How do I backup DCS completely?

[bumblebomb]

Need to reinstall Windows, would not want to download it all again.

Any options? File backup and copy back after core game install?

[Rudel_chw]

1) backup the Sim: /program files/eagle dynamics/

 

2) backup your user settings: /saved games/dcs.xxx/

 

3) run dcs -> module manager, and deactivate all the installed items that have a DRM button.

 

On the new PC restore the folders onto the same paths, then run on a command prompt:

 

/program files/eagle dynamics/dcs/bin/dcs_updater repair

 

Oh ... save also the shortcuts that you use to run dcs.

 

That should do it ... disclaimer: this recipe is for the stand-alone version, don't know how to do the same on the Steam version.

[bumblebomb]

I don't quite get why I should disabled DRM modules *after* backing up the files?

[Rudel_chw]

I don't quite get why I should disabled DRM modules *after* backing up the files?

 

 

The order doesnt matter .. disable the DRM first if you want .. it does nothing on your PC, but rather contacts StarForce servers to deactivate your current license, so that you can later on reactivate it again on your new PC.

[bumblebomb]

That did not go too well.

 

For one, my input controls settings are no tright though thte files are there, but the bigger problem is that whne starting a flight I'm looking at the load screen forever.

Something is seriously hosed.

[bumblebomb]

update: when I press ESC in the load screen I hear game sound, so the game engine is running, but no screen output EDIT - FIXED, reboot, all good

Edited November 11, 2019 by bumblebomb

[bumblebomb]

Uh... does "repair" only look in the folder where it was called from or would it "repair" a backup attached on a backup drive, too? I had my old system on a usb-to-sata adapter when repair ran, and the timestamp on the input config files is from 8 hours ago when I definitely wasn't running the game... that would be harsh, re-configuring all my modules.

Edited November 11, 2019 by bumblebomb

[Rudel_chw]

That did not go too well.

 

For one, my input controls settings are no tright though thte files are there, but the bigger problem is that whne starting a flight I'm looking at the load screen forever. Something is seriously hosed.

 

Regarding the control settings, your new Windows has assigned different USB IDentifications to your Hotas, to fix you have to rename the Hotas files of your old install, so that they have the names that the new install uses.

 

For example, these are the names that my Hotas control files have received trough three installs of DCS:

 

 

Use the files dates to determine which are the files that this new DCS uses, then copy their names and copy it onto the previous files (the ones that your old DCS used) .. be careful as windows will not allow to files with the same name, so first rename the new file adding .bak at the end of it.

 

update: when I press ESC in the load screen I hear game sound, so the game engine is running, but no screen output

 

You just reinstalled windows? you have not changed the hardware?

 

Uh... does "repair" only look in the folder where it was called from or would it "repair" a backup attached on a backup drive, too?

 

Repair works only on the /Program Files/ tree ... it will not touch your files at /Saved Games/ so if the problem is caused by a wrong configuration file, the repair will not fix it.

 

Please give more info to be able to help you better ... are you using exactly the same hardware as on your previous DCS install?

[Tippis]

That did not go too well. For one, my input controls settings are no tright though thte files are there, but the bigger problem is that whne starting a flight I'm looking at the load screen forever. Something is seriously hosed.

The input controls are not right because all the gadgetry will have changed their device IDs. “All” you have to do to make them work again is figure out what DCS calls the same devices these days, and then rename the old files to match the new device names.

 

This can be a huge faff if you don't have a good file manager (i.e. you're only using explorer.exe), but if you have something that offers good mass-search/rename, you can simply do some dummy binds on all connected devices, check in the relevant input folder what those bind files are called, and then go through and change all old file names to the new ones — a good file manager lets you do this for every module in pretty much a single step.

 

 

As for being stuck on the load screen, that's most likely either tied to some conflicting config or the shaders. A quick fix would be to remove the DCS\Config directory and see if it works again if you let DCS create a new one from scratch (do this before you add in any old input or view files). Indeed, if you want to do a re-install, it's usually best not to just blindly copy back your old files, but rather do it selectively for the things you really need — things like missions, Config\Input (with renamed files, per above), Config\Views, any liveries and custom kneeboards, aaaaand… that's about it.

 

Mods might be tempting but you're generally better off giving them a fresh install, unless it's stuff that have specific server settings (SRS, Tacview Advanced, SImod) and you intend to host a server. For just about everything else, giving DCS a fresh start is good practice just in general.

[bumblebomb]

I'm a Linux guy and have a bash installed and *will* use it! Thanks all.

[Fakum]

I think im about to pull the trigger on re-installing Windows 10 (Fresh Flush)and I will need to save and restore my existing bindings. I know im going to have to go thru all the aircraft and rename the backed up files (for my bindings)to the new names, and the only file manager I use is Windows Explorer. I would like to do this with a simple, free app. Can anyone recommend a free, simple user interface app to do this (as suggested above)? Thanks

[Tippis]

I swear by Total Commander and I've been using it since long before it even got that name. It is absolutely utter and complete overkill for this, and unless you have a (long) history of usage of keyboard-controlled *Commander apps, it will be obtuse as hell. But it is immensely powerful once you get the hang of it; it can deal with exactly this kind of thing very easily; it's nagware so it's not even entirely free…

 

…but 0.5 out of 2 on the list of “free and easy” isn't all bad, is it?

 

The thing about it is, it does just about anything you'd ever want to do with files faster and more efficiently than anything else. For DCS purposes, it can not only deal with your problem but also help immensely with things like mission file editing since it has seamless zip file integration — you can just navigate in and out of them, edit things, and do all normal file operations within the archive just as if it was any other directory. It has split, multi-tab, bookmark-capable file listings that let you flip-flop between more sources and destinations than you could ever want, including network and FTP locations, or even just a different PC over USB in case you want to save (or restore) your files in some safe(r) location.

 

It's really a very bad suggestion for what you're asking for, but it needs to be made none the less.

[3WA]

Macrium Reflect is the best backup program I've ever found.  Was using Acronis, but it always seemed to fail.  Been using Macrium for a couple of years now.  Works great.

You can pull up backups, and they will show up just like they are a separate drive, so you can just drag and drop files from it.

[Fakum]

@Tippis Thanks for the tip,,, yeah, sure sounds like way more than I want to deal with,,, thanks!

 

@3WA Thanks for the response, but Im not looking for backup software. by the way, I have been using Acronis faithfully for backups for well over 10 years, never had 1 misfire! and I use it on average once every 2 weeks for incremental backups,, and the occasional restore after experiments,,, never failed me. sorry to hear otherwise.

[silverdevil]

@Fakum - ah we meet again! lol. i am gearing up for a new computer. i have had this one since 11/2018. i will be going through the process of getting everything from one pc to the other. i too use acronis and have for many years. i too have had no issues. but since i purchased it, there is support available for anything.