Migrate To New Machine

[Carob 2]

Hello all.I have a quick question for you.What is the easiest and best method to go about migrating FS9 over to a new machine?Once FS9 is installed normally is it possible to just copy the entire directory over to have it recognize add on items? I guess the biggest thing would be scenery add ons. If the scenery.cfg file is copied from another machine does the new machine know where to find everything if the path remains relative? Or does all of the scenery add ons need to be added back into the library manually?What other issues can I expect?I don't know if there is an actual working procedure for this so I thought I would ask to hopefully save me some time later?Any help would be appreciated?Thanks very much!

[A320driver 17]

I will be facing the same issue in a few days. Have a new machine on the way and would like to transfer FS9 from the current to it. I have tons of addons in this machine. Hope someone has some tips on the most painless way to do this.ThanksJoe

[Guest pilotbrian0]

Commercial add-ons that have applications that run exclusive to FS will require reinstall. Other than that, the following works really well.1) Install FS.2) Copy old FS9 folder over new FS9 folder3) Run FS9 and let it rebuild the FS9.cfg and the Flight Simulator folder in your documents directory.4) Copy everything from your old Flight Simulator folder to the new one.5) Install any commercial add-ons that have outside programs.6) Any commercial add-on aircraft that DO NOT WORK CORRECTLY, reisntall.7) Enjoy MSFS on a new hardware setup.(I do this more often than I care to admit as I reinstall Windows anytime I change my hardware, which has been way too often lately).-Brian

[Guest neslesman]

Maybe a dumb question but aren't you going to transfer the contents of the the HD from your current computer over to the new computer? If you do that you would have to do nothing and the transferring is a piece of cake.

[Carob 2]

And the scenery.cfg file is happy after doing this? No adding of any scenery back into the library is necessary?

[Guest Crimguy]

I would add that you really should backup your old fs9.cfg, provided you have tweaked it.It will have graphics settings specific to your old machine (most notably the graphics card type), but you might wish to retain all the other settings.

[kerosene31 349]

I've done it a few times, including recently with my new PC. I always just re-install everything from scratch. I find that once you get past the basic addons, you can add other things later. For my last fs2004 install, I had more sceneries installed then I would ever have time to fly to. Now, I just install them as I need them. Anyway, the biggest tip I can offer is this:Make a list of all your addons, including license keys. Then order that list in the way you would like to install them (example: fsuipc first, ActiveSky next, Ultimate Terrain, etc). A little planning goes a long way later on. Another tip is if you have room to leave your old PC setup somewhere. Then get yourself a flash drive and/or external hard drive for copying files/settings over. Good luck!

[Carob 2]

You say copy old FS 9 folder to the new one.Then you say copy everything from the old Flight Simulator folder to the new one.Did you just repeat yourself accidently or are you talking about two separate folders?

[Carob 2]

Nevermind. It hit me what you were talking about right after I posted that.Sorry.However, I have another question. Once the data is copied over how confused is the sim going to be with files for things like ActiveSky & USA Roads sitting in there (the scenery.cfg file will also think they are there because this would be one of the files being transferred) when those programs haven't been reinstalled yet? Or do you have to reinstall them immediately after copying the data and before launching the sim?

[Carob 2]

Anyone?

[ailchim 207]

As they other respondent said, I would reinstall all payware from scratch.I have a feeling (which I can't prove)that merely copying it across from an old machine to new contributes to CTD's as the software tries to validate itself against a file you didn't copy.

[Carob 2]

You guys are missing my point.As I have said, I am going to be reinstalling all payware items. The question in that regard comes because the data from those payware items that were installed on the original machine will be copied to the new machine and entries for those items will already be in files like the scenery.cfg file. Once those items are reinstalled are there going to be two entries in the scenery.cfg file? If so what is the proper way to fix this? If not, why not?

[Guest StevenJLN]

Hi folks,Just did this yesterday!1. Install fs on new machine2. Install fs 9.1 on new machine (not essential)3. Delete new "Microsoft Games" Folder (if you dont do this you will get some textures and stuff you have already upgraded or removed)4. Copy your old Microsoft games folder over to your new machine - this took about 60 mins for me over a crossover cable...5. Copy your application data Microsoft fs9 folder over to your new pc overwriting everything6. Copy your flight simulator files from my docs to your new pc.7. Reinstall the addons that don't work!Just hope that you install it on the same drive C to C or you'll have to place a search for enteries in REGEDIT.Enjoy... Mine works seamlessly and its nice running fs9 with the sliders all the way to the right!