Once More- - - -

[PutPut]

I know this has been answered before but with the "Great Crash" I can't find succint answers. I wish to install Acceleration (Finally) I purchased it 3 months ago and have been too busy with design projects to install it for fear of messing up royally.
I have FSX SP-2 installed and the SDK SP-2 installed. I am running XP SP-2.
I do have many add-ons installed including FSX native and port over planes and scenery.
Can I install Acceleration as is, or should I unload the add on stuff first. I want to avoid a complete reinstall if possible.

Thanks, Paul

[FLighT01]

I've read numerous threads on the subject at, at least, a half dozen different FSX dedicated forums and the only way to insure no issues is to do a completely clean reinstall from scratch. And un-install every FSX addon first (including FSX SP1 and SP2 and SDK's if they show up in Add/Remove Programs as entries). I think even MS recommended going about it that way shortly after Accel was released. I recently ran across a thread where the poster received an E-Mail from MS technical support department detailing how to go about the un-installing process including locating possible left over folders and registry entries for deletion.

I will look for that info and post it here when I find it.

Of course I always stand to be corrected, and I hate to rain on ya' but that's what I did with Accel and I've had no problems in over a year.

[txnetcop]

Paul, you can install Acceleration over the top of SP1 and SP2 I had no problems and my frame rates are exceptional. I hate to say this as if nothing could go wrong. Flight01 is right the best way to a fresh clean setup but I and many others have been successful in just installing over the top. You may find some of your aircraft will not work and you may have to reinstall some of your scenery by going into the library and deleting and re-adding them again.
Ted


I know this has been answered before but with the "Great Crash" I can't find succint answers. I wish to install Acceleration (Finally) I purchased it 3 months ago and have been too busy with design projects to install it for fear of messing up royally.
I have FSX SP-2 installed and the SDK SP-2 installed. I am running XP SP-2.
I do have many add-ons installed including FSX native and port over planes and scenery.
Can I install Acceleration as is, or should I unload the add on stuff first. I want to avoid a complete reinstall if possible.

Thanks, Paul

[FLighT01]

Ted's probably right, especially about addon planes and especially their gauges. But for what it's worth at some point you may want to do a fresh install without a complete reformat of the HDD. If so here's something I recently came across that may be of use (or maybe not):

UNINSTALL / REINSTALL FSX

I had a similar issue not long ago when I could not install FSX-SP2 after a fresh install on my new PC. After just about tearing my hair out, I ended up having to completely uninstall FSX, and then do a fresh install. This was the procedure that I followed (from Microsoft FS Support):

I Uninstall the game

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1. Click on Start

2. Click on Control Panel.

3. Click on Switch to classic view

4. Click on Add or Remove programs

5. Check mark on Show updated at top bar of the window.

6. Select Microsoft Flight Simulator X Service Pack 1 (Accel or SP2 if they show up on the list as well I would assume – and this is after already having removed all other add on scenery, planes, meshes, textures, and any associated left over folders, etc. – FlighT01 ) from the installed program list and then click on Remove.

7. Now select the Microsoft Flight Simulator X and click on Remove and follow the instructions to uninstall it.



II Remove the game folder

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1. Right click on Start

2. Click on Explore

3. Click on Program Files

4. Double click on Microsoft games

5. Select the Flight Simulator X folder and press the Delete key on the keyboard.



III Remove the folder that has saved game content.



1. Click Start, and then click My Documents.

2. Right-click the Flight Simulator Files folder, if it exists, and then click Delete.



Note: If the Flight Simulator Files folder does not exist, close the My Documents window, and then go to step 3.



3. Click yes to confirm that you want to remove the folder and all its contents.

4. Close the My Documents window.



IV Remove the FSX folder



1. Click on Start

2. Click on Run

3. Type %appdata% in the box and click on OK

4. Double click on Microsoft folder

5. Select FSX folder and press Delete key on the keyboard.



V Remove the game from Registry

-------------------------------------------------------------------



WARNING: If you use Registry Editor incorrectly, you may cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that you can solve problems that result from using Registry Editor incorrectly. Use Registry editor at your own risk.



VI Remove the game entries under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE



1. Click on Start

2. Click on Run

3. In the box type regedit and press Enter key.

4. Double Click on HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE

5. Double Click on Software

6. Double Click on Microsoft

7. Double Click on Microsoft Games

8. Locate "Flight simulator X" and delete the folder. Click on yes when it asks to delete this key and all of its sub keys.

9. Click on edit and click on Find next

10. In the find box type Flight Simulator X and click on Find next

11. Delete the entry that is found and then press F3 to find the next entry. Keep on pressing F3 until all the entries of Flight simulator have been deleted.

12. Close the Registry editor.



Note: The above steps will remove the Flight simulator X completely.



VII Please restart the computer.



VIII Clean Boot

------------------------------

When you start Microsoft Windows with a normal startup, several programs start automatically and run in the background. These programs may include third-party antivirus programs and system utility programs.



When you try to run the game, these programs may interfere with the game. If this occurs, you can use a clean boot to start your computer before you play a game. This prevents these background programs from starting automatically. Hence, we will try reinstalling the game in Clean boot mode.



NOTE: You must be logged on as an administrator or a member of the Administrators group in order to complete this procedure. If your computer is connected to a network, network policy settings may also prevent you from completing this procedure.



1. Click on Start, and then click Run.

2. In the Open box, type msconfig, and then click OK.

3. On the General tab, click Selective Startup.

4. Under Selective Startup, click to clear the following check boxes:



- Process SYSTEM.INI File

- Process WIN.INI File

- Load Startup Items



5. On the Services tab, click to select the Hide All Microsoft Services check box.

6. On the Startup Tab, click the option "Disable All"

7. Click on Apply, then click on Close, and then click on Restart



Disable any antivirus or system security software (Norton, MacAfee). Also, if you have any third-party software installed for video performance or refresh rate optimization, please disable that software.



I Reinstall FSX

-------------------

1. Insert the Flight Simulator X Deluxe DVD Disc 1 in the DVD drive.

2. On the first page of the Setup wizard, click Next.

3. Click Install.

. Install Installs Flight Simulator X.

. More Options

On the More Options screen, you can change install location, limit users, and start Flight Simulator X after installation.

4. Install for all Users, run after install, view Readme, and then add a shortcut.

5. To change the Installation folder, click Browse, and then select a new location. . To display free space on all drives on the computer, click Disk Space.

6. The installation process will start. When you are prompted to insert different Flight Simulator X discs, insert the appropriate disc, and then click OK.



After the installation is complete, the game will build scenery file indexes.



X Download and install Visual C++ Redistributable package

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

To download and install Visual C++, please visit the Web site mentioned below.



http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=32BC1BEE-A3F9-4C13-9C99-220B62A191EE&displaylang=en (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=32BC1BEE-A3F9-4C13-9C99-220B62A191EE&displaylang=en)



Click on Download on the web page and save it on the desktop. Go back to the desktop and double click on the downloaded file and try to install the package and then try installing the game.



XI Restart the system.



XII Download and install Flight Simulator X Service Pack 1

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Download and install the latest Flight Simulator X Service Pack 1. To do this, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://www.fsinsider.com/downloads/Pages/FlightSimulatorXServicePack1.aspx (http://www.fsinsider.com/downloads/Pages/FlightSimulatorXServicePack1.aspx)
Click on Download on the webpage, when you receive File Download dialogue box, then click on save, save the file to the desktop. Go back to the desktop, open the downloaded file, and try to run the update.

XIII Download and install Flight Simulator X Service Pack 2

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Download and install the latest Flight Simulator X Service Pack 1. To do this, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://www.fsinsider.com/downloads/Pages/FlightSimulatorXServicePack2.aspx (http://www.fsinsider.com/downloads/Pages/FlightSimulatorXServicePack2.aspx)



Click on Download on the webpage, when you receive File Download dialogue box, then click on save, save the file to the desktop. Go back to the desktop, open the downloaded file, and try to run the update.

This time it worked, and has been fine since.

It may be that that is your only choice.

Hope that's of some help.

I won't put the posters name here, and apparently these instructions are from Microsoft Support. I do not remember where I saw this. I wouldn't want the poster to take any blame if something I cut and pasted here is incorrect. I haven't had to go through this yet myself, so I don't know how it works, but I'm certain at some point I probably will. Sooner or later with FSX... I'll fubar something up, done it before, I'm sure I'll do it again. And if nothing else it's worth a shot if your contemplating a complete reformat to see if you can save yourself some time and aggravation.

[PutPut]

I did mean to get back and say I installed it "right over the top" with no problems. The addons that I thought might not work with Acceleration don't work (port overs) and all the others do work. Thanks, Paul