After cleaning the DLC esms ... I'm very confused.

[Noobsayer]

First the Legendary guide says:

Normally, when a file is cleaned through TES5Edit using Mod Organizer it is automatically moved back to it's original mod folder. In the case of the base Bethesda ESM files however, there is no source and so post cleaning they are moved to the /overwrite folder to preserve a clean Skyrim/Data folder. This leaves the data folder without the Bethesda ESM files and it must be fixed manually.

OK, except in the main Skyrim directory I still see the Bethesda ESMs. So they appear to be there, and not need to be moved back contrary to what the final, bolded sentence says. It then proceeds to tell me to:

 

Close Mod Organizer.

Navigate to /overwrite/TES5Edit Backups and move all of the backup files to the Skyrim/Data folder.

Rename the .backup* files to their original name such as Update.esm, Dawnguard.esm and so on.

Remove the TES5Edit Backups folder from /overwrite.

So I'm overwriting the Bethesda ESMs in the main Skyrim directory>Data with the "dirty" versions that were in my Mod Organizer>Overwrite>TES5Edit Backup folder?

 

THEN we get to:

This process has restored the original game files to allow the game to run in a pristine vanilla state via Steam. However, when running Skyrim through MO the cleaned files will always be used since ALL profiles use the contents of the /Overwrite folder.

Except I just renamed, then moved them from the Overwrite folder, which is now empty. So there's nothing for MO to override with, and I do not know where my "clean" versions would now be.

 

To be very clear, THE ONLY THING I SEE IN MY MOD ORGANIZER>OVERWRITE folder is TES5Edit Backups folder, with the backed-up, "dirty" Bethesda ESMs in it. Won't this process essentially remove the cleaned versions permanently if I overwrite the ones in the main Skyrim data folder, which begs the question, why did I do it in the first place?

 

What am I missing?

 

EDIT: OK, I read over the regular Skyrim Revisited for that section and that is WAY clearer imo than the Legendary instructions. Revert to the older instructions imo :)

[ipmlj]

I'm wondering about this too. I am new to MO and STEP in general. I am following the SR:LE guide as well.

 

a. After moving the cleaned esm's (from Skyrim\Data) to ...\Mod Organizer\mods\Cleaned Vanilla ESMs

 

b. Restoring the dirty esm's to Skyrim\Data and renaming them to their original name

 

I see a Warning Triangle on the Archives tab in MO. (I have Dawnguard.esm, Hearthfires.esm, Dragonborn.esm, checked on the plugin tab .. but not the Highres..esp's)

 

In the left side I have the mods:

 

Cleaned Vanilla ESMs

Skyrim Script Extender 107

Vanilla Optimized

Dawnguard Optimized

Hearthfires Optimized

Dragonborn Optimized

HRDLC1 Optimized

HRDLC2 Optimized

HRDLC3 Optimized

Seshons Mem block logger (added this on my own to track mem block usage)

 

Do I leave the ESMs checked on the Plugins tab and ignore the archives "warning" triangle?

 

Edit: I tried finding the Skyrim Revisited instructions but don't know my way around the STEP forums very well. In any case, I just unchecked the ESM's in the plugin tab (assuming the Optimized mods will replace them as long as they are activated in MO)