26 minutes ago, Bobsk8 said:

I have never had much faith in restore, especially with complex programs. I back up everything on Macrium, so if something screws up, I can always get back where i was. I guess the only thing I am concerned about is add ons like Fenix, etc, will they still work if MSFS is switched to a different drive.?

There should be no impact.. addons would not know the difference.

If you use the "Move app" function, they would believe that MSFS is still on the C drive. This is the way it is on my system.

If you move the content only (Packages folder), the link in the usercfg.opt file redirects everything.

It is more elegant IMHO... the path to the Packages folder would be D:\MSFS\Packages.

After the "Move app", it will be  D:\WpSystem\S-1-5-21-2487738210-3738013805-794059295-1001\AppData\Local\Packages\Microsoft.FlightSimulator_8wekyb3d8bbwe\LocalCache\Packages.

Only MS could come up with something so complicated.. 😉

Edited December 13, 20223 yr by Bert Pieke

4 hours ago, Bobsk8 said:

I bought a 1TB M2 drive, and am wondering what would be better, to clone my present SSD ( 480 GB) which has OS plus MSFS  to the new drive, so everything is on the new drive, or to "Move" MSFS from my C Drive to the new Drive. I guess I am worried about problems that I might create by Moving MSFS from one drive to another, as far as updates, add ons, etc.  

 

 

 

If things go belly up in a future Sim Update and you don’t feel technically confident enough to solve the problem, you are better off cloning your hard drive and keeping MSFS on your C drive.

 

5 hours ago, abrams_tank said:

If things go belly up in a future Sim Update and you don’t feel technically confident enough to solve the problem, you are better off cloning your hard drive and keeping MSFS on your C drive.

 

You can do that, and still move the "msfs content" aka "Packages folder" whenever you like..

7 hours ago, Bert Pieke said:

After the "Move app", it will be  D:\WpSystem\S-1-5-21-2487738210-3738013805-794059295-1001\AppData\Local\Packages\Microsoft.FlightSimulator_8wekyb3d8bbwe\LocalCache\Packages.

To me this sounds like asking for trouble. Finding your system running foul of those totally illogical long file name issues.

Personally I would not use the Move app. Rather go with Bert’s original solution in his first post. If it does not work for some strange reason you can easily reverse the process.

Edited December 14, 20223 yr by RaptyrOne

@Bert, 

Bob's topic called my attention because a long time XP fellow simmer and FRIEND just bought MFS, and rusehd installing it, and it was already too late when I told him it would be better to inmstall the Community and Store in another drive, but your sequence of steps above is just perfect!

20 hours ago, Bert Pieke said:

Yup.. the Move app function has been improved by MS a while back.. and this indeed should work.

My suggestion above is for if you do not trust MS completely.. your call.

Be aware that if you use the "Move app" function... it will look as if MSFS is still on your C drive.. but in actual fact, everything is now linked to the "WpSystem" folder on the new drive.. so that takes a little bit of getting used to..

I used this method a while back (shortly after MSFS release) and it worked fine. But as pointed out, it does still 'look like' it's installed on my C drive.

22 hours ago, Bert Pieke said:

I would move the packages folder and update the usercfg.opt file entry.

1. Create a folder on the new D drive and name it "MSFS" or whatever you like

2. Locate the Local Cache \ Packages folder  (containing the Official and Community folders)

3. Copy this (big) folder to your new MSFS folder

4. Locate the Usercfg.opt file in the Local Cache folder, and edit the last line:

InstalledPackagesPath "C:\Users\User\AppData\Local\Packages\Microsoft.FlightSimulator_8wekyb3d8bbwe\LocalCache\Packages"

to

InstalledPackagesPath "D:\MSFS\Packages"

5. Start up MSFS

6. If all works correctly, rename the original Packages folder on the C drive to Packages_bak

7. Start up MSFS

8. If all works correctly, delete the Packages_bak folder if you would like to reclaim the space

BTW.. if you use Addons Linker, got to Tools/Options and check the location of the Community folder.

You may have to tell it the new location.. or it may pick it up from MSFS.. not sure..

 

I had a chance to look carefully at this, this morning, and this looks like the safest method to use. 

19 minutes ago, Bobsk8 said:

I had a chance to look carefully at this, this morning, and this looks like the safest method to use. 

Absolutely yes, because it moves just the Content ( which is like 99% of the space taken ), without touching the actual App location, which results in those weird pathnames.

So I install the M2 drive in my PC this evening, and guess what, I can't see the drive in file explorer. After removing and reinstalling it again, still nothing. In desparation I contact CLX, the people I purchased the PC from, since I have lifetime tech support from them. The person logs into my PC remotely, clicks a couple of things, and voila, now the drive shows up.  Geez, I have been using PCs since the late 80s, and I still get confused.... Anyway, copying MSFS 2020 from  my C drive to my new M2 drive....   Hopefully, no more problems. 

 

PS. Followed Bert's instructions, moved everything to new Drive, and everything works!!!!!!! Took about 45 minutes. 😁

Edited December 15, 20223 yr by Bobsk8

Just use the move function. I did exactly this 3 weeks ago, with absolutely no problems. 

On 12/13/2022 at 7:47 PM, Bobsk8 said:

Does this make sense?  

Yes. That is exactly how I did it.

14 hours ago, Bobsk8 said:

So I install the M2 drive in my PC this evening, and guess what, I can't see the drive in file explorer.

Been there as well. It's easy to overlook, even though I did it twice already when I installed two further SSD's. You'd think you'd remember where to look and where to click.

No reason to pick up the telephone though, that is what google is for. 😉

 

Edited December 15, 20223 yr by Farlis

17 hours ago, Bobsk8 said:

So I install the M2 drive in my PC this evening, and guess what, I can't see the drive in file explorer. After removing and reinstalling it again, still nothing. In desparation I contact CLX, the people I purchased the PC from, since I have lifetime tech support from them. The person logs into my PC remotely, clicks a couple of things, and voila, now the drive shows up.

Most brand new drives need to be initialised. This is done in the Windows Disk Manager Application. Once initialised, Windows will see it and accept it as a part of its happy family in your PC.

2 minutes ago, RaptyrOne said:

Most brand new drives need to be initialised. This is done in the Windows Disk Manager Application. Once initialised, Windows will see it and accept it as a part of its happy family in your PC.

Yes, I think that is what he did. He was in disk manager. 

One plus for changing to an M2 Drive, MSFS loads much faster now than when I had it on the SSD sata drive. 

2 hours ago, Bobsk8 said:

One plus for changing to an M2 Drive, MSFS loads much faster now than when I had it on the SSD sata drive. 

Indeed. I noticed the same. Definitely worth the upgrade IMO.

Cheers,