All good ideas to try. But I like DannyT idea (just not sure exactly what to do).

Let's assume my SSD is OK but I don't want to add any new scenery or planes to it.

 

Do I copy FSX (with all the folders etc) on the 1.5TB drive? Then install the added install NEW scenery and NEW planes to the new drive?

Shamelessly, copied from the internet.

 

The analogy doesn't quite fit (at least the way I'm reading it). Think of a block as a box of data (a few bits). Each time it's written to, it counts towards the 10,000 counter. Therefore you can write to it 10,000 times. In HDD terms, Windows would sit in the inner-most ring of the HDD, and therefore never physically move. Windows is always reading and writting, therefore if it never moved, it would burnout it's "home" quickly. However SSD's don't let data physically sit in the same space all their life. This is called Wear Leveling.

 

The 10,000 number comes from a physical limit. And as processes shrink into the 2*nm, this number actually drops below 10k. BUT, if you were to only use your SSD to fill it up and empty it, as fast as you can, a 60GB SSD takes about 2.5yrs to die out.

You/Windows doesn't write that much data per day, so you can expect to last much longer. However, you need to buy reputable SSDs (Intel, Kingston, Corsair), as inferior SSDs don't have good Wear Leveling.

 

Also, HDDs can last for years, but in my experience, they can die within 6mo. They also have a maximum number like the 10,000. It's unpublished, but they do wear out too. But it's the mechanics (motor, actuator arm) that makes a HDD die.

Carnegy Melon and Google both did independent HDD studies spanning a couple years. Google search "Google HDD study" and "Carnegy Melon HDD study". If you don't want to read the long documents, basically they conclude that the average enterprise/data center HDDs only lasts 18mo.

SSDs are the way to go. They are more expensive $/GB, but performance/$ they are 100x faster than HDDs.

 

Use SSDs for your OS and frequently used apps, and HDD for your photos, mp3s, etc.

 

You can't move airplanes to the other drive. You should install them under FSX folder. You can move add on sceneries besides OrbX to another drive.

You can you just need to set the path inside FSX.cfg in C:\Users\XXXXXXX\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\FSX.

Only in th case where you install new aircraft just set the original path and then redirect where you want.

example SimObjectPaths.0=D:\SimObjects\Airplanes

Instead of

SimObjectPaths.0=SimObjects\Airplanes

SimObjectPaths.1=SimObjects\Rotorcraft

SimObjectPaths.2=SimObjects\GroundVehicles

SimObjectPaths.3=SimObjects\Boats

SimObjectPaths.4=SimObjects\Animals

SimObjectPaths.5=SimObjects\Misc

You can't move airplanes to the other drive. You should install them under FSX folder. You can move add on sceneries besides OrbX to another drive.

 

Of course you can. You can have multiple folders defined in the FSX.CFG. eg:

 

SimObjectPaths.6=J:\!FSXAircraft

SimObjectPaths.7=J:\!AIAircraft

SimObjectPaths.8=J:\!WOAI_Aircraft

SimObjectPaths.9=J:\!FTXAI_AIRCRAFT

SimObjectPaths.10=j:\!MAIW_Aircraft

 

All of my add-on aircraft and AI arcraft are on a different drive from FSX.

 

For scenery it is even simpler, copy/add the scenery to another drive and use Settings -> Scenery library to edit or add the new locations.

Ok excellent ideas so far that I will try.

Just to be specific:

If mysay 737NGX plane is on

C:FSX/simobjects/airplanes/PMDG

and now I want to move them to the E: drive

What is the exact .cfg line to add?

 

SimObjectsPaths.???=E:\PMDG_Aircraft

 

What is the .6, .7, .8 mean??

Ok excellent ideas so far that I will try.

Just to be specific:

If mysay 737NGX plane is on

C:FSX/simobjects/airplanes/PMDG

and now I want to move them to the E: drive

What is the exact .cfg line to add?

 

SimObjectsPaths.???=E:\PMDG_Aircraft

 

What is the .6, .7, .8 mean??

The .6, .7, .8, etc are the numerical ID for the path.

 

If your New location for your PMDG planes is E:\PMDG_Aircraft then the SimObjectsPaths.Next#=E:\PMDG_Aircraft\PMDG 737 NGX(subfolders)

 

SimObjectPaths.0=SimObjects\Airplanes

SimObjectPaths.1=SimObjects\Rotorcraft

SimObjectPaths.2=SimObjects\GroundVehicles

SimObjectPaths.3=SimObjects\Boats

SimObjectPaths.4=SimObjects\Animals

SimObjectPaths.5=SimObjects\Misc

SimObjectPaths.6=D:\FSX Aircraft

SimObjectPaths.7=SimObjects\AI_Aircraft

SimObjectsPaths.8=E:\PMDG_Aircraft

 

You can also put your less used scenery on E:\. It won't load as fast during flight as on the SSD is the drawback...Don

How about moving OrbX scenery?

Just so you know, the SSD works best at around 60% full, you also decrease its life expectancy when you fill it beyond this point.

 

Get a bigger SSD and re-install FS

 

I've been following this thread, as I too have my OS and FSX on the same SSD (like the OP), and with a 200GB SSD I will also get to the same point one day when everything gets full. There are some really good ideas in this thread.

 

Now that I have been using an SSD there's no going back. Given the finite life cycle of an SSD, particularly as it gets full, I'm wondering if I should by one with more capacity, then use an appropriate application to copy over all the files from my SSD. If I was to do that, I assume that the bootloader would not copy over- could I use EasyBCD (or similar) to create a new bootloader?

 

Thanks, Bruce.

I bought a larger SSD and cloned my smaller SSD onto it, Win7 was fine, but a lot of my payware aircraft lead to an immediate CTD, which I believe was cause by anti piracy measures checking the hard disk ID and assuming the aircraft was on another PC. I tried the mklink fix mentioned above, but still had no luck, in the end I moved scenery files from the smaller SSD to the larger, and freed up enough space to carry on.

But like Paul, I'm far from an expert on these things.

Eugene

How about moving OrbX scenery?

 

No problem with mklink.

http://www.sim-outhouse.com/sohforums/showthread.php?59145-Take-your-scenery-off-your-SSD-drive-to-save-space-by-P38man

The best option if funds allow is to buy a second SSD copy your whole FSX folder to the second SSD and use mklink to link your original FSX folder to your new FSX location. After installing the new drive and setting it up in windows and copying FSX and doing the below takes about 10 min. If you stop for a coffee break

 

http://janvaane.org/...x/archives/5674

 

This option allows all the registry entries to still point to the correct place. You can then install any additional/supporting FSX programmes to your 1.5TB drive. I tend to do this but still install scenery to the SSD due to its speed.

 

By all means stick it on your 1.5 TB drive and keep in mind, this is a standard drive and is not quite as quick as an SSD and all depends on your circumstances the choice is yours.

The best option if funds allow is to buy a second SSD copy your whole FSX folder to the second SSD and use mklink to link your original FSX folder to your new FSX location. After installing the new drive and setting it up in windows and copying FSX and doing the below takes about 10 min. If you stop for a coffee break

 

http://janvaane.org/...x/archives/5674

 

This option allows all the registry entries to still point to the correct place. You can then install any additional/supporting FSX programmes to your 1.5TB drive. I tend to do this but still install scenery to the SSD due to its speed.

 

By all means stick it on your 1.5 TB drive and keep in mind, this is a standard drive and is not quite as quick as an SSD and all depends on your circumstances the choice is yours.

 

Thanks for the website link gonna try this. Now its time to get decent SSD drive.

Keep in mind that hybrid drives are almost as fast as an ssd and are much larger and less expensive....

 

http://www.seagate.com/promos/fast-storage/?cmpid=ppc-_-hybrid-_-g-_-us-_-hybrid_hdd-_-e

SSD's Need lots of space to copy entire blocks to. Since the SSD memory cannot be written to as often as rotating HDD space, if you change one byte in a file the entire block will be recreated on unused space to preserve the SSD memory. If you don't have room on the SSD it starts to eat itself...

...actually it's not so much being full up, rather how many times a location has been written to. The SSD keeps shuffling blocks around so a storage location does not get written to so often. The SSD sector cannot be written as often as an HDD. Eventually shuffling blocks around makes no difference as all the locations reach their rewrite limits. I think it's not that far off the life expectancy of an HDD.