Activation after every system restore

[pscharff 56]

Hello,

I regularly make backups of my system by using Acronis True Image. I use Windows 10x64.

In the past it was no problem for me to use all the PMDG aircraft after a system restore has finished. Now I need to activate all these aircraft again - everytime I made a complete restore of my system. 

OK, I do not make a restore every day, but It is really annoying, and I'm afraid one could reach the activation limits more often as necessary.

Patric

[scandinavian13 5,192]

48 minutes ago, pscharff said:

In the past it was no problem for me to use all the PMDG aircraft after a system restore has finished. Now I need to activate all these aircraft again - everytime I made a complete restore of my system. 

The intro manual specifically mentions the situations in which you should return your license.

49 minutes ago, pscharff said:

OK, I do not make a restore every day, but It is really annoying, and I'm afraid one could reach the activation limits more often as necessary.

Habitually going back to system restore points can be extremely bad for your hardware. Bulk overwrites will wear out your HDDs/SSDs a lot faster than normal use. It can also cause all kinds of issues for programs. System restore points are there as a way to recover from some sort of catastrophe, and not as a way to 'clean' your comp. If you're needing to habitually restore your comp, it's definitely worth looking into your standard practices with your computer - what is causing a need for it?

[pscharff 56]

Hello Kyle,

Thanks for your quick and very informative answer.

Yes, in terms of flight simulation software I often used a restore to keep the system "clean". OK, now I will change my practices of software installations and deinstallations.

Thanks,
Patric

 

[scandinavian13 5,192]

5 minutes ago, pscharff said:

Yes, in terms of flight simulation software I often used a restore to keep the system "clean".

Yeah, I'd avoid this. Just be conscious of what you install, and go out and clean out folders of uninstalled software (though it honestly doesn't hurt anything to leave it there). From there, just browse carefully to avoid viruses and the like. No need to consistently restore. It's a lot of wasted time, and it's really not good for your computer.

It's kind of like your body. Occasionally you eat stuff that isn't the greatest for you. There's no need to rush out and take a dose of ipecac to get it out. Over time, that will damage your stomach and esophagus. Just be conscious of what you eat.

[pscharff 56]

Hello Kyle,

Good comparison! 

As I wrote, I did not make restores all the time. But if I experienced issues with a certain scenery or landclass, i.e. caused by a damage of a certain file like terrain.cfg, making a restore was the faster way then searching for the problem for many hours or even days. 

Patric

[markdf 84]

This is one area where scenery moving towards the add-on.xml system may make life easier when it comes to yanking out troublesome modifications as more developers make use of it, but yeah as Kyle says full disk image and restore jobs can greatly shorten the life of the drive - if you do have to reinstall the whole drive it's often better to only delete/reinstall the files you absolutely have to (and if you don't wipe the drive, Windows will automatically move the old Program Files, Users, and Windows folders into a folder called Windows.old which can then be safely deleted once the reinstall is done)

Again though as in his example, it's usually possible and preferable to just keep good drive hygiene which will avoid a lot of problems before they get to the reinstall stage