Horizons 13GB of Files in Frontier_Developments hidden folder Question?.

[Saltyseadog]

On my desktop PC I have 1.5 terrabytes of storage on two standard hard drives. My Windows 7 OS install and my installed programs etc are stored on my 120GB SSD. I try to keep storage on that to a minimum using the other two drives as much as possible. This takes up approx 40GB leaving approx 60GB of free space on my SSD, however I noticed yesterday evening that I only had around 40GB free and when investigating found that on opening the "Hidden Folders" in Win7 and navigating to User/AppData/Local I have two Frontier Developments folders, the first one named "Frontier Developments" holds only 530KB in it but the second one called "Frontier_Developments" holds 13GB on it. In it there are 3 folders, one called EDLaunch.exe with 4KB, one called logs with 327KB and the third one called Products has 13GB in it. On closer inspection this consists of a folder called COMBAT_TUTORIAL_DEMO with 1.55GB, another folder called elite-dangerous-64 with 6.59GB, and one called PUBLIC_TEST_SERVER with 4.89GB in it. My question is, considering that I only ever play Horizons and that the main servers for the game are online are all these files neccessary on my PC's SSD?. I seem to vaguely remember a thread a long time ago on E on deleting certain files.

On the same subject I originally bought E via Steam and had a problem with the activation code, at the end of it I somehow ended up with a Steam install and one from the E shop. I always used the shop shortcut as it meant I didn't have to sign into Steam each time. When Horizons came out I bought it on pre order from the E shop and only ever play Horizons but am unsure whether I can uninstall the Steam install. Does anyone have any thoughts advice to offer on this?.

 

[InDigital]

I did not read everything only thing i can say do not use steam. Steam installs all game versions you don't need.

 

[Para Handy]

The test-server one is the beta and if you are not using it you can delete beta but do it from your launcher using the options/delete game choice. Just ensure that the game you want to delete is highlighted in the bottom window before selecting "delete game" - otherwise you will have to re-download Horizons if you have deleted that by mistake. (You can also delete the combat tutorial I suppose.)

I am assume that this works ok with Steam as I don't use that for E D.

SSDs are getting cheaper now.

 

[Saltyseadog]

The test-server one is the beta and if you are not using it you can delete beta but do it from your launcher using the options/delete game choice. Just ensure that the game you want to delete is highlighted in the bottom window before selecting "delete game" - otherwise you will have to re-download Horizons if you have deleted that by mistake. (You can also delete the combat tutorial I suppose.)

I am assume that this works ok with Steam as I don't use that for E D.

SSDs are getting cheaper now.

I don't use Steam Malcolm, I bought the Horizons edition from the Frontier store and as I don't ever play the original Steam bought Eliteangerous edition anymore I wondered whether it would be possible to uninstall the Steam install?.. As I understand from your reply it is okay to uninstall the versions I do not use anymore from the game launcher, This would be handy as after last weeks updated launcher Horizons is now at the bottom of the list. Would it also be okay to uninstall the 32bit versions of which I have no need?. I could have bought a bigger SSD at the time but as I only ever intended to use it for the OS and installed programs using the 1.5TB on my other two drives for storing films, music etc. My research at the time showed that to be a good option.

 

[Para Handy]

I onl;y use steam for a specific incarnation of FSX so I can't help much - however, you can go to your steam launcher and uninstall any games that are listed in your library as being installed. Then you can of course uninstall steam too if you never use it.

If you have never installed the 32 bit versions of E D then there is nothing to uninstall, the "uninstall game" choice will not appear under the options menu of the launcher, same for the combat trainer thingie - unfortunately I think all the game options that your account is valid for will always appear in the selection window so horizons is destined to live where it is until F D sort this out. There is a thread about "Want your blue launcher back?" which might suit your purpose:

https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=251090


[alien]

 

[xondk]

On my desktop PC I have 1.5 terrabytes of storage on two standard hard drives. My Windows 7 OS install and my installed programs etc are stored on my 120GB SSD. I try to keep storage on that to a minimum using the other two drives as much as possible. This takes up approx 40GB leaving approx 60GB of free space on my SSD, however I noticed yesterday evening that I only had around 40GB free and when investigating found that on opening the "Hidden Folders" in Win7 and navigating to User/AppData/Local I have two Frontier Developments folders, the first one named "Frontier Developments" holds only 530KB in it but the second one called "Frontier_Developments" holds 13GB on it. In it there are 3 folders, one called EDLaunch.exe with 4KB, one called logs with 327KB and the third one called Products has 13GB in it. On closer inspection this consists of a folder called COMBAT_TUTORIAL_DEMO with 1.55GB, another folder called elite-dangerous-64 with 6.59GB, and one called PUBLIC_TEST_SERVER with 4.89GB in it. My question is, considering that I only ever play Horizons and that the main servers for the game are online are all these files neccessary on my PC's SSD?. I seem to vaguely remember a thread a long time ago on E on deleting certain files.

On the same subject I originally bought E via Steam and had a problem with the activation code, at the end of it I somehow ended up with a Steam install and one from the E shop. I always used the shop shortcut as it meant I didn't have to sign into Steam each time. When Horizons came out I bought it on pre order from the E shop and only ever play Horizons but am unsure whether I can uninstall the Steam install. Does anyone have any thoughts advice to offer on this?.

Sounds like a _VERY_ old version of the game, it had some issues with the default location of the game and some people ended up installing the game in appdata/local/frontier_development could definitely be that? but yeah, unless you installed the game there yourself currently that is an old version and you can easily delete any 'product' folders in it. If not all of it, I believe it is frontier development <- no underline now.

 

[Saltyseadog]

Sounds like a _VERY_ old version of the game, it had some issues with the default location of the game and some people ended up installing the game in appdata/local/frontier_development could definitely be that? but yeah, unless you installed the game there yourself currently that is an old version and you can easily delete any 'product' folders in it. If not all of it, I believe it is frontier development <- no underline now.

Thanks for the reply, when I open the Frontier_Developments folder there are 4 entries. (1) EDLaunch.exe_Url_21af1wsucqr1zncebtgduq2o5ofpofxm, and inside that is 0.4.5499.0 which I can see is the latest launcher.

(2) The second folder is entitled logs and has all my log-ins since 10/09/2015 up to today's date

(3) The third folder inside it is named Products and opens into 4 more folders the first of which is named COMBAT_TUTORIAL_DEMO and dated 6/10/2015. The second folder in it is named elite-dangerous-64 and dated 15/12/2015 inside this this one seems to be a complete game 64 bit install. The 3rd folder is called PUBLIC_TEST_SERVER and was created on the 6/10/2015 and seems to be a complete 32 bit install. The 4th object in it is a file called virtual cache and opens in Internet Explorer and again documents all my log in info since 6/10/2015 to the present.

(4) the fourth entry in here is another XML file called Specs and dated 14/05/2016.

I think you are right in that I could more than likely delete most of this but I don't know enough about it to be sure. If I did delete them and found that I needed them would I lose my savegame on a fresh install from my account at the Frontier shop?. As I said previously I only play on Horizons since its release but there is no mention of Horizons in any of these folders it all says just Elite Dangerous.

 

[xondk]

Thanks for the reply, when I open the Frontier_Developments folder there are 4 entries. (1) EDLaunch.exe_Url_21af1wsucqr1zncebtgduq2o5ofpofxm, and inside that is 0.4.5499.0 which I can see is the latest launcher.

(2) The second folder is entitled logs and has all my log-ins since 10/09/2015 up to today's date

(3) The third folder inside it is named Products and opens into 4 more folders the first of which is named COMBAT_TUTORIAL_DEMO and dated 6/10/2015. The second folder in it is named elite-dangerous-64 and dated 15/12/2015 inside this this one seems to be a complete game 64 bit install. The 3rd folder is called PUBLIC_TEST_SERVER and was created on the 6/10/2015 and seems to be a complete 32 bit install. The 4th object in it is a file called virtual cache and opens in Internet Explorer and again documents all my log in info since 6/10/2015 to the present.

(4) the fourth entry in here is another XML file called Specs and dated 14/05/2016.

I think you are right in that I could more than likely delete most of this but I don't know enough about it to be sure. If I did delete them and found that I needed them would I lose my savegame on a fresh install from my account at the Frontier shop?. As I said previously I only play on Horizons since its release but there is no mention of Horizons in any of these folders it all says just Elite Dangerous.

You do not have both a "Frontier Development" and a "Frontier_Development" folder? the one with the underscore is a very old one but I think used for 'temp' stuff sometimes still, but the product folder really shouldn't be present in the Frontier_Development folder

You may want to check your installation location before anything but deleting the product folder should be fine, the other folders could be your configs and such. Again. Frontier_Development <--- the underscore, is a folder that shouldn't have anything but very few things in it.

 

[Para Handy]

You do not have both a "Frontier Development" and a "Frontier_Development" folder?

Those directories are only in the "Users/*****/AppData/Local" tree surely?

The program files should live under the "/Program Files (x86)/Frontier" directory - as this is where the folder "EDLaunch" lives in my PC and the actual game files live under the next directory "Products" which contains "elite-dangerous-64" folder (which is horizons) and "PUBLIC_TEST_SERVER_64" which is the Horizons beta [replace the 64 with 32 for the E D Missions (32-bit) beta I suppose].

Salty's directory "EDLaunch.exe_Url_21af1wsucqr1zncebtgduq2o5ofpofxm" should contains his launcher config only (that's what mine has) and, as I said, aught to be in the AppData tree.

I don't understand why either the directories which belong under AppData would be in the root of the C drive or (if they aren't) why the EDLaunch and products would be installed in the AppData tree when they belong in the Program Files (x86) tree.

[where is it]

 

[Para Handy]

Thanks for the reply, when I open the Frontier_Developments folder there are 4 entries. (1) EDLaunch.exe_Url_21af1wsucqr1zncebtgduq2o5ofpofxm, and inside that is 0.4.5499.0 which I can see is the latest launcher.

(2) The second folder is entitled logs and has all my log-ins since 10/09/2015 up to today's date

(3) The third folder inside it is named Products and opens into 4 more folders the first of which is named COMBAT_TUTORIAL_DEMO and dated 6/10/2015. The second folder in it is named elite-dangerous-64 and dated 15/12/2015 inside this this one seems to be a complete game 64 bit install. The 3rd folder is called PUBLIC_TEST_SERVER and was created on the 6/10/2015 and seems to be a complete 32 bit install. The 4th object in it is a file called virtual cache and opens in Internet Explorer and again documents all my log in info since 6/10/2015 to the present.

(4) the fourth entry in here is another XML file called Specs and dated 14/05/2016.

I think you are right in that I could more than likely delete most of this but I don't know enough about it to be sure. If I did delete them and found that I needed them would I lose my savegame on a fresh install from my account at the Frontier shop?. As I said previously I only play on Horizons since its release but there is no mention of Horizons in any of these folders it all says just Elite Dangerous.

George - Can you just look again and see exactly where your EDLaunch folder (which has Products, Logs, etc folders) resides? As I mentioned above, it should be in "C:/Program Files (x98)/Frontier" - if it is elsewhere then maybe the old Steam installation has left it stranded somewhere. Your entries you mention in points 1) and 4) exist in my AppData tree so I wonder if things are mixed up with yours.

If I am steering you wrong, then my apologies, I am only referring to how my installation looks, I am not part of F D so have no inside knowledge.

Malcolm

P.S. Your save is stored on F D's servers so you won't lose your progress if things need reinstalling, the very worst case would be losing your options and old logs so you can copy those directories to another location / drive as insurance if you want. I have done several re-installations and my options have always been retained so probably yours would be too if you needed to re-install.

 

[Saltyseadog]

George - Can you just look again and see exactly where your EDLaunch folder (which has Products, Logs, etc folders) resides? As I mentioned above, it should be in "C:/Program Files (x98)/Frontier" - if it is elsewhere then maybe the old Steam installation has left it stranded somewhere. Your entries you mention in points 1) and 4) exist in my AppData tree so I wonder if things are mixed up with yours.

If I am steering you wrong, then my apologies, I am only referring to how my installation looks, I am not part of F D so have no inside knowledge.

Malcolm

P.S. Your save is stored on F D's servers so you won't lose your progress if things need reinstalling, the very worst case would be losing your options and old logs so you can copy those directories to another location / drive as insurance if you want. I have done several re-installations and my options have always been retained so probably yours would be too if you needed to re-install.

I just checked the x86 programs folder Malcolm and there was no Frontier folder so I opened up the hidden folders again and there it was. Inside that folder is an other folder called EDLaunch and inside that one is what looks like the game files and the ED Launch icon in it has the latest version number. Is yours also a hidden folder?. I have taken some screen shots see below and can you check if you have the same in your s or what is missing from mine. I have a feeling that this goes back to the problem I had with my original Steam/Frontier E install from last year. It is good to know that I will not lose my save though. If I cannot find a solution perhaps I may have uninstall the lot, both from Steam and Frontier and then start again which is doable if I won't lose my savegame. Don't much fancy starting in a Sidewinder again,

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[Para Handy]

I just checked the x86 programs folder Malcolm and there was no Frontier folder so I opened up the hidden folders again and there it was. Inside that folder is an other folder called EDLaunch and inside that one is what looks like the game files and the ED Launch icon in it has the latest version number. Is yours also a hidden folder?. I have taken some screen shots see below and can you check if you have the same in your s or what is missing from mine. I have a feeling that this goes back to the problem I had with my original Steam/Frontier E install from last year. It is good to know that I will not lose my save though. If I cannot find a solution perhaps I may have uninstall the lot, both from Steam and Frontier and then start again which is doable if I won't lose my savegame. Don't much fancy starting in a Sidewinder again,

OK George.... No mine is not a "hidden folder".

Yes in picture "X86 Program Files.png" there does appear to be a folder called "Frontier" (the text is a bit blurred). If you look at the address bar at the top of your windows explorer "window" (immediately below the blue border) you will see that it gives the address of the window that is open, displaying the contents of the folder listed in that address bar. All three of the photos you posted show that the locations you were looking at lived under the "Program Files (x86)" directory tree.

Unfortunately there is no sign of the "Products" and "Logs" folders in the picture "Inside EDLaunch Folder.png" (that Logs folder only contains the client.log, your game logs live in another "Logs" folder under the products tree).

I suppose that those two folders were installed somewhere else by Steam and your later F D install just used the same place (presumably the registry links some location - DON'T EDIT THAT - you can really muck up your PC if you don't know what you are doing in there).

I don't know what to say, if your game is working fine then you might want to just leave it alone. Even if you un-installed and did a fresh installation, maybe the same directories would be used (from the registry) so you might not achieve anything. If you do decide to make a fresh installation, make a copy of the Options Folder under "Users/*****/AppData/Local/Frontier Developments/Elite Dangerous"- that way your bindings and other preferences will be backed up and you just need to copy that folder back in after install. You would have to re-validate after installing again but that is just a copy and paste job from the email.

Those pics show where my stuff is found (the reason for two "EDLaunch......" folders in Frontier_Developments is because I have two separate installations, each using their own launcher).

 

[Saltyseadog]

OK George.... No mine is not a "hidden folder".

Yes in picture "X86 Program Files.png" there does appear to be a folder called "Frontier" (the text is a bit blurred). If you look at the address bar at the top of your windows explorer "window" (immediately below the blue border) you will see that it gives the address of the window that is open, displaying the contents of the folder listed in that address bar. All three of the photos you posted show that the locations you were looking at lived under the "Program Files (x86)" directory tree.

Unfortunately there is no sign of the "Products" and "Logs" folders in the picture "Inside EDLaunch Folder.png" (that Logs folder only contains the client.log, your game logs live in another "Logs" folder under the products tree).

I suppose that those two folders were installed somewhere else by Steam and your later F D install just used the same place (presumably the registry links some location - DON'T EDIT THAT - you can really muck up your PC if you don't know what you are doing in there).

I don't know what to say, if your game is working fine then you might want to just leave it alone. Even if you un-installed and did a fresh installation, maybe the same directories would be used (from the registry) so you might not achieve anything. If you do decide to make a fresh installation, make a copy of the Options Folder under "Users/*****/AppData/Local/Frontier Developments/Elite Dangerous"- that way your bindings and other preferences will be backed up and you just need to copy that folder back in after install. You would have to re-validate after installing again but that is just a copy and paste job from the email.

http://i.imgur.com/TAlX52n.jpg


http://i.imgur.com/zwJQff9.jpg

Those pics show where my stuff is found (the reason for two "EDLaunch......" folders in Frontier_Developments is because I have two separate installations, each using their own launcher).

I think I have figured out what has happened with my installs. Earlier today after reading your previous post I cut and pasted the folder with the 13GB of files from my SSD to my secondary HD then uninstalled Steam and the two Steam related games I had installed from my programs list, then deleted the Steam folders from both my x86 programs and also from the hidden folders in my Users files. I then attempted to start up E from the remaining Frontier developments folder in my C drive. The orange launcher opened but I had to re-sign in my details plus a new code via email then I got the option to install. I chose E Horizons 64bit and the files downloaded and afterwards I opened up the game and it appears that as you said all my details are the same as before. Not sure if this is important or not but in my installed programs list I now only have the Elite Dangerous launcher listed. The Elite Dangerous program which was also there before was the Steam install which I uninstalled. As the game is working okay do I need to go to the Frontier shop and download a new copy or not?. I guess what I am trying to say is, in your Control Panel>Programs>Uninstall a Program list do you have separate entries for the launcher and the game itself?.

 

[Para Handy]

I think I have figured out what has happened with my installs. Earlier today after reading your previous post I cut and pasted the folder with the 13GB of files from my SSD to my secondary HD then uninstalled Steam and the two Steam related games I had installed from my programs list, then deleted the Steam folders from both my x86 programs and also from the hidden folders in my Users files. I then attempted to start up E from the remaining Frontier developments folder in my C drive. The orange launcher opened but I had to re-sign in my details plus a new code via email then I got the option to install. I chose E Horizons 64bit and the files downloaded and afterwards I opened up the game and it appears that as you said all my details are the same as before. Not sure if this is important or not but in my installed programs list I now only have the Elite Dangerous launcher listed. The Elite Dangerous program which was also there before was the Steam install which I uninstalled. As the game is working okay do I need to go to the Frontier shop and download a new copy or not?. I guess what I am trying to say is, in your Control Panel>Programs>Uninstall a Program list do you have separate entries for the launcher and the game itself?.

nope - just the Elite Dangerous Launcher

EDIT >>>> It would be interesting to know where your EDLAunch folder lives now (should be the same place) and if the Products directory is now in there.

 

[Saltyseadog]

nope - just the Elite Dangerous Launcher

EDIT >>>> It would be interesting to know where your EDLAunch folder lives now (should be the same place) and if the Products directory is now in there.

I thought that would be the case Malcolm as I went to the Frontier shop and downloaded a new Horizons file and noticed that it was just the launcher which I already had.

Not sure if Steam is to blame for it but the EDLaunch folder is now in an "unhidden" folder on my C drive x86 programs folder and has the same options available as shown in your screenshot except I don't have a PUBLIC_TEST_SERVER_64 option but on checking I believe this is where the 32 bit install lives, perhaps it would be created if I installed the 32bit version from the launcher?. I still have the Products folder is in the Frontier_Developments folder I moved to my secondary HD and in the Win32 folder inside it there are 4.75GB of files, also the elite_dangerous_64 folder there has 6.25GB of files in the Win64 folder inside it, the other 1.55GB of files are in the COMBAT_TUTORIAL_DEMO folder. It would be interesting to know how big these are in your install?.

When Horizons installed again earlier it created a new Frontier_Developments folder in the User/AppData/Local folder but this one only has a folder named EDLaunch.exe_Url_21af1wsucqr1zncebtgduq2o5ofpofxm and a file named Specs.

 

[Para Handy]

I thought that would be the case Malcolm as I went to the Frontier shop and downloaded a new Horizons file and noticed that it was just the launcher which I already had.

Not sure if Steam is to blame for it but the EDLaunch folder is now in an "unhidden" folder on my C drive x86 programs folder and has the same options available as shown in your screenshot except I don't have a PUBLIC_TEST_SERVER_64 option but on checking I believe this is where the 32 bit install lives, perhaps it would be created if I installed the 32bit version from the launcher?. I still have the Products folder is in the Frontier_Developments folder I moved to my secondary HD and in the Win32 folder inside it there are 4.75GB of files, also the elite_dangerous_64 folder there has 6.25GB of files in the Win64 folder inside it, the other 1.55GB of files are in the COMBAT_TUTORIAL_DEMO folder. It would be interesting to know how big these are in your install?.

When Horizons installed again earlier it created a new Frontier_Developments folder in the User/AppData/Local folder but this one only has a folder named EDLaunch.exe_Url_21af1wsucqr1zncebtgduq2o5ofpofxm and a file named Specs.

OK sounds like things are now sorted ...

"PUBLIC_TEST_SERVER_64" is the Horizons beta install, you won't have that folder unless you install the Horizons beta - so don't worry about that.

I don't have a "COMBAT_TUTORIAL_DEMO" folder as I have not installed the combat tutorial from the launcher.

If you have Horizons running OK now you can delete those files you copied/moved across to the HDD - BUT - you can keep a copy of your "Options" folder just so you have your bindings and settings backed up and if you want to keep your netlogs for using in EDDiscovery or similar, make a copy of the "Logs" directories.

Sizes - my "elite_dangerous_64" folder is 6.59GB, I don't have any 32 bit installs of the game so I don't have a size for them.

The contents of your "Frontier_Developments" folder under AppData is correct, one folder and one xml file.

Just ensure you are happy that Horizons runs fine for you before you delete those things.

 

[Saltyseadog]

OK sounds like things are now sorted ...

"PUBLIC_TEST_SERVER_64" is the Horizons beta install, you won't have that folder unless you install the Horizons beta - so don't worry about that.

I don't have a "COMBAT_TUTORIAL_DEMO" folder as I have not installed the combat tutorial from the launcher.

If you have Horizons running OK now you can delete those files you copied/moved across to the HDD - BUT - you can keep a copy of your "Options" folder just so you have your bindings and settings backed up and if you want to keep your netlogs for using in EDDiscovery or similar, make a copy of the "Logs" directories.

Sizes - my "elite_dangerous_64" folder is 6.59GB, I don't have any 32 bit installs of the game so I don't have a size for them.

The contents of your "Frontier_Developments" folder under AppData is correct, one folder and one xml file.

Just ensure you are happy that Horizons runs fine for you before you delete those things.

Will do Malcolm, thanks a lot for the help again.[up]

 

[Para Handy]

Will do Malcolm, thanks a lot for the help again.[up]

No worries George, I just hope it all works out OK.


[hotas]

 

[gooddoc]

My Frontier_Developments folder holds 20.4GB of data.

It runs fine on my laptop......so I'll leave it alone!