fsx reinstall procedure

Pro Member First Officer
art lippel (effieveda) First Officer

Hi folks,
Does anyone know of a sure fire uninstall/reinstall procedure for fsx? Have you actually done it? Any pitfalls about reregistering (same computer)? I will need something like a step by step tutorial. The last time I did any programming was assembly language for a 6502! Shows you how old I am. Embarassed
Thanks in advance...Art

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Pro Member Chief Captain
RadarMan Chief Captain

They built it they know how to uninstall it...I hope.
Kidding!!

https://flyawaysimulation.com/news/3805/

Radar

Guest

FSX is a bit different !

with FS2004, your prove of purchase is in the DVD. You insert the DVD in the computer every time you play the game.

with FSX, you do not need to insert the DVD in your computer when you play the game. The registration is at Microsoft, when you install the game in the computer.

Therefore it is very important to uninstall the game properly. Make sure you do it while the computer is connected to the internet, so that the registration can be removed from Microsoft. Otherwise you will have problem re-installing the program.

Pro Member Trainee
Stevie (moore) Trainee

I got this problem in fsx deluxe and it went away for a while, but many problems also came up. you can fix the reinstalling problem on microsoft support, but a different problem related to the first comes up later.

Pro Member First Officer
art lippel (effieveda) First Officer

Hi Radarman,
Thank you for the info. I checked out the link you gave me, but it pertains to fs2004. Correct me if I'm wrong, but as far as I know, fsx and fs2004 are two completely different animals. That worries me. Even worse, the procedure at that link has me going into places where I don't feel that, with my limited knowledge, I'd care to go. Messing with the registry scares the hell out me. Surely somewhere there must be a more up to date version that deals with fsx.
Best regards...Art

Pro Member First Officer
art lippel (effieveda) First Officer

Hi guest,
Thank you for your reply. My problem is that you gave no instructions on how to proprly uninstall. I'm almost positive that fsx puts all kinds of files onto my disk in places other than the main fsx directory. That's why I requested a step by step procedure. I'm not computer literate enough to find all those files (dlls and registery entries) to embark on an uninstall without all the proper information. You said "Therefore it is very important to uninstall the game properly". That's my problem, I'm not sure how, and I'm afraid that I'll make a mistake and muck up my whole computer. If I sound paranoid, well I am!
Thanks again and best regards...Art

P.S. why don't you register whith Fly Away so I'll know who I'm speaking to?

Pro Member First Officer
art lippel (effieveda) First Officer

Hi Moore,
Thanks for your interest. What problem? Reinstalling the "problem" from Microsoft is not what I want to do. A diiferent problem related to the first comes up later(?)...what does that mean?
Regards...Art 😕 🙄

Pro Member Chief Captain
RadarMan Chief Captain

Your uncomfortable with the registry, I understand that because I am also.
Use this demo, I bought it.

http://regvac.com/fregvac.htm

Use it with novice mode only!!!!

As for the other steps, alter them to find the "hidden" folders but they do uninstall the same way.

Radar

Pro Member Chief Captain
Tailhook Chief Captain

This is turning into quite a mystery. I wasn't aware of this but will keep it in mind when my time comes to uninstall fsx for the first time:

Anonymous wrote:

Therefore it is very important to uninstall the game properly. Make sure you do it while the computer is connected to the internet, so that the registration can be removed from Microsoft. Otherwise you will have problem re-installing the program.

Just having given Google a thorough workout, the impression I get is that most folks at this point in time are reluctant to uninstall fsx. This comes as no surprise considering some of the problems many simmers had installing fsx.

If it were my turn to uninstall fsx right now, I would do it via the 'Control Panel' / Add/Remove Programs.
fs9 has an uninstall option in the Start Menu - fsx does NOT. I certainly don't know, but I'm pretty confident that Windows' own Add/Remove Programs will do the job.
Interestingly, fs9 has an uninstall option in the Menu - but does not appear in the list of Add/Remove Programs.
Fsx on the other hand has NO uninstall option in the Start Menu - but is listed in the Add/Remove Programs.

Accident?

I don't think so. Whatever you do, Do Not Delete FSX!!! -UNINSTALL instead.
Deleting and Uninstalling is NOT the same. You can delete individual files you have accumulated and which are not an integral part of a program or application.

Programs and Applications (FSX falls into this category) must be uninstalled - NOT deleted. Semantics are important here.

PS: There is absolutely no need to mess with the Registry.

berlopez Guest

Crying or Very sad I too have the same issues Grrr...
I purchased a new computer to use FSX Installed it but didn't get a desktop icon to start it after shutting down???
Late that night I decided to unistall...Delete; Didn't know about this procedure. NOR DOES Microsoft Support here in DK.

Thay got me to install Windows installer Clean Up Utility Art. no.928080 and that fixed the registry files.

My main issue was at the beggining of the install it seem to get stuck at "Validating Install" MS. Didn't know either what to do!?...

Later again I decided to let it run and after about 15 mins. it continued with the installation, but I didn't get the choise of entering the "Product Key" Which If I may guess means there was already an installation on my computer.

Finally having it running I have no front sound on jets or an addon I dearly like The FSX version of the L049 Contellation from com-central.net

I've tried everything I know, which might nnot be much to fix this problem with the sound; BY THE WAY i DON'T HAVE "ATC" SOUNDS/VOICES EITHER; THE TEXT IS THERE VISUALLY, yes but I miss the voices...

Can Anyone help

Pro Member Trainee
rooster1973 Trainee

It is a daunting task and one I have done many times. The uninstaller in Windows add/remove programs, will do it, however it will not delete the FSX install directory if you have anything in it such as third party addons. It also does not seem to remove the registry entires. After an uninstall, I have gone into the registry and found numerous references to FSX. After removing them, upon re-installation of FSX, it does not require me to enter my product ID and does not require a re-activation. This tells me that it keeps a record somewhere on your drive that it was previously installed, even after removal. I had to do a complete reformat to get the activation and product id number to reappera again.

Microsoft has a tool called Microsoft Install Cleanup, or something like that. It still says FSX is installed even after removing it through add/remove programs. I use both tools to get as much off as I can , then I delete the remaining FSX directory, the flight simulator X files under documents and the FSX directoy under AppData. As for the registry, you can do a find command and type in FSX. It will only brng up those keyes and if they point to directories that you prevously deleted, you can remove them, but as I mentioned before, I was not able to get them all.

Pro Member First Officer
cheezyflier First Officer

this is a cut and paste straight from the email i have received from microsoft regaurding this very issue:

Step 1: Install Windows Installer Clean up Utility
-----------------------------------------------------------
1. Click on the link given below and click on Run.

2. Click on Run and then click on Run again.
3. Follow the on-screen instructions to install the Windows Installer Clean up utility.
5. After the installation is complete then click on Start and then click on All Programs
6. At the bottom of All Programs locate and select Windows Install Clean Up.
7. A window will appear with the list of multiple programs installed on your system.
9. Click On Microsoft Flight Simulator X and then click on Remove.

NOTE: Make sure that only Microsoft Flight Simulator X is selected and nothing

8. Once the game is un-installed exit the utility, restart the system and then remove the game from Windows registry completely.

Step: Delete the game from Registry

----------------------------------------

WARNING: If you use Registry Editor incorrectly, you may cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that you can solve problems that result from using Registry Editor incorrectly. Use Registry Editor at your own risk. If you wish you can contact your system manufacturer to delete the registry entries.

1. Click on Start and in the search box type regedit and hit Enter

2. Type "REGEDIT" in the Run open box.

3. Press OK, Registry Editor page will load

4. On the top Left side of the screen look for "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE", then click on the +sign beside that

5. Click on the +sign beside "Software"

6. Click on the +sign beside "Microsoft"

7. Click on the +sign beside "Microsoft Games"

8. Locate "Flight simulator X" and delete the folder. Click on yes when it asks to delete this key and all of its sub keys.

9. Click on edit and click on Find next

10. In the find box type Flight Simulator and click on Find next

11. Delete he entry that is found and then press F3 to find the next entry. Keep on pressing F3 until all the entries of Flight simulator have been deleted.

12. Close the Registry editor.

Follow step 2 to restart the system using the clean boot method.

Step 2: Restart your computer using clean boot.

----------------------------------------

When you start Microsoft Windows, typically there are a number of programs that start automatically and run in the background that may interfere with the game. These programs may include antivirus and system utility programs. When you perform a clean boot, you prevent these programs from starting automatically. To restart your computer by using a clean boot procedure, follow these steps when you are using Windows XP.

Note: - You may experience a temporary loss of some services functionality when you follow these steps. Restoring the settings restores the functionality, but may result in the return of the original error message or behavior.

1. Click on Start, and then click Run.
2. In the Open box, type msconfig, and then click OK.
3. On the General tab, click Selective Startup.
4. Under Selective Startup, click to clear the following check boxes:
- Process SYSTEM.INI File
- Process WIN.INI File
- Load Startup Items
5. On the Services tab, click to select the Hide All Microsoft Services check box.
6. On the Startup Tab, click the option "Disable All"
7. Click on Apply, then click on Close, and then click on Restart.

Step 3: Installation of game

-----------------------------

1. Insert the game disc in the drive.

Note: Do not click Express Install during setup.

2. Follow the setup menus until you see the Change button.

3. Click Change.

4. In the Path box, delete the existing path, and then type drive :\Program Files\Microsoft Games\Flight Simulator X . In this example, drive is the drive letter of the hard disk.

5. Click OK when you are finished.

6. Follow the directions that appear on the screen to install the game.

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