Preparing for a dangerous mission (seeking advice on Windows 7 jump-street install)

I am about to embark into deep and dangerous waters, and so I'm approaching you all for advice prior to my departure.

As an anniversary present (and as sort of a reward for not giving up the good fight these last few years) my lovely, kind, patient and loving XO bought me a present. Well, ordered it for me at any rate. It hasn't, as yet, arrived, and so I'm using that time wisely by preparing the groundwork.

Because she knows how much I love SHIII, and knows my current PC is a bit long in the tooth, she's ordered me an Alienware Aurora-R4. The basic specifications are:

1. Intel Core i7-3820 (Quad Core, 10MB Cache) Overclocked up to 4.1GHz;
2. 16GB Quad Channel DDR3 at 1600MHz;
3. 2GB GDDR5 AMD Radeon HD 7870;
4. 1TB Serial ATA 3 Hard Drive;
5. Single Drive: 24X CD/DVD burner (DVD+/-RW) w/double layer write capability;
6. Integrated 7.1 Channel Audio.

Alas and alack, the OS is Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit, English, w/Media, which is the bigger reason I'm asking for advice on things. (If it was only XP SP3 . . . ::sighs:: )

To the best of my knowledge the only additional, preloaded "bloatware" are Adobe Acrobat Reader and Microsoft Office trial, and I don't consider Adobe Reader to actually be bloatware. So the PC should be fairly "clean" and brand-spanking new.

The first thing I'm planning on doing is --what a surprise-- run all the necessary Windows updates before doing anything else. After that will be loading and/or installing the following software:

1. Nortons's 360
2. Secunia PSI
3. FileHippo
4. WinPatrol

Depending on how things run, I might load and/or install these additional ones as well:

1. IObit Advanced SystemCare 5.4.0
2. IObit Game Booster 3.0
3. IObit Malware Fighter 1.5.0.2


Now if this was a XP system I wouldn't be asking but, as it's Windows 7 . . .

My intention is to reinstall SHIII and wind up with an exact (or near exact) clone to how it's currently running. I'm going to describe, step by step, what I intend to do, and what I ask is that if I'll screw the pooch and become a Bernard First Class, hopefully someone will correct me.

1. Create a folder called Silent Hunter, then create a folder inside that one called SHIII (C:\Silent Hunter\SHIII)
2. Reinstall SHIII into C:\Silent Hunter\SHIII
3. Copy and save SH3.exe for later hardcode modification(s)
4. Run GWX Gold
5. Reinstall SH3 Commander
6. Run GWX3_SH3Cdr3.2Files_v1.2.exe (SH3Cmdr Config files for GWX3.0)

At this point I should have a clean, unmodded install of GWX 3.0 and SH3 Commander. And so, next . . .

1. Install and setup JSGME
2. Load mods to folder
3. Activate mods.

Currently I run the following mods (as exported):

GWX 3 Wilhemshafen,St Naz,Schluese and xtra ships V5
LifeBoats&Debris_v4
Wac Animated Sub Pens interior start for GWX
GWX - 16km Atmosphere
GWX - Integrated Orders
GWX - No Medals on Crew
New Uboat Guns 1.2
Urfischs_ModStrike_Beta1
Waterstream+Exhaust Combi V2.3 for GWX3
Tikigod's - Engine Order Telegraph (German)
Torpedo damage Final ver2.0
torpedo trail and wake fix
Depthcharge Shake v2.01
Aces' Combined SH3.SDL Files v2
Real Depth Charge
hydrophone depth charge
SH3-Fix_SN_2_Stock
Fix_UZO_R_stock
GWX Gold restricted Bino Mod
Q Ship mod GWX3.0
GWX3.0 Additional_Ammo
SH-5 Water for GWX 3.0 V0.9 Atlantic campaign (default)
Searchlights_Removed
KJF_Moon_v1.1
KB's Diesel Sound Mod
Air Torpedo_mod_v2.0
O2-Gauges v2
Supplement to V16B1 (JSGME)
Stiebler4B_V16B1_Addon

I would like to try iambecomelife's Merchant Fleet Mod, now that I'll have a pc that can handle that.

Well, I think this covers it all. Does anyone see any mines I've missed? Any comments, opinions, or ideas? Any suggestions as to additional and/or enhanced mods now that I'll have a pc that isn't being powered by a hamster?

Danke!

~Albrecht von Hesse

[fenian]

I have a Dell system and win 7 pro. No problems so far and I have GWX, WAC, LSH, NYGM in addition to a mod mash of stuff with SH4. Multi sh3-4 works great, and with SH3 each has a SH3 Commander file. some one posted a "how to" and I followed that and works great. I also can run T34 v Tiger and others. And I really enjoy office. The worry now is with Win 8 looming....

So enjoy the new platform and pop a Becks....

[Cybermat47]

Thassa loooot of text!

[VONHARRIS]

Albrecht Von Hesse,

Congrats on your new rig! I envy you for the 16 GB of RAM!

This is what I did on my new Win7 Ultimate 64bit

1. Installed Sh3 normally without any changes to install files on my C drive.
2. Used multi SH3 and created a copy on my D drive which I modded heavily GWX + Commander + V16B1 patch + V16B1 addon + MFM + other mods
3. Result : OK!

Good luck with your new adventure.
Keep us posted.

[HW3]

Be sure to put SH3 Commander in its own folder like your doing SH3. You will also want the 4GB Patch for SH3 to take advantage of all that memory. And be sure to add Steve's latest ship names file to the Cfg file in SH3 Commander.

Originally Posted by VONHARRIS

Albrecht Von Hesse,

Congrats on your new rig! I envy you for the 16 GB of RAM!

This is what I did on my new Win7 Ultimate 64bit

1. Installed Sh3 normally without any changes to install files on my C drive.
2. Used multi SH3 and created a copy on my D drive which I modded heavily GWX + Commander + V16B1 patch + V16B1 addon + MFM + other mods
3. Result : OK!

Good luck with your new adventure.
Keep us posted.

Thanks for the good wishes! And the advice!

Originally Posted by HW3

Be sure to put SH3 Commander in its own folder like your doing SH3. You will also want the 4GB Patch for SH3 to take advantage of all that memory. And be sure to add Steve's latest ship names file to the Cfg file in SH3 Commander.

Thanks for the advice!

I see I did mess up some of the steps. For instance, running the patch before running GWX Gold, and backing that EXE up before replacing it with the original SH3.exe before running h.sie's and Stiebler's patches.

I haven't ever used multi SH3 before, but it sounds like a good idea. I only have the one hard drive, however. IIRC the big problem with Vista, 7, etc., was placing game installs in the Program File folder was a big no-no. Will it be alright if, instead of using a separate HD I make sure to install in created folders? For instance, C:\Silent Hunter III\SHIII vanilla, C:\Silent Hunter III\SHIII GWX, etc.?

Regarding the 4G memory patch, I'm pretty sure both h.sie's and Stiebler's patches have that option included.

Now if my pc would finally get here!!

~Albrecht von Hesse

[VONHARRIS]

Originally Posted by Albrecht Von Hesse

I haven't ever used multi SH3 before, but it sounds like a good idea. I only have the one hard drive, however. IIRC the big problem with Vista, 7, etc., was placing game installs in the Program File folder was a big no-no. Will it be alright if, instead of using a separate HD I make sure to install in created folders? For instance, C:\Silent Hunter III\SHIII vanilla, C:\Silent Hunter III\SHIII GWX, etc.?

Regarding the 4G memory patch, I'm pretty sure both h.sie's and Stiebler's patches have that option included.

Now if my pc would finally get here!!

~Albrecht von Hesse

Yes , there is no problem so long you run SH3 from a created folder.
And yes , the 4GB patch is included in both Hsie's and Stiebler's patches.

[brett25]

congratulation, that's quite a machine, you should have no problems running SH3-make sure you get the resolution fix so you can run the game at higher resolutions!

ps ive been using windows 7 with no problems

[HW3]

Yes just create a folder and install there. I have SH3, SH4, IL2, and SH3 Commander installed in their own folders on my C drive using Windows 7, and all work just fine. One thing to be aware of, with MFM your game load time will increase, so be patient.

Originally Posted by brett25

congratulation, that's quite a machine, you should have no problems running SH3-make sure you get the resolution fix so you can run the game at higher resolutions!

ps ive been using windows 7 with no problems

That's great to know about using Windows 7!

Originally Posted by HW3

Yes just create a folder and install there. I have SH3, SH4, IL2, and SH3 Commander installed in their own folders on my C drive using Windows 7, and all work just fine. One thing to be aware of, with MFM your game load time will increase, so be patient.

Well, with my current PC my load times have been 3-5 minutes for the program, and another 15-20 minutes to load or start a career. I've been pretty patient with that so far.

Seriously, though, just what sort of game load time do you foresee?

Also, with brett25 now having mentioned resolution, I've been debating upgrading my present monitor, which is a Dell E207WFP; 20-inch wide-screen LCD set at 1280 x 1024, 75Hz, 32 bit true color. One of the ones I'm considering getting as a replacement is the Samsung SyncMaster XL2370:

Display Type: LCD display / TFT active matrix - LED backlight
Diagonal Size: 23 in - Widescreen
Display interface: HDMI, DVI
Max Resolution: 1920 x 1080
Aspect ratio: 16:9
Contrast ratio: 1000:1

Is this at all usable for SHIII? Or will that be overkill and mostly unworkable?

(Actually, how well will the pc specs function for SHIV and SH5, too?)

~Albrecht von Hesse

[HW3]

Sh4 should run fine. I can't say about SH5 as I haven't bought it due to all the reported problems with it. Your load time should actually decrease from what you have seen in the past, something like 5-10 minutes to load a save game, maybe less.

[brett25]

Actually, how well will the pc specs function for SHIV and SH5, too?

trust me you can run ANYTHING with those specs. You will have s powerful multi core processor, tons of RAM and a great video card. The only thing you may want to consider (can be in the future) is a dedicated audio card, these run about $100.00 and will give you more precessing power when it comes to audio.

she is getting you a very nice machine, its very touching

enjoy MFM with that PC!

[Herr-Berbunch]

When I upgraded to a new PC my load times went from about 12-14 mins to 'barely time to put the kettle on', as the weeks passed though, and more programs were added it did begin to slow again, but still much better than the previous PC.

Don't forget to ditch StarFarce if you've got an older copy.

Personally I think you'd be better off with my PC, I'll do a straight swap . . .

[Fubar2Niner]

Originally Posted by Herr-Berbunch

...........I'll do a straight swap . . .

I'll raise you 1x i7 + 12 G ram. plus 3x Gainward 8800GTX golden sample