FSX-MS Help with moving FSX to Windows 10

[jdhughen 1]

While I'm kicking and screaming to no avail, I "have to" upgrade to windows 10. So, accepting that reality and trying to avoid as many problems as possible I have a ton of questions so hopefully some kind folks here will lend their expertise/experiences to avoid some of the pit falls.

1 - Should I do an upgrade(keep installed programs) OR a clean install ?

2 - My FSX install is on a separate SSD (D:\) from the OS (c:\), and all my scenery etc is on another HDD (E:\) , If I do a "Clean" install of the OS will FSX run without being officially "installed" by the OS ?. I guess I'm trying to avoid a week of installing, tweeking, resetting everything up.

3 I have some custom features/aircraft/controllers that use  FSUIPC4, does it work OK on windows 10 ?

4. If I have to do a reinstall of FSX/Accel is there a way or do I need to deactivate some way.

5. Will all my addon scenery on the E:\ drive have to be reinstalled or just point to it from a Clean FSX install ?

6. Can I just save my CGF files and other setting files and just put them back after a clean install ?

7. Has anyone done a "Bible" of tweeks for win 10 for FSX ?

Any tips, tricks, hacks for making this journey easier ?

Thanks for any help

Joel

[Bob Scott 7,719]

With an OS change, the "A" answer is a clean OS install followed by a complete rebuild with the latest add-on versions and updates.  You can easily spend far more time trying to ferret out the problems with an upgrade install than a complete fresh build.

I just built a new FSX config on a machine for portable use after years of P3D-only simming...I elected to install FSX Steam Edition rather than the boxed version.  It was an easy one-click install off the Steam servers, and way less trouble getting set up than the DVD versions.  If you run into trouble with activation of the DVD box version (I have read that some people have), that's always an option.

FSUIPC4 works just fine in Win 10.  Save your .ini file...some changes will probably be needed, as GUIDs for the controllers will change, but you can transplant a lot of the customizations without having to completely re-do them.

Many add-ons write licensing and configuration keys into the registry.  You have to have an expert and detailed understanding of how the various add-ons work if you want to try and transplant add-ons from one install to another.  It's generally best to do an inventory of your add-ons, noting which ones need to be de-registered to preserve license keys (e.g. PMDG, FSPS, Virtuali/Couatl-managed sceneries, etc) and de-register those before you take the existing system down and rebuild with Win 10.  It's handy to use an external drive to make a complete copy of the old install...then install everything fresh using the latest installers, and after that you can overwrite the fresh installs with existing config data and/or anything you might have modified along the way.

Make sure to keep copies of the various config files spread across the file system, e.g. the users and documents directories as well as the main folder...for example the Controls.xml file has your FSX keyboard and axis control settings, you'll want to have the fsx.cfg file at least available to compare and transfer settings to the new one etc.

It's a major undertaking when you have years of configs and add-ons, but there really isn't a good way to shortcut a well-planned rebuild.  And I always recommend that you set up a spreadsheet and document each step you take in the build process so that you can backtrack, or identify where something might have gone wrong, and ultimately have a good road map to use next time a rebuild "opportunity" presents itself.

Regards

 

[MaDDogz 242]

 

[RayHff 6]

I upgraded from Windows 7 to 10.  95% of my previously installed programs worked just fine.  That included FSX, Excel, Word and many, many others,  (I have no less that 35 games on the computer.) The only things that did not work were a few very, very old games.

I'd recommend, just upgrade.

I purchased Windows 10 on a stick and the upgrade took time; but, basically was a snap,

 

[airernie 263]

On the 4th I decided to make the transition to Windows 10.. I mean, why fight the inevitable.  I chose a clean install of Windows 10 and FSX.

Before doing so I backed up my FSX drive as well as ProgramData, Users, My Documents, etc. from drive C:\

I did a clean install rather than an upgrade because it gave me the opportunity to reinstall only those add-ons I was really using and clean out bits and pieces that a upgrade wouldn't have let me do.

The decision to go clean or upgrade depends on your ultimate goals..

 

 

[jdhughen 1]

10 hours ago, airernie said:

On the 4th I decided to make the transition to Windows 10.. I mean, why fight the inevitable.  I chose a clean install of Windows 10 and FSX. 

So how did the install go for you ?

[jdhughen 1]

Thanks for all the responses.

I'm leaning toward doing both a "upgrade" and then a clean install. While I'm semi retired, in my working life I did a lot of video effects compositing and 3d work, so I have a lot of Win7 software with PSLs that is not "officially" supported on win10 but (I'm told) works and I still need to be able to use it from time to time. Most of those big software folks have moved to a "pay to play" licensing scheme (Adobe, Autodesk, etc) and push hard for old PSL owners to upgrade so they are not real helpful about fixing broken software licenses on "unsupported" software.  Broken PSL issues seem to be one of the bigger issues moving to win 10. It's been suggested by several "geeks" I've worked with over the years to strip your main programs of all the add on bells and whistles, clean house of small stuff your not worried about, do the "win10 upgrade" check for issues then do a clean install of win 10 and all your software in compatibility/admin mode . Sooo .... I'm going through everything cleaning out and making a note of serial numbers, installers and the like. I used Belarc Advisor  which help me track down everything, serial numbers and the like. I wish I could afford a separate machine for FSX but can't do that right now so I have to deal with all the other stuff I need to work besides FSX

Thanks for all the help and I'll keep this thread posted on progress and FSX issues as I go.

Joel

Edited July 30, 2019 by jdhughen
mispelled link

[airernie 263]

1 hour ago, jdhughen said:

So how did the install go for you ?

Actually pretty well.  However, in reading your comments my computer is primarily a FSX machine and other than MS Office 2007, Adobe 9.5 and a couple other programs  everything is in support of FSX.

With the software you have it would be a tough decision.  The advice your getting about upgrade, then clean may be a better way to go.