Uninstall/reinstall FSX, Orbx Scenery

[WilliamB]

I am in the unfortunate situation of havjng to completely uninstall FSX and Addons/reinstalling same due to black screen graphics problem that as yet cannot be corrected.   My FSX installation is quite extensive.  I am following  an article from  www.precisionmanuals.com (PMDG) regarding complete uninstall/reinstall of FSX and Addons.  It is unspecific regarding Orbx products.  I am asking for advice on proper way to uninstall and reinstall Orbx Scenery that would help avoid problems?  With FTX Central 3 having all my Orbx products and uninstall/install features would it be appropriate to use in this process?  I believe the order of installation is Global Base, Golbal Vector, Global Mesh, followed by all other sceneries with Libraries last? 

 

Any thoughts on this process would be appreciated.

 

WilliamB

 

FTX Global Base    fsso263487

FTX Global Vector  fss0274088

FTX Global open LC N.A      fss0407054

FTX S. Alaska, FTX Northern Rockies, FTX Pacific Northwest, FTX Northern California fss0293538 

FTX S. California fss0500617

FTX open LC North America,  Oceania--AU, NZ North Island, NZ South Island , from Orbx website

Many orbx airports and North America freeware airports, TreesHD, Ultimate Alaska X, FS Global Ultimate, FS Global Ulimate NG, Tongass Fiords, many aircraft

Asrock Z97M OC Formula MB,  lntel i7-4790 CPU@4.00GHz, 16GB RAM, Samsung SSD 850 EVO 1TB,  AMD RX 580 8GB Graphics Card , Windows 7 Home Edition 64bit

[Nick Cooper]

Hello William,

I wonder if this topic would help you with your task?

 

 

[Ken Q]

When I got a new computer last winter I followed Nick's instructions given here and for the most part it worked very well. I had just a few airports where buildings floated in the air, so I reinstalled those few and everything works perfectly.  Only took a few minutes.

Ken

[WilliamB]

Nick and Ken I appreciate both your replies and think Nicks instructions may help at some point.  But my situation Is not a clean install on new computer.  I need to get a working FSX program on my current installation.  I believe the graphics files in my FSX installation are corrupted.  Absent a fix for my FSX display problem I am stuck.  I made an image of my hard drive in mid 2017 but have made hardware changes that make the recovery of that image problematic although it may come to that.  Essentially the PDMG folks have good guidance for a complete removal of all the FSX program.  Once that is done I would essentially be installing FSX from my original Flight Simulator Gold edition and acceleration discs on to a system that was clean with respect to FSX.  Yes I would have to reinstall all my addons.  It may be that some aspects of Nicks Orbx recommendations could make it easier to get my Orbx Scenery installed.  I am taking this slow and trying to fully understand the process before taking any actions.

 

Thanks for your help.

 

WilliamB

[Nick Cooper]

Hello again.

if you rename your FSX root folder and then create a new folder in the same location

and with the same name as your FSX folder had before you renamed it, you can use your

FSX disks to run a repair.

This will provide you with a new default installation of FSX which should run correctly.

Then you can use the guide to install the Orbx products into your new version.

[WilliamB]

Hello Nick,

 

Let me see if I understand your recommendations and rationale.   I should rename the current FSX root folder.  I should create a new folder with the original name of my FSX root folder in the same location.  By same location: you mean same subdirectory?    Is the new folder with the name of my original FSX root folder empty or should it contain the same subfolders and files as my original root folder?  My root folder size is 207GB.   I have never run a "repair" from my FSX discs.  I assume the repair is run on an installed FSX program.  I did look at the contents of my FSX discs and did not see a "repair" option.  Does "repair" option come up as a choice: after install is initiated ie install program or repair existing installation?  My Microsoft FS Gold edition contain 2 Flight Simulator discs and 1 FS acceleration and expansion pack disc.

 

Thanks for your help.

 

WilliamB

 

 

[Nick Cooper]

Hello William.

 

When you rename the FSX root folder, you are effectively backing it up but

also, you are removing it from the FSX installation which cannot see it any more.

 

As an illustration, if the folder was named FSX, rename it to FSX.OLD.

Then create a new folder and call it FSX, when you have created it, it will be next to FSX.OLD.

 

When you create the new folder with the same name, it will of course be empty and this is a good thing.

 

Put FSX disk 1 into your DVD player, autostart will work and you will be offered options, one of which is Repair.

Select this and then follow the prompts.

Do the same with your Acceleration disk.

You will then have an entirely default installation of FSX.

Your desktop shortcut and/or start menu item and your configuration files will continue to work.

The configuration files will be unchanged, you should bear this in mind if you still have problems

despite the default installation.

[WilliamB]

Nick,

 

Thanks for that explanation.  I will proceed and let you know the results.

 

WilliamB

[WilliamB]

Nick,

 

I did as you recommended--ran FSX from the FSX icon and the program ran with no black screens.  It could not find the Orbx directory which still resides in the renamed FSX old directory. I noticed when I unselect the Orbx Scenery in settings I don't get the "unable to find" errors.   My RTX Central 3 does run, however.  I thought I would try copying the Orbx files from "my backup" under the FSX Old directory follow your recomentdations in "how to install FTX products........" if you think that is appropriate.  I also have a lot of Addons that reside in the FSX Old directory. I am wondering if I need to delete them and reinstall or follow similar logic to your Orbx recommendations? 

 

I can't thank you enough for your help. 

 

WilliamB