2 hours ago, vgbaron said:

2 hours ago, jimcarrel said:

If you disable mods before updating, This can save an unnecessary headache, upon restarting sim, if a mod conflicts with the update. You just start adding back in a few at a time. It makes it easier to find the "bad" add-on. (It's absolutely true that updates do not touch the community folder, But, the community folder "touches" the sim. 

very good point. it is unnecessary but it sure saves time *IF* there is a problem. When I update I disable all addons - do the update and run the sim - if it works fine I know the update was good - then enable the addons and try again. If there's an issue I know it's the addons.

Takes but a second or two .

I don’t understand this logic. It does not save time, whether there is a problem or not. Think about it logically. You clear your Community folder, start the sim and run the update. Now you maybe restart the PC or just jump right in and fly. And it works -yay! So now you have to shut down the sim again and put all your mods back. Then you restart the sim again. Only now, after this tedious procedure (let’s face it, the sim does not fire up in 30 seconds) will you see if there is an issue. That is NOT saving time.

Leave mods in place, do the update, restart and run the sim. Presto, sim works and you have saved yourself at least 5 minutes or more.

Plus very few mods will prevent the sim from starting. You will only see oddities when you load a problem aircraft, livery or airport scenery.

Your approaches make the initial assumption that there will be bad mods in your Community folder and that they will interfere so significantly with the sim, to prevent it starting. My approach (leaving the Community folder alone) assumes the sim will work. How many people have reported the sim failing to start at all after an update and trace it back to a mod? Very few. So why assume the worst when doing so is unlikely to highlight mod issues and costs you time, the very thing you are claiming this process saves? 
 

Not having a dig at anyone, just open debate.😉 Of course, each to his own but this subject comes up time and time again, mostly I suspect because people mis-read or mis-interpret what Asobo says on the subject. They clearly state IF you have problems THEN remove. 

I can't think of a reason to debate, I'm perfectly happy with you not emptying the community folder. I'm perfectly happy with those who do empty it. I've had maybe two add-ons that made a new update to not open up. One of them was a sound mod and the other was a mod that enhanced a plane. Whatever lets you fly and smile is fine with me.

Whatever works for you is fine. There is no "right" way.

 

I had a different issue with Addon-Linker.
For some unknown reason, one day I got an error window saying something like: "Unable to create handle for xxxx".
I clicked on the 'Continue' button, but nothing.
I tried multiple times over a day or so.
I then had a look in Task Manager and found 5 instances of Addon-Linker in Apps.
I ended those tasks, but same error.
Task Manager then showed only one App instance of the Linker.
However, in looking below in Background Processes, I found one instance there as well.
I presume the App instances were the UI, and the Background the 'server' side.
I ended that as well and then all was back to normal - up and working!
I have no idea what provoked the original error, but once it was in memory, it stayed.
I usually put my laptop to sleep at night and only reboot once in a while on weekends.
I'm pretty certain a reboot would have cleared the situation as well.
Otherwise, Addon-Linker is an excellent tool, makes MSFS much quicker to load, at least for me - 2 minutes instead of 3 minutes.
Also, using shortcuts, it saves me 45 GB of disk space, i.e. the total size of all my add-ons in my Add-ons folder which I previously had duplicated to Community 😞