FSX-SE Best way to move FSX to another drive?

[Luis Hernandez 570]

Hello everyone. I´ve just ordered a 1 TB SATA III SSD drive, to use for storage instead of the 256 GB SATA III SSD I currently have. However, my other SSD (the one with Windows and FSX) is almost full. So, my idea is to move FSX-SE from C:\ (the M2 SSD) to D:\ (the SATA III one), and have FS9 and some addons (FSBuild, PF3, PSXSeecon Traffic, etc) moved to C. They shouldn´t take as many space as FSX (135 GB). I understand all my payware addons may need to be reinstalled, but is it there a way to move everything else seamlessly? Or it´s simply better to reinstall from scratch?

[Bert Pieke 7,584]

You can simply move your entire FSX folder to the new drive.

FSX should work just fine, if you start it from its new location..

Once you have tested it, you can remove the original FS folder.

[SteveFx 258]

I seem to remember that you use my DX10Fixer.  If so remember to uninstall its libraries  from its controller  before you relocate fsx - you will then be able to change the path in the controller and reinstall to the new location.

If you forget then the  fixer will become confused and you will need to use the "emergency change of fsx directory" option to sort it out

Edited July 4, 2020 by SteveFx

[VOJu24 7]

One thing I have done to move my FS Global Ultimate Mash is creating a directory junction. 

So first move all the files to the new location then just create  a directory junction which is like a link to the new location. That way I didn't need to reinstall the whole global ultimate. 

Look here for creating a directory junction: https://winaero.com/blog/symbolic-link-in-windows-10/

Also, if I recall correctly for me using a symbolic link did not work although it's recommended, so maybe try first with symbolic link and if that does not work with a junction.

 

[overspeed3 410]

Don't know if you have to manually re-build your Scenery Config folder, or does it re-build it for you automatically? (Pointing to the new "D" drive).

Actually, rename the  Scenery Config folder, then delete the original.  FSX should rebuild it for the new drive... 

 

Edited July 4, 2020 by overspeed3

[Luis Hernandez 570]

On 7/4/2020 at 7:40 AM, SteveFx said:

I seem to remember that you use my DX10Fixer.  If so remember to uninstall its libraries  from its controller  before you relocate fsx - you will then be able to change the path in the controller and reinstall to the new location.

Oh 😊 it's true: I use your Fixer indeed. Will take this into account.

 

On 7/4/2020 at 10:57 AM, overspeed3 said:

Don't know if you have to manually re-build your Scenery Config folder, or does it re-build it for you automatically? (Pointing to the new "D" drive).

I don´t have that much scenery (just AFCADs, some small mesh files, AI BGLs and Timezones). I'll try and see. I

 

On 7/4/2020 at 1:26 AM, Bert Pieke said:

You can simply move your entire FSX folder to the new drive.

I see that this is feasible with FSX Boxed Edition. However, I use FSX-SE. I'll try moving first. I hope Steam does not go crazy.

[Kronovan 14]

If you have FSX:SE I recommend doing an uninstall and then a reinstall. The reason being, is that there's a steam-specific \DLC (addon) folder for that edition and some addons (e.g. Active Sky Next) are installed in a subfolder within it with their shortcuts available via Steam>Tools as opposed to the Steam>Library. Those are tricky to relocate even if you do an uninstall and reinstall. I can speak from personal experience; after uninstalling and reinstalling to a new drive certain features in ASN error out on my system if it's started from Steam>Tools -  resolved by just starting ASNext.exe from a desktop shortcut.

Even for the boxed version of FSX, there's a risk that some of the entries written into 2 important files (DLL.XML and EXE.XML, typically located in a C:\users\username\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\FSX folder) will not be correct. Most of what's launched from those have a path that's a FSX subfolder and will work regardless of where your FSX folder is located. Some however, such as the already mentioned Steve's Shader fixer require that a drive letter and path be spec'd, as they can be installed anywhere on your PC. Having the paths correct in those 2 XML files is critical, because errors in them (heck sometime even the order in which they're loaded) can potentially cause FSX.EXE to crash on start up, or crash after starting a flight.

I think in the earlier FSX days, 3rd party addons that needed to write to the XML files followed stricter guidelines, but those days are long gone. Hence, I'm skeptical that all owners of the boxed edition could successfully move their installs by just relocating their FSX folder. If your FSX:SE install is relatively plain vanilla, you might get away with just moving the folder. If however you have DLC/Addons purchased from Steam that use the Tools menu, it'll probably be a different story.

Edited July 6, 2020 by Kronovan