Clean 4.5 install

[Matt Piotrowski 3]

I have 4.3 installed right now with addons. I want to do a clean install of 4.5. What’s the best way of doing this and should I uninstall all of my addons and reinstall them? What’s the best way to uninstall addons? Control panel?

[fluffyflops 1,845]

What answer do you want here?

A.  The short down and dirty answer? Which will take you about an hour and you might get issues with it loading up? 

B. The long answer which will take 2 or 3 days of your time but will be a cleaner installation and more than likely you'll have no issues. 

 

[GEKtheReaper 364]

Export your current Controls and Graphic config in files to be stored in a safe place.

You might have 3 types of Add-On's: 1) Those that use the XML method; 2) Those that install in the Sim Folder 3) Those that modify files such as Scenery.cfg.

Type 1: Just Cut and Paste everything inside "your Documents -> Prepared 3d Addons" to another place (leave them installed)

Type 2: To be on the safe side, I recommend you to uninstall those one by one.

Type 3: You should open the GUI of that Add-On (e.g. Ultimate Terrain X) an try to Disable / Restore the original state.

After taking care of the Add-On's, you just uninstall v4.3 followed by housekeeping measures!

Housekeeping Measures -> Look in every single place on your drives for any remnants of P3D files or it's addon-s. You will find entries under //AppData, ProgramData, etc. Delete all those files / folders.

Now just restart your PC and install complete v4.5 and fire it up in it's vanilla state. Load your saved Configuration for the Controls and Graphic, Calibrate your Joystik and fly!

If everything seems fine, start to Copy Type 1 Addon's one by one back followed each time with P3D launch.

Continue in this matter and you will have a nice behaving new P3D install.

Edited April 11, 2019 by GEKtheReaper

[fluffyflops 1,845]

I'll guarantee you you'll have problems matt, If you do the down and dirty way as above mentioned. 

[simbol 5,773]

2 hours ago, Matt Piotrowski said:

I have 4.3 installed right now with addons. I want to do a clean install of 4.5. What’s the best way of doing this and should I uninstall all of my addons and reinstall them? What’s the best way to uninstall addons? Control panel?

1) Take a Windows Backup you have the ability and confort to come back if something goes wrong.

2) Uninstall 4.3 entirely.

3) Delete your shaders and make a backup of your Prepar3d.cfg file.

4) Delete Prepar3d.cfg file.

5) Install 4.5

6) Launch.

7) If you get any issues, check the forums here.. plenty of documented solutions for each.

This process should take you 2-3 hours and leave you flying.

Regards,
Simbol

[fluffyflops 1,845]

5 dollars says hes back here tomorrow with an issue.

Simbol mate you can type for someone who doesn't understand the deal about uninstalling addons and updating "client and Content"

"2) Uninstall 4.3 entirely."

im not surprised the non savvy people are having issues with this down and dirty method LM have conjured up with client and content installers.  Sure a base vanilla version but with the addons out there that tweak cfg and xmls files,  its begging for issues

 

Edited April 11, 2019 by tooting

[GEKtheReaper 364]

18 minutes ago, tooting said:

I'll guarantee you you'll have problems matt, If you do the down and dirty way as above mentioned. 

Are you referring as "dirty" and "above" to the reply I wrote?

If "yes" then I don't understand what is dirty in there. It is the safest method and it does not get any cleaner.

If "not" then please refer to your post.

[simbol 5,773]

12 minutes ago, tooting said:

5 dollars says hes back here tomorrow with an issue.

Simbol mate you can type for someone who doesn't understand the deal about uninstalling addons and updating "client and Content"

"2) Uninstall 4.3 entirely."

im not surprised the non savvy people are having issues with this down and dirty method LM have conjured up with client and content installers.  Sure a base vanilla version but with the addons out there that tweak cfg and xmls files,  its begging for issues

 

Hi Totting, he said he wanted to do a "clean install", so that is why I suggested that step.

however If he wanted to just upgrade, then yes, you are correct, uninstalling the content and client would be enought.

But I have done these steps for each next P3D Beta version released to us for the last 8 months, and I never lost any add-on's or scenery during the process .

All the best,
S.

[GEKtheReaper 364]

4 minutes ago, simbol said:

however If he wanted to just upgrade, then yes, you are correct, uninstalling the content and client would be enought.

I often see users doing it that way but not all of them are "savvy". There are many reports that some addon is broken or something else does not function well and it is only because some .cfg file gets forgotten, or shaders not deleted or scenery.cfg is corrupted....

In my opinion you must realy understand how and where files are installed and what has to be done if you get in trouble.

Edited April 11, 2019 by GEKtheReaper

[fluffyflops 1,845]

13 minutes ago, simbol said:

Hi Totting, he said he wanted to do a "clean install", so that is why I suggested that step.

however If he wanted to just upgrade, then yes, you are correct, uninstalling the content and client would be enought.

But I have done these steps for each next P3D Beta version released to us for the last 8 months, and I never lost any add-on's or scenery during the process .

All the best,
S.

youre a computer programmer simbol, with all respect to Matt hes is not, from reading his first post  the poor bugger didn't even know he doesnt need to uninstall addons.

Ill say it again, this USP that LM has of just updating client and content works wonders where you have a vanilla installation in a large corporation (like the military) where you dedicated IT support guys (like yourself)   to do it on the work stations for the end user.  Then they can blame you when it wont open

Most people on here are bedroom simmers more than likely on pcs with more than one account (husband, wife, kids) im not surprised at all people are getting confused and in a mess with this updating gimmick

Matt and GEK do yourself a solid here, wait a few weeks till the addons are all working nicely and then drop the partition and reinstall from scratch.  Or better still wait till v5 is out.  Just my opinion

 

Edited April 11, 2019 by tooting

[GEKtheReaper 364]

3 minutes ago, tooting said:

Matt and GEK do yourself a solid here, wait a few weeks till the addons are all working nicely and then drop the partition and reinstall from scratch.

Yes! This would be indeed a much cleaner approach. I can beat that: Wait for the new Windows 10 release in May and start with the clean OS install (wiping all partitions).

And I already updated and up and running (or flying)... No loading issues, no performance drop....so far.

[simbol 5,773]

@tooting No reason to hold the update, specially when nobody has confirmed V5 to start with .

@Matt Piotrowski, if you have any doubts just tell us. I am assuming when you said "clean install" that you wanted to remove P3D entirely and add it again without loosing your add-on's. please confirm what do you want to do so we can advise better.

S. 

 

[pete_auau 1,152]

here is  a  simple  detailed  steps  to  take  for  updating  pretty   simple  really

 

[Lorby_SI 2,036]

Hi @ll,

since P3D version 4.0 I am doing full reinstalls every time there is a new point release on my devel and test computers (usually three of them, I always keep a reference system on the old version).

Here is what I do:

1. Uninstall the current P3D version, which is the entry on the app list in Windows that is simply called "Prepar3D V4 Professional". This uninstalls all compontents
2. The P3D uninstaller is quite intelligent, and it only removes the files that are native to the simulator. So I only lose addons that are overwriting simulator files - in my case, that is only FTX Global.
3. Then I install the new version, activate it, shut it down
4. Open FTX Central, uninstall and reinstall FTX Global Base, and force a re-migration of their unified landclass lookup

That is it for me. I always take care to keep addons out of the simulator core folders if they let me. In the coming weeks, when I notice oddities in sceneries, I re-install that particular product. Doesn't make sense to reinstall all of North America "just in case", when I don't currently fly there anyway. But in most cases things work out OK.

Addons that are not yet compatible I leave alone, and stay away from any config tool until it has been updated too. 

I probably have all content addons that there are, but I don't use camera addons, FSUIPC or Shader mods. Shaders I don't need, and for the others I have my own solutions.

Sometimes I have deleted my prepar3d.cfg, but not always.

Best regards 

 

Edited April 11, 2019 by Lorby_SI

[vgbaron 3,486]

I pretty much do it the same way as Oliver and have never had any serious issues. The key ius the fat that LM uninstaller doesn't delete anything but its own files. As long as you do not wipe the main p3d folder or manually uninstall an addon you should be good to go. I don't think a full uninstall/reinstall has taken more than an hour in the last several releases.

Vic