Reinstall required

[Philipei 0]

Hi,
I bought and installed P3Dv4 a few days ago but allowed it to install into the program folder instead of directly onto the C drive. I then bought and  installed the PMDG 737NGX for P3Dv4 which automatically installed into the P3D folder and also added various scenery packages which are also in the P3D folder. I now find, on reading the PMDG instructions in the operation center (which clearly I should have done first) that the 737NGX should be installed directly onto the C drive. The PC has two SSDs. It seems to me that the cleanest way for me to sort this out is to restore my PC to a previous date  (I have images of both drives taken a few weeks ago)  and thus clear out everything  - P3Dv4 / PMDG 737 / ORBX etc, and start again, this time installing P3Dv4 directly onto the C drive and then allowing the PMDG 737 to install into the P3D folder.

 Does this seem like an acceptable solution and will my original ID and key allow me to reinstall and reactivate the PMDG 737 ?

Any advice would be much appreciated,

Philip McComiskey

Ireland

[downscc 1,327]

You will not have to authenticate your license again after removing and reinstalling as long as you don't change hardware or operating systems.

I personally wouldn't try the restore route but only because I'd unaware of any unintended consequences that might arise.  I'd simply uninstall Orbx, PMDG and any other addons, then uninstall P3D and do a reboot.  Install P3D to your C: root if that is your plan and then add your scenery and aircraft.  You generally do not have to download the Orbx stuff again either so that will go quicker.

We remove and install PMDG products dozens of times or more during a beta, thank goodness the removal and install does not require a re-authentication each time.

[Philipei 0]

Thanks Dan,

I'll try that route and if things go haywire I can go the restore route.

Do you feel it's important to have P3Dv4 on the C:root or is it okay in programs ? Perhaps the legacy issues that made that preferable no longer apply. I have been going through the P3D instructions all day (135 pages !!) and it seems to me that they were written for P3D and not updated for v4, although they came with the v4 download. For instance there is a long section in it dealing with VAS limitation of 4GB leading to OOM and how best to deal with that. It specifically says that this is because P3D is a 32 bit program (which we all know) even though these instructions accompany the PMDG 737NGX for P3Dv4, which I understood is a 64 bit program. So surely all that section is superfluous at best and really quite misleading for novices like me. P3Dv4 is 64 bit, isn't it?

Thanks again.

Philip McComiskey

Ireland

[downscc 1,327]

1 hour ago, Philipei said:

Do you feel it's important to have P3Dv4 on the C:root or is it okay in programs ?

Yes..., actually anyplace except the Program Files directories, where the Windows nanny is going to ask you if you are sure you want to copy/rename/delete/move every file action and the applications will all need to run with admin rights.  That turns out to be a PITA when it is so easy to install it to C:/.  I've been with P3D since v2 so I have a C:\P3D\P3DV4 as my simulator root so when V5 comes out I just add \P3DV5 to the C:\P3D directory but this is really a personal preference that has no impact on how things work.

There is a long section on VAS because the product is both V3 and V4 in the same installer.  PMDG is still supporting 32b P3Dv3.4 and later.

[Philipei 0]

Thanks again Dan

Philip.