I wonder, if I now buy a normal 7200rpm mechanical drive, install all my FS tidbits on it and later decide to change to a SSD, will it be as simple as making a clone of the normal drive and the "paste" it on the new SSD drive? Or will I have to reinstall everything?

You would be better to reinstall everything because a ssd has a different format to a standard HD, also you want to have a clean and perfect install of FSX on your new drive so you can defragment etc to get the best performance. There is a great tutorial about tuning fsx, and in that tutorial there is a section about installing software, and the best way to do it. It was on the simviation forums so do a search for it.

You would be better to reinstall everything because a ssd has a different format to a standard HD, also you want to have a clean and perfect install of FSX on your new drive so you can defragment etc to get the best performance. There is a great tutorial about tuning fsx, and in that tutorial there is a section about installing software, and the best way to do it. It was on the simviation forums so do a search for it.

Except there is no need to defragment an SSD drive. NickN's tutorial, yes thank you that I do have :(

The problem with cloning is you need to keep the partition alignment aligned when cloning. Right now there is a mixed bag of different ideas out there, with no easy way ensure a good clone. If someone or some company would come out with a version of software that handled this easily and correctly it would be an instant hit with a lot of people with this problem.Look around the net or google and you will see the issues that people are having.For now it's probably easier to just perform a clean install.

Addons don't work through cloning anyway. This is because of the registry. When u install with a license etc, the encrypted key is put into your registry along with other data. If you clone your HD, the registry will still be pointed at the old addon and will run it from there. So it's pointless. You need to clean install. Only way to do it. Cloning DOES NOT WORK with game like FSX, only standard game like COD or other unmodified games. The installer places vital information about the HD in the actual program, and a clone would include false info. Any files with links to folders or other files will all be pointed at your old HD.For the above:if his SSD has just been purchased, it won't have a partition on it at all.

Addons don't work through cloning anyway. This is because of the registry. When u install with a license etc, the encrypted key is put into your registry along with other data. If you clone your HD, the registry will still be pointed at the old addon and will run it from there. So it's pointless. You need to clean install. Only way to do it. Cloning DOES NOT WORK with game like FSX, only standard game like COD or other unmodified games. The installer places vital information about the HD in the actual program, and a clone would include false info. Any files with links to folders or other files will all be pointed at your old HD.For the above:if his SSD has just been purchased, it won't have a partition on it at all.

correct that is a another issue to contend with when cloning

There's a lot of misinformation floating in this thread. Cloning your FS drive is very easy to do as long as your OS is on a separate drive and you keep the drive name of your FS drive the same after the swap.I built FS9/FSX up on my i7 PC using a WD Velociraptor partitioned into two logical drives, with the primary partition for the OS and system utilities (C: drive), and the second partition was built with the same parameters as my intel X-25M SSD (149.05 GB partition size, 32K allocation unit size). After I got everything loaded and tweaked on the secondary partition on my HDD (named G:), I cleaned things up and formatted the SSD, and did a complete file copy over to the SSD. After I was done, I renamed the HDD secondary partition to drive H: and renamed the SSD to drive G:--and since all the programs were loaded to the G: drive, the registry settings still point to the now-cloned software on the SSD. Everything worked fine, and I have a complete hot spare on the HDD if the SSD were to die on me.I keep the matching secondary partition on the HDD, and every 3-4 months or so when I wipe the SSD to reset things I just reformat the HDD partition, copy the SSD over to it, secure-wipe the SSD (to reset the wear-levelling effects on this older non-TRIM capable SSD), then copy the partition back over to the SSD.Since the partition and allocation units are equal, I can also use a backup program like Acronis Disk Director to make a backup from the SSD, and then restore it to either the SSD or the partition on the HDD. I've tested it and it works on both.RegardsBob ScottColonel, USAF (ret)ATP IMEL Gulfstream II-III-IV-VColorado Springs, CO

>>>There's a lot of misinformation floating in this thread. Cloning your FS drive is very easy to do as long as your OS is on a separate drive and you keep the drive name of your FS drive the same after the swap. I disagree, what you are proposing is not cloning but disk copying, and for the way you are doing it that is a very good way of dealing with the problem. However a lot of people have everything installed on a single partitition, which the information above is still very valid for. The original OP did not state enough information on their situation, so the conversation went in the direction of having everything installed on a single drive.Maybe instead of stating there is misinformation, just explain your procedure as a good way to avoid the problems of using cloning software to go from a standard HD to an SSDI am one of those people that have installed everything on a single partition and regret doing it that way. I would like to upgrade to an SSD, and have spent some time on this problem.>>>I keep the matching secondary partition on the HDD, and every 3-4 months or so when I wipe the SSD to reset things I just reformat the HDD partition, copy the SSD over to it, secure-wipe the SSD (to reset the wear-levelling effects on this older non-TRIM capable SSD), then copy the partition back over to the SSD.Also I am curious of why you re-copy your FS data as often as you do? If it stays static there really isn

I disagree, what you are proposing is not cloning but disk copying, and for the way you are doing it that is a very good way of dealing with the problem. However a lot of people have everything installed on a single partitition, which the information above is still very valid for.

I think I was clear enough that the cloned fs disk has to be separate from the OS partition.But when I read statements like this--"So it's pointless. You need to clean install. Only way to do it. Cloning DOES NOT WORK with game like FSX, only standard game like COD or other unmodified games."--I stand behind my assertion that there is misinformation floating in this thread.

Also I am curious of why you re-copy your FS data as often as you do? If it stays static there really isn

Cloning your FS drive is very easy to do as long as your OS is on a separate drive and you keep the drive name of your FS drive the same after the swap.

Yes, sorry I forgot to mention that I do intend to have the OS on a separate SSD drive, and all the FS stuff on the other drive.The idea is to try make the swap as easy as possible without having to reinstall absolutely everything, if SSD drive prices come down significantly within the next year or two.

Wow - I can't believe some of the misinformation that I'm reading in this thread. Cloning is exactly what the name implies - making an IDENTICAL image of the original drive. If you clone the drive you can remove the original and put in the clone with no issues - period. That's what it's used for. I've installed hundreds of systems where all I needed to do was clone the old drive and put it in the new system - no problems. No reinstalls - no registry problems - no add on problems - nothing.Now - if you don't want an IDENTICAL copy - that's a whole different thing. If you're talking about COPYING your FS setup from one drive to another - that requires some effort.I think some people who answered in this post are thinking about copying folders to a new drive, etc. As long as the drive letter and folder structure remain the same, there is no need to reinstall.Vic

Actually you will break the licence on Flight1 wrapper supplied add-ons, I know because I did clone a drive to an SSD and I had to reactivate all my Flight1 purchases afterwards.

Actually you will break the licence on Flight1 wrapper supplied add-ons, I know because I did clone a drive to an SSD and I had to reactivate all my Flight1 purchases afterwards.

This is very right. Same happened to me, I moved from a normal 7.2k drive to the VRap, and I had to reactivate my F1 stuff. But that was about it. I didn't copy, but I made an image with Acronis to my external drive and then put the image back onto the VRap.

Geez, I feel so misinformed, we were told this should cause no problems, no reinstalls, no problems. :( I've had the same problem with Flight 1 wrappers and RC as well, it's been a long time since that happened to me and I forgot all about it.I also stand by what I said about cloning SSD's. It is really easy to get a misaligned clone if you are not careful. Presently there are no mainstream cloning programs that are SSD aware that use a 1024 offset instead of the old 63 offset.