Moving to a new computer

[paulyg123 135]

I am going to retire my old Dell (Vista 32) and install FSX on a new one computer Windows 7.What is the best way to re-install the PDMG 747X and the 747-800 addon?Can I just copy the entire PMDG folder and plop on a flashhdrive and copy it to the new computer?Or do I need to download the program again from the PDMG site? I have a feeling I will need to re-purchase everything again.

[morganbrenNWA 0]

I am going to retire my old Dell (Vista 32) and install FSX on a new one computer Windows 7.What is the best way to re-install the PDMG 747X and the 747-800 addon?Can I just copy the entire PMDG folder and plop on a flashhdrive and copy it to the new computer?Or do I need to download the program again from the PDMG site? I have a feeling I will need to re-purchase everything again.

You can just put the installer in your USB flashdrive along with a file on notepad or something with your license key on it. I have had to do this several times because I have gotten so many new computers, you do not have to buy anything new.I would just make sure that when you get rid of your old computer you uninstall all PMDG products and FSX and any other add-onHope this helps

[paulyg123 135]

The new computer is due next week. I'll try this. The old computer will have the hard drive erased completely.

[denthibbe 18]

Paul,Just like Brendon said, the most important thing is to do the uninstallation of your PMDG product in order for the license to be sort of de-activated. DO NOT JUST ERASE/FORMAT YOUR HARDDRIVE WITH ALL PMDG ADDONS STILL INSTALLED!After that just re-install it on your new computer and do the activation again. that's all.

[Tabs 2,790]

Paul,Just like Brendon said, the most important thing is to do the uninstallation of your PMDG product in order for the license to be sort of de-activated. DO NOT JUST ERASE/FORMAT YOUR HARDDRIVE WITH ALL PMDG ADDONS STILL INSTALLED!After that just re-install it on your new computer and do the activation again. that's all.

That is not true. There's no license deactivation process, it doesn't work like that.You need to just rerun the installers on the new machine - do not try to copy the FSX folder over, that will not work - there's a ton of stuff in the registry and with the licensing that will fail if you do that. FSX and your addons need to be installed from scratch via their actual installers.

[denthibbe 18]

That is not true. There's no license deactivation process, it doesn't work like that.You need to just rerun the installers on the new machine - do not try to copy the FSX folder over, that will not work - there's a ton of stuff in the registry and with the licensing that will fail if you do that. FSX and your addons need to be installed from scratch via their actual installers.

OK Ryan,the reason why I thought there was a deactivation process is because it happened to me once that I could not reinstall my aircraft addons (after a HD failure --> no uninstallation possible) with an error message telling me the max number of allowed installations for my licanse key was reached, which lead me to think that the uninstallation also kind of reset a counter related to the number of times you can install your addon...Anyway thanks for clearing this up to us.

[joshleeman 0]

That is not true. There's no license deactivation process, it doesn't work like that. You need to just rerun the installers on the new machine - do not try to copy the FSX folder over, that will not work - there's a ton of stuff in the registry and with the licensing that will fail if you do that. FSX and your addons need to be installed from scratch via their actual installers.

So if Im reinstalling my OS I will have a new IP after its done. So I need to uninstall PMDG online dont I, in order for the key to work on what is virtually a new computer?

[tfm 169]

If you have a lot of FSX stuff on your existing PC then it will be a real hassle to reinstall it on the new one from scratch. Apparently this method doesn't always work, but my advice is try it first: Just take the hard disk(s) from your old PC, and put them into your new PC in place of whatever's there at the moment. Make sure your new PC boots from your former "boot" drive. This way, when Windows (from your old PC) boots into your new PC, it will (should!) think it's been given a new motherboard etc and load appropriate drivers. You will then need to reactivate Windows. You may also need to reactivate other applications: I don't think FSX actually needed reactivation but I can't really remember from when I last did this myself. But reactivation is of course straightforward anyway. I used this method myself to move between two or three PCs a few years ago. People said things like "you're better with a 'clean' install" or "you'll get lots of old drivers and dlls floating around". But frankly those are old wives' tales in my experience. Windows knows what to load and doesn't care if there's extra (old) stuff lying around nearby. I don't remember having had a single glitch. (Though remember to delete the FSX.CFG file before flying in the new PC: this lets FSX build a new one based on the new kit etc). By contrast, for my latest PC, I did a reinstall from scratch. Boy, what a ton of trouble that has been. And I still don't have the thing looking quite as good as my old setup. I wish I'd followed my own advice and used the old kit: my only reason for not doing so, was that I wanted a flashy new SSD drive. But with hindsight I reckon I could have found a way to work round this ... So I suggest you give the "physical" transfer a go, especially if you have a "mature" FSX installation. If it works, you'll save yourself a ton of trouble. If it doesn't, you won't have lost anything. Tim

[Rocky_53 1,566]

Hi fellas, sorry, I don't mean to hijack the post, but I guess it is a related question. I too am looking at building a new machine and was wondering what happens with the reinstallation of the OS, in my case Windows 7.

[Leffe 4]

Hi fellas, sorry, I don't mean to hijack the post, but I guess it is a related question. I too am looking at building a new machine and was wondering what happens with the reinstallation of the OS, in my case Windows 7.

That would be the same metodh. Since the registry is installed new again with your reinstallation. Also you haveto reinstall all Windows Update file again. Normally all those come just after you have run some minutes on-line.After that, run the PMDG installer again and get it validated./ Leffe

[Rocky_53 1,566]

That would be the same metodh. Since the registry is installed new again with your reinstallation. Also you haveto reinstall all Windows Update file again. Normally all those come just after you have run some minutes on-line. After that, run the PMDG installer again and get it validated. / Leffe

Cheers Leffe...

[Jude Bradley 659]

I had the same concerns (particularly with windows 7 OS reinstallation),but all went well following the steps in the PMDG KB article on how to reinstall FSX.

[Jude Bradley 659]

Hello Howard.There is no problem with installing Windows 7 on a new machine.I was worried too,that I might run into activation issues and having to call Microsoft,but actually,I just formatted the drive again on my new system,and picked activate over the internet and bingo.

[Manchild01248 0]

How do i deactive my 737-8 747-4 747-8 777-2 777-3

[gaumond 0]

If you have a lot of FSX stuff on your existing PC then it will be a real hassle to reinstall it on the new one from scratch. Apparently this method doesn't always work, but my advice is try it first: Just take the hard disk(s) from your old PC, and put them into your new PC in place of whatever's there at the moment. Make sure your new PC boots from your former "boot" drive. This way, when Windows (from your old PC) boots into your new PC, it will (should!) think it's been given a new motherboard etc and load appropriate drivers. You will then need to reactivate Windows. You may also need to reactivate other applications: I don't think FSX actually needed reactivation but I can't really remember from when I last did this myself. But reactivation is of course straightforward anyway. I used this method myself to move between two or three PCs a few years ago. People said things like "you're better with a 'clean' install" or "you'll get lots of old drivers and dlls floating around". But frankly those are old wives' tales in my experience. Windows knows what to load and doesn't care if there's extra (old) stuff lying around nearby. I don't remember having had a single glitch. (Though remember to delete the FSX.CFG file before flying in the new PC: this lets FSX build a new one based on the new kit etc). By contrast, for my latest PC, I did a reinstall from scratch. Boy, what a ton of trouble that has been. And I still don't have the thing looking quite as good as my old setup. I wish I'd followed my own advice and used the old kit: my only reason for not doing so, was that I wanted a flashy new SSD drive. But with hindsight I reckon I could have found a way to work round this ... So I suggest you give the "physical" transfer a go, especially if you have a "mature" FSX installation. If it works, you'll save yourself a ton of trouble. If it doesn't, you won't have lost anything. Tim

 

 

This is not usually the case, especially if you are changing architecture. I always recommended against it and I have never seen this work.