD space, but that is cheap nowadays so...

[giuliohe151]

2 hours ago, Pauduan said:

(Non-NMM solution)

 

C:\Users\[username]\Appdata\Local\Skyrim - this directory should contain your load order in a text file.

 

When moving Skyrim directory, ensure the plugins.txt file in this directory is the correct load order. Ensure that your drive letter remains the same or you will need a reinstall. Ensure your save directory matches the installation. Backup these three directories, and you'll be happy as a Reikling riding a boar.

 

I have six (yes, six) Skyrim directories and simple .bat file for switching them at will for six different load orders, profiles, saves and playthroughs. All are configured for different target hardware configurations (in terms of graphcal mods, ENBs etc) and I can literally switch in a second once I have installed a new card (I am a bit restless).

 

Obviously this takes HDD space, but that is cheap nowadays so...

Thank you but I am mostly just looking for a solution that will allow me to get better loading times while still making my NMM mods look as "installed" ( mostly just to keep track of them ) . 
I have about 190 gb worth of mods in the NMM folder only , not even talking about Skyrim's directory...which is causing my loading times ( on hdd ) to be very very slow ( about 5 mins per loading screen with the correct loading order / merges / cleaning ) , hence why I guess my only solution to this issue would be to move Skyrim and its mods to my SSD once more....I just don't want to break stuff in NMM again.

[GenioMaestro]

4 hours ago, giuliohe151 said:

Thank you but I am mostly just looking for a solution that will allow me to get better loading times while still making my NMM mods look as "installed" ( mostly just to keep track of them ) . 
I have about 190 gb worth of mods in the NMM folder only , not even talking about Skyrim's directory...which is causing my loading times ( on hdd ) to be very very slow ( about 5 mins per loading screen with the correct loading order / merges / cleaning ) , hence why I guess my only solution to this issue would be to move Skyrim and its mods to my SSD once more....I just don't want to break stuff in NMM again.

That can't be... I only expent from 5 to 10 seconds in each loading screen with autosave enabled.

I have a 4 years old machine, i5 4460 + gtx 660 2 gb, with a simple HDD Seagate sata of 1 TB of capacity.

With 16 gb of memory on Win7 i have all the game in cache. My HDD have near cero use.

I really doubt you have worst hardware than me for need 5 mins per loading screen...

The max time i see are in a super moded skyrim with more than 500 mod's and near 20 to 30 seconds per screen.

 

My game need near 30 seconds for show the main menu and another 30 seconds for load the first save.

After that, each loading screen only take from 5 to 10 seconds. Can be 15 to 30 if i enter a new location never visited like volkiar castle or similar.

I play now with 190 mod's and make plays with 220-230 mods whitout any problem.

I not have any world or city texture replacer, my old machine not support it, only the default HD textures.

But I have some of the most big mod's that i know like Maids II - Deception, Vigiliant, Falskar, Proyect AHO, OBIS, 3dNPC, The Brotherhood of Old... Half of my mod's come from this web site and some are big and others are script intensive, but i normally carry from 5 to 10 followers with cero problems.

 

Maybe you have a damaged HDD or a drivers problem.

Download and install SpeedFan. Have a tab for show S.M.A.R.T. data and make some HDD test.

Revise updates for the Operating System and new drivers for your motherboard.

 

Talking about the game, i know that some parameters in the INI files can double or triple the load time.

Open your skyrim.ini and look in the section [Interface] if you have the parameter uTicksToWait.

DELETE IT. That parameter give me 60 fps loading screen but some times need up to 30 seconds for each.

 

Disable autosave and look if your time is reduced. Some problems in the bak files of the autosave can lead in excesive save time. Delete all yours quicksaves and autosaves files including the bak files.

 

Make a test in a NEW GAME. Sometimes the problem are in the savegame. Can be damaged or corrupted and the game can need a lot of time for save or read it. Try clean your savegame with ReSaver and with NiOverride Cleaner.

 

If you want transfer your NMM to another HDD the best option is use the integrated Backup option in NMM.

Click the tool icon next to profile selector and select Backup and Restore.

Other option is try the Multi-HD option for the Virtual Install folder of NMM

Click the tool icon next to profile selector and select Change Virtual Folders.

 

For move the game, the best option is made a new install of Skyrim in the new location for write the correct things in the windows registry. Next Made a manuall copy of your old skyrim folder over the new installation.

If you are in the same machine with the same operating system and the same user not need make more.

If not, you must make two steps more.

Manually copy the INI files from C:\Users\[OLD username]\Documents\My Games\Skyrim

Manually copy the the plugins list from C:\Users\[OLD username]\Appdata\Local\Skyrim