I've got a Computer question that's really bugging me.

[james_68]

Hi,

I have Windows XP, which we should all know by now is no longer supported by Microsoft. I bought Windows 7 over a week ago, and I'm afraid to install it. Why yes, I have hundreds of flightsim aircraft, and other Data that I'm afraid might be partially or fully erased if I go ahead and install Windows 7. So right now I'm hanging by a thread...(pun intended). Please, I need some guidance here. Thanks!!

James

[spotlope]

The best way to install Win7 is to do it cleanly, as opposed to updating XP. That means you'll have to reinstall FSX and all your addons, though. There's no way around it, I'm afraid. As long as you have the original files for all the add-ons, you should be good, it's just a long, tedious process.

[hairyspin]

...it's just a long, tedious process.

...but it's worth doing. Install FSX to a non-standard directory when you do, eg C:\FSX. You'll avoid the UAC hassles that way. That apart Win7 is a very worthy successor to XP imo.

[PutPut]

I chose another "scaredy cat" way. I ran dual boot XP and Win7 for several months. I left my XP installation alone and installed win7 on a new HD all by itself. I added the current version of IE and learned how both worked. I added FSX new in a separate folder (F:\Flight Sims\ FSX). I moved my addons leisurely from one HD to the next as I needed them. It took a while but it was painless and after about 6 months I said Good bye to XP and cleaned up that HD to use for my movie stuff.

Best, Paul

[napamule]

If you get a new HD (which will be the 'C:' drive) for your Window 7, and make the 'old' XP drive the 'D:' drive, you will be able to save all your FSX files. You will have XP on 'D:' drive, but won't be able to 'boot' from it.

Do a 'CLEAN' install of Window 7 on HD 'C:'. Then (when Windows 7 is working as expected-no crash or errors) then do a FULL defrag (very important). Set up you Internet Explorer, or Firefox, and Anti Virus (32 or 64 bit specific). Then install FLIGHT SIMULATOR X. You will install in 'C:' drive (ie: as 'C:\FSX' (or similar)). Run FSX. Deluxe and Accelleration? Follow instructions found on forums. BE SURE TO DEFRAG YOUR FSX DRIVE. Then install 'add on' progs (ie: FSUIPC, etc). Then when you are ready start transfering (COPY, NOT MOVE) your FSX files from 'D:' to 'C:'. Then do FSX tweak to FSX.cfg. Then you are all set. The secret is to take things one step at a time. Don't rush.

The other choice is to get 2 new HD's. 1 for Windows 7 ('C:' drive) and 2nd for 'FSX' only ('D:'drive). Using 500 Mb for Windows and 1 Gb for FSX works good. Good luck. I also have Windows XP SP2 and I love it. Am going to wait for Windows 8.1.1 (or Windows 10?) before I make ANY changes to my system/FS install.
Chuck B
Napamule

[rpjkw]

I had lots of FS9 planes, scenery, etc. plus a few FSX items on my old XP rig when it died. I copied everything to a new laptop and desktop by buying USB cables from Amazon. I had one old SATA and one IDE HDD but the cables came with all the necessary connections. I installed both FS9 and FSX on SSDs, one on it's own drive. Then I simply copied the contents of my old aircraft and scenery files to the new installs and everything worked perfectly. There were a couple of programs I had bought, such as USA Roads, GEPRO and REX that I reinstalled on the new rigs, but that was all. Overall, I copied everything I wanted to keep, such as music and pics, from the old to the new and, of course, they didn't care whether I ran XP or Win7. I didn't spend more than 12-14 hours swapping everything and that's for two rigs. Some files, of course, took 60-90 minutes, but others copied in mere moments.

It was a life saver since I had files that were irreplaceable. Now I have them on two rigs, not to mention saved to a flash drive. Easy peasy.

Bob

[adi518]

It won't be easy, but most stuff can be transported to Win 7. Then, run a registry tool to place the FSX installation in the registry (like it'd in a clean install). 99% of the stuff will work just fine. Add-on that is more complicated, eg, has some sort of protection/activation-check could pose a problem (because it reads stuff from registry) but then you should be able to just re-install it and get going again.