Guide Talk:Skyrim Installation

Download and install BSAopt - Bethesda Archive Management and Optimization (make sure to set the game to Skyrim and read the documentation) and use it to extract each of the 2 bsa's you just downloaded to their own directories adjacent to one another (e.g., c:\HRDLC1 & c:\HRDLC2).

Alternatively, bsa's can be extracted using DDSopt (make sure to set the game to Skyrim), which includes BSAopt functionality as well as many other features. More on using DDSopt to extract and repack bsa's can be referenced in the DDSopt Guide.

Now, delete the directory to which you extracted the DlC Fix.

For the diehards among you that also have 1.5GB+ VRAM an optional step is to use DDSopt to optimize all of the textures (e.g., c:\HRDLC1 & c:\HRDLC2) before repacking them (a 3-5+ hour process). Refer to DDSopt Guide. Complete the configuration and optimization sections substituting the two HRDLC directories as appropriate.

Finally, choose one of the following three options:

• If you are using a mod manager, you can deactivate the ESPs and create one or more compressed archives using 7zip
• Using BSAopt (or DDSopt), recompress the two remaining directories (e.g., c:\HRDLC1 & c:\HRDLC2) back into HighResTexturePack01.bsa and HighResTexturePack02.bsa, respectively (CAUTION: make backups of these, because Steam can overwrite! Also, be certain that the directory structures within each BSA match the textures\ directory structure under the skyrim\Data directory)
  1. Start BSAOpt (pick the correct version, x32 or x64), and check if in the Game menu Skyrim has been set as option (this option might have reset which will generate CTD causing .bsa output files)
  2. Click the top right Browse button
  3. In the pop up menu, select the directory you want to pack (HRDLC1 or HRDLC2)
  4. Click the Use Folder button
  5. Check if the directory tree that is listed in the top section of BSAOpt lists the structure (..\, textures and then the sub-files). Anything else is wrong and you need to reselect your input directory
  6. Click the bottom right "Browse" button
  7. In the File name section select and overwrite "out" with HighResTexturePack01 or HighResTexturePack02
  8. Check if the "Save as type" section is set as the Bethesda Softworks Archive (*.bsa)
  9. Click the Save button
  10. Click the Pack button
  11. Repeat the process for the other directory (HRDLC1 or HRDLC2) that needs to be packed
  12. Delete the HRDLC1 and HRDLC2 directories
• Deposit the textures folders within your skyrim\Data directory (Not recommended, if you do make sure you have a vanilla backup for when you want to uninstall).