The time has come to move to Windows 10 so I can consider MSFS 2020 and have better security. I will be using the Media Creation tool.

Do I need to delete everything P3dv4.5 related off of my hard drive and reinstall everything all over again after the upgrade.

If you know of an easier way to complete this task I am all ears. If you have any recommended Youtube videos please provide the link.

Thanks

Randy Smith
 

I would absolutely recommend a clean install of both Win 10 and P3D. It's more work but definitely worth it in the end.

3 hours ago, flynman33 said:

  The time has come to move to Windows 10 so I can consider MSFS 2020 and have better security. I will be using the Media Creation tool.

Do I need to delete everything P3dv4.5 related off of my hard drive and reinstall everything all over again after the upgrade.

If you know of an easier way to complete this task I am all ears. If you have any recommended Youtube videos please provide the link.

Thanks

Randy Smith
 

Just make sure you deactivate P3d first before moving to windows 10.

9 minutes ago, eaim said:

Just make sure you deactivate P3d first before moving to windows 10.

So do I uninstall P3d??

45 minutes ago, flynman33 said:

So do I uninstall P3d??

Yes, absolutely.  Doing an uninstall will deactivate P3D.  If you have any PMDG aircraft installed, be sure to deactivate them before uninstalling P3D.  They are deactivated via the FMC.

Do a clean install of Windows 10 pro and then install P3D from scratch.

Unregistered any licensees you currently have installed as suggested in posts above.

Keep you system clean and optimized. 😁

You only need to uninstall the P3D Client to deactivate the licence.

Edited February 6, 20206 yr by Christopher Low

14 hours ago, speedyTC said:

I would absolutely recommend a clean install of both Win 10 and P3D. It's more work but definitely worth it in the end.

yep   agree  a  total clean install of  win  10  and  p3d   and  all other  addons  is  the best way  to go  and  have  no hassles  down  the  road

21 hours ago, flynman33 said:

  The time has come to move to Windows 10 so I can consider MSFS 2020 and have better security. I will be using the Media Creation tool.

Do I need to delete everything P3dv4.5 related off of my hard drive and reinstall everything all over again after the upgrade.

If you know of an easier way to complete this task I am all ears. If you have any recommended Youtube videos please provide the link.

Thanks

Randy Smith
 

Hi Randy,

Yes, an interesting question. The stumbling block, of course, is the infamous Windows Registry and the slavish insistence of certain apps and Addons to write a multitude of unique entries to this facility. Prepar3D and many of its Addons are in this category.

I still use a Dual Boot arrangement which continues to serve me very well. I discovered quite early on that many of my games and sims would run from both operating systems without any modification or need to reinstall. All they needed was a shortcut to their executables from Win10.  I reserve an SSD for Win7 and an M.2 drive for Win10 and everything else is installed on drives D, E and H. So, those existing ‘user friendly’ installations could be left alone and, indeed, I found can be updated from both Windows 7 and 10! X-Plane 11 is a great example! Runs like a dream, including VR, under both o/s.

Like you, I have been considering ways around the P3D ‘problem’. Assuming, as in my case, P3D is installed on its own drive D then it may be possible to simply uninstall the Client from Win7 and reinstall it back to the original drive/path destination from Win10. Not sure whether the Content and Scenery components use the system registry. If they do, then a full reinstall would, of course, be required. I suspect most other Addons will require to be reinstalled, although it’s possible that ORBX and certain others may prove to be the exception. Only way to find out is to work your way through it and see what continues to work and what doesn’t.

As I have suggested, this would be an interesting exercise. Existing stable installations can be left undisturbed and much time would be saved. At present I have no pressing requirement to move P3D to Win10 as it and all its Addons continue to run just fine under Win7. In recent months I find I’m spending more time in Win10 so, depending on what lies ahead in the flight simming universe, it is quite likely that I will be trying what I’ve described above.

Regards,

Mike

Edited February 6, 20206 yr by Cruachan

Yes it's so easy to just double click an exe and it has no reliance on the registry. Even so they don't need to have to do that and still rely on the registry for the concerns there. They can be woken up by running, they can find they are not installed or registered and get on with repairing that with your old install while you have a cup of tea, or maybe only a bite of your ginger nut. Only pausing the munching to type in the keycode. Some can even manage that too.

Say you wipe the drive, all except for the folder with the addon tool. Then you install a fresh Win10, and then P3D (or FSX). Then you double click the tool exe and instead of coming up as usual the installer starts and instead of having to key in the keycode the program is already registered. It installs itself and continues to work. The downside coming from Win7 to 10 means the keycode would need to be re entered. But other that that Ideal Flight does it. I don't think there's any other apps doing it.

...I've dozens of exe programettes that don't use the registry and just start up and go, no matter where or when. Some work on Win95 through to Win10. However I'm talking about fully fledged applications that link to resources and must use the registry for protection and so on.

15 hours ago, Avidean said:

Do a clean install of Windows 10 pro and then install P3D from scratch.

Unregistered any licensees you currently have installed as suggested in posts above.

Keep you system clean and optimized. 😁

+1

I never successfully upgraded from one Windows version to another without long running headaches.  Clean installs are the way to go.  You can save and then bring back in data files, such as documents, spreadsheets, and also data and configuration files for 3rd party simulator add-ons, such as repaints, aircraft .cfg files, panel,cfg files, .xml gauges, and avionics .ini files.

Yes, I'm glad I went straight to Windows 8 when it came out. I didn't like going to the corner for the desktop and that was avoidable anyway. So it was a bit slicker on the same machine too. Then updates to Win10 didn't make much difference. If anything as each version of Windows emerged, it became easier to use, faster, and more capable of backwards compatibility.

Edited February 6, 20206 yr by SteveW

23 hours ago, flynman33 said:

The time has come to move to Windows 10

I was wondering who was riding in the Caboose (bring up the rear), now we know!  😉

I did the upgrade initially and everything worked perfectly.  Later I had to do a clean install, but for different / non Windows based reasons.