FSX:SE BACKUP

[Maddog]

Hi,

I have created and resored a clean FSX:SE installation from a recent backup. The backup install went perfectly and all the necessary files seem to be back where they belong.

Now when I want to run FSX, the Steam client wants to redownload the entire approximately 40GB of files again..... is there any reason for this or am I to assume that everytime I want to do a clean install of FSX SE, I am going to have to spend thousands of rands downloading the software...in which case xplane 11 is starting to look a lot more attractive.......

[rjlfry]

Start FSX from a desktop shortcut you do not need steam running to run FSX:SE not a lot of people know that. If you try to run it in steam and it cannot see your reinstall it will try to re-download FSX:SE.

[Rogen]

Originally posted by rjlfry:

Start FSX from a desktop shortcut you do not need steam running to run FSX:SE not a lot of people know that. If you try to run it in steam and it cannot see your reinstall it will try to re-download FSX:SE.

What sort of advice is this ?

Yes you can run it from the fsx.exe via a shortcut, however Steam *must* be running for this to occur (having Steam online is optional).

I've looked up my backup notes and Steam uses an acf manifest file to determine if an application is installed and whether it is going to be downloaded (even if the files already exist locally).

In my FSX-SE install the manifest is located in the following path (your's maybe different)

E:\Games\Steam\steamapps\

and is named "appmanifest_314160.acf"


The manifest will list any Steam Add-ons you may have (by numbers), the redstibutable install scripts and their locations, along with various other informations Steam defines as important to determining an installed and ready to run application.

Essentually it is Steam's reference list of an FSX-SE install and any Steam based add-ons and the file itself can be opened in a text editor where you can view the layout and info.

So you'll absolutely need this acf file to avoid Steam downloading a restored install. I don't believe it does an automatic CRC hash or the like (a programatic method of deteremining if a change has occured) unless you perform a manual files verification, so just as long as you have the acf file it should be fine.

Also the standard download for FSX-SE is around 10 GB, meaning you must have a ton of add-ons if the download is 40 GB.

Hope the above helps

[rjlfry]

https://steamcommunity.com/app/314160/discussions/7/530645961936110097/
When you purchase FSX:SE it is installed on your pc and any add-ons you purchase much like the boxed version you do not need internet connection to run FSX .

[De Kaashaas]

Originally posted by rjlfry:

Start FSX from a desktop shortcut you do not need steam running to run FSX:SE not a lot of people know that. If you try to run it in steam and it cannot see your reinstall it will try to re-download FSX:SE.

Wow.....

[De Kaashaas]

Originally posted by rjlfry:

https://steamcommunity.com/app/314160/discussions/7/530645961936110097/
When you purchase FSX:SE it is installed on your pc and any add-ons you purchase much like the boxed version you do not need internet connection to run FSX .

You still need Steam running though. Your answer is not related to the question. If Steam doesn't recognize the installation / back-up it will not run.