c:\ format and reg key backup method.

[G3]

after being concerned over the limited number of activations and the likely hood of eventually using them up

i tried the following before formatting the hdd and it worked like a charm.

i had seen someone else mention saving the registry key so credit to whoever that was.

from what i had read, you could delete and install dcs bs again on the same OS with no problems or need to activate,

but formatting the hdd was another story altogether, please correct any mis information i may be spreading.

 

overview:

this is for people wanting to format their computer and reinstall dcs bs without the worry of burning activations

it works if you are:

a. reinstalling the same OS, (operating system)

b. putting the game back in the same location and

c. not making any hardware changes.

 

this was tested on a laptop running win7 x64

 

first thing is to backup:

once you have a working patched and activated copy of bs v1.0.x on your computer

1. make a backup of the reg key using the export option and save it somewhere safe,

just not in the partition your are about to format :)

(to find the key i just did a regedit search for shark)

it's something like hkey current user\software\eagle dynamics

 

2. also make a backup of your current Ka-50 folder (your bs install)

for ease of copying over your custom settings and edits later on.

 

now it's format time:

3. now format the c:\ and reinstall your operating system and all the rest.

 

4. reinstall dcs bs and patch it (if nothing else this gets the dx9 files installed)

making sure it's in the same location as last time.

 

5. then just click on your reg key backup from step 1 and add it to the registry

 

this should give you a working dcs BS v1.0.x on your fresh windows 7 install.

 

6. you can now grab the necessary files from your backup ka-50 folder,

to restore configs, controllers, multi monitor or missions etc.

 

why reinstall bs and not just copy the ka-50 folder back over:

in the end i reinstalled bs, as when i tried just copying the ka-50 folder back over

it complainded of missing dx9_38 files so i aborted that idea.

i guess if you install the correct version of dx9 it might work.

 

nothing is stopping your copying the entire backup ka-50 folder over

the top of the fresh ka-50 install, that will work for sure.

 

with the above method their should be no need to churn thru those activations

very handy for those of us that do a lot of testing or like to format regularly,

and or do not use hdd imaging software.

 

this is by no means the best or only way,

but it worked for me and felt it worthy of sharing with you all.

loving the shark, the more i fly the less i die.

Edited August 5, 2010 by G3