I’m confused so what’s the

cleanest option? Download via steam or ms store?

i will be installing on my 1tb m2 ssd drive F

my c drive is only 250gb but 175gb available ssd.

29 minutes ago, mikeymike said:

I’m confused so what’s the

cleanest option? Download via steam or ms store?

i will be installing on my 1tb m2 ssd drive F

my c drive is only 250gb but 175gb available ssd.

I would suggest that if you are already using Steam, stick with it for MSFS.

If not, get it from the MS Store and tell it to install on your F drive.

6 minutes ago, Bert Pieke said:

I would suggest that if you are already using Steam, stick with it for MSFS.

If not, get it from the MS Store and tell it to install on your F drive.

Thank you,

I do  not have  steam.

I will purchase from the ms store and direct it to F drive 

cheers 

mike

4 hours ago, Chock said:

Nope. There are two locations for add-ons (I'm referring to the MS store version here, not the Steam version).

Official add-ons from the MSFS marketplace install into the Official folder the address of which is along the lines of:

F:\WpSystem\S-1-5-21-2323705056-408888195-2989242969-1000\AppData\Local\Packages\Microsoft.FlightSimulator_7wekyb3d7bbwe\LocalCache\Packages\Official\OneStore

Others, such as freebie add-ons and most payware add-ons you buy from the developer's website rather than the in-game MSFS store go to:

F:\WpSystem\S-1-5-21-2323705056-408888195-2989242969-1000\AppData\Local\Packages\Microsoft.FlightSimulator_7wekyb3d7bbwe\LocalCache\Packages\Community

Whether in the Community folder or the Official folder, they essentially work pretty much the same in spite of this different location, although you will tend to find that ones going into the Community folder tend to be more accessible to modders, for example, with a visible Aircraft config file, whereas ones in the Official folder tend to have hidden Aircraft config files.

The updates and patches just update the sim with no need to point anywhere manually, it's a fully automated process which triggers when you start the sim if an update is available which is mandatory, although sometimes you also have to go to the MS Store and patch it there before the sim patch will trigger. Official add-ons from the MSFS however, do have to be updated manually if a patch is available, but this is simply a case of doing this in the sim, so again not manual moving of files is required, you just tick the update from a list and hit a 'download/install' button.

It's all fairly intuitively numpty-proof for the most part.

  You don't have to use these esoteric folders for the MS store version -- it asks for a location, so you can put files (outside of executable package) anywhere. I just mean the long path through AppData, everything else is true

4 hours ago, pmb said:

Also depends on if you have a MS Store or Steam installation. For a MS Store installation, I think the base 4 GB files MUST go to the C drive. Main content to be installed from within the sim can go anywhere.

I have a Steam setup and all Steam games are on a drive different from C, including the MSFS base files. Again, I have the main content (plus the Community folder) in yet another drive (all SSDs). 

I suggest the Scenery linker (flightsim.to) for managing the Community folder, otherwise your loading times will grow exponentially.

Kind regards, Michael

The main files for the MS store install do not need to go to the C drive; You can pick which drive, but not which folder they install to (WindowsApps)

33 minutes ago, mikeymike said:

I’m confused so what’s the

cleanest option? Download via steam or ms store?

i will be installing on my 1tb m2 ssd drive F

my c drive is only 250gb but 175gb available ssd.

If you don't have or want Game Pass, get the steam version

In my previous post (which I can't edit) I said get the Steam version if not interested in Game Pass but I should have also said if not interested in the Xbox version which is cross-buy with the MS store but not Steam

36 minutes ago, Bert Pieke said:

I would suggest that if you are already using Steam, stick with it for MSFS.

If not, get it from the MS Store and tell it to install on your F drive.

Sorry one more question as I am about to purchase.

is it possible to have the sim on one drive and the community folder on another drive for addons etc as I have done with P3d?

thanks

mike

13 minutes ago, mikeymike said:

Sorry one more question as I am about to purchase.

is it possible to have the sim on one drive and the community folder on another drive for addons etc as I have done with P3d?

thanks

mike

The way to set it up, is to create a personal MSFS addons folder, wherever you want, and use the MSFS Addons Linker app to activate addons.  That way, the community folder only has active links in it.  The exception is the few payware items that insist on installing directly into the community folder, like the JustFlight Arrow.

https://flightsim.to/file/1572/msfs-addons-linker

The dozens of addons that you collect over time, can all be in your personal Addons folder.  (Which you can move, if you want..)

The community folder is part of the MSFS install structure and is best left alone.

Edited June 17, 20214 yr by Bert Pieke

52 minutes ago, Bert Pieke said:

The way to set it up, is to create a personal MSFS addons folder, wherever you want, and use the MSFS Addons Linker app to activate addons.  That way, the community folder only has active links in it.  The exception is the few payware items that insist on installing directly into the community folder, like the JustFlight Arrow.

https://flightsim.to/file/1572/msfs-addons-linker

The dozens of addons that you collect over time, can all be in your personal Addons folder.  (Which you can move, if you want..)

The community folder is part of the MSFS install structure and is best left alone.

Perfect thank you so much 

much appreciated.

stay safe 

mike

2 hours ago, Bert Pieke said:

The way to set it up, is to create a personal MSFS addons folder, wherever you want, and use the MSFS Addons Linker app to activate addons.  That way, the community folder only has active links in it.  The exception is the few payware items that insist on installing directly into the community folder, like the JustFlight Arrow.

Some (like Orbx)  will actually work fine if you move the installed folder and then link it- when you update they will update your alternate location.

The JF Arrow is a bit different. Once the Just Flight Arrow is installed you can move the folder out of the community folder to somewhere else and enable it with addon linker.

• install the JF Arrow
•  move the newly created JF Arrow folder out of community to your alternate location
• link with addon linker

Just be aware that when you update it will put the new update directly into the community folder and overwrite your link so the update process is:

• run the JF Arrow updater (this will replace your virtual link with a real folder)
• delete your existing files from the alternate location
•  move the new updated folder out of community to your alternate location
• link again with addon  linker

Edited June 18, 20214 yr by Glenn Fitzpatrick

Can anyone please tell me as to why I hit install nothing is happening ??

thanks 

mike

33 minutes ago, mikeymike said:

Can anyone please tell me as to why I hit install nothing is happening ??

thanks 

mike

screenshot of where you got to ?

1 hour ago, Glenn Fitzpatrick said:

screenshot of where you got to ?

I bought it from ms Store and did some research on avsim forums I needed to have xbox app which i must of uninstalled from windows 10

All good now.

thanks

mike

58 minutes ago, mikeymike said:

I bought it from ms Store and did some research on avsim forums I needed to have xbox app which i must of uninstalled from windows 10

All good now.

thanks

mike

Update us as to how it went please. Hopefully you will be flying MSFS soon 🙂 Have FUN!

3 hours ago, Glenn Fitzpatrick said:

• install the JF Arrow
•  move the newly created JF Arrow folder out of community to your alternate location
• link with addon linker

This sounds logical, but does not always work..

MS likes to encrypt content, and when you move it to another folder, you can no longer read the contents..  I have tried moving the Arrow, and been unsuccessful.

 

50 minutes ago, Bert Pieke said:

MS likes to encrypt content, and when you move it to another folder, you can no longer read the contents..  I have tried moving the Arrow, and been unsuccessful.

In a recent thread a suggestion was given by VGBaron to zip the file from the Community folder to your add-on folder. Unzip it in your folder and link it with Add-on Linker.

I had several sceneries which had to be installed in the Community folder because there was no alternative in the installer, and none could be moved out of the Community folder to my add-on folder. This method worked for all of them.

Edited June 18, 20214 yr by Bernard Ducret