How to make a fully portable version of Skyrim SE with mods? (Nexus Mods)

[Cybergoth Raccoon]

I assume I need to use some symbolic links which is fine I can do that, I just need to know exactly what I need to have moved and how to make an installation with mods survive a reinstall of Windows.

I'm going to be putting everything in my Skyrim installation folder on a separate drive so I can reinstall Windows and just create symbolic links for folders to the correct places to avoid mods load out of order or no longer considered installed by Nexus or Skyrim.

Even a link to a pre-existing guide would be fine if there is one. Thank you.

[bLaCkShAd0w]

-There is the main game folder
-There is the saves and configs in my documents.
-There is plugins.txt in app data

And a single reg edit for the executable:
https://www.regfiles.net/registry/skyrim-special-edition-registry
(Not recommended to install reg edits, type it manually or copy from an existing install for safety reasons)

I mod manually and have moved the same install across 3 different PC's since the game released. It is definitely possible to do, probably the hardest part would be getting the mod manager to play along if you are using one.

Not exactly what you are trying to achieve but I am sure it can be done.

If all the files end up in the proper place it will work.

Not sure I would call a 15Gb install as "portable" though 🤣

[s.turner3030]

Originally posted by bLaCkShAd0w:

Not sure I would call a 15Gb install as "portable" though 🤣

You can buy 1TB usb sticks for about $5-10 or so if you look around that makes pretty much any game portable if you are not too bothered about having loads of them around.

You can also find 16TB usb hard drives, though they are more giant usb sticks for about £80-100 though they tend to be somewhat hit and miss about how well they work, I have had two and not really that impressed with them as they tend to keep loosing files and directories, or simply not copying stuff across, which is kinda annoying as the smaller 4 and 8 ones seem to be ok from various reviews I can see.

The other option would be to move the install of the game to another drive, which steam will allow you to do, pretty sure you used to be able to do that from the library interface, but just checked it is not there, so you would have to uninstall the current version, then reinstall and steam would then ask you where, and one of the options is to create a new steam libary on another drive, I have two 6TB hard drives with my steam stuff spread across them both with no issues, though you would need to reconfigure all the applications and such as well as the mod manager for the new location.

[Cybergoth Raccoon]

Originally posted by bLaCkShAd0w:

-There is the main game folder
-There is the saves and configs in my documents.
-There is plugins.txt in app data

And a single reg edit for the executable:
https://www.regfiles.net/registry/skyrim-special-edition-registry
(Not recommended to install reg edits, type it manually or copy from an existing install for safety reasons)

I mod manually and have moved the same install across 3 different PC's since the game released. It is definitely possible to do, probably the hardest part would be getting the mod manager to play along if you are using one.

Not exactly what you are trying to achieve but I am sure it can be done.

If all the files end up in the proper place it will work.

Not sure I would call a 15Gb install as "portable" though 🤣

Thank you, I've moved and symlinked all the files you've mentioned and exported my reg key for future use. So theoretically it should be quite painless on my next reinstall to get mods up and running, might not be any work at all.