Dakota Installation issues in Vista

[Chuck Jodry]

Hello Warren , as you found out changes in the way Vista stores things in a new folder structure have complicated life for a great many.
During the beta process the default location of FS9 proved a nebulous target and the final or release version of the Dakota had found all the folders without error.
When the RXP installer is in operation for some reason Vista would cover a permissions window with the active one , the other thing i noticed is there were two folders with the same name C:\Program Files\Microsoft Games\Flight Simulator 9\Flight Simulator 9/fs9.exe.

I found the 9.1 update for fs9 had missed the folder and needed to be dropped into its correct location and was an absolute necessity to have on your machine , if you have loaded FS9 on a new machine you may have omitted this crucial step , you can find that
HERE


The possibility exists that you may find other folders have missed the target
and with the final release of the Dakota the only one that should be sitting there is named >DreamFleet< with my folder structure looking like this
C:\Program Files\Microsoft Games\Flight Simulator 9\DreamFleet\DreamManager

I will check back later to see how you made out C.J

[warren]

No issues Lou,

CJ,

I have 9.1 installed. Based on the last couple of posts, I messed around a little. Here is what I found:

-I reinstalled the Dakota on my Vista/FS9.1 system. The same issue. After Step 1 of the installation, I got the "can't locate FS9 error".
-I then tried to install the downloaded version of DreamManager. I got the same exact error, which tells me THAT is where the error comes in. The Dakota installs fine. It's DreamManager (Step 2 of installation) that is having an issue with finding FS9.
-I ran the registry repair and retried the standalone version of DM and it installed, No issues. In my FS9 folder, I now have a "DreamManager" folder (empty) and a "Dreamfleet/Dreammanager" folder with the DM exe and such.
-While searching around I also found the DF236 RXP executable in my "Roaming" profile and installed that, without any issues.

So, I have a 95% install solution. the only thing missing that I can tell is the aircraft pack for the Dakota (Step 3 of the installation, yes, I have RTM :-) ) as I installed the standalone version of DM, and it's not available for DL yet. I copied the whole DM folder from my FS system into my laptop and DM works with the Dakota now.

Truthfully, I'm not ruling out issues in my Vista install. I have loaded so much stuff on this system to see what all I own has issues with Vista before I go all out with changing over to Vista. I have seven computers running at home between the wife, kids and toys, with a variety of different software requirements (educational, professional, games, music etc).

OT, I will say.... I was happy with XP SP2's stability, but Vista seems to be extremely stable (for the most part), and it's starting to grow on me. I don't think I'll go Vista on my FS system, but for work and home, and headed that way. As I said before, UAC is a pain in the butt, but... with Vista's weird folder system, I wasn't sure if it's install/run locations were different with UAC (i.e. admin) and non-UAC installations. I guess it doesn't matter.

Thanks again to all who weighed in. If anything, at least if someone else has this issue, they can get their Dakota flying with DM and RXP with little panic.

Warren

[alastairmonk]

Just to add that the DreamManager installer "ought" to immediately locate where DreamManager is installed, unless this is the first Dreamfleet/DreamManager aircraft being installed.

On my system I have a number of DF/DM aircraft, with DreamManager installed to C:\Dreammanager rather than the default location within the FS2004 structure, and the Dakota installer immediately recognised this during the installation. This is on a WinXP PC. This behaviour usually indicates that there is a Registry reference being consulted.

Either way, I'm glad you've been able to sort out the problem. Maybe, now that DM is working, you'd like to try flying Lou's excellent livery of Polly Vascher's Dakota around her round-the-world route .........

Alastair

[warren]

Alastair,

You bet.... after I finish my livery :-)

I've been working on this since I got DM to work. In reality, that is what I wanted working on my Vista system as my FS system is built into my Cockpit. fun to fly, but terrible for doing any editing of any type.

So far I've figured out that the default alpha channel that comes with the template gives you some interesting effects if you don't mess with it. My laptop is a centrino duo and runs the hell out of FS so I can actually have everything turned up! I've never seen reflective chrome surfaces before!!!! My first attempt was VERY SHINY. Thanks to other posts, I've figured that out. Now I'm digging through all my archives for the one perfect font I had for the N-Numbers.... Of course I can't find it so production is at a standstill. I paid the $8 and downloaded all the fonts off of FontGeek, so we'll see what I get out of there.

I'll post RW and FS pics as soon as I'm done.

Warren

[jcboliveira]

1 - If Dreammanager didn't install correctly but it didn't gave any error that means that maybe you installed FSX after FS9. If the registry was missing it should abort.


1 - You don't need to disable UAC in fact I don't know why people are so in love with UAC disable. If you disable it you will loose IE7 protected mode. Of course it's easier to disable it but try this:

a - Change user permissions in all FS9 dir or at least change it in Change Garmin trainer dir permissions, allow your user to have full control.

You can run FS as admin instead but I prefer this method.

Regards
José
(Vista/Dreamfleet/Reality-XP Ginny pig)