I've tested the installer program in a virtual machine.

The problem occurs because the uninstall procedure assumes that you have created a dedicated folder for the CS2 files.

1. When you run the CS2 software for the first time, It will ask you to choose a folder. Unfortunately, it defaults to the your User folder on Windows. If you do not create a folder specific for the CS2 and just click the Select folder button, it will choose your User folder and copy its files (around 4200 of them) to it.
2. The CS2 program will write your selected folder into the Registry under HKCU\Software\Maerklin\CS2\defaults\AppDir.
3. When you run the uninstall program, it will read this value and delete whatever folder you chose. If that was your Home folder, you are in bad luck.

If you are unsure on all of the above, please wait for Märklin to release a fix. If you are a risk kid, you can edit the value of the Registry key to point to another folder and move all the CS2 files from your home folder to that folder.

My tests have shown that the CS2 uninstaller will remove whatever folder is in the registry key and all of its content. So if you dedicate a folder to this purpose, you are home free.

DO NOT INSTALL THIS VERSION AT THE PRESENT MOMENT.

Maerklin's communique informs users that the uninstall program deletes registry values and links that may affect other software and other operations than it's Central Station software. This means that even if you install in a custom folder, it can change settings that affect other programs and the operation of your PC.
If you have installed it and used the uninstaller (which I presume deletes an earlier version of the software), you may not be able to figure out which settings have been modified until you encounter a crash with other software.

Regards

Mike C

WTF.. do they do any quality control or is that to much to ask?

Your installation is safe. The keys you have found in the Registry are the installer documentation. This is perfectly fine. The problem with the uninstall procedure is that it has some custom methods, that handles the deletion of the working folder.

If you go to your Registry under "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Maerklin\CS2\defaults" you will see a reference to your "CS2 Dati" folder. This key is read during uninstall and that folder is deleted as well.

I unpacked the installation program to check the behaviour, and I noticed that the working folder was not mentioned in the installation/uninstall script file. This meant that the uninstall program must get this information from somewhere else. So I installed the software on a virtual machine and monitored the changes it made. I noticed that the CS2 program saves the information about the working folder when the program starts for the first time. At uninstall the uininstall program reads the value and deletes the folder.

This also proves that the uninstall is only problematic when the user did not select a specific folder for the CS2 files. The uninstall procedure does not remove random registry keys and what else has been mentioned. This must be a misunderstanding. As Märklin writes "user data", they mean the content of the Home folder, if you have not explicit created a folder for the purpose.

For the fun of it, I created a new installation program that installed the CS2 and created a working folder in the user's AppData folder. It also sets the registry key to point to that folder. When the CS2 program starts afterwards, it notices that the folder is already specified and copied its files into that folder. The user no longer needs to select a folder. I made sure that the uninstall procedure would remove that folder at uninstall. This way I put the responsibility of the working folder into the hands of the installation feature in Windows, and that way everything is safe.

Hey Drongo

This only applies to the PC version of the CS2 and only if you did not select a specific folder as the working folder during the startup of the program.

It does not apply to the hardware version of the CS2.

For fun, write to the Märklin software engineers about the solution, not for free of course

Hello All,

What was the name of the default folder upon installation? I think I entered a different folder but I'm not sure anymore.

Also, What is a virtual machine? Is it a separate machine or is it as the name implies a program that can be run virtually on your laptop?
Sorry not that computer savvy:-)

Aloha,

I loaded the CS2 on my train computer using the defaults. I have no need to uninstall the software so will continue using it and wait for M* to release the update and for one of you much more computer savvy members to test and OK the revised software.

From what I read above I am perfectly safe continuing to use the CS2 PC software. I have also backed up my train computer so I will be able to restore any folders that might get damaged or disappear.

Thanks for the explanations in this thread. It gives me comfort that we have a level of expertise between M* and computer users like myself that provides insulation from any potential catastrophes.

Thank you Søren for the great explanation. I got it now.

Hi!
There also is Virtual PC from Microsoft, also for free.
The latest version is for Windows 7. Install XP Mode and you will get it.
For older Windows versions you can get Virtual PC 2007.

With a little hack, Virtual PC 2007 even works under Windows 8 (I have one computer with a 32-bit version of Windows 8 where I use VPC 2007).

Hyper-V is much better. If you have a 64-bit version of Windows 8/8.1 then better use Hyper-V.

Hello Søren

In a post dated December 2014 you mentioned: "Here is a screenshot of a virtual machine running on my computer with the preview version of Windows 10 and the CS2 inside."

I would like to install the CS 2 PC version on my laptop, recently updated from Win 8.1 to win 10. Is the current version on the M* site safe and stable in Win 10 and is there anything I need to watch for aside from creating dedicated directories for the installation?

Regards


Robert