I Need Advice re: Installing DCS to SSD

I currently have DCS installed on my C:\ Drive (typical legacy HD).

I understand that if DCS is running from an SSD it will reduce my Load Times and probably operate better overall.

I just did the Upgrade to 2.5 on my C Drive (after many hours of downloading).

During that upgrade, the installed did NOT import all my files (i.e. missions etc) from DCS 2 OpenAlpha but it did uninstall the Desktop Icon for it.

I manually moved files from OpenAlpha to 2.5.

Furthermore, it didn't even rename my desktop icon. However, it did change the look of it. I renamed it myself.

Anyway, I'd like to get my DCS installation onto a new SSD but I need to know the correct procedure.

The SSD will be a Slave Drive i.e. I am NOT reinstalling Windows.

Do I need to re-run the DCS Installer to get DCS onto that new SSD ?

Someone suggested copying files over but then the program is still installed in C:/Program Files and C:/Saved Games.

But if doing a clean install, won't I have to first create a new/separate Program Files and Saved Games folder on that SSD and then somehow point the clean install to the SSD and those folders ?

PS> While it may sound like I'm completely daft, I have been working on and building PC's since 1990. But I am not familiar with SSD's nor getting DCS onto it so that my Performance is actually Improved.

Please - Any Advice will be helpful.

Thanks in Advance.

I currently have DCS installed on my C:\ Drive (typical legacy HD).

 

I understand that if DCS is running from an SSD it will reduce my Load Times and probably operate better overall.

 

I just did the Upgrade to 2.5 on my C Drive (after many hours of downloading).

During that upgrade, the installed did NOT import all my files (i.e. missions etc) from DCS 2 OpenAlpha but it did uninstall the Desktop Icon for it.

I manually moved files from OpenAlpha to 2.5.

Furthermore, it didn't even rename my desktop icon. However, it did change the look of it. I renamed it myself.

 

Anyway, I'd like to get my DCS installation onto a new SSD but I need to know the correct procedure.

 

The SSD will be a Slave Drive i.e. I am NOT reinstalling Windows.

 

Do I need to re-run the DCS Installer to get DCS onto that new SSD ?

Someone suggested copying files over but then the program is still installed in C:/Program Files and C:/Saved Games.

 

But if doing a clean install, won't I have to first create a new/separate Program Files and Saved Games folder on that SSD and then somehow point the clean install to the SSD and those folders ?

 

PS> While it may sound like I'm completely daft, I have been working on and building PC's since 1990. But I am not familiar with SSD's nor getting DCS onto it so that my Performance is actually Improved.

 

Please - Any Advice will be helpful.

Thanks in Advance.

I had the multiple versions spread across multiple drives but there is at long last one install only and I have it on my ssd.

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I would love to successfully utilize the copy/paste method but I'm a bit confused as to whether or not this will increase my performance.

I'm confused because DCS is currently installed on my old C Drive which means it is in the Windows Registry on the C Drive as well as Program Files folder and Saved Games folder.

Are you suggesting that I Copy/Paste JUST the DCS folders from Both Program Files AND Saved Games folder and paste BOTH into the SSD ?

If so, do they each need to be in a New Program Files folder (or sub-folder) and New Saved Games folder ?

OR

Do I just copy Both DCS/Eagle Dynamics Folders directly to the SSD and make a new Desktop Icon (or redirect the current one) and that's it ?

I would love to successfully utilize the copy/paste method but I'm a bit confused as to whether or not this will increase my performance.

I'm confused because DCS is currently installed on my old C Drive which means it is in the Windows Registry on the C Drive as well as Program Files folder and Saved Games folder.

 

Are you suggesting that I Copy/Paste JUST the DCS folders from Both Program Files AND Saved Games folder and paste BOTH into the SSD ?

 

If so, do they each need to be in a New Program Files folder (or sub-folder) and New Saved Games folder ?

OR

Do I just copy Both DCS/Eagle Dynamics Folders directly to the SSD and make a new Desktop Icon (or redirect the current one) and that's it ?

My ssd is my f drive. So my folder structure is f:/games/dcs world.

Dcs is the only thing on that drive so I don't need to index it into program files that you would typically see on the c drive.

I don't now much about checking the registry but when I did check the registry, it could see it in the f drive.

I'm no computer expert but I seemed to muddle through it and it all works fine for me.

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Was in the same situation when I bought my SSD for DCS, but couldn't be bothered to reinstall the game, let alone the system.

Just move the game folder manually to SSD drive, to whatever-the-name folder, edit your shortcuts and edit directory path in the Win registry, location mentioned here:

https://forums.eagle.ru/showpost.php?p=3364733&postcount=63

Done, works 100%.

I still keep SavedGames/DCS on my old platter drive, as I don't install customs mods there. If you do, however, you can also move it as well, but you'll have to tinker with mklink command, so that Windows thinks the folder is still in the old location.

Don't quite understand what you mean by "whether or not this will increase my performance". Of course it will, you bought a a friggin' SSD :D Loading performance goes through the roof and disk-read-related stutters are gone for good. Nothing else, really, but these two factors alone justify any money you paid for this brilliant device. Second best investment I ever made for this game, after hefty gfx card.

Okay thanks you guys.

I will leave the Saved Games folders/files where they are and will only move (i.e. Cut and Paste) the Eagle Dynamics folder from Program Files to my new SSD.

DCS will be the ONLY thing on my SSD.

So "Eagle Dynamics" will be the Only Folder there.

With regards to the Saved Games folder, I thought maybe it too had to be moved in order to increase performance but it sounds like that is not the case. And I'm glad. This simplifies the process allot.

This is definitely going to happen before this day is done.

Thanks again for the assistance folks. I can't wait to try this out and see it in action.

You can always try moving it. The trick would be to move the SAVED GAMES to your SSD but leave a symbolic link on the C:\users\user_name\ directory.

See this:

It's a quick video I made that made DCS 1.5 think that the config folders were still there. What I really did was to create a symbolic link to 2.2's config folder. Pretty easy to do and easy to back out.

I've moved DCS to game file on my SSD no problem. Regedit is set to route DCS to my SSD and I changed the address in the desktop icon properties.

DCS 2.5OB launched successfully and I now have DCS files on both discs. How do I free up the space on the HHD?

I appreciate your patience and assistance.

you may set symbolic links, but to keep it simple... throw that DCS folder anywhere you want and start it from there. If you feel you need a better GUI, SkateZilla's Updater Tool has all that you could ask for: update repair launch VR-ON/Off etc etc... and you can control many different branches.

My only mod atm.

Big Thank You to Skate for doing this, we should use it as it is so great and easy

I also moved DCS to my SSD and edited the Registry etc etc.

I also made sure ALL links and Icons directed to the appropriate locations.

It all worked great until the latest update which screwed the whole setup.

I have since UNINSTALLED DCS for Good.

I have since UNINSTALLED DCS for Good.

I cant understand ... I know that DCS can be frustrating at times, but you have a thousand posts, so clearly you are not a newbie ... why leave for good?

While I have almost all modules, the one I like the most is the Viggen and thats in spite of the many bugs that it still has ... when it do work fine, it's an exhilarating experience and at least for me it more than compensates her shortcomings.

Regarding your SSD experience .. I honestly think that the best use of the SSD is to hold your Windows .... you get an all-around improvement on the PC's performance. Yeah, I know that its a pain to reinstall Windows ... but the only case where its worthwhile is to put Windows on an SSD.

Only if you still have at least 130 GB left of space on the SSD, I would put DCS on it ... and the Saved Games folder ... all the rest (Office, music, videos, documents) can go on the HDD without much impact on the PC response.

Best regards

You can always try moving it. The trick would be to move the SAVED GAMES to your SSD but leave a symbolic link on the C:\users\user_name\ directory.

 

See this:

 

It's a quick video I made that made DCS 1.5 think that the config folders were still there. What I really did was to create a symbolic link to 2.2's config folder. Pretty easy to do and easy to back out.

Thank you :smartass:

no need to install anything new guys !

ask for guidance if you need it, but you really dont have to reinstall anything if you move whatever to ssd, unless you really want to.

I also moved DCS to my SSD and edited the Registry etc etc.

I also made sure ALL links and Icons directed to the appropriate locations.

 

It all worked great until the latest update which screwed the whole setup.

 

I have since UNINSTALLED DCS for Good.

no need to install anything new guys !

 

ask for guidance if you need it, but you really dont have to reinstall anything if you move whatever to ssd, unless you really want to.

It's sounds like you are making this more difficult than it needs to be SnowTiger, I have copies of DCS complete folders on an external drive for backup.

When I rebuilt my PC, I updated the backups, then copied it back onto a new SSD. Then made some new shortcuts on the desktop, run the repair and clean and your good to go.

Like bit has said before, use SkateZilla's Updater GUI Utility, if you need to, I used it to repair and clean, once I copied the folders back to the new SSD, I have never needed to play with the Registry and make it all proper etc.

.

!!! SkateZilla's Updater !!!

Best tool there is for managing installs imho.

I have no idea where there isn't a MILE-LONG banner on this site to let everybody know that there is such a handsome tool.

Forget the registry, BS ! DCS is a standalone container, move it where u want it and fire it up.

!!! SkateZilla's Updater !!!

 

Best tool there is for managing installs imho.

 

I have no idea where there isn't a MILE-LONG banner on this site to let everybody know that there is such a handsome tool.

 

Forget the registry, BS ! DCS is a standalone container, move it where u want it and fire it up.

It works but not 100%. When opening dos it works but it does not look if there are updates. Any idea?

Thanks for reply.

It works but not 100%. When opening dos it works but it does not look if there are updates. Any idea?

Thanks for reply.

Skatezilla's GUI has an "update" button . And i agree with Bitmaster . I use Skate's for all things regarding DCS maintenance . Very powerful and very handy .

Firstly, this page's discussions definitely helped in a few ways, not the least of which is the move of the DCS folder to a new SSD being a benefit to load times, and also the fact I won't necessarily need to upgrade to Win10 from Win7 x64.

While it's apparent that benefits have been realized, may I ask in terms of estimated percentage the increase in load speed of missions? Like if a mission took 8 minutes to load, would it be reasonable to expect 50% load time..... a 200% improvement?

Many TIA's ...... I'm trying to resist relegating this (first purchase) still-boxed SSD to a repository for hoarded media..... and anything to lighten the load on the ADHD and learning curve are rather desperately needed :)

Hi salsantana.

I too have ADHD (adult residual type !! :) ).

I completely reinstalled DCS to an SSD and ultimately to an M2 drive. Both are Much Faster however, I couldn't tell you what percent of improvement. All I can say is it was sufficient enough to warrant the expense. You will NOT be disappointed.

But there are some folders/files etc that you can simply cut or copy and paste into the new install on SSD from your old drive. Be sure to keep old install on old drive until new install is completely set up.

I also resisted moving to Win10 until I purchased a new Motherboard and Processor etc that was capable of taking the Newer Video Cards. Then the advantage of Win10 is the higher DirectX files which provide some extra visual effects and performance.

That's about all I can say this early the day.

BTW - Obviously, it has been a while since my last post re: Uninstalling DCS.

I have since had to reinstall everything because Win10 puked. There was no other option because PC would not boot.

Still after complete system reinstall, my system is not working properly and I cannot afford to have anyone tune it better. I waited 3 months to reinstall DCS. But it has been 8 months since I flew anything. I'm in no hurry while so many modules are still incomplete. I can do without additional frustrations in my life so I'm in no hurry but I will be back once I can improve my system's performance with a few tweaks and modules have improved.

Just copy the entire DCS directory on ya hard disk to your SSD.

No 'advice' needed.

AD

you may set symbolic links, but to keep it simple... throw that DCS folder anywhere you want and start it from there. If you feel you need a better GUI, SkateZilla's Updater Tool has all that you could ask for: update repair launch VR-ON/Off etc etc... and you can control many different branches.

 

My only mod atm.

 

Big Thank You to Skate for doing this, we should use it as it is so great and easy

This

won't upgrade after SSD move

So I copied over DCS to a new NVME Drive (went from E: to C: )

Sim runs, but won't upgrade.

In the autoupdatelog file I get this error message

00007.725 ERROR: Can't create directory E:\DCS2: (3) The system cannot find the path specified.

So it's still looking for E: to update

How do I fix this?

Thanks in advance