Help me plan the road ahead for my flight simming

[joe bob]

I did not want to go off topic with the Milviz FSX thread.
I just got a new computer that I assume will run all the flight sims. It is still in the box because I can't decide the route ahead.
I have ignored all that have come after FSX acel since I was happy with that program.
Now I am stuck with catching up and am wondering what to do.
Can I even register FSX anymore?
My brother has mentioned adding my old hard drive to the new computer but I am no rocket surgeon so I don't know if I can do that.
If I get P3D4 will P3D5 come out the next week.
What is the deal with FSX SE. Will it run all my favorites from FSX. I can't imagine living without my faves like Aerosoft's F-14
are all developers @#% like A2A and you have to purchase all new aircraft.
What is my problem with using the question mark.

These are all just a few of that questions that I have about how I should proceed?

Any of your thoughts on the way ahead would be appreciated.

 

[b52bob]

There are basically three popular ways to go. FSX which we are all familiar with, P3D which is a greatly enhanced FSX upgrade and 64 bit (increases use of computer resources and few if any Out of memory crashes, and X-Plane 11, also 64 bit (imho better graphics, less costly add ons, great freeware, runs easier than P3D, less fiddling required, horrible ATC, horrible flight planning). If you want to try XP 11, there is a free demo available to download.

all three are good sims and can’t go wrong with any of them.

 

[WarHorse47]

I can maybe address your concerns about the older hard drive.

My computer was purchased in 2013. A couple years later the hard drive showed indications of possible failure. I took the computer to a local tech shop, and they were able to replace the hard drive. Fortunately, they were able to mirror the original hard drive including the OS and my FSXA install - the later being my main concern because of the footprint and not wanting to do a full reinstall.

So, my recommendation would be to talk to a local computer tech shop and explain your concerns and ask what they can do with the older drive.

 

[falcon409]

. . . .Can I even register FSX anymore?

I don't see any reason why not.

My brother has mentioned adding my old hard drive to the new computer but I am no rocket surgeon so I don't know if I can do that.

Follow the suggestion by WarHorse. . .if you have the bucks to purchase a new HDD have a local Tech Shop transfer your data over to the new one.

If I get P3D4 will P3D5 come out the next week.

After many years with P3D (I went all the way to V4.3) I finally dropped it. I tired of the constant updates and loss of some of my favorite programs because the developers also tired of having to try to keep up with the changes. Also, despite keeping up with the updates I rarely flew in P3D. Virtually all of my flying was done in FSX/Accel.

What is the deal with FSX SE. Will it run all my favorites from FSX. I can't imagine living without my faves like Aerosoft's F-14

I have always been happy with the box version so I never went to SE. Those who have say it runs smoother and most aircraft make the move to SE seamlessly. . .although there have been some that did not. Someone with experience in that area can probably elaborate.

are all developers @#% like A2A and you have to purchase all new aircraft.

Not really, although there are a few. I quit with A2A long ago when they went from Warbirds to GA aircraft and the pricing started going up and up and up.

A final note/personal opinion; I dropped P3D to go over to X-Plane11. Partly because I was curious, partly because an airport scenery I was doing for a flight school asked if I could convert the FSX scenery I was doing to X-Plane11 and partly because I had some money burning a hole in my pocket, lol. I am very pleased with what I see in X-Plane graphics-wise and with a recent purchase I added a program that enhances what I was already happy with to look even better. Like P3D, X-Plane is a constant WIP, but at least with X-Plane when a new update comes out it installs it automatically when you start the Sim.

There are things I dislike about it but this is not the place for it. They are not deal breakers so I just have to "let it go", lol. Having said that, just be aware that X-Plane is nothing like FSX. Nothing you have now will convert to X-Plane, not aircraft, not scenery, not Nav programs or other utilities. It is a Sim unto itself. . .a whole different animal. Finally, when going into the Forums you will find plenty of help and some very knowledgeable people to help, but when referencing something you did in FSX. . .you'll see that they consider X-Plane as the only true Flight Simulator. . .all others are "Play Simulators", lol

 

[joe bob]

Thanks for the thoughtful responses.
I just don't find myself drawn to X plane
Like everyone I have my old favorites that I hate to see go.
I don't mind the idea of P3D so much as I am just not familiar with it enough to know what I could transfer, even if it required a modest upgrade fee from the developer.
If developers would stick with FSX I would have no problem staying with FSX, but I understand the reasoning behind the changes.
FSX SE seems like it would be the easiest but again, I am not familiar,, I have had my head buried in the sand when it comes to other programs.
I will have to check out the local tech guys, I don't hold out much hope though. Several years ago it took me 3 months to find anyone willing to build the computer I am replacing, even when I supplied the parts. They all seem very busy and very content to repair machines with Malware. A gamer seems like an alien being to them.
Thank you all for your feedback, I appreciate it. JB

 

[Priller]

Joe Bob,

You cannot image the hard drive of the old PC and put that image on the hard drive of the new one. if only because it does not have the right drivers installed, and that includes the chipset of the motherboard. What WH did was image his old harddrive to put on a new harddrive on the exact same rig. That is not what you are looking for. You will have to reinstall everything from scratch.

Will you be able to activate FSX? yes you will. Will you be able to install all your favourite aircraft? yes you will.

If you insist on sticking with FSX, then I would advise to go to FSX:SE. if only because it has been updated in the meantime. The ancient MS FSX has not been updated. Wit FSX:SE you will enjoy improved framerates that the old FSX cannot offer. Ever...

But really: having a new rig (of which we do not know the specs), I would advise you to go 64 bit. FSX will soon be a thing of the past, like FS2004, CFS2, CFS3... It's not because there are a couple of diehards that still play these games, that the games are still current.

If you want to enjoy a new and evolving simulation, P3D is the way to go! That is of course just MHO.

Cheers,

Priller

 

[WarHorse47]

Joe Bob,

You cannot image the hard drive of the old PC and put that image on the hard drive of the new one. if only because it does not have the right drivers installed, and that includes the chipset of the motherboard. What WH did was image his old harddrive to put on a new harddrive on the exact same rig. That is not what you are looking for. You will have to reinstall everything from scratch.

Will you be able to activate FSX? yes you will. Will you be able to install all your favourite aircraft? yes you will.

Priller

I didn't think of that, but you're right. Thanks for pointing that out.

 

[joe bob]

As I mentioned earlier my brother connecting the old hard drive to the new one as a kind of second hard drive.
It occurred to me just now that the old one has Win 7 64 and the new one is Win 10 (another thing that will be new to me)

Perhaps I should get FSX SE and get P3D when the wallet recovers.

 

[gman5250]

As I mentioned earlier my brother connecting the old hard drive to the new one as a kind of second hard drive.
It occurred to me just now that the old one has Win 7 64 and the new one is Win 10 (another thing that will be new to me)

Perhaps I should get FSX SE and get P3D when the wallet recovers.

I am curious about the actual components in your new computer. Perhaps if you could list those we can determine the capabilities of the new machine. Those specs should be included somewhere in the information that came with the computer. Also, is your old hard drive an SSD or spinning drive?

Once we know your specs we can determine if you have the HP to run P3D 64bit comfortably.

If your computer has room and cables for the second drive there should be no issue plugging it in. You will need to decide how you want to use the drive, I will assume it will become storage. If that is the case it is easy to retrieve the data from that drive, then re-format the drive. If the drive is simply plugged in to the new box, you will have a dual boot system. This means you can boot either into Win7 to retrieve and back up your data to be moved to the new Win10 operating system. Once you have done that you can wipe the Win7 drive if you desire and convert it to storage. There are many here who can help you with that, don't be intimidated.

Regarding FSX

Last time I installed FSX it went right in, confirmed the license online and booted with no problems. I'm not a fan of FSX-SE. I own it, but it seems redundant to me. Maybe FPS is a tad better, but compared to P3D 64bit it's not even on the radar.

Regarding Prepar3D

I would suggest renting P3D for a month or two and see if it suits you. I would suggest the latest version with PBR support.
The most important thing to remember with Prepar3D is that the architecture allows you to install scenery and aircraft outside of the actual simulator. Your second HD would be a good candidate. This makes the updates a simple procedure of installing the updates or re-installing the entire basic program. With your scenery and aircraft located outside the sim, those will be recognized by the new sim without any complex re-loading. They just appear as if they had always been there.

ORBX is the only exception. It still wants to reside in the actual P3D folder, but they have refined their external management to the point where re-installing the ORBX modules is a simple point and click operation. You even have the option of storing your purchased ORBX scenery locally on your system. This eliminates long download times.

Most of the developers have now adopted the external file format for their products also. For example the Aerosoft F-14 Tomcat will only need to be installed one time, regardless of your P3D updates. This is the same for most developers and should soon become the industry standard.

With regard to P3Dv4 or P3Dv5. If you use the external storage approach, your upgrade from V4 to V5 will be a basic un-install and re-install. Everything else will just boot in as if nothing had changed.

It's not like the old days. Sim management is much...much easier than before.

Most important, don't be afraid to ask. The move can seem intimidating, but in reality it is pretty much a plug and play.

And oh yeah....Don't worry about Win10. It just needs to be told who is boss.

If you were curious about the Aerosoft F-14 Tomcat in P3D...it's pretty darned good.
This is out of one of my WIP scenery projects. NAS North Island San Diego, California

Video Link
[video]https://www.brighteon.com/5818115203001[/video]

 

[joe bob]

Thanks for the response Gman
My system has---

• Intel Core i7 8th Gen 8700 (3.20 GHz)
• 16 GB DDR4 16 GB Optane Memory
• 2 TB HDD
• Windows 10 Home 64-Bit
• NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 8 GB GDDR5

So to be clear, if I plugged my present hard drive into the new computer. I could somehow boot up the old one in Win 7 and I could use FSX from it's present install?

 

[gman5250]

Thanks for the response Gman
My system has---

• Intel Core i7 8th Gen 8700 (3.20 GHz)
• 16 GB DDR4 16 GB Optane Memory
• 2 TB HDD
• Windows 10 Home 64-Bit
• NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 8 GB GDDR5

So to be clear, if I plugged my present hard drive into the new computer. I could somehow boot up the old one in Win 7 and I could use FSX from it's present install?

You are welcome sir.

Technically, if your Windows 7 install is 64 bit you can run a dual boot setup and choose your drive via your BIOS/UEFI. Once in the UEFI you could select which drive you chose to boot from. The procedure is to press the start button then repeatedly click the delete key until the UEFI opens. Your computer will also have options to access the UEFI directly by pressing a hot key, usually F10 or F12. That will depend on the manufacturer. Either way you will get a menu that lets you mouse click the drive you want to boot.

Your system is more than adequate and should serve you extremely well. Without knowing your mother board, I can't know if you have M.2 SSD slots built in, or if that would be the default primary drive. Also the Form Factor will determine how much room you have for expansion and housing multiple spinning or SSD drives. Form factor is the type of tower i.e. full tower, mid tower or mini tower. Typically a full tower has racks to hold the extra drives. A mid might have a slot for a single 2.5 SSD.

Solid state drives have changed quite a bit. The 2.5 SSD, about the size of a thin wallet, has been replaced by the much smaller PCI Express SSD which is about the size of a disposable lighter. This has made the 2.5 drives very affordable, and even preferred by some gamers. If it is a full tower you should have room for your extra drives etc., then it would be a matter of your power supply and the number of cables available to run a series of drives. That's a minor issue and easily addressed. I'm sure you nave multiple USB ports that might allow you to use external storage in the future. I highly recommend an external as a backup. Very inexpensive these days and can be added at any time.


At first glance I would give you an all clear on what you have in hand. Now it's a simple matter of your preferences for flying. Nice thing is you can have both.

 

[joe bob]

Right on, I appreciate the Info.

 

[Priller]

Joe Bob,

if you boot from the other drive, i.e. the one with Windows 7 on it, you will have the driver problems. half of your hardware will not be recognized or even functional.

Again, there are no shortcuts in these things. you will have to start anew.

Cheers,

priller

 

[gman5250]

Priller is correct.

I failed to take the drivers into consideration.

 

[awstub]

Speaking from personal experience I have had to re-install FSX numerous times and within the past year or so I was able to activate FSX Gold without any issues. Prior to that, I was able to activate other boxed versions of FSX....sometimes having to use the "phone method)".

In most cases, I was able to still access the old hard drive.....so what I did was:

Install FSX on the new drive. Then, from the FSX installation on my old drive, I copy the addon scenery, effects, gauges, missions, simobjects, sounds and texture folder. Now, I'm going by memory here, so I may have missed some....but you get the idea.
Then I re-install anything else that I need (usually its things that need to have registry entries that are written when they are installed).

This has worked for my P3D installations as well.

Thanks for the response Gman
My system has---

• Intel Core i7 8th Gen 8700 (3.20 GHz)
• 16 GB DDR4 16 GB Optane Memory
• 2 TB HDD
• Windows 10 Home 64-Bit
• NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 8 GB GDDR5

So to be clear, if I plugged my present hard drive into the new computer. I could somehow boot up the old one in Win 7 and I could use FSX from it's present install?

 

[DaleRFU]

I upgraded to P3D v4 about 4 days ago. Coming from FSX recently I can see a huge difference since I haven't been going for all the different versions of P3D. The performance is far superior and I don't have a fancy machine. Everything looks better especially with shadows enabled and shader's applied.I know I'm probably late to the P3D party as v5 isn't a million miles away but I am so glad I did change and I can't believe I didn't do it sooner. Well worth it from my point of view.

 

[Priller]

I upgraded to P3D v4 about 4 days ago. Coming from FSX recently I can see a huge difference since I haven't been going for all the different versions of P3D. The performance is far superior and I don't have a fancy machine. Everything looks better especially with shadows enabled and shader's applied.I know I'm probably late to the P3D party as v5 isn't a million miles away but I am so glad I did change and I can't believe I didn't do it sooner. Well worth it from my point of view.

Now where is the "like" button??

Priller

 

[WarHorse47]

I upgraded to P3D v4 about 4 days ago. Coming from FSX recently I can see a huge difference since I haven't been going for all the different versions of P3D. The performance is far superior and I don't have a fancy machine. Everything looks better especially with shadows enabled and shader's applied.I know I'm probably late to the P3D party as v5 isn't a million miles away but I am so glad I did change and I can't believe I didn't do it sooner. Well worth it from my point of view.

There are five P3D products advertised. Which one does everyone go with? The $199.00 Professional License or something else?

 

[gman5250]

There are five P3D products advertised. Which one does everyone go with? The $199.00 Professional License or something else?

I am using the P3Dv4.4 Developer Professional License on a month to month subscription. I'll probably purchase if/when V5 releases.

 

[blanston12]

I upgraded to P3D v4 about 4 days ago. Coming from FSX recently I can see a huge difference since I haven't been going for all the different versions of P3D. The performance is far superior and I don't have a fancy machine. Everything looks better especially with shadows enabled and shader's applied.I know I'm probably late to the P3D party as v5 isn't a million miles away but I am so glad I did change and I can't believe I didn't do it sooner. Well worth it from my point of view.

Cound not have said it better myself, it was pretty much my experience also, although I did try v1 and v3. V1 was basically FSX. V3 was FSX with most of the bugs fixed, but V4 was a different level all together. I decided to upgrade my hardware when I learned about v4 but did not get the new system until a week or two after v4 was released, and it defiantly ran better on my old hardware than v3 or FSX did.

There are five P3D products advertised. Which one does everyone go with? The $199.00 Professional License or something else?

I have the academic version, mostly because some products like TacPac are only available on that version and A2A will punish you by charging twice as much for there products.