by Travis » Wed May 24, 2006 3:24 pm
Never, EVER self-install ANYTHING directly to the FS folder. There is always a chance something will go wrong, or the installer will overwrite an important file that you wish to keep.
Remember, not only are you adding the aircraft, oftentimes, with self-installers, you are adding gauges, effects, scenery and who knows what else.
So whenever you are presented with a self-installer, just drop it into a temp folder on the desktop and install directly to that folder, or perhaps one INSIDE the FS9 folder. That way, you can look at what is there and see if it is really what you want. There are many times that I leave smaller files like ReadMe's and other stuff in the folder, just because I don't need them cluttering up my FS folder. Its big enough as it is.
Some gauges, depending on when the package was made, are out-of-date, so you may not want to add them. When you start moving files over to the gauges file, chekc the date and size of the file whenever you get an overwrite dialogue. NEVER simply click "yes to all" when asked about overwriting. I have run into more problems doing that than I have time to write about.
Effects aren't so much the same, but I never overwrite, on general principals. But there is an easy fix. Rename the FX file (it doesn't really matter what the new name is) and open up the aircraft.cfg using notepad. Press Ctrl+F ("find" dialogue) and type in the original name of the FX file. Now replace that with your new name. Save and exit, problem solved.
All of this stuff is a little tiresome, but it will save some headaches down the road.