[markus_GE]

Where does MSTS put its registry entries?

I just clean-installed it on my new PC and want to back-up the registry data, so in the future, I could just do with a "copy-n-paste" (REG-script, actually, but similarly easy).

Also, does MSTS BIN installation alter anything in the registry?

Cheers, Markus

[ckawahara]

No a direct answer, but at TS I do recall several topics about the MSTS registry, the reg setting for the display, and the use of a copy and paste option to install MSTS on other OS's. Perhaps a forum search? I know Otto has several such contributions.


Update: try this..

http://www.trainsim....=registry+entry

[Hobo]

Hi Marcus !

I might have misunderstood the question but I think that you might use the same file that I do . There's a zip file I think that I got from OTTO's MSTS downloads . It's called MSTS-REGISTRY-REPAIRER.zip . You can put in your own destination or It shows some probable entries and all you do to change it is change the location in the file itself , run the file and register MSTS to where ever you choose . I've used it for years and had no troubles . I change it frequently because I have a few different installs on different drives .You will find a lot of info about the same problem at " Steam4me " by Yuri . If you can't find it let me know . OK ?

[markus_GE]

:lol2: both, that has helped me :)

On more question, as asked above: Does MSTS Bin alter any MSTS registry values?

Cheers, Markus

[ckawahara]

markus_GE, on 07 July 2015 - 10:33 AM, said:

On more question, as asked above: Does MSTS Bin alter any MSTS registry values?
Cheers, Markus

Do not know for sure, but I have not been able to locate an entry if it did change the registry. Also, several of .dll's used by .BIN are a copy and paste replacement made after installation. Raildriver for instance. The word 'translated' suggests to me that after .BIN installs and does whatever it does, the names and locations of the orginal MSTS installed components are not changed in location.

[markus_GE]

ckawahara, on 07 July 2015 - 11:13 AM, said:

[...] The word 'translated' suggests to me that after .BIN installs and does whatever it does, the names and locations of the orginal MSTS installed components are not changed in location.

I can´t follow you there - could you please explain what translation (as from English to Spanish has to do with registry settings being added / removed / changed?

Cheers, Markus

[markus_GE]

Follow up to my question RE MSTSbin registry changes - I want to know this in order to determine if copying over my MSTS installation (bin-updated) from my old to the new computer will work without causing problems.

Cheers, Markus

[copperpen]

In one word, yes. Qualifier, registry must be set up one way or another, either using Otto's software, or by installing from the discs first. If you use trainstore, this must have everything unstored before making any moves.

[ckawahara]

Hi Markus.

Let me see if i can make some sense here. When BIN is installs, it appears to me that it modifies, changes, the contents of a few .dll files. These modified files appear to be the same as those that MSTS installed originally. This is just a guess on my part. By modifying only, the registry does not get changed.

I installed BIN in only the original MSTS installation. From the original, I have created many, many, mini-routes, and as far as I can tell, BIN is being used in all of them. I would think that this would not be possible if BIN required a registry entry. Familiar with Conbuilder? The Conbuilder Explorer does alter the registry entry for MSTS when CB is used to create/modify consists in other locations other than the original MSTS install. Since BIN appears to be running regardless of which Mini I am using, and regardless of where the registry entry for MSTS is stating it is, I guess that BIN has no registry requirement.

Hope this makes sense. Again, all conjecture on my part.

[markus_GE]

@ Mervyn: The nromal MSTS install has been run, so those registry entries should be there. The question was rather, if I am safe to just copy the MSTS-bin updated files over the clean-installed ones.

@ Craig: :) , that is enough for me (I suspected mostly the same things as you described above, but wasn´t sure). :)

Cheers, Markus

PS: After all, if I mess it up, I can simply re-install MSTS, then install BIN, and then do the rest. (Re-installing MSTS is no longer such a pain for me - I created ISO files from the disks, which can be mounted as virtual CD drives and thus be run much faster - a complete install only takes 5 minutes, opposed to half an hour when installing from the physical CDs)

[Hobo]

Marcus - I have 1 install from the MSTS Discs . I have 7 other copies or rather partial copies of that install on other drives . Each copy has it's own name for different countries or regions . Each copy has it's own routes and Trainsets etc . Conbuilder is installed along with Shape Viewer , TGATools , and Routes ON/OFF on one of the drives ( My Working Drive ) . The only time that it might be used is for automatic installs and You can change that to any copy that you want at the time of install . If I'm installing a new route then I install it to the Original Install of MSTS if it's not a stand alone route. After install I move it to the copy I want to run it from . They all run BIN which goes along with the copy of the Original Install .
Do a registry backup before you play around then restore the good registry if things get screwed up .
I don't know if this is helping you or not . I'm trying !

[Genma Saotome]

markus_GE, on 07 July 2015 - 06:02 AM, said:

Where does MSTS put its registry entries?

The correct answer depends on the version of windows you are using as well as whether you set up a custom profile from train.exe in your graphics card control panel.

Use the find function in regedit. If it turns up multiple locations (I had three for a while) you'll need to play around with something like the window size of RE for the purpose of making each registry hive unique. Then run RE and see which variant appears. That one is then the correct answer to your question.

[markus_GE]

Hobo, on 07 July 2015 - 02:54 PM, said:

Marcus - I have 1 install from the MSTS Discs . I have 7 other copies or rather partial copies of that install on other drives . Each copy has it's own name for different countries or regions . Each copy has it's own routes and Trainsets etc . Conbuilder is installed along with Shape Viewer , TGATools , and Routes ON/OFF on one of the drives ( My Working Drive ) . The only time that it might be used is for automatic installs and You can change that to any copy that you want at the time of install . If I'm installing a new route then I install it to the Original Install of MSTS if it's not a stand alone route. After install I move it to the copy I want to run it from . They all run BIN which goes along with the copy of the Original Install .
Do a registry backup before you play around then restore the good registry if things get screwed up .
I don't know if this is helping you or not . I'm trying !

Yep, that´s helping - it shows to me, that BIN can be copied and does not need to be installed to each and every MSTS install completely - replacing the files in a clean install with BINned ones is fine, then :pleasantry:

Genma Saotome, on 07 July 2015 - 08:22 PM, said:

The correct answer depends on the version of windows you are using as well as whether you set up a custom profile from train.exe in your graphics card control panel.

Use the find function in regedit. If it turns up multiple locations (I had three for a while) you'll need to play around with something like the window size of RE for the purpose of making each registry hive unique. Then run RE and see which variant appears. That one is then the correct answer to your question.

I already found it (in Win7, according to the instructions in one of the links to TS.com posted above).

The multiple location thingy is something I´ll have to look into, but as you said, search should be fine.

Then, it´s all an export-to-reg-script and save-to-secure-location question - after all, all I want is to have backups of ALL my MSTS / ORTS data - and REG settings are data :bigboss:

Cheers, Markus

PS: Don´t wonder if I don´t reply for two weeks now - I´m going on vacation, and my time to stop by here will be VERY limited.

[Mike B]

My experience has been that MSTS has no need of the registry to run. Once it's installed, the only time MSTS itself needs the registry is to uninstall. May not be quite true, but I haven't found a situation where the registry is involved.

I have a base MSTS directory that is installed from the CDs (used for some commercial routes that DO look at the registry for the MSTS location, plus a few odds n ends that don't fit other schemes well), then several other "mini" routes for key areas or subjects (L&PS, which I use generically for traction lines so BCER is there too), PRR-ER (big enough to be by itself), ATSF (Transcon and and freeware Surfliner routes), UPSP (pretty much what it says), and Rockies (Tennesee Pass, Rollins Pass, Joint Line, etc.). None of the "minis" actually "install" MSTS - they're just created using the L&PS or PRRER installers (which copy the necessary parts of MSTS from the base directory found using the registry) or Route-Riter. Each set of routes is entered using a standard shortcut to the trains.exe file in the appropriate spot. It all works fine, which tells me the registry isn't really needed in normal operation. And ORTS very nicely recognizes each of the minis when told where to look (but only finds the base directory by itself because that's where the registry points).

Also, when re-installing to set up a new or cleaned-up base MSTS, I've found that I can do the basic MSTS install and MS updates, then simply copy over a fully-patched train.exe from a backup (along with any other things like routes etc. needed in the base install), works fine. So there's no registry fix needed, really, for BIN or backed-up routes/trains unless you want to have their uninstall option available. With adequate backups, do you?

When uninstalling MSTS, it apparently uses the registry to find whatever it dumped into your system folders and yank that too, except for things like DirectX that can stay (and you let it install DX8? Why?). There aren't very many such things.

So, overall, my read is that MSTS really doesn't use the registry at all, except to set things up for eventual uninstallation. IOW, don't worry about it, set up your shortcut(s) to train.exe as described in the Instructions here and elsewhere, and enjoy.

Cheers? :bigboss:

-M

[charlie]

Mike B, on 08 July 2015 - 07:35 PM, said:

My experience has been that MSTS has no need of the registry to run. Once it's installed, the only time MSTS itself needs the registry is to uninstall. May not be quite true, but I haven't found a situation where the registry is involved.

If it's there, MSTS uses the registry every time you start it, and the main install registry also serves for any mini install.

If you have no registry entries, settings that you have made in Options (Realism, Driving Aids, Keyboard, Sound, Display, Advances Display, etc.) will not have been recorded anywhere, and you must fix them up every time you fire the sim up...

regards,
charlie