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Bobsk8

Question on replacing hard drive with P3D

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I am thinking about getting a new hard drive for my PC, because of it's age, as a precautionary measure. I am going to clone my present drive, and then just use the new drive from now on. My question is, do I have to completely uninstall P3D to do this ( which I would rather not have to do) , or can I just clone my drive, and then switch operation to the new drive, keeping my P3D install intact? 


 

BOBSK8             MSFS 2020 ,    ,PMDG 737-600-800PMDG DC6 , A2A Comanche, Fenix A320,    Milviz C 310 ,  FSLTL  

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Good question Bob,  Regarding the Licence Issue,  I don't know to be honest.  I would say Licence wise there would have to be a catch,  I couldn't imagine you could clone 2 hard drives and have the ability to fly Prepar3D on 2 drives with one Licence.  I know that's not your intention but still there would have to be a catch.   


 

 

 

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Bob,

 

Without getting to deep in discussion about P3D licensing (which by the way can be clarified through LM), cloning your existing drive to the new one shouldn't be an issue.  Since you have an existing license to use P3D, changing drives would not cause a problem, as you are still the license owner.


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From the LM Forum this morning. :

 

You will need to do a full uninstall of Prepar3D.

- Mike

 

 

 
Guess I will just wait until my HD drive dies...

 

BOBSK8             MSFS 2020 ,    ,PMDG 737-600-800PMDG DC6 , A2A Comanche, Fenix A320,    Milviz C 310 ,  FSLTL  

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Sounds like there may be a host of shared files being written and read from drive to drive, although I still don't see why cloning one drive to another would hurt anything.  If it's still pertaining to licensing, then clone the drive, and then uninstall P3D from the old drive...seems legit.


Engage, research, inform and make your posts count! -Jim Morvay

Origin EON-17SLX - Under the hood: Intel Core i7 7700K at 4.2GHz (Base) 4.6GHz (overclock), nVidia GeForce GTX-1080 Pascal w/8gb vram, 32gb (2x16) Crucial 2400mhz RAM, 3840 x 2160 17.3" IPS w/G-SYNC, Samsung 950 EVO 256GB PCIe m.2 SSD (Primary), Samsung 850 EVO 500gb M.2 (Sim Drive), MS Windows 10 Professional 64-Bit

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Sounds like there may be a host of shared files being written and read from drive to drive, although I still don't see why cloning one drive to another would hurt anything.  If it's still pertaining to licensing, then clone the drive, and then uninstall P3D from the old drive...seems legit.

 

The purpose of using Macrium Reflect to back up my HD is that it stores a complete  image of ones hard drive, and enables the user to install a bare metal drive, and within an hour or two  make an exact duplicate of the failed drive, including OS and registry  so that no replacing anything  is involved to resume operation. I guess that works for everything in the world except P3D.    :fool:


 

BOBSK8             MSFS 2020 ,    ,PMDG 737-600-800PMDG DC6 , A2A Comanche, Fenix A320,    Milviz C 310 ,  FSLTL  

TrackIR   Avliasoft EFB2    FSI Panel ,  ATC  by PF3  , A Pilots LIfe V2 ,  CLX PC , Auto FPS

 

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I believe the P3D license is tied to the hard drive where you installed it.
 

My question is, do I have to completely uninstall P3D to do this ( which I would rather not have to do) , or can I just clone my drive, and then switch operation to the new drive, keeping my P3D install intact?

 
Just a couple weeks ago my D drive failed some tests, so I bought a new 1TB DDS and migrated all its content to the new drive.
 
To keep the license undisturbed all I did was to uninstall the P3D Client only before doing the clone, then after swapping the drives I reinstalled the Client, started P3D and entered my credentials, all else was intact.
 
So.
1. Uninstall the P3D client.
2. Clone the drive. (It will have the same drive Letter)
3. Reinstall the P3D client.
4. Reenter your License and Password.
5. Go Fly.
 
 
Note: Same procedure applies if you only have 1 drive.
 
Cheers.

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I've also done what Kabronicus states. As long as drive letters and folders remain the same, it's not an issue. You are just resetting the license to the new drive. Backup your dll.xml, cfg files etc and replace them after install.

 

Vic


 

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I believe the P3D license is tied to the hard drive where you installed it.

 

 

Just a couple weeks ago my D drive failed some tests, so I bought a new 1TB DDS and migrated all its content to the new drive.

 

To keep the license undisturbed all I did was to uninstall the P3D Client only before doing the clone, then after swapping the drives I reinstalled the Client, started P3D and entered my credentials, all else was intact.

 

So.

1. Uninstall the P3D client.

2. Clone the drive. (It will have the same drive Letter)

3. Reinstall the P3D client.

4. Reenter your License and Password.

5. Go Fly.

 

 

Note: Same procedure applies if you only have 1 drive.

 

Cheers.

 

 

OK. thanks for the tip. That sure makes it much easier.   


 

BOBSK8             MSFS 2020 ,    ,PMDG 737-600-800PMDG DC6 , A2A Comanche, Fenix A320,    Milviz C 310 ,  FSLTL  

TrackIR   Avliasoft EFB2    FSI Panel ,  ATC  by PF3  , A Pilots LIfe V2 ,  CLX PC , Auto FPS

 

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