Migrate DCS World From Old PC To New PC

[weijas]

       Awaiting to migrate DCS world from old PC to new PC. Things I need to know and do before installing to my new PC. Hopefully the whole process would not cause any issues or corrupted files etc.  

Don’t remember doing any major shifting of files and folder except for the Save Games folder I have keep it in different Drive in old PC.

I would like to know as follow

-        Should I install New DCS World clean in to the New PC? Or just copy from Old PC and paste to New PC.

-        How to maintain all save setting in the Save Games Folder(No Mod)

-        Things to Do and Don’t.

-        Can I still maintain my DCS World (same user ID) in the old PC and run it?

Any input would much appreciated.

Thank you

[SharpeXB]

The best thing to do is simply install DCS clean on your new PC. 
Keep a copy of your Saved Games folder, you’ll want the logbook and your input folders. I’d like to say your control settings can be copied over but if your new machine assigns new hardware IDs to your controllers that might not work. There may be some tricks that will do this, who knows. You can use the same user ID and password on the new machine. 

[Rudel_chw]

2 hours ago, weijas said:

       -        Should I install New DCS World clean in to the New PC? Or just copy from Old PC and paste to New PC.

 

Both options work, but copy/paste is much faster, just remember to run a DCS repair after the paste, to ensure that all files got copied right. If you are using the DCS "off-line" mode, exit from it prior to doing the copy.

 

2 hours ago, weijas said:

-        How to maintain all save setting in the Save Games Folder(No Mod)

 

Just copy the CONTENT  of /save games/ onto the /save games/ folder of the new pc … do not copy the folder itself. You will need to rename the joystick input files, as the new PC will have different USB ID codes, which are used on the filenames.

Also, delete the fxo and metashaders2 folders, if the new PC will have a different graphics card.

 

2 hours ago, weijas said:

-        Can I still maintain my DCS World (same user ID) in the old PC and run it?

yes, but can’t run both copies at the same time.

 

Edited November 18, 2023 by Rudel_chw

[silverdevil]

8 hours ago, weijas said:

Awaiting to migrate DCS world from old PC to new PC. Things I need to know and do before installing to my new PC. Hopefully the whole process would not cause any issues or corrupted files etc.  

Don’t remember doing any major shifting of files and folder except for the Save Games folder I have keep it in different Drive in old PC.

I would like to know as follow

-        Should I install New DCS World clean in to the New PC? Or just copy from Old PC and paste to New PC.

-        How to maintain all save setting in the Save Games Folder(No Mod)

-        Things to Do and Don’t.

-        Can I still maintain my DCS World (same user ID) in the old PC and run it?

Any input would much appreciated.

Thank you

i made this doc after i did a migration myself.

https://pcwiseman.com/downloads_files/DCS_New_Computer.pdf

[Rudel_chw]

38 minutes ago, silverdevil said:

i made this doc after i did a migration myself.

https://pcwiseman.com/downloads_files/DCS_New_Computer.pdf

 

Great guide, particularly the details about the USB IDs, tough you may want to add a warning about deactivating DCS "off-line" mode first, if you are using it. 

[SharpeXB]

I don’t know exactly about DCS but generally you shouldn’t copy programs from one machine to another, you should reinstall them

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/transferring-programs-from-one-computer-to-another/70c3acf8-796b-47f8-afa9-dceac097f29f

[MAXsenna]

I don’t know exactly about DCS but generally you shouldn’t copy programs from one machine to another, you should reinstall them
https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/transferring-programs-from-one-computer-to-another/70c3acf8-796b-47f8-afa9-dceac097f29f

Dude! Just stop with the disinformation. I wasn't gonna call out your first post in this thread, but here you come again. You are completely wrong in regards to DCS. DCS as a program is self contained and stores all of it's files in the same place, and all settings in Saved Games. It does not relay on registry settings like many Windows programs do. (Though some 3rd party apps and mods do, like VAICOM). That's why it is to easy to repair and move. The Updater does "everything". It does the initial installation, updating and repair if you need IT.
Between us, @Rudel_chw, @silverdevil and I have close to a 100 years of IT administration experience, so users can absolutely trust the procedures above!
Cheers!

Sent from my SM-A536B using Tapatalk

[SharpeXB]

32 minutes ago, MAXsenna said:

Dude! Just stop with the disinformation.

I just said in that post “I don’t know exactly about DCS” the above link is just general advice. And since I don’t know how DCS works that’s what I would have done. There’s certainly nothing wrong with installing the game clean other than it might take a while. Copying a 300GB install won’t be very fast either though. 

Edited November 18, 2023 by SharpeXB

[Baldrick33]

4 minutes ago, SharpeXB said:

I just said in that post “I don’t know exactly about DCS” the above link is just general advice. And since I don’t know how DCS works that’s what I would have done. 

DCS is quite unusual in that it works by just copying the folders. Most applications need to be installed to update registry values etc. I have even shared a copy of DCS with two different OS builds on the same PC, it is remarkably tolerant of both being moved around and the OS.

[Rudel_chw]

28 minutes ago, SharpeXB said:

I just said in that post “I don’t know exactly about DCS” the above link is just general advice. And since I don’t know how DCS works that’s what I would have done.
 

 

If you don’t really have the experience, then you should refrain from giving advice.

 

28 minutes ago, SharpeXB said:

There’s certainly nothing wrong with installing the game clean other than it might take a while. Copying a 300GB install won’t be very fast either though. 

It would be an order of magnitude faster than an internet re-download.

[MAXsenna]

I just said in that post “I don’t know exactly about DCS” the above link is just general advice. And since I don’t know how DCS works that’s what I would have done. There’s certainly nothing wrong with installing the game clean other than it might take a while. Copying a 300GB install won’t be very fast either though. 

When you don't know, you don't know! And especially when you contradict perfectly good advice, your opinion is of no use. This is not the wishlist.

Sent from my SM-A536B using Tapatalk

[SharpeXB]

Dude! We get it already you don’t have to turn a simple help question into a fight…

[MAXsenna]

4 minutes ago, SharpeXB said:

Dude! We get it already you don’t have to turn a simple help question into a fight…

That was not the intention. Apologies! Guess I'm just too comfortable arguing with you, my bad!
Sorry, cheer up! Have a beer on me!

[silverdevil]

6 hours ago, Rudel_chw said:

Great guide, particularly the details about the USB IDs, tough you may want to add a warning about deactivating DCS "off-line" mode first, if you are using it. 

roger that. though i do not think i did that but this doc is from april 2021. i think all i did was install dcs, login, download all the modules and terrains. exited. then started dcs. exited. then checked the GUIDs. i just changed all the names. there are probably some different steps now a couple years later. 

Edited November 18, 2023 by silverdevil

[Probable]

“Between us, Rudel_chw, silverdevil and MAXsenna have close to a 100 years of IT administration experience…..”

Maybe you guys could answer a couple of questions for me.

1. In the logbook.lua file there are “static” lines, like ["static"] = 0, or it may be some number like ["static"] = 144, . There is a static line for every aircraft and a total static line which is the sum of all the plane static lines. Does anyone know what the static line numbers are referring to?

2. Also in the logbook is a single “killRatio” line like ["killRatio"] = "272/108", . What does this refer to, is it combined A-A and A-G kills or just A-A kills? Per what? Per flight?

3. I combined several pilots (stats) from my logbook.lua file into a single pilot in a new logbook file. Now when I fly the P-51D or the FA-18C the logbook does not log the increased hours. Any ideas?

Thanks

[silverdevil]

16 hours ago, Probable said:

“Between us, Rudel_chw, silverdevil and MAXsenna have close to a 100 years of IT administration experience…..”

Maybe you guys could answer a couple of questions for me.

1. In the logbook.lua file there are “static” lines, like ["static"] = 0, or it may be some number like ["static"] = 144, . There is a static line for every aircraft and a total static line which is the sum of all the plane static lines. Does anyone know what the static line numbers are referring to?

2. Also in the logbook is a single “killRatio” line like ["killRatio"] = "272/108", . What does this refer to, is it combined A-A and A-G kills or just A-A kills? Per what? Per flight?

3. I combined several pilots (stats) from my logbook.lua file into a single pilot in a new logbook file. Now when I fly the P-51D or the FA-18C the logbook does not log the increased hours. Any ideas?

Thanks

we are the keepers of the floppy discs

1. so "static" is killing of static objects such as a bunker

2. "killratio" is kills vs deaths.

3. not sure about this. if i was to guess the files are becoming corrupt because of being edited incorrectly. what are you using as an editor? 

[Probable]

Thanks for you reply silverdevil. I used notepad and a lot of copy and paste to edit the logbook.lua. I found the problem with the hours, I had left the kill ratio setting blank in the logbook file. Once I entered a value for that, 10 to 1, it started logging my hours. Then I used the P-51 “Ground attack solo practice” training mission 3 or 4 times for testing and every time I came out of the flight, my pilot got promoted or another medal, including the metal of honor, for a training flight no less…. jeez. I reset my kill ratio to the totals of all my previous pilots which is about a 3 to 1 ratio, I’ll see how that goes. Yes, take care of those floppy discs, I used a stack of 3 floppies to shim up one corner of my keyboard where the leg was broken! 

[HC_Official]

this might help