I just unsubscribed from a mod compilation called "Pite?" (a graphic enchancing mod) and now my save games that are from using the said mod give that error message. The saves have so far run without any kind of problems. but is it possible that I later run into some nasty errors/glitches or is this typical and happens to everyone all the time while installing/uninstalling mods?

Thanks!

No, It's fine. This just means that your last saved game "relies" on files that were present beforehand (a previous mod). As long as you're not deactivating a mod that adds a physical location into the game, then you're fine. i.e. If you were in a new location added by a mod, like a new house or something and you last saved there and then you deactivated the mod, then reloaded your saved game. it would not work because the physical location that you were -last- in technically does not exist anymore. But a graphics mod should be no problem for you.

Hmm, not always true.

As you posted, this message is referring to a mod that is no longer active that the save is expecting. Most of the time it should be OK to carry on. However, even with graphics mods I have ended up with headless people or people who have no torsos or missing weapons meshes and textures when removing a graphics mod. It may have to do with some issue related to the Archive Invalidation mechanism.

So, most of the time it is an error message you can ignore. However, if you have in game weirdness, then re-enable the mod. If the game is no longer weird, then find out the best way to uninstall that particular mod.

agreed it really is based on the mod and what it does....some alter files and a simple deletion won't remove those changes.

Hi,
It all depends on the Mod in question. not dangerous , but could be game breaking....IE:

Your save , you are standing IN the house of a MOD you removed....(bout as dangerous as it gets...lol.)

Best practice I have ever found for a Bethesda game is... When ever you are going to make a change, make sure your in an interior, and not one that has any content of anything your removing. A player home is a good place.

Remove mods , make your changes. Load the game and ignore any warnings, when and if the game loads, SAVE in a new slot. Exit the game .Start the game.(to verify the new save loads).

IF you have 10 saves you would have to do that for every save.

I must have done that, or similar for the last 6 years of moving mods (Including FCOM) In and out of my Oblivion character.Updating them along the way.

Thanks guys. I take that steam mods don't alter any game files?

To be a mod means that it MODifys something in the original game. So all mods alter game files. Now some mods could be patches for other mods, then they wouldn't be changing game assets just mod added files.

EDIT: Mods do alter the game but do not actually change the original files, when the game is loaded mods are added on top of the original content (game files) remove a mod and the game is back to original.

I thought the .esp and .bsa files work just like plugins in a way that they override the corresponding game files temporarily. Thats why you can just uncheck them and the game uses again its original files.

Yes..sorry if it sounded like they (Mods) would change the original game content..your right ...when a mod is loaded its content is used..remove a mod and the original content (from Skyrim.esm) is used.

This is also how we can have several mods changing the same thing...in that case the last loaded mod wins.

If you remove all your mods the game is back to vanilla form.

Thanks anywats for clearing that up .

If I remember correctly, in Oblivion, there was an Inn in the Imperial city that served as a dumping ground for orphaned NPCs from uninstalled mods. Sometimes, you would find deer and other interesting stuff there.

In Wyre Bash for Morrowind, the utility wold assess the 'health' of your save files. I assume this was mostly a measure of how many errors there were in the save, mostly from mod components that had been stripped out.

Longstanding save files in past games tended to have more CTDs, and having lots of mods or mods removed can contribute to this. Your save may be less stable in the wrong run, even if there are no problems now.

But it's probably fine. Just try not to remove mods from save files that require them. If it's a simple mod that you know well, errors are unlikely.

Thanks for the usefull answers everybody. I have had no problems so far.