FSX reactivation

[dhasdell]

I have FSX on a separate drive and my main drive has been re-formatted. Now I can only play FSX for a short while before it asks about activation. The "help" pages simply send me round in circles. Can I reactivate it, or do I really have to go to the trouble of reinstalling?

[stansdds]

Since you can play it,at least briefly, and it's asking to be reactivated, you should be able to simply reactivate (register) it with MS. I've been through two hard drive and one CPU upgrades, every one of those upgrades required me to register my FSX with MS. MS allows five activations, after that... well, from what I've heard if you are the original purchaser MS will continue to allow you to reactivate FSX.

[Hurricane91]

Hello Dhasdell,
I am in the same predicament. I get a "Product Activation Error" message and the sim shuts down.
I recently queried on the thread linked below. It appears to me that a re-install may be the only solution. If you should find a way to fix this, Please let me know.

Best regards,
John

http://www.sim-outhouse.com/sohforums/showthread.php?t=15799

[dhasdell]

Hello John - so you never got anywhere either? Surely we can't be the only ones? Let's hope we get a post soon. Mine works ok, new a/c and scenery and all, but then just stops.

David H.

[Hurricane91]

Hello John - so you never got anywhere either?

Not yet. I'm stalling in the hope that there is a work-around. I have looked around the web a little bit but so far I have not seen anything that applies. Do you also get an error message?

[dhasdell]

I get an error message on startup, offering to send me to a help page which doesn't, but if I just cancel the message FSX loads normally.

[Bjoern]

There is a fix that deactivates FSX's activation. I've been using it for ages now since I simply don't see the point of reinstalling FSX whenever my OS partition receives a new Windows installation.

Since the fix is basically illegal, I can and will not provide links or instructions (not even via PM).


Anyways, the only hint I can give you is: Google/Bing knows everything.

[James]

I just emailed microsoft, and they said that I could reactivate it infinitely. idk if it'll work again though, haha

[Meshman]

I have FSX on a separate drive and my main drive has been re-formatted.

And when you reformatted the OS drive it took out all the registry data that got installed with FSX. Now FSX doesn't "see" anything that says it was properly activated.

You might try some "fix" found on the internet, that's your choice. Would I trust "something", found from "someone"? Not in this lifetime!

Simplest solution is to bite the bullet and do a fresh install of FSX. There may be a lot of stuff that is salvageable from your existing FSX location, so taking some time to go through what you have might save time from adding it back after the reinstall. An example would be mesh files. Find them, copy them to a temporary folder and then copy them back later. Other items like planes may work also, but there items like the primary Gauge folder and Effects folder can be copied to a temporary spot.

[Hurricane91]

There may be a lot of stuff that is salvageable from your existing FSX location,...
Thanks for the tips Meshman. I am probably going to do a new install as you and several others have suggested. For the salvage operation, do you advise saving folders like "Add-on Scenery", "Scenery" and "Texture" folders to copy back into the new install?

[N2056]

There is a fix that deactivates FSX's activation. I've been using it for ages now since I simply don't see the point of reinstalling FSX whenever my OS partition receives a new Windows installation.

Since the fix is basically illegal, I can and will not provide links or instructions (not even via PM).


Anyways, the only hint I can give you is: Google/Bing knows everything.

Wow. You advertise that you know it's illegal. All I'm gonna say.

[Meshman]

Thanks for the tips Meshman. I am probably going to do a new install as you and several others have suggested. For the salvage operation, do you advise saving folders like "Add-on Scenery", "Scenery" and "Texture" folders to copy back into the new install?

Yup, there may be a lot that's salvageable and can save the time for reinstall. If you are so inclined, you can hunt down your FSX.cfg file and save the existing copy and reuse it. Changes made to DLL.xml, EXE.xml and Scenery.cfg can be saved. Scenery.cfg would only be useful if you either a.) got everything copied over or b.) opened it with Notepad or the like and manually edited it to reflect what you were able to save.

A lot of planes could be saved, accounting for the primary Gauge and Effects folder, as I mentioned before.

A reinstall gives packrats like me the opportunity to rethink what I might have installed before, as in "Do I really need this?", which could lead to a cleaner running FSX? Defrag a couple of times after reinstalling, as the files end up all over the place during installation.

Good luck! I've made it about 8 months without a reinstall, but that may change after I get some computer parts replaced.

[dhasdell]

I'd be quite happy to reactivate it if I could only see how to.

Thanks for the replies. Looks like a reinstall, having first moved aircraft, gauges, effects, add on scenery etc to safety.

[hey_moe]

We don't allow cracks for programs in here. Either format your HD and reinstall or try editing your registry and correcting it there. Please try and limit your response on how to crack FSX....Thanks Mike

[dhasdell]

Who was asking for cracks? Please read my original post.

[stansdds]

Who was asking for cracks? Please read my original post.
Someone responded to your post suggesting the use of a security crack, that post has since been edited to remove that suggestion.

[Dangerousdave26]

dhasdell

You could try this to avoid cannibalizing your perfectly good install. If you have enough room on that drive where FSX resides install the program to another folder.

Lets say your old install is D:\Microsoft Flight Simulator X

Make the new install D:\FSX

Make sure you do the activation start it up and fly in it a short while to confirm it is working.

Now rename the FSX folder to FSX_Default

Rename the "Microsoft Flight Simulator X" folder to FSX

Launch what is the old FSX.exe file from the newly renamed FSX folder and see if all goes well. If it does you saved the old install. If it doesn't rename everything back to where it was before and you can start the process of migrating planes, gauges, scenery to the fresh install.

Depending on what payware you have installed you are still likely to have issues with some third party software that has lost its registry entries.

[dhasdell]

Thank you dangerous. I was thinking along the lines of renaming the original, doing a new install and copying folders, but your suggestion sounds better.

[jandjfrench]

Hi,

MS has a program that addresses problems with re-activation. I have it in a folder named "MS Software Reset Licensing" the filename is "mskb928080.exe".
I'm providing the information like this as I don't recall how it was initially downloaded.
The activation problem stems from FSX being uninstalled and then some type of registry cleaner being used prior to re-installation.

Jim F.

[Hurricane91]

..."MS Software Reset Licensing" the filename is "mskb928080.exe".


Hello Jim,
I downloaded this yesterday but I am not sure if it is what I need. Have you used this program yourself? Thanks.

John

[jandjfrench]

Hi,

I used it successfully. I don't recall the exact details but I originally had FSX Standard installed and purchased Gold. I read several posts suggesting that after uninstalling, using a registry cleaner to remove all traces of the original prior to the new install. I believe what happened was that the registry cleaner removed some but not all of the remnants of FSX. It seems that part of FSX thought it was activated and wouldn't allow a new activation but another part failed to recognize that it was activated. In other words the registry cleaner made FSX schizophrenic. Now, if there was just some way to stop people from recommending this.

Jim F.