fsx-ms FSX Reinstall impossible "You cannot upgrade between..."

[charliearon 3,017]

There was only one FSX Entry in the Software list showing, and that was Acceleration. I uninstalled it after removing all the Addons. After that, there was no FSX Basic Entry there, therefore I deleted the Folders manually according to the PMDG Guide:

 

This was from your post# 3.  Did you or do you have a box that can be checked marked in you Add/Remove Programs that says "Show Updates"?  If that's not checked you may have missed uninstalling what

needed to be done.

 

I see it says delete the FSX folder wherever you had it located.  I just wonder if that does the same

thing as uninstalling it and all of it's associated accoutrements?  I can't think of any other thing that

could have been missed.

[Soulflight 97]

Well I only can bring up another list that shows Updates, most stuff from there is from windows. I see nothing FSX-related there.

 

Meanwhile I got another lead: different Versions of FSX seem to use different "Product ID" numbers, they are generally shown in the "Product ID" section in the "setup.ini" file at Disk 1. The one I have here (FSX Gold Edition) uses "9527A496-5DF9-412A-ADC7-168BA5379CA6". According to a thread I found those IDs differ with FSX versions.
This ID is used for Temp Folders as well as in the Registry.

 

Now I cannot exclude that after using the repair option with borrowed CDs my old FSX maybe used another ProductID, so currently I am looking for the ID's of FSX Standard, SP1 and SP2 and maybe Acceleration as well.

[W2DR 1,859]

I don't understand how you can have anything left on the drive after a format. Did you really format the drive? I'm totally lost. BTW, moving to P3D won't help in situations like this. It's structurally so similar that a botched uninstall there will probably give the same result.

 

Doug

[Soulflight 97]

@ W2DR

 

at least Prepar3D will install even if FSX was on the System before. I currently havent got the financial possibilities to switch to a new sim. The leftovers must be in the Registry or on Drive C:, I had FSX installed on its own partition that was for FSX and its addons only (S:), this one I completely formatted, of course without reinstalling windows.

 

I still would like to know where the installer looks for information when it checks if your PC has FSX installed or not. Obviously it does a top-level security frisk search of your machine and hates you as soon as it even finds an "F" remaining from FSX.

But its a 2009 installer and therefore can only find the very basics of an FSX installation. I am convinced there is something in the registry I am missing to delete because its saved under some cryptic ID name and not named "Flight Simulator" or else that a human would search for...

 

Therefore I would like to know all the changes the FSX standard setup does to a registry.

[W2DR 1,859]

OK, got it now...thanks.

 

The FSX installer writes two basic Registry entries:

 

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Microsoft Games\Flight Simulator\10.0

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Microsoft Games\Flight Simulator\10.0

 

The FSX installer will also embed the ProductID in the Registry. That's how it knows which version is installed. The only way I know to find that information is to search the Registry using the specific ProductID value (from disc1). You'll need that info also from the DVD's used in the repair.

 

Also, I'd check for folders like C:/windows/installer, C:/program files/Installshield, etc. and delete anything there relating to the FSX install. Luck.....

 

Doug

[Soulflight 97]

I was fearing for that. It could be a different version because I was installing a german version and my reinstall was english, so I guess the ProductIDs are different.

 

Means I have to search for the old CD in my cellar and hope they still work. :(

[BillW 210]

FSX is good for learning about software installation and at no extra charge. Hope you get it fixed.

 

Bill W

[vortex681 806]

Alternatively, you could install FSX-SE as it can coexist with the old FSX and may save you a few grey hairs.

[Soulflight 97]

I got the ProductID of the Version that was previously installed since I found the DVD in my second home. Unfortunately I am away from my Sim PC for a week now. I'll report back as soon as I checked.

[Soulflight 97]

Hello again,

 

I got back to my home now and looked the Product Code of the german pro version up: {F535B2CF-C9BB-4162-B03A-02D6971F32CC}. Done a Registry search, found some entries and deleted them. Someone should publish such Product ID's just in case people run into the same issue. Installer runs normally now.

 

Make sure you still have access to the Setup.ini of any FSX CDs you use for installation. Or save a copy.