A Faster Way to ReInstall FSX?

[Lionheart]

Hey all,

I read these horrifying stories of reloading FSX, which can take a day to nearly a week, getting everything back in it again, permissions through the internet, etc, etc..

What if you rename the FSX folder to something like FSX Original Backup, and then install a new FSX in there, then copy/paste over the various addons from the other one?

For instance, paste in the old 'airplanes' folder into the new FSX installation, same with scenery (UTX, etc).

Would that speed up the process? This way you are only installing the shell platform of the sim, and then carrying over the addons.

Also, one could have a backup of things like the FSX config file.


I do this with FS2004 and it works brilliant..



Bill

[spotlope]

I think it depends a lot on the requirements of your addons, Bill. For instance, I've had Flight1 planes before that would only run properly if I installed them from the original installer - a security measure, I'm sure. The main thing you're missing in the scenario above are the registry entries, if any, required to run your bolt-on goodies.

[Snuffy]

The fastest way is to not uninstall it to start with! :bump:

Sorry couldn't resist the urge ...

Hope ya get it fixed soon(ish)!

[dswo]

I think it depends a lot on the requirements of your addons, Bill. For instance, I've had Flight1 planes before that would only run properly if I installed them from the original installer - a security measure, I'm sure. The main thing you're missing in the scenario above are the registry entries, if any, required to run your bolt-on goodies.

That was my experience too.

[Lionheart]

I think it depends a lot on the requirements of your addons, Bill. For instance, I've had Flight1 planes before that would only run properly if I installed them from the original installer - a security measure, I'm sure. The main thing you're missing in the scenario above are the registry entries, if any, required to run your bolt-on goodies.

Hey Bill,

Roger that. But if the registries are for the planes in FSX, and you have rebuilt the same folder structure, it 'should' work.

The only thing you would need are the components 'in' the main FSX folders and in the Documents folder where the main sim configs are. Those too would need to be carried over into the new installation.

The new installation would carry the same stock name, while your backup would be hanging out in the shadows, like a spare car for parts..



Bill

[Henry]

Bill you would have to check your
folder where your cfg is
because of your exe.xml
or back up that folder also
other than that it should work
H

[n4gix]

Henry is correct. Before making a "fresh install" you really would need to manually backup all of the various files that FSX scatters around in the ..\AppData\Local and ..\AppData\Roaming folders as well, otherwise the "fresh install" would overwrite them with new data and you'd loose things such as the Standard.xml, Scenery.cfg, FSX.cfg et cetera.

I have also done this same procedure myself, so that I now have "virgin installs" of both FS9 and FSX for backup/testing purposes... :)

[dharris]

What I have done, is put fsx on it's own hard drive and then when I had it set up just right, I made an image of the hard drive with O&O imgage software. Then later on when a period of time has gone by, and I have changed it with more addons I do the image again lableling the image to reflect that it is full of addons. The first one is made just of the original install with all fixes, patches acceleration and fex,gex and utx. That way if things go south, I can re-image the drive with the originall setup and rebuild with new addons or go to the image that contained all current addons. I have used this twice now and you talk about a time and grief saver. I image all my drives this way and store them all on a large external usb drive that is not powered on except to restore files or images. Now I am free to try things that normally I would hesitate doing in fear of losing fsx.

[harleyman]

What I have done, is put fsx on it's own hard drive and then when I had it set up just right, I made an image of the hard drive with O&O imgage software. Then later on when a period of time has gone by, and I have changed it with more addons I do the image again lableling the image to reflect that it is full of addons. The first one is made just of the original install with all fixes, patches acceleration and fex,gex and utx. That way if things go south, I can re-image the drive with the originall setup and rebuild with new addons or go to the image that contained all current addons. I have used this twice now and you talk about a time and grief saver. I image all my drives this way and store them all on a large external usb drive that is not powered on except to restore files or images. Now I am free to try things that normally I would hesitate doing in fear of losing fsx.







I feel this too is the best way..If you have the Ultimate edition of your OS than that feature for backing up is there already...if not such weekly/ monthly contiuning backups can be performed with software such as you refered to, there is Norton Ghost and Acronis True Image also, to name two popular ones..

[dharris]

Any of the ones mentioned will work, I use O&O as I have the O&O Defrag as well. This has saved me so much agrivation.

[Bjoern]

I still say that a zipped up version of a fresh FSX install on two DVDs is more than enough for a backup, but as usually no one's listening to me.

[azflyboy]

I recently had to reinstall FSX from scratch thanks to an OS failure, and I saved a massive amount of time thanks to a 1TB external hard drive.

What I do is simply copy the entire FSX folder to the drive on a fairly regular basis (every couple of weeks), as well as making copies of the FSX.cfg and other important files.

When I reinstalled FSX, I simply reinstalled the core sim and Acceleration, and then copied my most recent backup over it and selected "yes to all" when asked about overwriting files. I ended up with some payware aircraft not working correctly thanks to missing registry entries, but all of my freeware aircraft and scenery seem to have come through intact.

[modelr]

I had just installed FSX and FS9 each on their own 1TB external drives, on my old machine. Did that last week. Had everything working fine, though they were both virgin loads, with just FSG and UT installed on both. I also updated my old rig to Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit, on a separate hard drive, keeping the old XP SP3 installed on the original drive.

Got my new machine assembled two days ago, and have spent all that time getting it working. Tried using the HDD from old rig with Win 7 on it, and it wouldn't boot. So I installed a new 1.5TB and managed to load Win 7 on it. When I tried my FS9 on the USB drive, it worked fine. However, FSX would not work. Kept getting errors. Finally uninstalled everything except the FSG. I have the full bundle, so it's a LOT of mesh! After defragging the drive, I did a reload of FSX, SP1 and Acceleration. Had to go thru Microsoft to get reactivated, since they saw it as being on two different computers. After explaining what I had done, they reactivated both. Tried them out, and everything worked great!

I have "Carbonite" backup service, but they don't do drives other than the C: drive, right now. However, I JUST reinstalled it on this new machine. I'm wondering if it kept my old info that MS hides in all those other folders on C:, and would have prevented a complete reinstall. Does anyone know if there are any more registry locations besides the main one in
Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\microsoft\Micr osoft Games\Flight Simulator\10.0

[Lionheart]

I ended up with some payware aircraft not working correctly thanks to missing registry entries.


Is it possible to save 'Registries'?



Bill

[anthony31]

Is it possible to save 'Registries'?



Bill

Yes. In XP you click on Start/Run... and type in regedit to get the registry editor where you can export the registry. Although mucking about with regedit you can very quickly stuff things up completely if you don't know what you're doing. I'm sure there would be some freeware apps available that would also streamline the process.

[dharris]

Lionheart, I use this http://www.snapfiles.com/get/erunt.html it will back up your registry and restore it easily. I have it set to run and make a backup of the registry each time the pc starts up. Then if you have a problem with the registry you clik on the latest or an earlier entry and it will rewrite the registry without any fooling around on your part. Saved my backon a couple of times.

[Bjoern]

Is it possible to save 'Registries'?

I wouldn't save the whole registry, but exporting single entries (e.g. registration stuff for payware) is possible and easily done.

[JIMJAM]

I am jinxed now for reading this.:icon_eek:

Its been a bad year for FSX and me. I had both FS9 which was bursting at the seams with over a grand in addons and FSX loaded. I then had a major motherboard failure and os corruption. Decided it was the time to retire FS9 and go dedicated FSX.
Took a week to reload FSX and about 6 months ago built a new computer. Again,about a week to to reinstall with over $600 in addons. Only a few weeks old a brand new Raptor hard drive flew apart! Crap.:mad:
Took 3 solid days to reinstall and a week to get everything back in order. Each reinstall I would leave out aircraft and sceneries I rarely flew. All of my paywares now reside on 2 separate hard drives.
I still have the occasional ctd and each time my heart skips a beat.
I will be watching this thread as a reinstall is right up there with getting teeth pulled and a Doctor with a triple xxx size rubber glove.

[Dangerousdave26]

I still say that a zipped up version of a fresh FSX install on two DVDs is more than enough for a backup, but as usually no one's listening to me.

Of course someone is listening to you.

I already do this for FS9 and FSX. :icon_lol:


I wouldn't save the whole registry, but exporting single entries (e.g. registration stuff for payware) is possible and easily done.


Very correct

[Bjoern]

Of course someone is listening to you.

I already do this for FS9 and FSX. :icon_lol:

http://data24.sevenload.com/slcom/tw/ix/nhmlkkd/wszkmmkchkjf.jpg%7E/Internet-High-Five.jpghttp://farm4.static.flickr.com/3006/2918834309_9627e83d6f.jpg

:d

[n4gix]

Bjoern, I knew you were a bit different, but I never knew you had two left hands! :jawdrop:

[Bjoern]

Bjoern, I knew you were a bit different, but I never knew you had two left hands! :jawdrop:
Wat?

[J van E]

Hey all,
What if you rename the FSX folder to something like FSX Original Backup, and then install a new FSX in there, then copy/paste over the various addons from the other one?



When I reinstalled FSX, I simply reinstalled the core sim and Acceleration, and then copied my most recent backup over it and selected "yes to all" when asked about overwriting files.

Instead of copying everything into or over the new install, I would (in Lionhearts example) delete (or rename) the new install and give the old FSX folder the original name again (Windows will simply think the old folder is the new install) or (in azflyboy's example) delete (or rename) the new install and copy the most recent backup to the original location (and again Windows will simply think the old folder is the new install). Seems a lot easier and more secure to me...