how to fix super long save time

[[59th] Pew Pew You're Dead]

does anyone know? i'm level 73 so im averse to risk in terms of messing around with mods incase it bricks my save, but everytime i save the game it takes like 1 min+ to complete.

[sdack]

Clearing out old savefiles would be my first suggestion. Second, if it is an old HDD then make sure to have at least 10% free disk space available, because the more crammed it gets the slower file operations get. Better yet, get an SSD. Final tip, start a new game ... This works, too.

[Ozymandias]

yeah, if it's fine on a new save, we can dismiss any outside interference such as hardware, protection software, cloud stuff, etc.

[smr1957]

Also, disabling auto saves can make for quicker load times (and really, you should only use manual saves, and not quick or auto saves, anyway).

[sdack]

The Problems of players with 1000+ mods do not reflect the average player's experience. Do not suggest to players to disable autosaves. It is better to have a savefile and not need it, then to need a savefile and not have it. Manual savefiles can be as unreliable as autosaves and quicksaves when done at the wrong time, i.e. during ongoing dialogues and actions, especially when many mods are installed and are pushing the game to its limits. Anyone who is worried about quicksaves can install the SSE Engine Fixes which has a feature to turn quicksaves into manual saves:
https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/17230

[smr1957]

The above that I posted applies to all builds - and is based upon thousands of hours experience helping in the forums - NOT upon my build. Unlike many, I base my advice upon best practices that apply to all, never upon my particular build. Auto saves should NOT be used for the game at all.

[psychotron666]

I dunno I've played collectively over 10k hours of Skyrim, morrowind, oblivion, Fallout 3 and new Vegas, and I've used auto and quick saves for the last 20 years on these games and never had problems with them.

Of course don't rely on them, but they are convenient. But I've never had a single corrupted save in that entire time.

I've always seen this advice over the last 20 years, but never followed it myself and never had problems. Never really understood it I guess.

[sdack]

Originally posted by smr1957:

The above that I posted applies to all builds - and is based upon thousands of hours experience helping in the forums - NOT upon my build. Unlike many, I base my advice upon best practices that apply to all, never upon my particular build. Auto saves should NOT be used for the game at all.

No. It is what you want to believe and using all caps to tell people "NOT" to do something makes you only less believable.

There will always be somebody who will have a problem with something or anything. It does not mean everybody else now has to avoid it, too. If what you say was true then you would have to tell everyone "NOT" to use mods, because they are a great source of problems, but I am sure you have quite a large mod collection and you will rather tell people the opposite, and to use mods.

[Vlad 254]

I always err on the side of caution. With many games this is not an issue. But let's talk about Skyrim. Also keep in mind we are not saying this is a huge problem but it does happen when using Auto Saves. I've had it happen and have helped others who have had it happen.

Playing a vanilla game there are less likely to be issues with auto saves. Even smaller mod lists that don't run a lot of scripts. But if you have a modded game you should always hard save. One of the issues with Auto Saves & Quick Saves is that when you save your game the scripts are not pausing, yet when you open the menu and then save the scripts pause. There are other issues but I'm not here to debate, instead I'll give you my personal experience,

Once i stopped using auto and quick saves and only using hard saves coupled with keeping my saves folder tidy plus making sure OneDrive was not trying to take over my saves folder I've never experienced a save issue again. Never, not once. Err on the side of caution or don't, it's up to you.

[sdack]

Using mods comes with a risk. It has always been highlighted by Bethesda and this has never changed.

There is a great bias here by modders who have thrown the cautionary warning in the wind a long time ago, have buried and forgotten about it, and now behave as if it was completely reasonable to run with many mods and to blame the game engine whenever something goes wrong.

It does not make them right. It remains their fault and it is still true that using mods has a risk to it and the consequence of ignoring the warning is what they are experiencing.

Everyone else is right to use autosaves and quicksaves.

[Vlad 254]

I disagree. Common knowledge says otherwise. Some love fighting common knowledge. Some love helping users run a successfully modded game. There's no real debate here.

Originally posted by 59th Pew Pew You're Dead:

does anyone know? i'm level 73 so im averse to risk in terms of messing around with mods incase it bricks my save, but everytime i save the game it takes like 1 min+ to complete.

Try the suggestions smr1957 and myself have laid out and you'll be fine.

I also disable all instances of AutoSaves in the menu. And as an extra precaution I also never use QuickSaves.

[sdack]

Originally posted by Vlad 254:

I disagree. Common knowledge says otherwise. ...

You are however wrong. What you call common knowledge is your knowledge from modding the game and ignoring the warning. You are not a Bethesda developer, you have no knowledge of all of the game's internals or its source code. If you were a developer at Bethesda would you work towards using auto- and quicksave files, and not work against them by telling people not to use them. You are just an average modder who thinks he knows best but still only blames the game engine for it and your problems with autosaves and quicksaves are your own doing. This is common knowledge. You want to bury it together with the warning given by Bethesda.

[Vlad 254]

Originally posted by sdack:

Originally posted by Vlad 254:

I disagree. Common knowledge says otherwise. ...

You are however wrong. What you call common knowledge is your knowledge from modding the game and ignoring the warning. You are not a Bethesda developer, you have no knowledge of all of the game's internals or its source code. If you were a developer at Bethesda would you work towards using auto- and quicksave files reliably, and not work against them by telling people not to use them. You are just an average modder who thinks he knows best but still only blames the game engine for it. Your problems with autosaves and quicksaves are your own doing. This is common knowledge. You want to bury it together with the warning given by Bethesda.

Don't take it so personal and don't make it personal. You are not a Bethesda developer either. Why always attack people? You don't like caps you don't like people disagreeing with you. Can we please focus on the OP's issue and not all this ad hominem which is certainly unnecessary. Read my first reply which had nothing to do with insults but all to do with helping the op. And I never read such a warning from Bethesda so if there is one I'm not aware of it. I base my advice on both personal experience and those that have thousands of hours modding this game.

[Corinze]

Wow sdack. You opening admit modding comes with risks.

But

You are blatantly against and recommend not to use the best sure fire way to recover from a mishap, by having a hard save to fall back on.

wow, good luck, when you get into real modding

[lizrdfishr]

sdack, please let this rest.

I'd like to know if your original advice has helped OP.

[Vlad 254]

Tidying up the saves folder is a great suggestion. Should be a regular part of your maintenance with this game especially on longer playthroughs.