Lost disk, have serial #

wudwork

New member
How do I install RF 8. It was installed but computer crashed hard and I lost it all. Now I cannot find original CD. I am not sure if it was a Steam download. My records indicate I registered with KnifeEdge but they are now gone.

How do I get RF 8 installed again ?

Thanx.
 
If you have the Steam edition, then it will always be present in your Steam library, and you'll just need to install from there.

It sounds like you had the edition that came on DVD, though. If you still have your serial number, you can download an installer that will work with it here.

If you've lost the DVD and your serial number, it may be possible for RealFlight Product Support to retrieve your serial from your registration data if you can supply enough information to them. Go here, then click the speech bubble icon with the three dots that pops up in the lower right corner to start a chat. Once in there, say "agent" to connect with a live person (if available). You'll need to talk to a RealFlight specialist for this one.
 
If you have the Steam edition, then it will always be present in your Steam library, and you'll just need to install from there.

It sounds like you had the edition that came on DVD, though. If you still have your serial number, you can download an installer that will work with it here.

If you've lost the DVD and your serial number, it may be possible for RealFlight Product Support to retrieve your serial from your registration data if you can supply enough information to them. Go here, then click the speech bubble icon with the three dots that pops up in the lower right corner to start a chat. Once in there, say "agent" to connect with a live person (if available). You'll need to talk to a RealFlight specialist for this one.
i have a cd and r8 key but when i did the updates it wants a hh serial number key and wont take mine xxxxxxxx-r8-xxxxxxxxxx again. so how do i get the r8 updates
 
i have a cd and r8 key but when i did the updates it wants a hh serial number key and wont take mine xxxxxxxx-r8-xxxxxxxxxx again. so how do i get the r8 updates
make sure the email and password you entered are the as you entered the first time. if you dont remember you may need to call support and have them deregister the old email on the serial number so you can enter a new one
 
I'm still running RF8, purchased from Tower before the HH edition was released. I never upgraded to the HH edition, so I'm not sure how that worked. I've inistalled it on several different PC's & laptops over the years, and (as legoman said) I'm sure that you MUST use the same email & password for all installations. AFAIK, the updates apply to both versions, with the main (only?) real difference being that the HH edition has additional HH aircraft that weren't included in the original version. If I'm wrong, I hope someone who really knows will post the correct information.
 
im all good found another updated copy on my external drive. i do have the same email and password along with the activation code and key originally given in the dvd case wrote down ,just made another backup on a flash drive to put with dvd seeing how newer systems dont have dvd drives .thanks everyone for your help
 
I'm still running RF8, purchased from Tower before the HH edition was released. I never upgraded to the HH edition, so I'm not sure how that worked. I've inistalled it on several different PC's & laptops over the years, and (as legoman said) I'm sure that you MUST use the same email & password for all installations. AFAIK, the updates apply to both versions, with the main (only?) real difference being that the HH edition has additional HH aircraft that weren't included in the original version. If I'm wrong, I hope someone who really knows will post the correct information.
dont think there was a upgrade. i had gone to https://www.realflight.com/rfl-bs-downloads.html didnt realize there was 2 dif versions and tryed the 2018 version update/add on which played hell with our 2017 version
 
Last edited:
I don't recall the exact years. I initially purchased RF-X when it was released, but my video card was totally inadequate - max 6fps at lowest graphics settings. I was able to unregister & return the software only RF-X & purchase the full version of RF-8 with the InterLink-X controller for about $80 extra. Not long after that, HH bought RF & released the HH version of RF. It was NOT a free upgrade, and I chose to continue using the slightly earlier Tower version that AFAIK is essentially the same with a few extra HH models. If there's any other significant difference between the versions, I'm not aware of it except that I assume the HH version uses a different algorithm to validate the serial number.
P.S. I'm pretty sure that RF8 was announced/released about a month after RF-X, which seemed very odd. RF-X used a totally different graphics engine than all previous (and subsequent) versions of RF, and required a $500+ graphics card - which I couldn't (and still can't) afford.
 
Last edited:
I don't recall the exact years. I initially purchased RF-X when it was released, but my video card was totally inadequate - max 6fps at lowest graphics settings. I was able to unregister & return the software only RF-X & purchase the full version of RF-8 with the InterLink-X controller. Not long after that, HH bought RF & released the HH version of RF. It was NOT a free upgrade, and I chose to continue using the slightly earlier Tower version that AFAIK is essentially the same with a few extra HH models. If there's any other significant difference between the versions, I'm not aware of it except that I assume the HH version uses a different algorithm to validate the serial number.
you are correct ,2017 had a r8 serial number installer and in 2018 horizon had the hh serial number installer .when i tryed this my r8 stopped working and wanted the hh key even though on open screen it still showed mine as a registered copy of r8 but couldnt get rid of the hh installer without a complete uninstall.
 
To hopefully help clarify: There are three different installers available for download. This order differs from the download page, but I'm going to refer to them by these numbers in this post.
  1. RF8 Pre-Horizon Hobby Edition Download
  2. RF8 Horizon Hobby Edition Add-On Download
  3. RF8 Horizon Hobby Edition Download
#1 is the original version of RealFlight 8 that was released prior to the Horizon Hobby Edition. It was released through Great Planes, before Hobbico went bankrupt and Knife Edge Software entered into an agreement with Horizon Hobby to continue producing and distributing RealFlight. RealFlight 8 serial numbers have "-R8-" in the middle.

#2 is an Add-On that people who owned #1 could purchase to update their version of RF8 to the new RealFlight 8 Horizon Hobby Edition. When Horizon began producing RealFlight, we created a Horizon Hobby Edition of RF8. Mostly it added a bunch of Horizon models and added SAFE, AS3X, etc. technologies to the sim. This Add-On requires its own serial number, which has "-HH-" in the middle.

#3 is the version of RF8 that replaced #1 for sale and included all the content described in #2. So, people who already owned RF8 (#1) could buy #2 if desired, whereas people who did not already own any version of RF8 would simply buy #3.

To make all that work, #3 essentially bundled #1 and #2 together. That's why it matters which installer you choose to download. If you choose the full HHE installer (#3), it will install both RF8 and the HHE Add-On, each requiring their own serial number. If a valid RF8 serial number is present, it would see that and happily start RealFlight, but that missing HHE Add-On serial would be a problem every time.
 
Hi, Many years ago I started out with RF 3.5 and eventually finished up with RF 7.5 complete with Interlink Elite controller. Unfortunately my main PC was damaged in a flood and so was the original installation disk. My controller survived and I have the installation & controller serial numbers From my searches so far I have not been able find a download for 7.5. Can someone point me in the right direction to find a copy. Failing that, if i submit my credentials as proof of a longtime user, is it possible to pay a small surcharge to upgrade to a downloadable copy of RF 8?
Earlier today I did try to download the RF8 but my RF 7.5 serial number is too short.

Thank you.
Robert
 
AFAIK, there's no cheap way to do that. You MIGHT be able to find a cheap copy on ebay, but you need to be SURE the person selling it has unregistered it. If RF still thinks it belongs to them, you won't be able to activate it without their registered email & password. You might be as well off to just buy Evolution for $100 on Steam to get the current version. EVO will work with the InterLink Elite controller. It contains everything from the older versions & all the content from the add-on packs, too. I think that there are a very few aircraft missing due to the licenses not transferring to Horizon whe KnifeEdge sold it to them.
 
Back
Top