Hey,

I want to know if there is a safe way to store aircraft outside of flght simulator x without deleting it entirely or doing something that may cause my computer to crash. Recently, I was told by a computer professional that deleting aircraft from flight simulator x is not a good idea; I was told that my system is fragile and many of the addons I download may rely on my computer's ability to function properly. But that's only one side of the problem. The other side is I currently have over 500 planes installed on flight simultaor x that I use infrequently or not at all. Is there a way that I can put them in temporary storage without doing anything that could crash my system? (Please note: I currently have this folder on my desktop marked: temporary aircraft storage, in which I store unused fsx aircraft. I simply drag any aircraft I'm not using into that folder, and since I've been doing it for years and it hasn't caused any problems, I can only assume it's safe to do it that way, but that's only my opinion, and I prefer not to take chances.) I would appreciate any advice that can be given.

 

Regards,

 

Evan

I've not yet heard nor of something like that, nor have I experienced any problems after deleting third party aircraft, andI have deleted lots of addons I don't use any longer. There are some things to keep in mind, though:

Firstly, if the addon came with an installer, it's very much likel that it also has an uninstaller, and in this case you'll have to use that uninstaller. The easiest way to access all of your available installers is to open the Programs section of the Windows Control Panel.

Secondly, do not delete default aircraft, as many addons rely on them, or at least on their sounds and gauges.

I cannot pretend how/why deleting aircraft could have any effect on my system stability, as long as I only stick to those aircraft I installed myself, which is pretty much the same as deleting a Word document or uninstalling any program that was not installed by default.

But please note, that that's just my experience, and what I've learned on the forums, I am not a computer expert.

 

Regards,

Flo

I have moved all my unused planes to a folder off disk (I have an SSD with limited space). Been doing it for years.

To add to OE-LAT's list of things to keep in mind, FSX uses the default planes for all AI traffic. Unless you use an add-on traffic program, and you move these planes, you will lose your AI traffic.

OE-LAT is right - in some cases an add-on plane calls on other plane's sounds and panels so you will need to copy these folders into the affected aircraft and modify the aircraft.cfg and/or sound.cfg files to accomodate the move. How to do this is beyond this reply but is very important. If you need help on this, there is plenty of reading to do here on the forums.

Also, I have moved planes that have an installer and moved them back when needed with no problem so you dont HAVE to uninstall them if you plan on using them again. Just move the complete plane's folder and you'll be OK.

Evan, you don't need to delete any aircraft, in fact it's probably better not to. All you simply have to do is find the relevent aircraft folder in simobjects and effectively switch them off. Just add _OFF to the file name. Or _ORIGINAL.. or anything you like. That way the folder simply becomes renamed and not recognised by FSX... :wink: BTW, I've just scared myself rigid by looking at dolph98's avatar!

Lol Rockliffe!

He's right Op, rename the aircraft.cfg to aircraft.cfg_off or similar and FSX will ignore it. If it's not space you are concerned with, that'll do the trick. Wasn't thinking that way as space is ALWAYS my main concern until I can afford to buy a bigger SSD.

This is a good freeware utility to do what you want - http://flyawaysimulation.com/news/1997/act-hangar-manager-now-freeware/. Be very careful of moving default aircraft as some of them are used by commercial or freeware developers (gauges, panels, sounds, etc.).

 

Best regards,

Jim

And if you want to turn a particular repaint off without turning off the entire file, go to that plane's entry on the aircraft.cfg and change the panel entry to say panel=OFF

This is a good freeware utility to do what you want - http://flyawaysimula...r-now-freeware/. Be very careful of moving default aircraft as some of them are used by commercial or freeware developers (gauges, panels, sounds, etc.).

 

Best regards,

Jim

 

Isn't this for FS9?

Isn't this for FS9?

 

Probably. Apologize. Try this one - http://flyawaysimulation.com/downloads/files/1662/addit-pro-aircraft-add-on-manager-installer-for-fsx/. Had a bad day on the golf course. Hope you understand....

 

Best regards,

Jim

Ah nice. Thank you.

I'm gonna give this Addit! Pro thing a whirl too. I have been using a hammer to do the work on my sims for many years. Like Primitive Pete. (Anyone remember him from highschool woodshop?)

You can safely move all of your "simobjects/airplanes" sub-folders to a different folder or even a completely different drive. All it takes is editing one file with the complete path to the new storage location. .... forgive me, I'm away from my FSX computer right now and don't know the exact file to edit. I believe it's "fsx.cfg". Look for the section that lists where the aircraft folder is located, then add another line.

 

I use this method to keep storage on my ssd down, but still keep my full stable of ai and regular aircraft available.

 

Sent from my DROID X2 using Tapatalk 2

 

 

There are ways to free up space, and there are ways to remove the items from the FSX system, it all depends on what you are after. The OP just wants to remove the planes he is not using. Sounds simple enough but the best advice is don't do it as it may affect other add-ons in ways we can't predict. Unless you can discern whether or not it will affect other things, just don't do it. I have been around FSX/FS9 for long enough that I can see the effects ahead of time and make sound decisions whether or not to do this or that, but I've made many mistakes too. That which doesn't kill us makes us stronger and all that. I have successfully moved MyTrafficX and all of my other add-on AI planes, and all add-on scenery as well by using symbolic links. This method is not for the faint of heart so I won't post the instructions, but it does work well, didn't affect other add-ons (that I'm aware of), and it freed 40+ GB of SSD space in my case. My "Change Aircraft" window is a mess, but that's a different issue.

You are correct, dolph98. Arbitrarily removing or deleting aircraft folders, especially default aircraft, from the 'airplanes' folder is not a good idea due to inter-dependencies.

 

With care and diligent use of back-ups, FSX can be run with a large percentage of add-on aircraft files located on another drive, saving space on the main game drive (very useful if that drive is a smaller capacity SSD.) I'm not sure what the precise definition of "symbolic links" is, as applied to FSX, but all I do is add a line to the FSX.cfg file showing a new location for my add-on aircraft files (I have FSX installed to "D:\FSX") :

 

In the "Main" section of fsx.cfg, find the area that contains several "SimObjectPaths.X" lines, where X is a number from 0 to 5. Add a new line with the precise path, numbered sequentially (as you would do when adding a custom livery to a an aircraft.cfg file) :

 

SimObjectPaths.6="I:\FSX Aircraft\simobjects\airplanes"

 

Notice the quotes around the path, that is so Windows will not have any trouble finding that path.

 

I install my add-on aircraft to my main FSX folder as usual, then manually move *only* the new aircraft's folder(s) from "simobjects/airplanes" to the new folder on the other drive. Most of the time it works fine, but on two instances I've had to move the folder back due to hard-coded file calls by an add-on aircraft's programming. No problem, move the folder(s) back to it's/their original location if errors occur with that aircraft in-game.

 

In this manner I've managed to save a total of 55GB worth of add-on aircraft folders (flyable types and AI types) from residing on my main FSX SSD drive. I still have the full stable of aircraft available, with no noticeable difference in load times.

 

This doesn't address the issue of removing aircraft from the game entirely, but if the driving factor behind removing those aircraft is disk space, this is a viable alternative.

the only problem is that I can only use Addit Pro free for thirty days, after which I am required to register if I want to continue using the product. Are there any other products that I can download for free, or is Addit Pro a better bet?