In an attempt to actually protect myself from a repurchase or purchasing the 'extended download' thingy - what exactly should I be backing up? I think the only thing I got at purchase was; PMDG 737 8900 NGX RTM.EXEREADME_PMDG_737-800-900_NGX.TXT is there anything else anywhere on my HD relative to this product that I should burn to CD? thanks

Yeah, that would be it. I know it's a little extreme, but I also save the emails they sent after purchase AND I copy and paste the email text and links into a MS Word file, and I save the emails, MS Word file and the downloaded files together in their own folder on both my Primary and Backup drive. Plus I create a system image, which allows me to go back to a known good system with all my software installed and settings all taken care of. I actually keep my last three images as well, just in case. I go to this extreme as I once had to reinstall everything from Windows to all my software, and I never want to have to do that again. Believe me, it's worth having the image! I don't save the Hotfixes, but I will save the service packs. Be well.

with the number of hours (days and days actually) required to install and tweak an "all dressed" FSX installation, it is IMPERATIVE to regularly make a complete W7 system image and restore CD regularly keeping a few latest versions of known working images.Recently, my registry cleaner crashed and my entire W7 platform and separate FSX SSD were NOT recoverable! I simply booted the restore CD and restored my latest System Image and was up and running (flying hehe) in approx 30 minutes! The alternative would have been very very depressing indeed. Think about the level of effort to bring your FSX installation back to your current state and make a system image ASAP!

Nice addition Scott, couldn't agree more. Hey, not trying to highjack the thread... just a quick queston. I run a i7-930, and the max overclock via the motherboard turbo software is just over 3ghz. I see that you're OC to 4+ghz. Care to share your settings? If so, would you PM me? I'm a novice when it comes to OC. Thanks!

Nice addition Scott, couldn't agree more. Hey, not trying to highjack the thread... just a quick queston. I run a i7-930, and the max overclock via the motherboard turbo software is just over 3ghz. I see that you're OC to 4+ghz. Care to share your settings? If so, would you PM me? I'm a novice when it comes to OC. Thanks!

In my case, my ASUS mobo is simply tops. I attained the 4+ OC by setting only 2 parameters. I chose XMP for the overclock mode which auto sets the memory timing and memory voltages and simply set the load line cal to enabled. ALL other settings remain default/auto. You need solid quality memory, the latest bios and a extremely clean PSU (PSUs should not be bought only considering watts!). ASUS has been my mobo of choice for years and I have yet to have nary a hiccup and it will be my first choice for my next build which will be an Ivy Bridge build. The i7-9xx CPUs start to draw current (and therefore produce heat) exponentially after you pass the 4ish ghz mark. The extra few hundred mhz vs this penalty is not worth it for my purposes. If you are really in to it and care to spend more time, with the right cooling and know how you can easily go higher. But compared to the cake walk OC'ing the sandy bridge, it doesn't seem worth the trouble for my purposes. FSX really shines at 4+ ghz and it really makes a large difference. In your case going from 3 to 4 will be huge.

with the number of hours (days and days actually) required to install and tweak an "all dressed" FSX installation, it is IMPERATIVE to regularly make a complete W7 system image and restore CD regularly keeping a few latest versions of known working images. Recently, my registry cleaner crashed and my entire W7 platform and separate FSX SSD were NOT recoverable! I simply booted the restore CD and restored my latest System Image and was up and running (flying hehe) in approx 30 minutes! The alternative would have been very very depressing indeed. Think about the level of effort to bring your FSX installation back to your current state and make a system image ASAP!

Hi Scott,What software do you use for backup ? Cheers

Hi Scott,What software do you use for backup ? Cheers

I have a dedicated 1T hard drive that is for backup storage only. I then use Windows 7 System Image functionality (control panel->"back up my computer" -> Create a System Image). Select your C: drive and your dedicated FSX drive. At the end of the process, windows asks if you want to make a restore cd/dvd and you then do so. You do not have to make a restore cd every time. I make one each time I change my computer hardware configuration. To restore your computer using a saved system image, boot/start your computer from the restore cd/dvd. Select the system image from your additional hdd and go have a coffee. That's pretty much it.

Thanks Scott. Sounds like a plan for me. As I have my OS and FSX running at optimuin, now is a good time to do it. Many thanks for sharing that tip. Cheers

Thanks Scott. Sounds like a plan for me. As I have my OS and FSX running at optimuin, now is a good time to do it. Many thanks for sharing that tip. Cheers

Julian, Excellent choice. I too use the WIndows 7 backup/image.... for which I'm very grateful for. Installed new software yesterday for FSX and other things, and after a day of ensuring it was all working fine, I ran my image last night. Life saver, to be sure! I'd have a nervous breakdown if i had to reinstall everything again. Well, that or just quit flying!