Reinstallation *or* DCS_updater?

[Chief Instructor]

Hi,

Being unable to find the cause of a number of mission editor CTD problems I've been having, I am considering a fresh install as a last resort.

Question 1: Does completing the dcs_installer cleanup and repair options with the 'check all files' option selected result in an installation that is as good as a fresh installation? Or, can the DCS_updater miss items and leave problems? (Completing the dcs_installer cleanup and repair options have not solved my problem).

Question 2: Can I reinstall the core DCS (current beta) and use my existing downloaded maps and modules without having to download them all again?

Thanks in advance!

[Rudel_chw]

19 minutes ago, Chief Instructor said:

Question 1: Does completing the dcs_installer cleanup and repair options with the 'check all files' option selected result in an installation that is as good as a fresh installation?

 

Yes, in my experience performing a repair and cleanup is as effective as a fresh download and install.

 

19 minutes ago, Chief Instructor said:

Or, can the DCS_updater miss items and leave problems? (Completing the dcs_installer cleanup and repair options have not solved my problem).

The repair will not touch the user configuration and files stored at /saved games/ … so, if the problem lies within that area, it will not be solved by a repair or cleanup.

 

19 minutes ago, Chief Instructor said:

Question 2: Can I reinstall the core DCS (current beta) and use my existing downloaded maps and modules without having to download them all again?

If you have enough disk space, yes, you can have the installer copy files from one dcs onto a new one, avoiding a re-download. The procedure is:

 

1. Copy the entire directory 'DCS Wolrd' in any free space on disk or on a flash drive. For example, let it be F: \ temp \ DCS World, let's call its source directory.

 

2. We create in the required place the directory in which the sim will be installed. Let's say 'D: \ Games \ DCS World'. Create a text file with the name: dcs_local_source.txt. The contents of the file are the path to the source directory, in this case:

 

F: \ temp \ DCS World

 

3. Launch the web installer. We choose the language of the future installation, agree with the warnings, set the directory where the simulator will be installed (in our example, it is 'D: \ Games \ DCS World') and start the process. The installer will read the dcs_local_source.txt file and begin copying the required files. At the end of the copy, the installer will download what he did not have enough (in the ideal case, he won’t download anything at all) and everything will be fine.

 

4. Installing modules - as usual, from the Module Manager. If the source directory contains the required files, they will be automatically copied.

 

At the end of the installation, the source directory can be deleted.

 

Pay particular attention to the correct file structure of the source directory — it must exactly match the file structure of the simulator. The absence of any files or even folders is not fatal, they will simply be downloaded later. Well, do not miss the contents of the dcs_local_source.txt file, it must be in UTF-8 encoding. A sign that everything is done correctly is the start of the process of copying files, and not downloading from the Internet.

 

The described procedure guarantees the correct deployment of the simulator on another machine, including the required entries in the registry.

 

 

[Chief Instructor]

That's a very helpful reply @Rudel_chw. Thanks for taking the time to help me

The following has also occurred to me though... Does the DCS_updater check and fix the integrity of the map and module files in addition to the DCS core? If not, I'm wondering that if my CTD problems are being caused by a map rather than the core DCS, then reinstalling using my existing installation as the source will copy the problem to the new installation?

[Rudel_chw]

3 minutes ago, Chief Instructor said:

Does the DCS_updater check and fix the integrity of the map and module files in addition to the DCS core?

Yes, it checks all files within the DCS program folder, including maps and modules.

[Art-J]

4 hours ago, Rudel_chw said:

The repair will not touch the user configuration and files stored at /saved games/ … so, if the problem lies within that area, it will not be solved by a repair or cleanup.

@Chief Instructor pay special attention again to what Rudel pointed here. In 9 out of 10 cases, if repair and cleanup didn't fix the issue, the problem is buried deep somewhere in the C:\Users\[usr name]\Saved Games\DCS location, which neither repair, nor cleanup, nor even full reinstall affects.

Rename/Remove temporarily the whole DCS folder from that location, launch the game so that the fresh folder is re-created, see it it helped with your problem and if it didn't, THEN you're really in the "last resort" situation.