Can I make dual installations of FS2002 on my C:/ drive?

[Dark Moment 0]

Why do I want to? Because, I have 60GB of FS2002 stuff under my current installation and, having just installed FS2002 out of the box for a relative, I was (perhaps not surprisingly) astounded at just how fast the program is in default mode! What a delight it was to once again fly with nothing less than 30FPS in all situations! What's more, the experience reminded me just how good most of the default planes are, given a replacement airfile or two.I probably only gave it a day, when I first bought my own copy, before starting to load FS2002 with "stuff". All good, yes, but I wish I understood more about what slows the program down at the end of the day.More importantly, as a wannabe developer and occasional attempter of same (mostly repaints and the odd panel) I'd like to be able to compare "default" with "highly loaded" now and again. So can I do it, using a different install path? Or will my Windows registry never forgive me?Mark "Dark Moment" Beaumonthttp://www.swiremariners.com/newlogo.jpg

[DaryllB25840 1]

This is something my cousin sent me. I don't fully understand what he is talking about, maybe you do.<<...something i did this time before i reinstalled windows is i put it all by itself on the c drive and all other programs on the d drive. this requires setting up a partition using the fdisk utility and then formating each drive setup in the fdisk. by doing this you can format the c drive to get rid of and fix windows without affecting any other programs or files. when i crash i have lost everything in the past. another thing you can do is to change the version of windows without affecting any of your other programs. i.e you can go to windows xp or soon windows 2003....>>

[LAdamson 240]

Before FS2002, I ran two versions of Microsoft's CFS2. One with FS2K scenery files and the other as original. I just re-named one.Lately, I also use the default 172 or 182 quite often---- with replacement files. They're very framerate friendly even in my loaded down FS2002.L.Adamson

[WebbPA 0]

I haven't tried it, although at one time I had FS2000 and FS2002. As long as you use different directories (obviously) I can't see any reason why it would not work. You would have to duplicate all of your directory specific utilities but you might, and I'm guessing here, be able to alias sound, panels, etc. between installations.With the dramatic results you've reported I think I'll try it myself.But 60G? That's bigger than my entire HD. Surely you mean 6G. I have a lot of addons and I'm pretty good at tweaking and dumping stuff, but I only have 2.2G and I know there's a lot more stuff I could dump (like those wav files for flying lessons if I could find them).Please email me or post your results. I'd like to try this myself.

[Dark Moment 0]

Thanks, Daryll. Yes, I've heard of this partitioning business but I've also heard many, many moans in here from people who have done that, reinstalled this, reintalled that, and ended up in a total mess having lost the lot. Not wishing to risk 60GB of hard work on things I don't understand, I'll keenly await any further input from others on your cousin's suggestions!Mark "Dark Moment" Beaumonthttp://www.swiremariners.com/newlogo.jpg

[Dark Moment 0]

Thanks all, so far, for input.WebbPA ... to be precise (having now checked) I have 43GB under FS2002 and the other 17GB is other flightsim directories (aliased mesh scenery folders, FS2000 hangar, etc, endless design progs, reference stuff, CFS, etc.). Too much? Yes, I do need to get a life, or at least that's what my wife keeps saying, although I don't see her point, LOL.I also have FS2000 still installed as I use it for comparison, very occasionally. However, the big issue is whether two FS2002 versions can sit on the same drive. As there's a specific registry entry for each program you install, I'm not sure whether two intalls will cause confusion.Mark "Dark Moment" Beaumonthttp://www.swiremariners.com/newlogo.jpg

[JSkorna 137]

Cut the FS.exe file and paste it somewhere.Re-install FS in another directory.Cut and paste the .exe file back.Hope this helps,JimActiveSky Support

[WebbPA 0]

I think the registry entries would point to the different directories. So FS2K21 would point to one directory and FS2K22 would point to another one. Then again, it's not my machine that might get screwed up.

[CharlieZ 0]

I currenly have FS2002 installed on my C drive, but copied and pasted the FS2002 folder to my E drive, and renamed the folder FS2000. This I keep as a backup, in the event I mess up some of the files.

[Guest]

>More importantly, as a wannabe developer and occasional>attempter of same (mostly repaints and the odd panel) I'd like>to be able to compare "default" with "highly loaded" now and>again. So can I do it, using a different install path? Or>will my Windows registry never forgive me?I've read all the replies you've received, but so far no one has come up with the "right answer."In short, it is not only possible to do what you want, but incredibly easy!1) Temporarily rename your existing FS2002 folder to FS2002_Original2) Install FS20023) Test the new installation4) Rename the new installation folder FS2002_Virgin5) Rename the FS2002_Original back to FS20026) Copy the Desktop Shortcut for FS2002 and rename the copy to FS2002 Virgin7) Right click on the renamed shortcut and edit the path information to point to FS2002_VirginIt really is that simple! :)I've been using this for over a year for much the same reasons you've expressed. During the course of development I use the "FS2002 Virgin" because of it's speed in loading. In fact, there's never more than two aircraft available: one default and the one I'm working on! To make it even faster, to load, I've 'unchecked' all of the irrelevant items in the Scenery Library (why force FS2k2 to read the entire .cfg file when you're only going to fly in the immediate area of your 'home airport?'), turned AI off entirely, and only install FSUIPC, FlightRecorder, and WideFS as modules (only because I need it to send data to AFSD and the FlightRecorder for analysis purposes). WideFS is only needed if you have another computer on a LAN to run ancillary programs, such as FSMeteo, NAV3.1(beta), etc... :)BillAVSIM OmbudsmanFounder and Director,Creative Recycling of Aircraft Partshttp://catholic-hymns.com/frbill/FS2002/images/fartslogo.jpg

[Guest RonB49]

Interestingly, I had done this very thing yesterday afternoon before reading this thread. I renamed the main folder (originally C:Program filesMicrosoft gamesFS2002), completed my new installation into a folder named Program files 2, then renamed the old installation to its original name.I didn't test it until last evening but both installations are working fine for me. Like Mark, I had lots of free space on my drive (36+ GB) and I thought that it would be nice to have instant backup capabiltiy in case I mess something up.Now that I've read this thread, I intend to fly a bit and compare frame rates. Then I may add some favorite add-ons (one-by-one) and see how each one impacts FRs. R-

[Dark Moment 0]

Great stuff, Bill, and thanks for your detailed reply; also to others who have put forward their ideas in this thread. Bill's experience and sensible advice about further lightening the default edition gives me enough confidence to try the same. When continually going in and out of different aircraft to refresh and check textures when painting, speed of loading is everything. Mark "Dark Moment" Beaumonthttp://www.swiremariners.com/newlogo.jpg

[Guest]

>When continually going in and out of different aircraft>to refresh and check textures when painting, speed of loading>is everything. Mark, there are only two reasons why I keep a 'default' a/c in the "Virgin" installation: one you mentioned above, which is to "force" FS to reread/reload the a/c I'm working on; and second, because frequently whenever FS2k2 starts acting "funky," it's helpful to load a default a/c to "de-funk" FS2k2... :)Also, as has been mentioned previously, this allows me to simply copy-paste any or all of FS2002_Virgin to the FS2002 folder in case things get totally "fargled up." This beats the heck out of having to reinstall from 3 CD's all over again!Thanks for the kind words!BillAVSIM OmbudsmanFounder and Director,Creative Recycling of Aircraft Partshttp://catholic-hymns.com/frbill/FS2002/images/fartslogo.jpg

[WebbPA 0]

As for aliasing panels, etc. across installations I tried this[fltsim]alias=C:Program Filesfs2002aircraftB737_400paneland it worked fine.

[rcbarend 37]

Mark,BillWhat Bill described in post #9 will work OK; use it myself as well.Just realize one thing though: there are some addon's that (in order to install/work properly) locate the FS2002 folder by searching the Windows registry (in the FS8 key) for the FS2002 path. Which obviously points to the FS2002 folder and not the FS2002_Virgin folder. Not a real problem, as long as you are aware of this.Rob