Hello AVSIM community!

 

I was wondering, is there any way to back up an installation of FSX, preferrably complete with all service packs, settings and add-ons? I reinstall Windows a lot and I don't want to go thorugh the trouble of reinstalling and configuring FSX and all of my addons. Thanks.

Have a look here.

simconfigbackup

 

It is not for your complete installation, because you have to reinstall FSX and service packs of course everytime again.

 

But it helps a lot.

You can also use "simstarter" from that site to keep your FSX settings.

 

 

Another hint is:

make an ISO from your FSX DVDs.

Installing from an ISO from and onto an SSD takes just 5 Minutes.

Have a look here.

simconfigbackup

 

It is not for your complete installation, because you have to reinstall FSX and service packs of course everytime again.

 

But it helps a lot.

You can also use "simstarter" from that site to keep your FSX settings.

 

 

Another hint is:

make an ISO from your FSX DVDs.

Installing from an ISO from and onto an SSD takes just 5 Minutes.

Thanks. The second tip won't help much, as I don't use SSDs for storage and I still have to install the addons. But thanks anyway.

IMHO there's no substitute for a regular full system backup using e.g. Acronis. Quicker to restore than re-installing and much more complete/accurate, particularly if you have many addons.

Also installing on normal HDDs is from an ISO much faster than from DVD.

 

 

For all my addons the most time consuming part is to look up all keys and type them in.

I have KeePass installed and use it also to keep my addons keys there.

Installing an addon is then just hitting the autotype button and KeePass inserts all informations.

 

So you can reduce from 3 hours to two hours installing

The only stumbling block between you and a FSX backup is the activation and any payware using its own registry keys for whatever reason.

 

Get around both and you can move the FSX folder around to wherever you wish (I've done this countless of times). Just remember to set the registry paths to your FSX folder after you've reinstalled Windows and off you go.

I just copy all my FSX files onto a second hard drive (they are cheap).  I have a 1Tb drive (D:) with only FSX installed on it - all other files are on a second 1TB (C:) drive.

 

DIck B:  I asked this question before and got no response :  Can I use Acronis on my D: to back up my C: drive (the one with OS and all other non-FSX files) without affecting my FSX (very speedy) operation on my D: drive ?   Thanks for any input.

I use a program called Ease US Todo backup, only cost me about £20 in one of their sales  and has proved invaluable.

 

I once thought I was deleting my backup usb drive, and instead actually deleted my FSX instal.   Reinstalled using this back up program to a previous backup and everything was back to normal without any activation required.  It did take about  36 hours to restore ( restored the C drive/operating system  1.2tb of data  and the SSD drive (E) that fsx was on). Everything worked fine though and a  lot less hassle than having to restore all my add on etc one at a time.

 

I create a new backup with it about every two months now on an external usb drive.

 

I have found it great much better than the built in windows 7 backup.

 

So pleased with it I bought their data recovery software as well, and on the occasions that I struggled with any aspects of it I have emailed their support they have been excellent.

 

Regards

Steve

I cant locate the original post so I cant credit the source, but I did save the text....

 

For those that have FSX running like a charm, please do the following and have worry-free FSX'ing...1. DEFRAG your computer system.2. Make an IMAGE back-up of your drive(s). This is easy if you have W7 Premium or Ultimate. Go to BACK UP and select on the top left of the page; Create a System Image.3. Run REGEDIT and then EXPORT a REGISTRY image file to your document folder. Name it REGISTRY BACKUP Image. Drag a copy of this file over to your ARCHIVE/BACK-UP hard drive.**** Make sure your DRIVE IMAGE BACKUP and a copy of your REGISTRY BACKUP Image is on a drive such as a WD MY BOOK, which you then only run when needed to access the drive for archive purposes. Never keep this drive always active and plugged into the mains. This will protect you from possible drive death due to power spikes and other death-dealing episodes. When you have added significant software, add-on's, etc to your O.S. drive, this would be a good time to make another session of creating a FULL COMPUTER IMAGE onto your MY BOOK drive.Creating an Image of your entire computer allows you to bring back the system JUST AS IT WAS when the image was created!!! You will in effect have the same system you had before the episode that caused you to need to bring it back, such as adding a virus, screwing up software install/uninstall or the death of your O.S. drive. If you need to replace the drive, or just want to bring back your BACK UP IMAGE to your present drive after a boo-boo, ...you would then run the REPAIR OPTION (read your O.S. Owner's Manual) of your O.S. and use the IMAGE OPTION under REPAIR to bring back the System from your WD My Book. In an hour or so...you would have the FULL system and software you had before the crash, etc. Trust me...you will be grateful for this!!!!Congratulations...you now have a full Computer and Flight Simulation Insurance Policy! Boy...are you clever and smart for this!!!

DIck B:  I asked this question before and got no response :  Can I use Acronis on my D: to back up my C: drive (the one with OS and all other non-FSX files) without affecting my FSX (very speedy) operation on my D: drive ?   Thanks for any input.

Hi Dave - sorry for delay, I was locked out of AVSIM for some reason. Not sure I completely understand the question, but the way I use Acronis is to take a back up of my system (with FSX etc shut down) every month and/or before making any significant change. Then if I get a problem I restore to the most recent level that ran clean. Since Acronis is not running when I run FSX there is no effect on performance.

 

I back up to an external drive, but no reason why you could not back up to a second internal drive. On my system, the very first initial full system backup takes an hour or so, but thereafter each incremental backup takes less than 30 minutes, as does the restore. It's one-click, and much easier and more  reliable and complete than other methods that I've tried, which always seem to miss something vital. And it's saved my bacon on more than one occasion. Now I only re-install when I change to a new system. And even then Acronis is helpful, because I can restore selected files (e.g. Addon Scenery, SimObjects etc) from the old system backup to the new system after the install.

 

I should also perhaps mention that my system is dedicated to FSX. Also that I keep meticulous records of any changes I make between backups. That's pretty important.

My question was if having Acronis on my dedicated FSX drive (only FSX on the drive) would affect FSX adversely (speed, frames, etc.) .  You mention that Acronis is not running at all times (especially when FSX is running), so I guess the answer is No.

 

Thanks for the answer. 

I cant locate the original post so I cant credit the source, but I did save the text....

 

For those that have FSX running like a charm, please do the following and have worry-free FSX'ing...1. DEFRAG your computer system.2. Make an IMAGE back-up of your drive(s). This is easy if you have W7 Premium or Ultimate. Go to BACK UP and select on the top left of the page; Create a System Image.3. Run REGEDIT and then EXPORT a REGISTRY image file to your document folder. Name it REGISTRY BACKUP Image. Drag a copy of this file over to your ARCHIVE/BACK-UP hard drive.**** Make sure your DRIVE IMAGE BACKUP and a copy of your REGISTRY BACKUP Image is on a drive such as a WD MY BOOK, which you then only run when needed to access the drive for archive purposes. Never keep this drive always active and plugged into the mains. This will protect you from possible drive death due to power spikes and other death-dealing episodes. When you have added significant software, add-on's, etc to your O.S. drive, this would be a good time to make another session of creating a FULL COMPUTER IMAGE onto your MY BOOK drive.Creating an Image of your entire computer allows you to bring back the system JUST AS IT WAS when the image was created!!! You will in effect have the same system you had before the episode that caused you to need to bring it back, such as adding a virus, screwing up software install/uninstall or the death of your O.S. drive. If you need to replace the drive, or just want to bring back your BACK UP IMAGE to your present drive after a boo-boo, ...you would then run the REPAIR OPTION (read your O.S. Owner's Manual) of your O.S. and use the IMAGE OPTION under REPAIR to bring back the System from your WD My Book. In an hour or so...you would have the FULL system and software you had before the crash, etc. Trust me...you will be grateful for this!!!!Congratulations...you now have a full Computer and Flight Simulation Insurance Policy! Boy...are you clever and smart for this!!!

 

Do not defrag if you have a ssd hard drive

IMHO there's no substitute for a regular full system backup using e.g. Acronis. Quicker to restore than re-installing and much more complete/accurate, particularly if you have many addons.

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