Reinstalling on New Computer - Best Advice to Ease the Pain?

[ESzczesniak 128]

I'm getting ready to reformat and rebuild my computer.  I'll be adding an RTX 3090 at 2 x 2 TB m.2 NVME hard drives.  So while not completely new, it's going to count as a new computer.  My P3D install is about 350 GB and I have about 100 add-on files, plus a bunch of Orbx stuff.  Unfortunately a decent amount of this install dates back to before Orbx was using an outside installation folder, and a lot of the other add-ons are hit or miss.  

So any advice on making this as smooth as possible?  I suspect I'm going to be reinstalling a lot the hard way, but figured it can't hurt to check.

And any advice on moving controller configurations? I use FSUIPC and LINDA, but am not sure it's at all predictable that the controllers will get assigned the same ID.  So I'm prepared for this to be tedious as well.

My other two large size installs are DCS World and MSFS, but these are more of a one click download and done.

Edited December 28, 2020 by ESzczesniak

[Reader 2,009]

I you want to transfer your simulators onto your new drives, do so by copy and paste or making a disc image. Then give the new discs the same drive letters as the old ones and your PC will not see the difference.

[cbreeze 38]

Just noticed your post.  I just got a new computer from Jetline Systems and feel your pain.  I went all out and got a 3090 graphics card also.  Right now supporting the 3 major flight sims (XPlane, P3D and MSFS).  I have a lot of add on’s for XPlane and P3D I want to keep.  The more I fly MSFS the more I like it.

Went with 3 SSD hard drives, one for each sim.  So far I have XPlane reinstalled and MSFS is running well.  For me P3 has always been a struggle given my lack of computer knowledge.  I installed Orbx and one A2A aircraft on P3 but it’s not running as it should.  Jetline has awesome customer support and I am going to call them about P3D.  Having a new system is nice but I do not enjoy reinstalling  everything.

 

[SoJourned 65]

I went through the process recently but also upgraded P3D from V4 to V5.

After backing up your system, uninstall your add-ons that you think may have been registered (serials) to that setup (PMDG, A2A, flight1 etc). You wont need to do this for orbx.

Orbx will be the easiest to reinstall as it doesnt matter if its external or not. Copy/restore your existing ORBX folder to your new P3D folder, if that's where you had it before then use orbx central to 'verify files' each installed product you have (its a lot like the equivalent Steam procedure if you're familiar with that).

Other third party add-ons will have to be reinstalled again.

[Reader 2,009]

 

The original question is not about a new computer build, unless the stated aim is not correct.

Quote

So while not completely new, it's going to count as a new computer. I'll be adding an RTX 3090 at 2 x 2 TB m.2 NVME hard drives.

We have come a long way since there was a need to format everything and start again just to make it all work. As mentioned, adding a different graphics card and a couple of M2 SSDs is not the same as starting from a whole new system. To then format everything and start from scratch is just creating unnecessary work. I recently replaced my motherboard, CPU and RAM. I added one M2 SSD, to make nine internal drives in total and a DVD player.  Windows 10 is perfectly capable of dealing with that far more radical change of hardware and nothing needs to be formatted, uninstalled or reinstalled. Everything in the Windows registry is retained and if there is a perceived need to refresh Windows, it can easily be done using the Windows Update Assistant at a later time, once again, keeping everything intact. There should be no "pain" at all.

Edited December 28, 2020 by Reader

[ESzczesniak 128]

Yes, this is technically a rebuild. But my current boot drive will cease to exist, so this will be a new Windows install and all that comes with that. So from a software side, it’ll appear as a new computer. 

[Nemo 1,304]

I did a new install this summer. After the basic P3D installation (incl ASP3) I choose only two ORBX areas  PNW + NCA as well as three or four GA airports and KSEA (DD) + KSFO and KPDX. Together with A2A C172, PMDG 737 and some flight plans of AIGOCI, this was my initial build. It took me not even a full afternoon until I could enjoy flying. From then on installed new scenery or further add-ons only when it was necessary or I wanted to expand my flight experience. I only installed "true" P3Dv5 titles and it took me until Xmas to get all installed what I wanted. I have now a tinier P3D installation and have always enjoyed flying during this elongated installation time period. This way I avoided those stressful two weeks which I usually went through when I did a new install in former times.

Edited December 28, 2020 by Nemo

[Reader 2,009]

2 hours ago, ESzczesniak said:

Yes, this is technically a rebuild. But my current boot drive will cease to exist, so this will be a new Windows install and all that comes with that. So from a software side, it’ll appear as a new computer. 

The easy way is to install your M2 SSDs and then clone your C drive onto one of them, before removing the existing C drive. 

If this is what you intend and your OS is already on an SSD, you are just wasting the M2.

Edited December 28, 2020 by Reader

[ESzczesniak 128]

14 minutes ago, Reader said:

 

I see, so the initial question did not accurately describe what you intend to do.

The easy way is to install your M2 SSDs and then clone your C drive onto one of them, before removing the existing C drive. 

If this is what you intend and your OS is already on an SSD, you are just wasting the M2.

I have my OS on a 512MB m.2. I only have 2 m.2 slots, so I plan to pull the one I have and put the 2 new ones in. I could add one, clone, then pull and out the other new one in. But for as much of a pain as this is, I’m going to use this as an opportunity for a fresh start. This computer used to be a flight sim and everyday use computer. So it has definitely accumulated some junk over the years in the OS files. My P3D use gas also changed. As DCS evolved, I stopped using the military birds and only use airliners. So my P3D install has some fat too. 

[Bert Pieke 7,584]

1 hour ago, ESzczesniak said:

I have my OS on a 512MB m.2. I only have 2 m.2 slots, so I plan to pull the one I have and put the 2 new ones in. I could add one, clone, then pull and out the other new one in.

Or add SATA SSDs.. one for each new flightsim.. 🙂

[ESzczesniak 128]

A big part of this project is to consolidate. I have 5 HD’s now, but most are 512 mb and the biggest is 1 TB. I’m wanting fewer HD’s so I don’t end up with a bunch of half filled drives all over the place. Having NVME will of course also be a great boost for speed.

[pete_auau 1,152]

best way  for  a clean install is  to start  from  scratch may  take  awhile  longer  but  least you know  you  have  a clean install of  everything

[Bob Scott 7,714]

When I rebuild from scratch, I backup my current OS and FS drive(s) using a program (OO Diskimage) that'll allow me to mount that backup if I need to go back and get something for the new installation.  I have a ton of customizations...ADE files, modded aircraft configs etc, and usually I install the add-on as if new, then overwrite it with the modded folder from the previous installation.  To keep it as hassle-free as possible, I try to keep the drive letters and folder names the same as in the old setup.

I keep those backups for a year or more...seems that I end up going back to them fairly regularly.

As someone mentioned, make sure you deregister and/or uninstall any add-ons that require it (and then P3D itself) before decomissioning your boot drive. 

[fluffyflops 1,845]

5 hours ago, pete_auau said:

best way  for  a clean install is  to start  from  scratch may  take  awhile  longer  but  least you know  you  have  a clean install of  everything

beat me too it Pete.,  they wont do it.  they want a quick down a dirty way of doing stuff nowadays.

buy a 2tb usb HDD from amazon for 100 bucks.  and spend a whopping 3 days of your life reinstalling.   3 days thats all.  its a long weekend without a sim, but no they want a down a dirty 3 hour fix.   

Edited December 29, 2020 by fluffyflops

[Reader 2,009]

6 hours ago, pete_auau said:

best way  for  a clean install is  to start  from  scratch may  take  awhile  longer  but  least you know  you  have  a clean install of  everything

 

37 minutes ago, fluffyflops said:

beat me too it Pete.,  they wont do it.  they want a quick down a dirty way of doing stuff nowadays.

Odd that, it's exactly what the OP finally said he was going to do. I'm not sure who you would place into your "they" stereotype.

Edited December 29, 2020 by Reader