Moving Flight-sim Drive To A New Computer (xp-->vista) Not Sure About Process!

[Guest ThrottleUp]

Hey simmers :( Please could you help! I have a new gaming rig on the way and I just wanted to clarify this as am not a 100% sure how to proceed. :(I have 2 HDs on my current system:------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------160GB Hitachi <---- this has Windows & all other programs500GB Samsung <---- this has ONLY FS2004 on it------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------The FS9 installation is massive and the sim is heavily modded and customized to such a degree that resintalling it from scratch in the new PC would take forever not to mention utter torture. So I plan to just throw the Samsung into the new machine.Some questions....(1.) I will have to get Vista to "register" that FS9 is on the newly added drive, to do this what must be done? Can I just redirect the registry to the Samsung? Im guessing I have to copy over the Application Data files from the XP machine? Aside from a fresh install of FS9 (that would mess the current installation) Im not sure about this part of the process. (2.) Im going from XP Home to Vista Home Premium, is this gonna cause issues of any kind with FS9?Im guessing I *have* to install FS9 freshly on the new system just so Vista recognizes where its sitting etc. How can i do this without harming the current installation? Or perhaps you lot can suggest something easier hee hee.Thanks for any advice :(

[Guest FengZ]

i don't have Vista, but this process has worked for me transferring FS9 to another PC running XP- first, copy the entire FS9 directory to the new harddrive- now, re-name the folder to Microsoft Flight Simulator 9XXX- install FS9 off the CD- install the FS9.1 patch- You will have two folders now, Flight Simulator 9 and 9XXX- Run FS9 (the freshly installed one, so it'll write FS9.CFG and save out the default flight to My Documents)- If you have the 172 as the default, then don't worry about this step. If not, you have to edit the flight file to point to your current default plane (this is important. If the default plane can't be found, FS9 will fail to load. But it's very easy to edit the flight file)- You can now delete the new FS9 (or rename it 9XX2), and rename the old 9XXX back to 9 - Run the Flight1 Registry repair tool- Now, your old FS9 *should* run, but, some of your addons might not, especially anything that requires registration or .DLL files to be in system32. If you get error messages about missing .DLL files, just remove that addon for now. Some that come to mind are: - Active Sky - Anything from Flight1 - RealityXP stuff (even if they came w/ the plane)for those applications and planes, you'll need to re-install them. However, to save you some effort (just in case you have repaints installed, etc), just do the same steps as renaming FS9. For example:- If you have the Flight1 Cessna 172 with a ton of repaints installed, simply rename the folder from F1_Cessna_172 to F1_Cessna_172XXX- Now run the Flight1 wrapper and locate your license key. Let the installer do it's thing.- Now deleted the new folder and rename your old one backSo do the above step for anything you have to re-install.i didnt have any problems w/ my transfer, so this process should work for you as well. So now days, i keep a mirrored version of FS9 on an external harddrive. This version is automatically updated whenever i change/install anything on my "live" fs9. So now i have a perfect backup of FS9 all the time.-feng

[Guest ThrottleUp]

Thanks very much Feng I think that will work well. Im not too concerned because I do have a backup of entire FS9 on an external drive using DriveXML and also a full backup on DVD using Cobian. Your method sounds very good so Im eager to try it now!

i keep a mirrored version of FS9 on an external harddrive. This version is automatically updated whenever i change/install anything on my "live" fs9. So now i have a perfect backup of FS9 all the time.

That is an excellent idea - would you mind telling me what software you use to do this? :(

[Dirk98 354]

Thanks very much Feng I think that will work well. Im not too concerned because I do have a backup of entire FS9 on an external drive using DriveXML and also a full backup on DVD using Cobian. Your method sounds very good so Im eager to try it now!That is an excellent idea - would you mind telling me what software you use to do this? :(

Very useful and interesting discussion.Thanks,Dirk.

[louiseSEUK 2]

You may find this easier still..On the old machine, run regedit, and then look for the Flight Sim key - it is usually 'HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Microsoft Games\Flight Simulator\9.0'Copy the entire branch, sub keys and all - any apps that have previously written to the registry under this key will also use it (in my experience).Export that key, and save it somewhere accessible from when you build your new comp. When you've got that up and running, plonk the Samsung drive into the new PC, make sure it's got the same drive letter as it had on the old PC (eg E:\). You can do this from Disk Management within the Computer management console. Backup your current registry, in case anything goes wrong (it shouldn't, as you're not editing anything critical).Now, right click on the exported registry key you saved earlier, and choose merge. With any luck, all your FS installation should work as before - I would mention that things that don't usually reside in the FS directory will probably need to be reinstalled, eg FSBuild, FS Commander etc, but sceneries, aircraft and such should all work without a hitch. I've done this several times, and rarely come across a problem. Hope this helps!Bear in mind that some apps will need to be reinstalled regardless - I think, as other posters have pointed out, F1 products in particular.

[Guest FengZ]

You may find this easier still..On the old machine, run regedit, and then look for the Flight Sim key - it is usually 'HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Microsoft Games\Flight Simulator\9.0'Copy the entire branch, sub keys and all - any apps that have previously written to the registry under this key will also use it (in my experience).Export that key, and save it somewhere accessible from when you build your new comp. When you've got that up and running, plonk the Samsung drive into the new PC, make sure it's got the same drive letter as it had on the old PC (eg E:\). You can do this from Disk Management within the Computer management console. Backup your current registry, in case anything goes wrong (it shouldn't, as you're not editing anything critical).Now, right click on the exported registry key you saved earlier, and choose merge. With any luck, all your FS installation should work as before - I would mention that things that don't usually reside in the FS directory will probably need to be reinstalled, eg FSBuild, FS Commander etc, but sceneries, aircraft and such should all work without a hitch. I've done this several times, and rarely come across a problem. Hope this helps!Bear in mind that some apps will need to be reinstalled regardless - I think, as other posters have pointed out, F1 products in particular.

this method can work as well, but be warned that FS9 will fail to load, because it's missing the default flight directory and the application data. If you do use this method (which i haven't tried), i'm sure you'll have to manually create the following folders and copy in the correct files:C:\Documents and Settings\UserName\Application Data\Microsoft\FS9\ (Fs9.cfg goes here, but it'll remake one if it's missing. But, if the directory doesnt even exist, i think Fs9 will fail to load)C:\Documents and Settings\UserName\My Documents\Flight Simulator Files\ Your default flight must be in here, or Fs9 won't load-feng

[louiseSEUK 2]

this method can work as well, but be warned that FS9 will fail to load, because it's missing the default flight directory and the application data. If you do use this method (which i haven't tried), i'm sure you'll have to manually create the following folders and copy in the correct files:C:\Documents and Settings\UserName\Application Data\Microsoft\FS9\ (Fs9.cfg goes here, but it'll remake one if it's missing. But, if the directory doesnt even exist, i think Fs9 will fail to load)C:\Documents and Settings\UserName\My Documents\Flight Simulator Files\ Your default flight must be in here, or Fs9 won't load-feng

Yup, missed that bit out, thanks Feng. I'd always kept my Documents on a separate drive, and every new build automatically pointed to that.. but definitely important to copy over the fs9.cfg, esp if that's full of hacks/mods etc. That said, if its a new GFX in the new PC, you'd be best of to let FS rebuild its cfg, then edit it with the (backed up) mods you've made.

[Guest ThrottleUp]

Thanks leostr for your tip as well. Im glad I asked this question on here now as I have a couple of methods to hand if one fails! I just tracked the order status of my new rig and it has been built. Next stage is Quality Control....and then shippinggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggg!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!I will of couse let you guys know how it all goes after I nervously transplant the Samsung into the new rig. Please Computer Spirits let it all go smoothly

[Sylle 48]

Interesting subject...I'm curious to hear how it will go. Facing the same problem somewhere next year :( Cheers,Sylvain

[B777ER 2,486]

Ya, this is good stuff. I will be doing this near the end of next year but am copy/pasting this info on a file.

[Guest ThrottleUp]

Well guys my new rig arrived today and its a stonker! Going to the i7-HD4870 combo from a Pentium 4-7600GT combo is going to be quite the performance jump!!!!!Thanks for all your replies and input. Now starts several days of anxiety and tension as I transfer stuff over to the new machine. But the most tense will be plonking the drive in the new machine! Wil let you all know how it went!!!! Here goes......