I've seen a couple instances lately where people have asked about using only some files that are in a BSA. Oddly enough, no one has shared any information about how to extract such files.

It is very easy, thanks to http://planetelderscrolls.gamespy.com/View.php?view=Utilities.Detail&id=32 by Argent and Ghostwheel. This is an old tool that has been around for a while, but it's a priceless weapon in my personal modding arsenal.

This program requires http://www.java.com/en/download/manual.jsp There are numerous how-to's around if you need help with installing that and getting it working properly.

The specific utility you need here to unpack a BSA file is BSA Browser.exe. Run that (BTW, run GetMWRoot.exe before you do anything) then select the BSA file that you wish to unpack. Note that it can take a VERY long time for it to show anything if you select a large file, such as Morrowind.bsa. I used to think it had frozen and would close it, but that wasn't the case....just be patient.

It's a very simple utility to use, and is very straight-forward. And I've never had a problem with it besides my own impatience. The actual unpacking can take a lot longer than the browsing. In fact, there have been times I thought it was done when it wasn't. So just let it run and go get a sandwich.

There is also this:
http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=12189

Which requires .NET (IDK which version).

Yep, thanks for adding that Yacoby.

I will also point out that though BSA Browser also has a utility to create a BSA. So if you want to archive a lot of resources into a single file, that is a good option. I have often done that as I set up my game with different resources that I download.

I usually use http://planetelderscrolls.gamespy.com/View.php?view=Utilities.Detail&id=28 powerful and simple command line tool

BSA Browser is a Java gui wrapper for Ghostwheel's BSA Pack.

This is what I use to extract individual files. Mainly because I've never been able to unpack individual files from BSA Browser.

I do like BSA Browser tho for browsing, registering and packing BSAs.


BSA Browser has some issues with nested directories when packing a BSA, specifically where both files and folders exist within a given sub-directory level. Browsing the directory structure with the util will show one of the files from the sub-directory (usually the first in alphabetical order) located outside the folder at the same level as that folder. This has led to some missing asset warnings and error messages in-game when using the BSA.

To get around this I add a dummy file (000_bsa.fix) to each sub folder that will occupy the first position so it's the affected file and thus does not cause disruption to the proper location and indexing of the actual files. Seems to work well. B)


[edit] IIRC there used to be a thread or two here about BSAs and BSA Browser, alas they seem to have fallen off the Mundus. I had posted about the BSA packing issue I mention above with more thorough examples of the resulting file locations - c'est la vie.

Ah, pretty much what I was looking for these days, thanks Fliggerty

Same here, thank you Flig. :foodndrink:

There's no need in special unpackers, guys.
Just download "Total Commander Light" or "Micro" package http://dreamlair.net/dreamlair/all-dreamlair/2007-tcdl-2011.html. These two are small in size and contain only freeware components.
Fire it up and here you go! Now you can enter and browse any BSA archive (and maaany other games archives too, http://forrox.narod.ru/gaup_en_form.htm!) like a common file system folder by just pressing "ctrl+pagedown" on it. You can even view, copy or compare files inside BSA without unpacking.
That's the way I do it for a long time.

P.S. one thing I have to mention, all the BSA functionality described above is contained within the single http://forrox.narod.ru/gaup_en_form.htm that you can use with ANY suitable for you Total Commander package.