I've been thinking about posting something like this for ages, but never been sure quite how to word it... I just wonder if others ever find the same...I'm in the very fortunate position of normally being able to purchase an addon, if and when I really like it. Not because I'm rich :( , but I don't smoke, don't drink and have no other expensive hobbies.However, I now find myself to be 'Jack Of All Trades but Master Of None". What I mean is, I have so many addon aircraft for example, I don't have the cognitive capacity to be proficient in any one; I often have to refer to the manual.Being quite ill, I also tend to have lengthy spells in hospital :( meaning I forget most things and have to start again when I get home. Thus, I print ALL my manuals :( My wife goes spare - a tiny house with hundreds of pdf manuals all over the place. The local ink manufacturer loves me B) My questions, I suppose...Do you guys keep all your addons installed, or do you just use them until the next 'big release' or whatever, and then make way for the next?A Strange post for sure, but I have been wondering such things for a while.

Keep them installed... If i reinstall FSX, i just install the ones i wanna fly

I only have a few installed at any one time. I usually do a complete reinstall of FSX every 2 to 3 weeks so I keep things pretty clean.Regards, Mike Mann

I've purchased many addons over the length of FS2002, FS9, and X.I normally only keep the ones I fly the most on my hard drive. Recently I formatted everything and went to Win7. As it stands, I only have 5 or 6 airplanes installed. One reason why I don't keep all of them is performance. A few perform poorly on my system so I figure I'll install them if I get a new PC someday. Then again, I'm running some of the poor performers anyway but I still fly them very often, usually they are one of my top five vatsim planes.I don't have many scenery addons - the basics, UTX, GEX, FEX, and PNW. They are all installed except PNW because I'm trying to decide if the performance loss is worth the unique features added.

I only have a few installed at any one time. I usually do a complete reinstall of FSX every 2 to 3 weeks so I keep things pretty clean.

That's a bit odd - I usually do once every 1-2 yrs or so, an entire format of my primary HDD. But every 2-3 wks seems a little overkill for FSX...

Having to review FS stuff, I tend to reinstall FS quite often, since a clean install is occasionally the best way to ensure that a product is not being adversely affected by something else I have in there. I don't always do that, as it would be unlikely to be required for a simple prop aircraft like a Piper Cub or whatever, but for something like a weather add on, where everything from FSUIPC to the contents of the effects and scenery folders might have a bearing on how things work, it is often just better to bin off FS and its related items, then go with a clean install. For example, I have a payware version of FSUIPC, but not everybody does and it doesn't always get updated with every product installation, so it's sometimes necessary to see if things work differently with a full-on version of it installed rather than a freebie version which may or may not be licensed to a product. That's a bit tedious on occasion, but it's sometimes gotta be done, so it's rare to keep everything I have for FS installed, not least because the FSX folder would be about 50Gb in size if I did so.The plus side is that FS tends to run better and load quicker if it has less stuff attached to it all over the place. As a result, the vast majority of FS add-ons I have generally sit on a USB external drive in their installation exe form unless I'm in the mood to play about with them so long as I am sure they won't adversely affect the performance of a review product. Right now for example, because I just got done with reviewing Active Sky Evolution, my FS9 installation presently has one weather add on installed (FS Elemental, which I put back in there after reviewing ASE) one utility (HeliTraffic 2009, because I'm reviewing that for Avsim at the moment), and the iFly 737 (because I'm playing about with that, having recently got it). That's it for FS9, despite the fact that I've got literally hundreds of add-ons for FS9 which I like.Again, because Active Sky works with FSX too and that review was recently done, FSX is also very clean at the moment, with barely anything installed on it other than a few add-on choppers and HeliTraffic 2009 for the purposes of that review, since that also works in both FS9 and FSX and needed to be checked in both sims. Some add-on choppers can make HeliTraffic 2009 slower on performance because it uses the full-on models for AI traffic rather than purpose built lower poly AI aircraft, which is more likely to be an issue in FSX than FS9, so it was necessary to install a lot of different payware chopper models from Nemeth, Cera etc into FSX in order to check that out, as one of HeliTraffic 2009's features is a frame rate testing utility for that exact purpose.The upside of all this uninstalling and reinstalling for reviews is of course that one sometimes gets what are ostensibly free products, in order to review them, but as you can see from the above malarkey, it's not all gravy. For example, I might have got Helitraffic 2009 for free in order to review it, but the Cera and Nemeth choppers I bought in order to test it out most certainly weren't and cost about three times what HeliTraffic would have done, so if I was in it for the freebies, something has definitely gone pear shaped LOL. Similarly, when reviewing the CS727, I spent more than that add-on costs on flight manuals for the real 727 and traveling about to speak to some 727 pilots in order to determine if the CS727 was any good. So 'free' is very much a matter of opinion where review products are concerned! Even the Active Sky review had me buying a meteorology book to check a few things out LOL. However, since it is useful for simmers to have reviews and is part of what makes Avsim a fun place to hang out, I don't mind that in the grand scheme of things, as it is a way of contributing to the flight simming community in the same way as those who mod the forums or manage the Avsim file library servers do with their time.The reason I'm mentioning all that is because, since that is the case, and you seem to like checking things out, as well as potentially having some time on your hands if you are not so well, perhaps you might consider doing some reviews yourself? There are plenty of add-ons for FS which could be reviewed on a laptop from a hospital bed, and that might help to pass the time too. Something to consider anyway.Al

Having to review FS stuff, I tend to reinstall FS quite often, since a clean install is occasionally the best way to ensure that a product is not being adversely affected by something else I have in there. I don't always do that, as it would be unlikely to be required for a simple prop aircraft like a Piper Cub or whatever, but for something like a weather add on, where everything from FSUIPC to the contents of the effects and scenery folders might have a bearing on how things work, it is often just better to bin off FS and its related items, then go with a clean install. For example, I have a payware version of FSUIPC, but not everybody does and it doesn't always get updated with every product installation, so it's sometimes necessary to see if things work differently with a full-on version of it installed rather than a freebie version which may or may not be licensed to a product. That's a bit tedious on occasion, but it's sometimes gotta be done, so it's rare to keep everything I have for FS installed, not least because the FSX folder would be about 50Gb in size if I did so.The plus side is that FS tends to run better and load quicker if it has less stuff attached to it all over the place. As a result, the vast majority of FS add-ons I have generally sit on a USB external drive in their installation exe form unless I'm in the mood to play about with them so long as I am sure they won't adversely affect the performance of a review product. Right now for example, because I just got done with reviewing Active Sky Evolution, my FS9 installation presently has one weather add on installed (FS Elemental, which I put back in there after reviewing ASE) one utility (HeliTraffic 2009, because I'm reviewing that for Avsim at the moment), and the iFly 737 (because I'm playing about with that, having recently got it). That's it for FS9, despite the fact that I've got literally hundreds of add-ons for FS9 which I like.Again, because Active Sky works with FSX too and that review was recently done, FSX is also very clean at the moment, with barely anything installed on it other than a few add-on choppers and HeliTraffic 2009 for the purposes of that review, since that also works in both FS9 and FSX and needed to be checked in both sims. Some add-on choppers can make HeliTraffic 2009 slower on performance because it uses the full-on models for AI traffic rather than purpose built lower poly AI aircraft, which is more likely to be an issue in FSX than FS9, so it was necessary to install a lot of different payware chopper models from Nemeth, Cera etc into FSX in order to check that out, as one of HeliTraffic 2009's features is a frame rate testing utility for that exact purpose.The upside of all this uninstalling and reinstalling for reviews is of course that one sometimes gets what are ostensibly free products, in order to review them, but as you can see from the above malarkey, it's not all gravy. For example, I might have got Helitraffic 2009 for free in order to review it, but the Cera and Nemeth choppers I bought in order to test it out most certainly weren't and cost about three times what HeliTraffic would have done, so if I was in it for the freebies, something has definitely gone pear shaped LOL. Similarly, when reviewing the CS727, I spent more than that add-on costs on flight manuals for the real 727 and traveling about to speak to some 727 pilots in order to determine if the CS727 was any good. So 'free' is very much a matter of opinion where review products are concerned! Even the Active Sky review had me buying a meteorology book to check a few things out LOL. However, since it is useful for simmers to have reviews and is part of what makes Avsim a fun place to hang out, I don't mind that in the grand scheme of things, as it is a way of contributing to the flight simming community in the same way as those who mod the forums or manage the Avsim file library servers do with their time.The reason I'm mentioning all that is because, since that is the case, and you seem to like checking things out, as well as potentially having some time on your hands if you are not so well, perhaps you might consider doing some reviews yourself? There are plenty of add-ons for FS which could be reviewed on a laptop from a hospital bed, and that might help to pass the time too. Something to consider anyway.Al

A great response Al, thanks.Trouble is, I'm tired out after reading it :( PS Your sig link is not working - page not found error.

Yup, I've been using that URL as a temporary resource for when training people on Dreamweaver so that students can upload their fledgling web design efforts to a real URL and see it on the 'net for real in order to encourage them, so that URL has had all kinds of stuff uploaded to it in recent months, although I think the last DW course I'm doing is on 7th December this year, and after that I'll be reclaiming that URL for my own stuff (and the students can stuff off - unlucky - LOL ) since I pay 80 quid for the hosting service, so it'll be back to it's rightful condition probably a few days after that. I hate training Dreamweaver, it's an awful program.Al

That's a bit odd - I usually do once every 1-2 yrs or so, an entire format of my primary HDD. But every 2-3 wks seems a little overkill for FSX...

I use Acronis TrueImage so it only takes 15 minutes to get my Windows XP drive and my FSX drive back to square one. Once I do that it doesn't even require a defrag as TrueImage takes care of that when restoring my disk drives!Regards, Mike Mann

Hey AlAs far as having some time on my hands.... Oh yes, sadly, waaaaay to much. I have a tumour in a particularly inaccessible part of my remaining brain cell. Although it's benign, it's growth alone tends to play mischievous tricks on what remains. This generally means that if I'm in a hospital bed, my poor brain has little chance of anything much more than 'the-cat-sat-on-the-matt'.It would I'm sure, give me great pleasure to do some reviews during those times. I was actually given the opportunity to beta test the wonderful PMDG MD11 during one of those stays, but sadly, I did have to decline.

Well if you want to give it a shot, it's easy enough to let Avsim know you want to have a crack at it, simply write a review, post it in the reviews forum section, then point Avsim's reviews editor Robert Whitwell in the direction of it so he can check it out. You don't have to be a jet test pilot, you just have to like simming and be able to string two words together, and since 'the cat sat on the mat' is more than two words, and you evidently like flight sims, you appear to be qualified.Al

Actually, this post piqued my interest. Mate, I feel for ya. My turnaround for addons is even higher than the majority of reviewers out there, as my company often makes multiple videos a month. I'll literally go from a plane, to a scenery product, to another aircraft, to a complicated tubeliner to a weather addon in just a couple of weeks sometimes. Let's not forget that when filming a scenery addon, it really pays to have a high amount of various addon aircraft to add variety to the video itself. My FSX install is hefty, sitting at over 150GB at the moment. I would like to keep a lighter and meaner FSX, but to suit my needs it requires DAYS to get FSX up to speed during a complete reinstall... With that said however, FSX runs great for me.I keep anything I feel is high quality, which tends to be any commercial stuff I work on, and then anything else I come across that feel is created in high fidelity or has excellent addon qualities. I try to fly my simulator when the mood suits, which is generally a couple of hours a week. Even though I am comfortable flying the complicated addons, I tend not to use them as I generally only have an hour or two at a time to sit and actually ENJOY the simulator. There are some exceptions, for example the A2A B-17 of VRS Super Bug which is such an experience that the time constraints generally don't bother me. I have however found myself flying more GA aircraft than ever in the last year or so because of this... so PNW and Carenado get good workouts on my system.Because when I do fly I try to switch and fly aircraft I haven't touched in a while, keeping things fresh, I feel that like you I am a jack of all trades but master of none. I often have to resort to the manuals, but this isn't necessarily a bad thing as you would do this even in the real world. The good thing is I can generally pick up most aircraft and fly them particularly well for such a short period of getting to know them. This becomes a problem however when trying to accomplish that perfect landing in an aircraft I may have only spent a few hours with. I enjoy spending time with the manuals as I enjoy reading and learning about the intricacies of these birds.Judging from posts I have seen over at Sim-Outhouse, I get the feeling that people who do spend a lot of money on addons have the same issue. I can also vouch for my team in that they are much the same way. I am very fortunate to be doing what I am doing and getting to experience so many addons at no cost due to my work. I do try to spend cash on smaller developers to try to give back to the community when I can afford it.Anyways, I digress. I think what you discuss is rather normal for the amount of addons you have. Imagine how test pilots felt... guys like Chuck Yeager who have tons of different airframes under their belts. Enjoy it mate.-CodyOwner, Jaggyroad Films

However, I now find myself to be 'Jack Of All Trades but Master Of None". What I mean is, I have so many addon aircraft for example, I don't have the cognitive capacity to be proficient in any one; I often have to refer to the manual.

I know how you feel and that is precisely why I don't buy many addon a/c any longer and now try to stick to only buying ones that I am VERY interested in. I have only purchased about 12 a/c for FSX, of which the only ones I fly on a consistant basis are the LDS 767 and the PMDG 747. I'm sure that will change once the PMDG 737 NGX comes out as it will probably be the only plane I fly, or at least it will be used in 99% of my flights. Frankly at this point I am more interested in populating my sim with addon airports and scenery than a/c. Does that mean I wish I hadn't spent money on the other a/c I hardly ever use? Not really, since I will use one of them from time to time, but I don't buy anything out of boredom any longer or just because its on sale. I would rather stick to 2 or 3 a/c and really learn them well. That could be why I find that I like to stick to the more modern Boeing a/c just due to the fact that once you become good at flying one of them like the 767, it is easy to transition to the 747, 737, etc.

Do you guys keep all your addons installed, or do you just use them until the next 'big release' or whatever, and then make way for the next?

I keep them all installed but trim the amount of paints I have assigned to each. Most of the a/c I hardly ever fly, I now have only one to two paints installed for it, rather than 5 or more like I used to have. There are some a/c though, that I really should uninstall from my HD that I haven't flown in the last year or so and now have absolutely no interest in.