Not the whole programme of course, just parts of it!! ...

 

My home PC has lots and lots of space, so no problem, but I spend a lot of time abroad (several months at a time, for work) and don't like not to have FS with me. A couple of years back my employer paid to have my stuff shipped out (PC included) but on the way back the air freight shipping jolted it enough to unseat various bits and pieces inside and I had to get it repaired, so I think I will leave it at home in future. .

 

Next time I go abroad for several months (possibly soon), I am going to use one of my laptops solely for FS (a Dell XPS M1730: it runs FS9 well, not sure about FSX to be honest). However, it only has a 250GB HDD and will not hold all my FS stuff, so I am wondering what I can put onto an external USB2 drive and cause the least performance hit. I could move aircraft and scenery folders off and move back in just the ones I am using, but that's a real hassle, especially the scenery, as many are interdependent. I was really thinking of 3rd. party stuff. (I can use Symbolic Links to place folders off the laptop).

 

Large folders which could be candidates include REX, GEPro, FS Genesis mesh, as well as the native scenery and aircraft folders. Obviously, the best would be a folder of files that FS9 or FSX only needs to read occasionally, but I am not sure which that might be. If no one has any ideas either, I could try running Process Monitor to check what's going on, but would be interested to hear if there is anyone who runs any FS9 or FSX functions off an external drive.

 

Martin

Tried running Photo Scenery from an external HDD once.  WD Caviar Black inside an enclosure, not an off the shelf external HDD.

 

USB 2, forget it.

 

USB 3 just slightly faster than e-sata, not that you would notice, can run, but struggles to keep up.

If you have any Object type scenery on top, forget it.

 

I think you would be hard pressed to get satisfactory function trying to run anything else. The likes of REX and GEX and Meshes...in your dreams, me thinks.

Well, I am not so sure that nothing would work. I doubt if everything that FS loads is being constantly read and written and needs fast, instant access. I guess the only way to be sure though is to test this out, with Process Monitor, or just do it and see what the result is.

 

 

I doubt if everything that FS loads is being constantly read and written and needs fast, instant access.

 

I don't know about FS9, but FSX does.

Get a replacement BIGGER drive for the laptop.

 

With the new, bigger drive, you have the option to get a FASTER drive,   maybe  the old one was 5400rpm ?  get a 7500rpm,  or even go for a solid state drive.

 

As already stated by others, USB external drives are going to be too slow for FSX.

 

A new SSD might put new life into the Laptop !!

 

If you are lucky,  your Laptop might even have the capacity for a 2nd internal drive...  my 2 year old ACER Aspire Laptop did.

I just found out half an hour back that the laptop will take a second hard drive. The manual doesn't mention it though, I had better be sure. The one from Dell themselves is ₤55 (320GBs), so that would do it!

₤55 (320GBs) sounds a little high, even for prices  in the UK.

I would hope for that price it was 7200rpm and not 5400rpm

 

What is the laptop make & model ?

 

For example, a 7200rpm 320Gb drive in the USA is more like  $57  (₤37)

 

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4691182&CatId=1277

That's the price Dell charge here (5400rpm). Laptop is a Dell XPS M1730. Not convinced as yet that it will take a second drive, I can't see a bay for it (unless it fits into the same bay somehow, I haven't opened it up yet to see).If it does, I may be able to find a more reasonable option.. Thanks