Time for a system rebuild

[OBIO]

Yep....time to archive the files I want to keep, dump those I don't want or need....deep format my HDs and do a full reinstall of Win 7, update it, reinstall all my programs, then begin a new build of FS9 (and this time I SWEAR I am only going to install the planes that I actually fly on a regular basis). This system has been up and running since March 2010 and I could not tell you the number of files and programs that have been on and off of this system in that time. The registry file must be a complete mess! At one point, when I had 4 fully loaded and tweaked installs of FS9 going, I had over 5 million files on my active drives.

Will be offline for a few days, maybe a week while I get the system cleaned out, rebuilt, updated and running ship shape again.

OBIO

[Ickie]

thinking on the same thing, it has been since spring of 09 for this puter, vista upgraded to win 7

[PRB]

... (and this time I SWEAR I am only going to install the planes that I actually fly on a regular basis)....

NEVER happen! At some point you always want to fly something you have't flown in a long time, then you have to install it. I've given up on this. What I do now is make a folder called "aircraft_hold", into which I place the planes I don't think I will fly "very often". Then, when I want to fly them (and I always do), I move it (not copy) to the "aircraft" folder. I'm always managing what planes are in each folder, to keep the FS load time down.

- Paul

[hawkeye52]

I do the same as PRB, except I call mine "Hangars". I have a series of hangars e.g., WW II Navy, Airliners, GA etcetera. I have separate hangars for FS9, FS9 Retro and CFS2.

Oh, and VERY important: I move aircraft between hangars and the flight line (& vice-versa) by cutting & pasting, NOT by copying. That keeps everything orderly as well as avoiding duplication.

- H52

P.S.: I built an FS-dedicated PC which has 3 disk partitions. O/S on one, a second partition for sim-related files such as AirEd, AFCAD, Traffic Tools, etc. and finally, a third partition EXCLUSIVELY for the sims.

Advantage? Sims load much faster and if I ever experience a sluggish PC, I can simply reload the O/S without touching anything on the other two partitions. Of course, I backup EVERYTHING before touching the O/S :icon_lol:

[PeteHam]

......(and this time I SWEAR I am only going to install the planes that I actually fly on a regular basis).
OBIO


Yeah Right ..... I had the same good intentions when I had a new rebuild last year. :icon_lol:


Currently there's about 47Gb of aircraft installed ( including alot of AI ) !!

You'll have to be very disciplined Tim ...... :jump:

Pete.

[EasyEd]

Hey All, My FS9 install was created Oct 29, 2006 and I'm still using it and have been through all kinds of trials and tribulations with it - viruses to gauge scenery conflicts you name it. I am thinking about a new computer though as more and more stuff is beginning to not work. -Ed-

[robert41]

On my old P4, FS9/GW3 machine, I had every old/vintage aircraft and scenery that I could find installed. A huge mess. After that machine died, I had built a new I7 machine for FSX, about 4 years ago. Mostly for A2A's B17, I had to have it. Also, I decided I was going to keep this new install simple. And so far, I have 32 aircraft permanently installed, including the defaults, and 28 aircraft I keep in a hangar folder. Biggest scenery install is GEX North America, gets rid of the sandy mountains, and FS water configurator. And about 50 or so addon sceneries that I use on and off. My setup is similar to H52's. 3 partitions, one OS, one FSX, one storage.

[OBIO]

My system currently has 3 internal drives and one external drive. C drive (OS, anti-virus, Photoshop, and such) is 250 gig. D drive (my sim installs, mesh and scenery folders, Photoshop files for my paints) is a 1Tb drive. E drive (for backing up my sims mostly) is a 500 gig drive. My current external is a 120gig drive....looking to supplement that with a new 1Tb Sata to use on the built in external dock on the top of my puter case.

I am looking at a format and deep clean of C and D drives.....have had so many files on and off of these drives, have collected so many files that I don't actually need but they just tend to stay tucked away in folders and more folders.....

I have found that a yearly format and rebuild of the operating system and a general clearing out of all the "junk" keeps the performance level up and seems to reduce HD failures (I don't know if that is true...but I have not had a HD failure since I began doing periodic formats and rebuilds...but then again, none of my HDs are pushing the 10 year mark like the ones in my last few systems were).

OBIO

[hawkeye52]

In my earlier post I neglected to mention that I have a RAID 1 setup in my FS PC (actually, on all my PCs). RAID makes frequent backups less critical.

- h52