Background: I replaced my PC motherboard. Nothing changed as far as the drives are concerned. No issues with the computer after the upgrade.
I started a flight and noticed that my graphics settings were not the way I’d left them.
I reset everything, clicked ‘Save and Back’ and restarted the sim.
The settings reverted back to the way they were before I changed them. This is repeatable. Restarting the computer made no difference.
The UserCfg.opt file is not ‘Read Only’. (I’ve seen that before.) However, Windows Explorer shows it as a locked file, even though Unlockit says it’s unlocked.
I tried with an empty Community folder - no joy - the settings keep reverting.
These are where various UserCfg.opt files are located. Ignore the C:$Windows.~BT location. Also ignore the MSFS2020 location.
I copied the original and that file also showed ‘locked’ in Explorer. Unlockit reports it’s not locked.
I edited UserCfg.opt and changed one of the graphics settings (I changed DLSS PERFORMANCE to DLSS Quality.) The file saved with the change intact (weird - if it’s locked it shouldn’t allow me to edit it…)
Anyway, I restarted the sim, and the settings say ‘Performance’ even though I verified it still says ‘Quality’ in the .opt file.
It’s like the sim is not even loading the settings from the file on my C: drive.
I don’t get any sync warnings when I launch the sim.
I’ll be back later this afternoon and do that.
Uninstall using ‘Windows Add/Remove Programs’?
These are where all instances of the Limitless folder are located.
Note that the main folder on the D: drive is a link. I don’t think I can access the WpSystems folder…
I’ve mentioned this before and I’ll repeat it: the MSFS launcher should always be installed on the C drive to avoid issues with permissions or access to files and folders. The wpsystem folder suggests that you didn’t install the launcher on the C drive.
I’m not sure which user account you’re running MSFS from – make sure to run MSFS as an administrator. To do this, right-click the MSFS shortcut and select Run as administrator.
After running as administrator, make a small change in the MSFS settings - for example, change the LOD from 200 to 150 - and save it
This step is important - try a short Free Flight from one airport to another (A to B).
When you finish the flight, tag me and write what to do next.
Could you please provide a link to confirm this? Also, just to clarify, Microsoft is not the developer of MSFS 2020 or 2024 - the developer is Asobo Studio.
But Microsoft owns/controls Windows and every app that installs on
Windows bows to MS.
Install via MS Store only allows the user to select the drive to install onto.
The launcher is installed in the \XboxGames folder.
The rest is installed in the \WpSystem folder.
Install via the Xbox app still lets you create your install folder.
Thanks, what you just described isn’t a recommendation, it’s simply information about how the installation works.
I’ve always emphasized that installing the launcher on a drive other than C: can lead to issues with file access and OP problem confirms exactly what I’ve been saying for a long time. I’m not repeating this to prove a point – I repeat it so that users are aware of potential problems now or in the future. MSFS is constantly being purchased by new users, or by people switching from console to PC, which is why I keep stressing this.
What is locked is the path location (the LocalCache folder and all other subfolders), not the file itself and that´s because that´s in fact a symlink of what is originally installed at WpSystem folder with one exception: SystemAppData (containing your joysticks/keyboard profiles) will be only available at C: drive in any case as that´s not a symlink.
This means you need to make the file edition anywhere at an unlocked location and paste the edited file back to its original path. So just copy the file to desktop for instance, make your edits there and paste the newly edited file back to its official path to overwrite it. In case you get a warning about encryption during copy/paste just proceed with it. Take into account that due to folders protection you won´t be able to copy any of the folders existing there elsewhere, just individual files with such warning and accept it for each of those files. This has to be taken into account when you backup your local content files as you will need to create such folders manually at your backup location and put the files inside them manually.
The launcher and Community folder location have nothing to do at all with this, because your main game installation path is defined at UserCfg.opt and launcher where you set it when installing launcher via MS Store. In any case these local configuration files will be always created at C: drive, as the rest of MS Store applications.
My launcher and game contents for instance are installed at F: drive. Therefore I have:
F:\WpSystem, including the original local configuration files (LocalCache, LocalState, etc)
F:\XboxGames\Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024, where the launcher itself is installed
F:\Flight Simulator 2024, where streamed contents and Community folder are installed
But I still have the “\AppData\Local\Packages\Microsoft.Limitless_8wekyb3d8bbwe” folder at C:\Users as well and that just contains symlinks to the equivalent folders at F:\WpSystem, which is my original installation path, plus the “SystemAppData” folder (not a symlink, as this is the exception) that contains my joysticks profiles.
The fact that there’s no warning doesn’t mean there won’t be problems. From experience, I know that just because Microsoft created Windows doesn’t mean they’re infallible. Unfortunately, a warning about potential issues is missing, but fortunately, there are many users who remind others about this.
This is not a user-created problem. The issue arises when the launcher is installed on a drive other than C: or when it is moved using the “Move” option. The problem isn’t the users - the problem is with the Windows system.
The blue arrow on the folder icons indicate that those folders are Symbolic Links.
The actual physical location of the folders are somewhere other than the C: drive.
The physical location is where you either installed them or moved them via the UserCfg.opt file.
There´s no such issue with launcher as I explained above. You can install it anywhere, and this is my case in F: drive. You can still copy and paste local files and I do it many times when I want to restore my settings from a backup. What you can´t do is to modify nor copy the folders themselves as you won´t get access permission for such operation. Their contents (the files inside) can be copied, deleted and overwritten at any time, provided that game is not running as game updates them upon closing to save your latest configuration modifications. If you delete them they will be downloaded from cloud during launch or game will regenerate them, like in the case of SceneryIndexes.
This actually confirms what I’ve been saying about the problem that occurs when the launcher is installed on a drive other than C: - there are permission issues. I’ve been reminding users about this for a long time.
No, be careful. Their location is not the one set at UserCfg.opt file and you can´t move them where you want because they are related to launcher, not to game contents. That path in UserCfg.opt defines only the game content installation path (Official2024, StreamedPackages and Community). The local configuration files are defined by the location of launcher, so the one you selected at MS Store during launcher installation. In particular they are inside WpSystem folder in the same drive where launcher is located. When you navigate inside it you will find the standard config folders there and they are not symlinks (no arrow icon on folders as you described).
It seems to me that you either completely don’t understand what I’m talking about or are pretending not to. I wasn’t talking about the launcher files themselves.
