All is lost?

T

trainz999

New member
I recently upgraded to Windows 8 from Windows 7 and in doing so lost 2 years of work on my home town railroad layout! I had to re-install Trainz 12 and have no clue as to where all my files have gone.

Can anyone out there help me or shall I settle for all is lost?

Thanks,
RG
 
It depends on how you reinstalled the game. If you used the standard uninstall method, it's likely that the content is still present in the old Trainz installation folder under UserData/local.

Shane

P.S. Welcome to the forums.
 
As Shane says, have a look through your C Drive, you might have a legacy partition left over from Windows 7 called 'old drive' or something to that effect (I am assuming that you didn't back up your old programs to a separate drive before installing Windows 8?). If you find a file called 'User Data' import all its contents using the 'Import Content' function in the content manager. If you can't find your old User Data files then sorry, there goes two years worth of work. For data safety I have a external hard drive as well as a second internal hard drive - those things are as cheap as chips nowadays and can be installed in a matter of minutes without the need for any IT expertise. At least once a week I copy my User Data files to both disks (usually I do that overnight as I have built up a huge collection of data); that way if I have a crash I know I can always retrieve my work.
Regards
Bob
 
Last edited:
Check Windows.old for your content. The specific folder usually is: C:\Program Files (x86)\N3V\TS12.

Now for the shame on you rant!

Always, always, forever always, perform a data backup prior to any kind of software upgrade to your PC whether it is the Trainz program its self, or to the operating system such as this case. The risk of losing many years worth of work on a route are too high as you've found out. In this case, you might be lucky and be able to recover your Trainz install.

John
 
This is one among many reasons I REFUSE to convert to Windows 8, my HP laptop came with both Windows 7 and 8 CDs, I bought it for that reason
(And having a physical Windows 7 disk if I need to reinstall windows after a change of hard drives - like I did to a 1TB drive as soon as I got it home)

When I get around to building a tower computer sometime mid to the end of next year it will be a Windows 7 computer
(I already bought another separate DVD copy of Windows 7 for that future computer just in case Microsoft decides to be sneaky and discontinue selling Windows 7)

If you save your Cdp files (as you download them via FTP or from 3rd party websites and by using the 'save to Cdp' option in Content Manager) to a separate
external hard drive your files would have been saved (plus if your Trainz installation needed some items to be reinstalled you would have the Cdp files)

Just when using the 'save to Cdp' option in Content Manager use the 'copy items to clipboard' (Ctrl+C) then 'Save to Cdp' (Ctrl+Shift+D) then paste
the name into the (File Name) dialog box so your Cdp files will have "Name + KUID" so you will know what they are when you go look for something later ...
(you will have to replace some illegal file name characters but it is worth it)

Edit:
for example you will have to change:

Adair,<kuid:-101:10101>
to
Adair - kuid_-101_10101

as ":" , "<" , and ">" are not allowed in file names

- REFJR2
 
Last edited:
REFJR2 said:
This is one among many reasons I REFUSE to convert to Windows 8, my HP laptop came with both Windows 7 and 8 CDs, I bought it for that reason
(And having a physical Windows 7 disk if I need to reinstall windows after a change of hard drives - like I did to a 1TB drive as soon as I got it home)

When I get around to building a tower computer sometime mid to the end of next year it will be a Windows 7 computer
(I already bought another separate DVD copy of Windows 7 for that future computer just in case Microsoft decides to be sneaky and discontinue selling Windows 7)

If you save your Cdp files (as you download them via FTP or from 3rd party websites and by using the 'save to Cdp' option in Content Manager) to a separate
external hard drive your files would have been saved (plus if your Trainz installation needed some items to be reinstalled you would have the Cdp files)

Just when using the 'save to Cdp' option in Content Manager use the 'copy items to clipboard' (Ctrl+C) then 'Save to Cdp' (Ctrl+Shift+D) then paste
the name into the (File Name) dialog box so your Cdp files will have "Name + KUID" so you will know what they are when you go look for something later ...
(you will have to replace some illegal file name characters but it is worth it)

Edit:
for example you will have to change:

Adair,<kuid:-101:10101>
to
Adair - kuid_-101_10101

as ":" , "<" , and ">" are not allowed in file names

- REFJR2
Click to expand...

This has nothing to do with upgrading or switching to Windows 8. Even if you had done a reinstall of Windows 7, you could run into the same situation. Windows 7 and Windows 8 are operationally similar. The biggest difference is the new Start Menu which can be replaced on the desktop mode with a third party applet. I happen to use the Start Menu 8 from IOBit.

The other issues, such as running applications as Administrator, etc. are still the same since Win 8 is built on Win 7.

John
 
JCitron said:
The other issues, such as running applications as Administrator, etc. are still the same since Win 8 is built on Win 7.

John
Click to expand...

That's like saying TS2012 is built on TS2010. TS2012 shares the same code base, largely I'll bet, as TS2010.
 
wkwood said:
That's like saying TS2012 is built on TS2010. TS2012 shares the same code base, largely I'll bet, as TS2010.
Click to expand...

TS12 is based on TS2010 and previous builds, but with some tweaks and fixes (breaks).

Windows 8 is based on Windows 7 code which is a totally revamp from Vista.

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/enterprise/products-and-technologies/windows-8/default.aspx

Technically they both share the same legacy from Windows NT 3.51 if we want to go back that far. :)

But... In general, outside of the "modern" interface, Windows 8 is very much Windows 7 once you start using the desktop mode. What's interesting is with the new interface, you can bounce easily between the two forms very quickly with that start menu. I won't go into the details as this isn't the forum for it. What Windows 8 has though is some nicer utilities and things moved from the buried innards out to easier places to get them such as the top of the menu bar (ribbon) in the File Explorer.

John
 
JCitron said:
TS12 is based on TS2010 and previous builds, but with some tweaks and fixes (breaks).

Windows 8 is based on Windows 7 code which is a totally revamp from Vista.

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/enterprise/products-and-technologies/windows-8/default.aspx

Technically they both share the same legacy from Windows NT 3.51 if we want to go back that far. :)

But... In general, outside of the "modern" interface, Windows 8 is very much Windows 7 once you start using the desktop mode. What's interesting is with the new interface, you can bounce easily between the two forms very quickly with that start menu. I won't go into the details as this isn't the forum for it. What Windows 8 has though is some nicer utilities and things moved from the buried innards out to easier places to get them such as the top of the menu bar (ribbon) in the File Explorer.

John
Click to expand...

Oh yeah, but they also got rid of a lot of bad conventions, which is why it's not 7, but largely compatible with it.

take care.
 
wkwood said:
Oh yeah, but they also got rid of a lot of bad conventions, which is why it's not 7, but largely compatible with it.

take care.
Click to expand...

Very true! Unlike (no name mentioned) at least things were fixed in the version upgrade process :)

John
 
If you are proficient at working with a PC, and windows 7, when you try to use windows 8, you will find that it is about 3 steps backwards. If you just do simple stuff, it's not as bad.
 
How do I import DEM into TANE

trainz999 said:
I recently upgraded to Windows 8 from Windows 7 and in doing so lost 2 years of work on my home town railroad layout! I had to re-install Trainz 12 and have no clue as to where all my files have gone.

Can anyone out there help me or shall I settle for all is lost?

Thanks,
RG
Click to expand...

I found a backup file I saved on CD. I've created DEM and I am trying to import DEM into TANE but cannot find simple instructions on how to do this last step. Trainz is looking for a .cdp file?

Did I miss something in creating DEM data?

Thanks,
RG
 
Thanks Shane,
I was able to import my file into Trainz New Era, however, when I look around in my route (in edit mode) all I see is a horizon with blue sky and clouds. If I look down, all I see with blank white?
Ron
 
Nothing but white landscape

I was finally able to import my lost file into Trainz New Era. When I go into edit my route, all I can see is the compass icon and blue sky with clouds above a totally white horizon from a 360 degree pan. If I look downward, all I can see is white, zooming in and out.
No sign of any of my route. Has anyone ever had this issue?
Ron
 
Was this original route built in an old version of Trainz?
Open for edit and check the file names in the route, excluding config.txt if they are not all named mapfile.gnd maphile.trk etc but something like freds.gnd then rename they all then read mapfile.xxx where xxx is the original extension and commit. that should hopefully fix the problem.
 
Hi Malc,
All files are "Mapfile". Is there a tutorial anywhere that you know of that steps you through the DEM export/import process for Trainz New Era? I could be missing a step somewhere?
Ron
 
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