Ahh, Skyrim for PC. What a fantastic experience that was!
Yeah, with all the mods that are out there; both on Nexus and Steam... It's easy to brick a copy of Skyrim. Here is my advise if you're jumping into modded Skyrim now.
First, Get a clean backup of Skyrim via Steam. That way, if you brick another copy of Skyrim in the future, you can wipe it, and get a clean install done in about 90 seconds.
- Go to your steam library and right click on Skyrim in your games list. Select Delete Local Data and Okay.
- Open Windows Explorer and navigate to your old Skyrim installation. Physically Delete the Skyrim folder if it still exists.
- Go back to Steam. Right Click on Skyrim. Select Install and follow the instructions.
- Wait for Download and installation to complete.
- In the upper left corner of screen click on the word "Steam", open the drop down, select "Backup and Restore Games"
- Follow the instructions to create a backup of your fresh Skyrim installation in the location of your choosing.
Also! Keep in mind that the manner in which Skyrim saves your script states to your save game is very touchy! If you, once per hour, drop from game to install/uninstall 3 new mods... You're going to brick your game.
You'll want to spend some time tinkering with your new Skyrim installation before you sit down for a full playthrough. Start a new game, get through the intro, Save... Now add a few things, load your save and goof for 5 minutes to make sure it's working, then exit out and install some more mods. Rinse and Repeat. Keep doing this until you feel like you're taxing your system, or pushing your luck... THEN, start a new game for your play through.
[video="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClqtmSUsFhg&list=PLE7DlYarj-DdhDG41roBVJfNCqvO5MmKP&index=2"][/video]
Also, there is a guy on YouTube named "Gopher" that has made an enormous video library all about Skyrim and mods for it. You would benefit from his video's. Just look up vids via his name. "Gopher"
Furthermore, if you have an SSD hard drive and 1 Gig or more Video Ram, you can mod the holy hell out of that game. On the other hand, if you don't have the SSD or Gig of video Ram, be careful how many textures you install. HHD's and Video Ram Shortages can drastically increase load times when modding Skyrim.
You're in for some fun... Good Luck, hope this helps.