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Installing P3D on a new hard drive

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I will be getting a new 4TB SSD hard drive and I will be using it for P3D. Up until now I always had P3D on the same drive as Windows 11, anything I should know about installing P3D on a drive that is separate from Windows? I am probably going to start over and uninstall P3D and then reinstall it on the new drive.

3 minutes ago, Joseph29 said:

anything I should know about installing P3D on a drive that is separate from Windows?

Yes there is........ It is the preferable method! 😄

Yes avoid putting any flight sim on your C. windows drive and Program Files (x86). It will install some files on your C. windows drive for the registry.

 

Raymond Fry.

PMDG_Banner_747_Enthusiast.jpg

  • Author

What is the advantage to installing P3D onto a hard drive separate from Windows?

18 minutes ago, Joseph29 said:

What is the advantage to installing P3D onto a hard drive separate from Windows?

Maybe not so critical now with SSD’s, but certainly with HHD’s. If you had P3D on the windows drive, you will have Windows accessing that drive in the background while P3D is trying to use it, so you are sharing the drive speed with Windows. 
When it’s on a separate drive it will have all the drive speed to itself. 
 Also installing into Program Files x86 can lead to issues because Windows now kind of locks that folder down. 

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When I update P3D it asks me if I want to deactivate it, I would click on "no". But since I am going to uninstall P3D (then reinstall on the new drive) do I deactivate it?

Since you are adding a disk and the location of P3D is changing from an old drive letter to a new one, it may be better to de-activate P3D. If it were a replacement drive with the same drive letter being used, this probably would not be necessary, but in your case, I would de-activate the license as part of the uninstall.

 

Just make sure you have your license info to hand before starting the uninstall and make sure its for the correct veriosn of P3D if you have purchased previous versions.

 

 

Good luck.

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Mark Aldridge
MSFS2024 SU5 & P3D v5.3 HF2

3 hours ago, Joseph29 said:

What is the advantage to installing P3D onto a hard drive separate from Windows?

MS Windows tends to be a bit more protective on the programs on the windows drive and more so Program Files (X86) folders. and you end up having to use administration rights for editing.

 

Raymond Fry.

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  • Author

Thanks for the info guys! Good stuff!

For me, it was always the ‘fear’ of running out of disk space on that pesky C:\ drive as one adds more & more sceneries etc.  Never let Windows run out of room ….

 

I use (as many do) the excellent Lorby add-on organizer.  I have a separate \addons directory in addition to a standalone Orbx library.  Very flexible & simple to reinstall or update a P3D client if needed.  

rgds, JB

9800x3d, ASUS TUF x870, 64GB G.Skill DDR5, MSI Ventus 4080, HP Reverb G2 VR, FlyVirtual.net, Private Pilot SEL rating, subLogic FlightSim 1983 & every release since

 

  • Author

Got the new drive and everything is working good. I reinstalled P3D onto the new drive and I have a question. Can I leave Orbx Central on the C drive? Or should I move it to the new drive where P3D is? Does it matter?

10 hours ago, Joseph29 said:

Got the new drive and everything is working good. I reinstalled P3D onto the new drive and I have a question. Can I leave Orbx Central on the C drive? Or should I move it to the new drive where P3D is? Does it matter?

It does not matter.

Bob Scott | President and CEO, AVSIM Inc
ATP Gulfstream II-III-IV-V

Sys1 (MSFS20+24/XPlane12+11): AMD 9800X3D, water 2x240mm, MSI MPG X670E Carbon, 64GB GSkill 6000/30, nVidia RTX4090FE
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Sys2 (P3Dv5/v4): i9-13900KS, water 2x360mm, ASUS Z790 Hero, 32GB GSkill 7800MHz CAS36, ASUS RTX4090
Samsung 55" JS8500 4K TV@60Hz,
3x 2TB WD SN850X 1x 4TB Crucial P3 M.2 NVME SSD, EVGA 1600T2 PSU
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Sys3 (DCS/P3Dv4/ATS/ETS): AMD 7800X3D, MSI MPG X870E Carbon, Noctua NH-D15S, 64GB GSkill 6000/30, EVGA RTX3090
Alienware AW3420DW 34" 21:9 GSync, Corsair HX1000i PSU, 4TB Crucial T705 PCIe5 + 2TB Samsung 970Evo Plus,
TM TCA Officer Pack
, Saitek combat pedals, TM Warthog, TM RS300 FF wheel/pedals, Coolermaster HAF XB case

In fact, not only does it not matter, it is not possible to "move" Orbx Central off the C drive and expect it to work.
Orbx Central will recognise a correctly installed version of P3D, up to v5 at present, wherever it may be installed on the PC.

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