Need help using 2 hard drives for FSX

Hello,

I just completed building a new FSX computer, and have been very happy so far. I am using two hard drives- 1 SSD (which runs Windows 7 64-bit and FSX, and a mechanical one for storage.) The SSD is only 120gb, and the mechanical hard drive is 1tb. The problem is I would like to put my add-on a/c on the 1tb HDD, and have FSX on the SSD. I've been looking on Google, but the only things mentioned is scenery, and even then I didn't get a clear understanding on how to make it work. So, is it possible to run planes on a separate HDD than FSX (I'm pretty sure it is because I know that's what people suggested I do.) and if so, how do I do it?

Thanks for you help!

Brandon

For airplanes, you can go into your fsx.cfg and add another SimObjectPaths entry which names the folder on your HDD where your addon a/c are located. Just add one to the highest numbered SimObjectPaths entry.

Say your addon a/c are in D:\AddonAirplanes

Then if the highest SimObjectPaths entry is 5, you could add a line like this:

SimObjectPaths.6="D:\AddonAirplanes"

That will make FSX search D:\AddonAirplanes for airplanes (or any other kind of aircraft/vehicle/boat).

I choose to keep addons, ai and flyable in different folders so my cfg shows:

.

.

SimObjectPaths.5=SimObjects\Misc

SimObjectPaths.6=G:\AIAircraft

SimObjectPaths.7=G:\AI_Boats

SimObjectPaths.8=I:\AddonAircraft

feel free to separate out your addon stuff however you want - FSX doesn't care, it's just for YOUR convenience; you just have to 'tell' FSX where the stuff is.

Loyd

Edit: I've added a new post later in this thread to correct what I posted here. My best guess is that the procedure I described here must have been for WIN XP and additional software is not needed for Win 7

Hi Brandon,

All good replies but I have one more suggestion for your consideration. It involves moving the entire SimObjects folder to another location and then creating a symbolic link to the folder in the original location. Once the link is created everthing works exactly as it did before the folder was moved. The only way you can tell there is anything different is the SimObjects icon will have a tiny red arrow on it. No problems with Auto-installers as you may have with other solutions.

In case you're interested here's a procedure which I saved:

You simply MOVE the folder to the new location and then create a link to the new location in the original location. Additional Windows software is required. Check here for a full description:

http://www.howtogeek.com/outlook:howto/16226/complete-guide-to-symbolic-links-symlinks-on-windows-or-linux/

For 64bit versions of Windows download and install:

vcredist_x64.exe for VS2005 SP1, version 6195/June 2011 (3.0 Mb)

http://download.microsoft.com/download/8/B/4/8B42259F-5D70-43F4-AC2E-4B208FD8D66A/vcredist_x64.EXE

Afterwards install the:

Link Shell Extension (3.57Mb)

http://schinagl.priv.at/nt/hardlinkshellext/HardLinkShellExt_X64.exe

Here's an example of moving the "SimObjects" folder from an SSD and to a HD:

1) MOVE the entire "SimObjects" folder to (the new location) - e.g. "Z:\"

2) With the mouse cursor in the main FSX folder, press shift and right click. From the menu that opens select "Open Command window here".

3) In the CMD window ENTER "mklink /J SimObjects Z:\SimObjects" to create the link. (use the complete path name to the new folder location here)

The only way you can tell the SimObjects folder is now a link is by a little arrow attached to the folder icon. Everything works as if the folder was in the original location.

Jim F.

You just built your rig. What are the system specs? so we can help you better (maybe). Is it an i3? Or am i7? Makes a LOT of difference!! 4 Mb Ram? or 32 Mb? Ditto. Video card and CORRECT drivers? Latest drivers don't mean much if they are buggy. Having 'top notch' rig involves MATCHING the 'parts'. Is you HDD 7200 rpm? or 5400 rpm? Makes a LOT of difference. Did you do Bojote's tweaks yet? Must do to get best performance from FSX. SSD is 'nice' (for bragging rights) but that alone doesn't do anything for FSX (per se).

Item: 'Location of SimObjects folder. The Skinny: You are worried about a MINOR issue. 5 yrs from today (if you add stuff everyday) your SimObjects folder MIGHT just swell to 10 Gb! You can create folders in HDD later if you wish. For now GO FLY and stop worrying about 'stuff'. If it ain't broke-don't 'fix' it. Good luck.

Chuck B

Napamule

Apparently (according to the guys who wrote it) FSX won't use more that 8Gb of RAM - although having other software running in the background may need more.

Actually, FSX, being a 32 bit program, can only use 4GB RAM and that's only in a 64-bit system. On a 32-bit system, FSX can only use 2GB although that can be expanded with a 3GB fix.

Doug

Hi lesh,

I believe that without the additional software I referenced "mklink /j ..." won't work.

Kind of a déjà vu moment for me; I posted a suggestion similar to yours previously, but forgot that I had added the new software.

Jim F.

Greeting

interested in your post, hope you can provide some help.

I have 2 250G ssd drives, 1 C: win7pro 64 2 D: fsx both are at currently 50-60% full.

I have led to understand basically two things 1 not to exceed maybe 60-70% capacity and 2 never to defrag an ssd.

Having said that I'm thinking of adding a 3rd hd and moving my scenery and sim objects to it as well as some larger files from the C dr.

Is this doable and getting back to not defragging is there another method to clean up the 2 ssds?

Thanks

Hey lesh,

I do hope you're correct. I'm in the middle of something now and can't check right now but I don't recall adding the software that I mentioned to my current Windows install. I last used it when I had FSX on a 64GB SSD. I now have Win 7 and FSX on a larger SSD.

Jim F.

We STILL don't know the OP's SPECS. And he doesn't have to rush the new 'folder structure'. He can copy them over later. There is only 1 entry in FSX.cfg and from then on any 'add-on' added to the created folder will be 'looked at' by FSX. No need to make a link for EACH add-on airplane (so, that's not how it works).

lesh,

The following line are partly or wholly a guess or just plain (bogus) information:

There is NO room in Flight Simulator forums for this kind of wishy-washy posts.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-folder junctions (what OS is this in?)

-make entries in the Gauges and Effects folders which would need to be copied across from the hard drive to your default FSX folder on your SSD

-will be created by the above command. 4. Repeat for each aircraft on your E: drive.

-FSX won't use more that 8Gb of RAM

-speed of the hard drives.... only affects the time taken to initially load FSX but has no effect on how well it runs once you're flying;

-Bojote's tweaks, they caused more problems than they solved for me

-Much easier to link each new aircraft as you install it

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I sure wouldn't let YOU work on my PC, or my FSX install, that's for sure.

Chuck B

Napamule

Hi,

In this thread I previously posted a procedure for moving a folder to a new location and creating a symbolic link to it. Lesh informed me that no additional software was required (for WIN64 at least) so I've updated my saved procedure and am posting it here.

Symbolic links for Windows 7 (64bit anyway)

Re-locating files and having Windows treat them as if they were in the original location.

You simply MOVE the folder to the new location and then create a link to the new location in the original location.

Here's an example of moving the "SimObjects" folder from an SSD and to a HD:

1) MOVE the entire "SimObjects" folder to (the new location) - e.g. "Z:\"

2) With the mouse cursor in the main FSX folder, press shift and right click. From the menu that opens select "Open Command window here".

3) In the CMD window ENTER "mklink /J SimObjects Z:\SimObjects" to create the link. (use the complete path name to the new folder here)

4) That's all there is to it.

The only way you can tell the SimObjects folder is now a link is by chain links attached to the folder icon. Everything works as if the folder was in the original location.

General symbolic link syntax:

With a Cmd window opened in the folder from which the folder was moved:

mklink /J (name of moved folder) (full path to moved folder)

Judging by what I'm currently seeing my saved procedure must have been for Win XP.

Jim F.

Hello,

Thanks for all the replies. If you really want to know my specs, here they are-

GIGABYTE GA-Z97X-UD5H LGA 1150 motherboard

Intel core i7 4790K 4.0 ghz LGA 1150 processor

GPU: EVGA GeForce GTX 760

SAMSUNG 840 EVO SSD (looks like actually got 250gb)

A 1tb internal Hard Drive (was on sale at micro center, any other specs I don't have written down at the moment.)

Corsair full sized tower

Corsair CX750 750w PSU

CORSAIR Vengeance 8gb (2x4gb) DDR3 RAM

A TP-link dual band wireless adapter for WiFi

Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit

I hope this helps

Thanks!

Brandon

Hi,

In this thread I previously posted a procedure for moving a folder to a new location and creating a symbolic link to it. Lesh informed me that no additional software was required (for WIN64 at least) so I've updated my saved procedure and am posting it here.

There is a good free program to help work with junctions and symbolic links.

http://schinagl.priv.at/nt/hardlinkshellext/linkshellextension.html

As far as address space goes, FSX can only use a max of 4GB. Having more than 4GB of RAM on a 64 bit OS will leave room for the OS and other applications, but won't directly help FSX.