PC making a back up

[DWFII]

So, I am beginning to mess around with some "harmless" console commands but I read somewhere that it is recommended to make a back up first.

Sensible. But is it as simple as doing a "Save Game" or are you supposed to make a copy of all your saved games and perhaps data files in another directory--like a regular backup?

If the last, what all files do you need to copy over to the new, safe location?

 

[Halkin]

If you have it in the default location just the "C:\Users\[UserName]\Documents\My Games\Skyrim\Saves" folder is fine. I've reverted back to old saves a few times after tinkering with console or trying out new builds.

To be honest I backup all my saves for all games every week anyway in case of HDD failure.

 

[DWFII]

Thanks for taking the time...

I know this may seem dense...heck maybe it is dense (I'm a cautious guy--that's how you survive to 66 )...but this is what I'm trying to clarify:

I can make a new folder under ...\doucuments\my games\skyrim\saves and copy all the saved games to that folder. So that I have two copies of everything.

Do I need to do that?

Is a simple save game (not a quicksave) enough?

 

[Halkin]

ah I see what you are getting at I think (have had some beers so excuse me if not!), as long as you dont save over the file after changing things with console reloading the original save will be fine.

still, the cautious side of me would probably make a copy of the folder anyway the main reason for this is the .ini files stored in the save folder, i'm not sure if console commands can or will make on the fly changes to those which would be more permanent unless you know how to undo them

 

[Dagmar]

Console commands will only affect your saved game going forward. All you have to do is make a saved game prior to using the console commands you want to try. If things go badly you can go back to that saved game and play forward from there.

 

[DWFII]

Thank you both.

I was wanting to level Lydia up...I met her at about level 10 for me and now I'm at 22....

I did copy all my save games and Skyrim.ini to a secure location and I did save the gave just prior to issuing the SETCLASS command.

Worked perfectly from what I can see and boosted Lydia's health and one-handed considerably.