How Do I Update Prepar3D V3 Using the New Installers

[Poppet 703]

Link for Updated Tutorial Below  

 

 

 

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Introduction

 

This is a Tutorial to Update Prepar3D V3.1 To V3.2 using the New Update Installers

 

With the Release of Prepar3D Version 3 on the 30/10/15 we can Update from Version to Version without doing a Complete Reinstall  

 

""The Prepar3D Installer now split's into three separate components which can be updated and installed independently: Client, Content, and Scenery""

 

Install_Client.msi:  This is the Main update, This will bring Prepar3D to the latest Version.  You Need the Client this to Update Prepar3D v3 

 

Install_Content.msi and Install_scenery.msi Updates are Optional.  Please Read the Release Notes from the Link Provide below and decide weather Or Not You want to Update these Components 

 

http://prepar3d.com/SDKv3/LearningCenter/what_is_new/new_v32.html

 

I will Update with the Install_Client.msi which will bring me up to Version 3.2, I have decided also to Update the Install_Scenery.msi  

 

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INDEX

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(1)  Downloading Prepar3D V3.2 Complete. 

 

(2)  Uninstalling the Client  and Scenery  ( Scenery and Content are Optional) 

 

(3)  Updating the Client and Scenery 

 

(4)  Confirming the New Update was successful 

 

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(5)  Uninstalling Prepar3D v3 completely. 

 

(6)  Installing Prepar3d V 3.2

 

                                                                                           Click Pictures to Make them Big

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(1)  Downloading Prepar3D V3.2 Complete. 

 

When a new updated is released I will always Download the Complete Prepar3D v3 Download from the Website and save it in a safe Location on my PC, This way you can always have the complete folder close to hand.  

 

Note: Use a Download Manager to Insure a successful download 

 

Go to  http://www.prepar3d.com/purchased_downloads/  Enter your Customer Account Information and Click Submit

 

 

 

 

 

You can download V 3.2 (9.80 GB)  Complete by left Clicking. 

 

 

 

 

 

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(2) Uninstalling The Client  (Scenery and Content Optional)   Note: You need to Uninstall the old Components first 

 

I have decided to do a Client and Scenery Update 

 

 I will now Uninstall the Client and Scenery from Programs and Features.

 

Navigate to:   ► Programs ► Programs and Features ► Uninstall or change a program 

 

1 Right Click on Prepar3D v3 Client and Click Uninstall.   2 Right Click on Prepar3D v3 Scenery (Optional) and Uninstall.  Please Note this is the exact same process for Content, 

 

 

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(3) Installing/Updating 

 

Before you go any further,  Go back to your Programs and Features and Confirm that you have successfully Uninstalled your Client and Or Scenery and Content. 

 

Now, lets have a look at the New Downloaded Prepar3D V3.2 Folder 

 

Setup.exe is used Only if you are doing a Full Reinstall to 3.2   (More on this later) 

 

Install_Client.msi,  YOU Need this. If you want to Update Prepar3D V3 to V 3.2 Or the Next available Update you Need to Install the Client.   The Client is the "Engine" of Prepar3D v3

 

Install_Content.msi and Install_Scenery.msi are Optional Updates.  Please read the Release Notes  http://prepar3d.com/SDKv3/LearningCenter/what_is_new/new_v32.html

 

 

 

You Need to Install the Client first.   If you try and Install the Scenery.msi first you will be greeted with this Message.  No problem just Click Ok and Install the Client 

 

 

 

 

 

Right Click on Install_Client.msi and Click Install.  Please Insure the Installer has correctly picked your Prepar3D v3 Installed Location,  Click Next.  Click Finish 

 

 

 

 

 

Next, Right Click on Install_Scenery.msi and Click Install.  This process will take a little Longer, Follow the simple steps through. As you can see my Scenery is now Installed. 

 

 

 

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(4) Confirming the New Update was successful

 

Navigate back to Programs and Features and Confirm that the Client and Or Scenery and Content has now been updated to 3.2 

 

 

 

Before You Proceed Restart your Computer

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When you Launch Prepar3D you will have to Activate again.  This is Normal. 

 

Insert other media

 

 

 

In Prepar3D you can Click Help and About Lockheed Martin.  You can check your Version here any-time as well. 

 

 

 

 

You have Now successfully Updated Prepar3D to the Current Version 

 

 

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(5) Uninstalling Prepar3D v3  

 

If you want to Completely Uninstall Prepar3D v3.   You can follow the steps in this Guide here   

 

 

 

(6)  Installing Prepar3D V3.2

 

You can Install Prepar3D V3.2 from Inside the same Folder.  Right Click on Setup.exe and Run as administrator. The Installer will Install Over 20 gigs of Data to your Computer so pick a suitable Location.

 

The Installer will want to Install to your C Drive, If you are happy with this, Click Install.  You can also Browse to a Different Location and Install there.  When finished Click Close and Restart your Computer.       

 

 

 

Thank you 

 

Edited March 25, 2017 by Elaine Dixon
Updated Link at the Top

[MontyPreston 7]

Bless your bones for posting this, Elaine!     Mods, PLEASE sticky this on here as soon as possible.     :Applause:

[Richard Sennett 2,499]

Yummy  :wink:

[Jim Young 2,356]

Another excellent guide!  Thanks Elaine!

 

Best regards,

[RW1 615]

+1 on that. thank you Elaine

[TheFlightSimGuy 514]

Well, Poppet has 3 pinned topics now. I think its time to just go ahead and hand her a Moderator badge.  :Applause:

[Pat Mussotte 92]

This is the "Must read", very clear! Elaine you're the best :wub:

 

Cheers

 

Pat

[Stratocruiser1 134]

Elaine,

I chose to do the update including the two optional files, content and scenery. I am running windows 10. I used the Windows Control Panel to Uninstall the three old files, then shut down the computer and re started it. I then successfully installed the new client file. However I can not get the other two files to install. They start the install process and run for a couple of minutes and then I get an error message that says: (this one is from the scenery file try)

 

Source file not found: C:\Users\Howard\AppData\Local\Temp\Temp1_Prepar3D_v3_Academic_3.2.3.16769.zip\Prepar3D_v3_Academic_3.2.3.16769\scene1cab. Verify that the file exists and that you can access the files.

I get a similar message when I try to install the content file.

In addition to the three msi files Included in my download from LM are the following additional files:

one zip file called cont.1cab

Six zip files called scene1.cab through scene6.cab

One Setup.exe file

There are no instructions as what to do with these files.

Can you help me out here?

Thanks.

Howard

[ErichB 3,638]

Elaine. You're the best

[Poppet 703]

Hello Howard.  You Only Need to Concentrate on the Client  Scenery and Content,  The other files will Automatically come into Play when you Click Client, Scenery or Content

 

Just want to confirm that you Downloaded the Complete 9.80 GB from the Website and Extracted it (without errors) to your Computer? 

 

You Installed Client First? 

 

Also, That your 100% sure that you Did Not Uninstall Prepar3D V3 Academic\Professional 

[vinodkk 12]

@Poppet.

Thank you Sir for your guidance. Sorry if I am asking stupid questions. When I checked the programs and features in the control panel, I could see P3D V3 client, which was 195 mb in size but the content and scenery components were listed to have sizes of 5.8GB and 12.3 GB respectively ( is it because of the large number of addons that I have installed?) . If I wanted to do a components only installation using the client, content and scenery updates, should I first of all uninstall the content and scenery components also from the 'program and features' before running the corresponding updates which in fact appear to be of much smaller sizes ( if I uninstall the original content and scenery, would I erase the addons that I have on the SSD and would I need to reinstall them, the thing that I actually wanted to avoid ?). Thanks in advance for a reply.

[Poppet 703]

When I checked the programs and features in the control panel, I could see P3D V3 client, which was 195 mb in size but the content and scenery components were listed to have sizes of 5.8GB and 12.3 GB respectively ( is it because of the large number of addons that I have installed?)

 

Hello.  I have Installed No 3rd party Software yet and my Scenery and Content is the same as your's 12.3 and 5.8,  So this normal.   

 

If I wanted to do a components only installation using the client, content and scenery updates, should I first of all uninstall the content and scenery components also from the 'program and features' before running the corresponding updates which in fact appear to be of much smaller sizes

 

In This Order. 

 

Download the Complete Download to your Computer and Extract it. 

 

Yes, If your are going to Update Prepar3D using the new Components\Installers You Must Uninstall Client, and Or Content and Scenery First before Updating.  

 

Restart your Computer. 

 

Install Client First, Then the Content and Scenery depending of what you decided to Update, (Content and Or Scenery)

 

Restart your Computer.   

 

Check to see that you have Update successfully, by going to Programs and Features Or you can Check inside the Sim  (Prepar3D) 

 

 

the corresponding updates which in fact appear to be of much smaller sizes

 

Yes the New Updates look tiny when you compare to the Old Updates, That's Because what your looking at is Installers These Installers will Install from the other Downloaded folders. This is also Normal 

 

 

if I uninstall the original content and scenery, would I erase the addons that I have on the SSD and would I need to reinstall them, the thing that I actually wanted to avoid ?).

 

I have not Installed any 3rd Part Software yet,  But here is a very Informative post from Carlito777  (Thomas)

 

Also, From what i am hearing on the boards it is recommended to Delete the the Shaders in your Shadres Folder after you do the Update    http://bit.ly/1P17ZHo

 

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""I took the plunge this afternoon and installed the client as well as the content update and compared the files before and after the installations to determine what is changed and what one has to do so that all add-ons work properly after install.

 

Client update

 

When updating the client, apart from the core P3D files, the installer only updates files in the ShadersHLSL directory. This also affects files from PrecipitFX so a reinstall of PrecipitFX is also required when updating only the client.

 

Content update

 

Here comes the more interesting part. I compared most of the files in the following P3D sub-directories to identify the changes made by the content installer:

 

../Autogen

../Effects

../Fonts

../gauges

../ShadersHLSL

../SimObjects

../Scenery

../Sound

../Texture

 

And this are the findings:

 

Autogen

The content installer does replace the autogen definitions. However, to restore them you only have to run FTX Central and switch regions. That’s it. No need to backup the Autogen folder.

 

Effects

The installer will replace a lot of the effects with newer files. Nothing is deleted. So I would recommend doing nothing as copying back an old backup of Effects would replace the newer files by older ones. Only thing you need to do is reinstall PrecipitFX to get back these effects.

 

Gauges and Simobjects

The installer does a couple of changes to the default aircraft. However, none of the add-on aircrafts is affected.

 

Sound

Some wind sounds are replaced. I would assume that if you install REX sounds then they will be replaced again.

 

Texture

The installer replaces a lot of the texture files but does not delete any additional files put in there by third party add-ons. This means you definitely have to reinstall your REX textures (after they have provided the required update for 3.2). Also if you own Airport Graphics HD you need to reinstall this. That’s it.

 

Other folders are not affected. So in a nutshell what you need to do after updating the content is:

 

1. Set a region in FTX Central to fix your autogen files
2. Reinstall PrecipitFX
3. Reinstall REX textures
4. Reinstall Airport Graphics HD""

[vinodkk 12]

@Poppet

Thank you so much Sir for your very detailed and informative reply. Really appreciate that.

[Stratocruiser1 134]

Elaine,

I guess I just don't understand the file system. In frustration, I uninstalled everything with P3D on it using the Control Panel and rebooted the computer. I then double clicked on the downloaded file called Setup.exe and waited, and waited, and waited. Finally a new P3D installed. Everything works and I have installed the update from Orbz for People Flow, and the update from Active Sky Next. All my ORBX scenery seems to be here, the Active Sky wx is working, so I guess I am good to go. Thanks for your suggestions all.
Howard

[Bobsk8 12,584]

I see that uninstalling and installing scenery gives you more vegetation. I have two questions, is the increase in vegetation noticeable, and the second question is, do you have to reinstall any add on scenery you have?