Do I need to uninstall the beta?

Brad recommended a complete fresh install so yah its a good idea... and yes pre-load not available yet.

I'd recommend taking a large magnet to your hard drive just to be sure you got all those pesky left behind files and folders...

hehe

Thanks, guys.

I was kidding about that magnet thing btw, don't do that.

(just making sure)

Friend of mine once wanted to make sure, and used a Magnum 357. It did the job admirably.

What do you mean you were kidding? And why my computer can not start anymore?

Using as a boat anchor is another good way to make sure.

Is there an option in Impulse to remove it completely, or should I find it on my C drive and just delete it from there?  I just want to make sure I do this right, so it wont interfere.

Right click it in Impulse and select Uninstall. Then delete Documents\My Games\Elemental, and (default) Program Files\Stardock Games\Elemental if it's still there. Or whereever else you installed it. The uninstall within Impulse should clean both of these, but I haven't checked the user folder.

So I don't get it. Why do we need to uninstall it at all? It'll be delivered via update, right? So what's the point?

You don't "need" to. It's just recommended. Just to give you an example, say the beta used some XML file that the final game isn't supposed to have. Without a clean install, chances are updating the game won't remove it (but it might, depending on how robust Impulse's updater is), so it can then screw with the final release because it's not supposed to be there.

Updating from Beta to Release usually works just fine, but the potential for something to get messed up is there nonetheless.

Just a precaution is all. It won't slow down or extend the Update Install as ALL files will need be brought down for comparison anyways.

I will, and would suggest that you clean your Registry, but remember, not knowing how to do that properly, is the same as using Raven X's suggested method.

Don't forget about c:\programdata\Stardock\elemental

c:\programdata is a hidden folder, and in my experience the uninstaller is not removing it. It also doesn't remove the my documents\my games\elemental folder, deliberately. That one has user saves and such, and in a release version you might still want those if you reinstall later.

(So for this purpose, you should delete it. Release likely won't work with beta saves.)

Heh, I had the honor of destroying a dozen hard drives at work a couple years ago.  I used a sledge hammer; worked nicely.

LoL, indeed.

It's to the point now that I don't even tell people how to delete things from their registry. All you have to do is delete one wrong entry and you can screw your whole system to the point of needing to re-install your OS. I don't want someone out there blaming me when they loose everything on their hard drive. You should only edit your registry when you know Exactly what entries you're deleting. If you don't know what it is, don't delete it, period.

Thanks for all the advice!

GOOD

Most Compaines Resell on EBAY it Seems or in Huge Lots.

At NASA we would Low Leve Format, then run the 1001 Write across the whole drive 10 times, then 0110 ten times then 1111 ten times, then Random ten times.

Had a setup that did 20 drives at a time.

Bad drives were spun up and a Degauzer applied till it stopped spinning or 2 min, then trashed.

Later they allowed us to jut crush and destroy the platters.

Much quicker  

Lee

I believe an uninstall will be required.  It's always good for a fresh install especially with so many changes in the release.

Throw us the 1.0 Change log i want to read it!

Hmm, so to recap, we should:

1. First uninstall using Impulse;

2. then delete any Elemental folder in the My Documents folder;

3. Delete any Elemental folder in Program Files (or wherever we installed it);

4. Delete c:\programdata\Stardock\elemental;

5. Pound our hard disks with sledgehammers.

Did I miss anything? 

You forgot to run it through the Degausser

Yah left out the magnet and .357 suggestion as well as boat anchor but those were over kill so its good..

But from what happened tonight it looks like to install the Release it will remove the Beta it self.

as mine is gone, of course it not not check the SN til AFTER it erased the Beta. 

Lee

Quite triple spacing everything you type god damn spaz!