I recently got back into TES after seeing some of the previews for Skyrim. It's been a good 3-4 years, but I still remember how to install mods. I reformatted my computer a few weeks back and installed all the new drivers, updates, etc. so I wasn't expecting any problems. I followed all the normal procedures to get Morrowind working on Vista, and things were looking good. However, when it came time to install mods, the trouble started. None of the mods I installed worked, even the ones that install themselves (Better Bodies for instance). I've spent all day trying to figure out why this was -- including a few re-installations of Morrowind. After all else failed, I decided to ask the modder community for help.

Like I said, it's been a few years, so I'm probably missing something very obvious. Nevertheless, here is a list of everything I've tried.

-- re-installed Morrowind 3 times with all expansions, and tried once without any expansions
-- installed the latest patch from Bethesda's site
-- the plug-ins ARE selected in the play menu (I know a few people are going to say this is the reason, but it's not)
-- extracted the files first with Vista's own software, then I tried Winzip, and finally 7-zip
-- I checked to see if all the pathnames were correct and that the files were in the appropriate folders after extracting them... then I moved them to the data files folder and merged all mesh/texture/sound etc. folders
-- .esm files are in the data files folder
-- I tried the mods with a new game and a save game
-- ran Morrowind through administrator
-- changed the .ini file for Morrowind on the final installation and attempt


One interesting note is that Morrowind ALWAYS runs in administrator mode now. I have to give permission every time I play it or move files. However, I went into properties and the "run program as administrator" is not checked. I doubt running the program as administrator is causing any problems (I did it in the past all the time with mods), but if anybody knows how to turn off administrator mode, I'd like to try that.

Thanks in advance to anybody who can help me with this issue.

First of all, you said all that without even bothering to tell what the problem is... "Not working" tells us very little.
Give an explanation on what is not working.
Are your mods loading, or does the exe not even see them?
What happens that is causing problems? (besides "not working" do you get missing Meshes or Textures?)
What errors/warnings do you get?
Can we read your mind?

You likely just need to http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/781497-vistawindows-7-problems/page__view__findpost__p__11352753 and all will be fixed.

I'm pretty sure I did. I said that the mods don't work. AT ALL. The game functions normally otherwise, no error messages pop up, or anything. The mods just don't appear in the game whatsoever, even though the .esms and meshes/textures have been merged from the plug-in.

By the way, don't act like a snarky punk next time.

You likely just need to change your install location. Which you never mentioned doing previously.
If that doesn't work, we'll need more info.

OK, next time I contemplate being helpful and give you the exact solution to your problem.... I'll just ignore you.

You were being condescending, and only a slightly bit helpful. I'm patient and there are many others on this site who can help me. So if you want to ignore me next time, you'd be doing both of us a favor.

Gods, if anyone was acting like an [censored] it's you, Pluto was just being helpful. Calling someone a snarky punk for giving good advice isn't going to get you very far.

From your post it even sounds as if you didn't notice the advice he gave. Did you install Morrowind in your Program Files directory? Because that may be the cause of your problem.

I assume that you use Morrowind GOTY right and if it's GOTY you don't need the latest patch.
Do you manually extracted the mods or do you use Morrowind Plugin Manager or http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1180562-yacobys-wrye-mash-fork/ (Yacoby's improvements in Wrye Mash 85 is recommended)/http://www.fliggerty.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=53&t=3646 (WMSA) to install the mods?
You should always use http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1167004-relz-mlox-a-tool-for-anolyzing-and-sorting-your-load-order/ to sort your loadorder. Changing the Morrowind.ini is never a good idea unless a readme for a mod require you to do so.

Please post the contents of the Warnings.txt file (found in the game directory \Bethesda Softworks\Morrowind).

off topic, I disagree with this. Pluto has been incredibly helpful in all of the "help me!" threads i have seen, and 9 times out of 10, the main one (if not the ONLY one) contributing helpful information.

/rant over.

On topic, it is likely that IF you have installed to program files (vista and windows 7 really dont like you putting things there for some reason) all problems could be due to that. Moving the install directory may also get rid of the "morrowind wants to change things, need admin permission" message as well, but you can also change that by messing with some options in the "Morrowind" shortcut's properties.

Well, no. You said the mods "didn't work". That could mean "didn't work at all", or "don't work correctly". Even "didn't work at all" isn't very precise, as it could mean "aren't recognized by Morrowind", or "crash Morrowind when it starts", or "crash Morrowind every time a mod's content is accessed" - all of which would require different solutions. So it's good that you clarified that in the rest of your second post.

In your first post, you made an effort to give us a lot of information (which is good), but somehow missed the most crucial part (a precise description of the problem). Pluto was surprised about that and, while trying to help you, made an unnecessary remark that you apparently misunderstood as condescending. That's all.



Please keep in mind that these "others on the site" that might want to help you (like me) will not be very motivated to do so if trying to help you entails the risk of (a ) being insulted, of having (b ) our effort called "only a slightly bit helpful" when it _couldn't_ be more helpful because of the lack of necessary information, and of (c ) then being told that we _shouldn't_ even help you further.

To me, it seems that Pluto was right in suggesting a change of install locations; based on the information we have that's the best solution I can see. Pluto even linked another post with an example. I could elaborate, but am reluctant to do so because I really don't want to be called names when I'm just trying to help.