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RodgerC

Upgrade to FSX:SE Questions

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I currently have the boxed version of FSX and am looking to go to the Steam Edition.  My questions are:

1.  Is it worth doing?

2. How much hassle is it?  I have a significant amount of Orbx scenery and a good amount of Carenado airplanes.  No PMDG or complex airplanes.

3.  Should I delete everything and start over or can I just install FSX:SE 

Would appreciate your input.  I see a lot of people here are using FSX:SE so I assume it is well liked.  My problem is I'm not all that great with computers and don't want to spend a week or two trying to get everything working again.

Here are my specs if anyone is interested:  Intel i5 4590, EGVA GTX 1070 latest driver, 16GB Ram, Samsung 250 GB 850 EVO SSD, Windows 10x64, FSX,Orbx FTX Global Base, FTX Global Vector, FTX Terrain, Northern & Southern CA, Pacific NW, Rex Texture direct + Soft Clouds

Thanks for your advice.  Much appreciated.

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1. probably? it's a much more stable version and slight performance boost also. your system is pretty good if you are going to do an install you might want to consider moving to p3d instead of fsx...

2. well, the orbx stuff is easy to reinstall because of their ftx central, just click on all the items and it downloads and installs on it's own. everything else, well, you'll just need to download and run all of the installers. when possible re-download the newest versions. i wouldn't say that is much of a hassle. more time consuming than annoying maybe..

3. i would recommend deleting the old install, otherwise you will have 2 of everything taking up space. some older installers also have confusion if you are running both versions. i have noticed that if you have some old registry entries around it can confuse even newer installers that will try to separate your fsx and fsx-se installs. there's a pretty good list of everything needed to do a clean removal, including which registry keys to remove, here: http://c-aviation.net/clean-reinstall-of-fsx/

unfortunately i doubt there is anyway to avoid spending a day or two reinstalling things, that is just the nature of the beast. generally when i do a reinstall i only install stuff as i need it as this helps keep things leaner, but i supposed it just a question of how many addons you are talking about

good luck!

cheers,-andy crosby

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54 minutes ago, spesimen said:

1. probably? it's a much more stable version and slight performance boost also. your system is pretty good if you are going to do an install you might want to consider moving to p3d instead of fsx...

2. well, the orbx stuff is easy to reinstall because of their ftx central, just click on all the items and it downloads and installs on it's own. everything else, well, you'll just need to download and run all of the installers. when possible re-download the newest versions. i wouldn't say that is much of a hassle. more time consuming than annoying maybe..

3. i would recommend deleting the old install, otherwise you will have 2 of everything taking up space. some older installers also have confusion if you are running both versions. i have noticed that if you have some old registry entries around it can confuse even newer installers that will try to separate your fsx and fsx-se installs. there's a pretty good list of everything needed to do a clean removal, including which registry keys to remove, here: http://c-aviation.net/clean-reinstall-of-fsx/

unfortunately i doubt there is anyway to avoid spending a day or two reinstalling things, that is just the nature of the beast. generally when i do a reinstall i only install stuff as i need it as this helps keep things leaner, but i supposed it just a question of how many addons you are talking about

good luck!

cheers,-andy crosby

Andy, thanks for the advice.  I did consider at one time P3D and actually would like to go to it, but not sure my system could handle it.  The only way I'd go with FSX:SE would do the clean install.  Read a lot of posts where there were multiple problems with both so a clean install is what I believe I would do.  Actually since I'm retired, it really wouldn't be that big of a deal.  I am concerned about being able to install my favorite airplane in FSX:SE, the RealAir Duke B60 and the Duke Turbine V2 since they no longer exist.  Not sure if I have the key to unlock them.

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1 Yes, no doubt.

2 The amount of problems depends on how you are going to migrate.
I tried "reuse" method and got great headaches.
So I decided to take the bitter remedy, backup, removal of all addons, including several PMDG.
I did the clean installation of Windows, and I installed ONLY FSX-SE, so as not to risk any vestige of FSX box.
I tried programs that promised to remove traces of old FSX box, but only promises. Do not worry about your addons, they will work perfectly, if you do the thing the right way

3 Yes, undoubtedly, including Windows.

 

João Alfredo


It is impossible to please Greeks and Trojans

É impossivel agradar Gregos e Troianos

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1.  Is it worth doing? Yup it absolutely is worth the switch, FSX-SE runs much better and it includes all of the fixes and expansions which were for the boxed version and has better online multiplayer stuff, so there is no real need to tweak it much.

2. How much hassle is it?  I have a significant amount of Orbx scenery and a good amount of Carenado airplanes.  No PMDG or complex airplanes. It's no hassle and theoretically you can have both versions on your PC, but personally, I would uninstall the boxed versions and delete the config files and clear the registry too if I were you (i.e. remove all traces of FSX) since it will avoid confusion with the add-ons reading the wrong config file etc.

3.  Should I delete everything and start over or can I just install FSX:SE Yup, that'd be my recommendation and will be worth it in the long run.


Alan Bradbury

Check out my youtube flight sim videos: Here

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Fsx se is much much better andso totally worth it.


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7 hours ago, C130FE said:

I currently have the boxed version of FSX and am looking to go to the Steam Edition.  My questions are:

1.  Is it worth doing?

 

To answer #1, I'd ask yourself this. Do you currently have a trouble free FSX experience? Meaning are you suffering from OOM's, poor FPS, etc? If your current set up is running without problems, then I'd say to stick with it until you go to P3D at some time in the future.

Personally, I've been essentially running the same FSX install since '08. I've upgraded hardware since then but that was all. I run all the major payware sceneries, PMDG planes, AI, etc and never had any issues with my setup, so when FSX-SE came along I passed. But for some users who had always been plagued with OOMs, stutters and other problems, it seems to have helped them a lot.

Anyway, that's just my opinion. Since you're retired and have all the time in the world, I suppose it wouldn't hurt for you to experiment. 

I'm still waiting to go to P3D but have passed on all versions so far as I didn't want to keep  paying for a version, installing it, then uninstalling, paying for the next version and installing it, and on and on. I think they are getting close to the version that I will finally jump in.

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They frequently have have it on offer for £5, so a good idea to wait until then, but once you have FSX;SE. there's no going back to the FSX DVD version, it's too flakey. 

 


Jude Bradley
Beech Baron: Uh, Tower, verify you want me to taxi in front of the 747?
ATC: Yeah, it's OK. He's not hungry.

X-Plane 11 X-Plane 12 and MSFS2020  🙂

System specs: Windows 11  Pro 64-bit, Ubuntu Linux 20.04 i9-9900KF  Gigabyte Z390 RTX-3070-Ti , 32GB RAM  1X 2TB M2 for X-Plane 12,  1x256GB SSD for OS. 1TB drive MSFS2020

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14 hours ago, C130FE said:

Andy, thanks for the advice.  I did consider at one time P3D and actually would like to go to it, but not sure my system could handle it. 

If you are looking to upgrade your platform, I would strongly recommend P3D v4.1. My system is not as capable as yours and it runs P3D better than FSX, plus I do not have to bother with tweaks and worrying about VAS. P3D is also way better from a visual standpoint. Another important thing to consider is addons. If you stick with FSX and buy add on products that are specific to FSX and then eventually make the switch to P3D, you may find yourself in a situation where you have to repurchase those addons. For instance, if you purchase an A2A or PMDG plane for FSX, you will have to buy it again for the P3D platform. Choose whichever platform you want, but I just wanted to offer that P3D is a great way forward and FSX, as good as it was, is yesterday's game.


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REX AccuSeason Developer

REX Simulations

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My system is pretty similar to the OP's and I tried P3D v4; I would say that whilst that is clearly the way to go for the future I was making so many compromises with settings that in the end I ditched it and got a refund. Ultimately I went back to my FSX Steam install. If and when I get something more powerful that will do v4 justice then I will change my mind but in the meantime....

To answer the original question I wouldn't say FSX Steam is an "upgrade" as such more a smoother and more stable version of the same. If you are happy with the way your install is running then why go through all the hassle? But what I would say is next time it comes on sale to buy it and just leave it in your Steam library until you feel you have to make the change.


Cheers,

Geoffrey Easton

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51 minutes ago, uncle_adolph said:

If you are happy with the way your install is running then why go through all the hassle? But what I would say is next time it comes on sale to buy it and just leave it in your Steam library until you feel you have to make the change.

Excellent advice! FSX:SE contains quite a few bug fixes but if you're not suffering from any problems I'd stick with what you have. Good suggestion to buy it in a Steam sale as you never know when you might need to reinstall it in the future and the Steam version is much less hassle.


 i7-6700k | Asus Maximus VIII Hero | 16GB RAM | MSI GTX 1080 Gaming X Plus | Samsung Evo 500GB & 1TB | WD Blue 2 x 1TB | EVGA Supernova G2 850W | AOC 2560x1440 monitor | Win 10 Pro 64-bit

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1 hour ago, uncle_adolph said:

My system is pretty similar to the OP's and I tried P3D v4; I would say that whilst that is clearly the way to go for the future I was making so many compromises with settings that in the end I ditched it and got a refund. Ultimately I went back to my FSX Steam install. If and when I get something more powerful that will do v4 justice then I will change my mind but in the meantime....

Crux of the issue.  I am on P3Dv4 and will never go back to FSX nor 32 bit, but then my hardware can handle P3Dv4.

Having said that, all things being equal, FSX:SE is much better than stock DVD FSX and, IMHO, definitely worth the switch regardless of how much you must reinstall.


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2 hours ago, uncle_adolph said:

My system is pretty similar to the OP's and I tried P3D v4; I would say that whilst that is clearly the way to go for the future I was making so many compromises with settings that in the end I ditched it and got a refund. Ultimately I went back to my FSX Steam install. If and when I get something more powerful that will do v4 justice then I will change my mind but in the meantime....

To answer the original question I wouldn't say FSX Steam is an "upgrade" as such more a smoother and more stable version of the same. If you are happy with the way your install is running then why go through all the hassle? But what I would say is next time it comes on sale to buy it and just leave it in your Steam library until you feel you have to make the change.

You know uncle_adolph, the more research I do on both P3D and Steam, I like your thinking.  My system is running pretty well.  I never have OOM problems, but what I do have is some occasional flickering of the Orbx scenery.  I'm just not sure what is causing it.  Could be my Nvidia graphics card, maybe I have the scenery set too close to the maximum.  But I really don't have any serious issues with my system.  Maybe FSX Steam would solve the issue, I don't know.  I think I may follow your advice.  I just last year had a friend of mine build this system.  But now it is limited by the motherboard.  As great as P3D is I'm not going to spend another $1000-1500 to build another system just to handle P3D.  I had this one built strictly for Flight Sim use only.  I'm happy with it, but you know how we are in wanting to get the most out of Flight Simming.  So it does sound like going to FSX Steam will be my next move, just not right away.  I'm nervous about getting FSX totally cleaned off my system as I am not all that competent with computers and I'm not about to wipe the hard drive and reinstall Windows 10 and start all over.  

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Would like to thank everyone for their input in helping me decide what to do.  It's really good to have others who have been there done that to help out with questions and advice.  So I guess I'll wait for FSX:SE to go on sale, buy it and eventually get it up and running.  I probably would do it now if I knew for sure I could totally get FSX deleted from my system.  Just have to build up enough courage to try and get it done.  Thanks again for everyones advice, it's much appreciated.

Rodger

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