I'm so tired....

[Cees Donker]

...of all the crashes, low framerates and hughe loading times I'm about to give up on this sim.

:banghead:


Cees

[gman5250]

I don't think you are alone Cees.

I work fourteen to twenty hour days solely developing my sceneries and now, airplanes. The dev work is time intensive enough, but the beta is freakin' brutal with the incessant sim crashes, long boots etc.

Typically I get a crash on boot every third or fourth time I boot in. First boot in the early AM is always a fail.

Following various Win10 updates, I've seen as many as twenty four consecutive crashes on boot in P3D. Much of the time, if I am in the sim and mouse click a switch, a very slight drag of the mouse will crash the sim...again. Sometimes just touching a controller will send the sim into cardiac.

I acknowledge that I do this work out of my own choice, but in all the years I have worked in graphics, art and it's technical applications, the sim is by far the most un-stable and manifestly aggravating.
I'm not whinging...just illuminating the point that Cees has just made.

I know other devs go through it too, so my hat is off to each and every one. I love what I do, and do not contemplate quitting, but I do look forward to improvements in the future that may make the road a bit smoother.

IMHO

[Jafo]

Step One.....get out of Windows 10.

The 'public release' is a public Beta at best.

Windows 7 has been out long enough to be reliable.
Nothing since has been as yet.

[gman5250]

Step One.....get out of Windows 10.

The 'public release' is a public Beta at best.

Windows 7 has been out long enough to be reliable.
Nothing since has been as yet.

Yeah...

I've got the house up for sale and I'm moving. When the place sells I'm going to step up the computer to a EVGA GTX 1080, drop in a 1 gig SSD and a couple other upgrades. I'm seriously looking at an industrial disk wipe and going back to the Win7 install disk that came with this box when it arrived new. My number two box still runs Win7 and I just don't see anything in 10 that really blows my skirt up.

[Mach3DS]

What version of the sim are you running? FSXA? FSXSE? P3DV3?

FSXA is by far the worst performer of the bunch. I've NEVER had good performance with it, without dropping my settings way down.

Which leads me to my next question: What CPU specs do you have and what GFX card specs?

Essentially, in the most honest terms, if you bring a Geo metro to haul a big rig trailer you're setup to fail.

To yours and Gman's point, though, it seems like the instability is not uncommon. Poor performance though is another beast. Don't quit!

[Mach3DS]

... I just don't see anything in 10 that really blows my skirt up.

Probably one of the funniest lines ive read here in a while! Haha

[gman5250]

What version of the sim are you running? FSXA? FSXSE? P3DV3?

FSXA is by far the worst performer of the bunch. I've NEVER had good performance with it, without dropping my settings way down.

Which leads me to my next question: What CPU specs do you have and what GFX card specs?

Essentially, in the most honest terms, if you bring a Geo metro to haul a big rig trailer you're setup to fail.

To yours and Gman's point, though, it seems like the instability is not uncommon. Poor performance though is another beast. Don't quit!

Not speaking for Cees, but my performance is acceptable Rick, if I can actually get out of the pattern. :pop4:
My specs are in the signature, but I run a mild overclock on the GTX 780.

I canned FSX entirely, but run FSX/SE for beta. Quality time is spent in P3D 3.3.5.

[gray eagle]

I remember you sayin' that you lived "off the grid", are you gonna be closer to the grid now? :biggrin-new:




Yeah...

I've got the house up for sale and I'm moving. When the place sells I'm going to step up the computer to a EVGA GTX 1080, drop in a 1 gig SSD and a couple other upgrades. I'm seriously looking at an industrial disk wipe and going back to the Win7 disk that came with this box when it arrived new. My number two box still runs Win7 and I just don't see anything in 10 that really blows my skirt up.

[gman5250]

I remember you sayin' that you lived "off the grid", are you gonna be closer to the grid now? :biggrin-new:

LOL...no frickin' way. Farther and wayyyy off grid.

Don't want to "Bogart" Cees' thread...back on point.

[Ian Warren]

Probably one of the funniest lines ive read here in a while! Haha
So bloody true tho ... On the NZFF forum when it decided to take over I was in the middle of a paying job ... my exact words were "Friggen Gay Program" all this crap that come with .... some reason a lot got offended at NZFF when I said 'Gay' ... maybe I should have said 'Enola Gay' and Nuke the bloody program then I get told off for mentioning Nuclear war :untroubled:

[StormILM]

I'm still using my old 2007 purchased FSXA discs (with a year old fresh install on my SSD's). With my brand new/recently installed EVGA GTX960 SC GPU, my frame rates have never been more stable & fluid. A good part of it has to do with the FSX config file tweaks but I understand intuitively that from one system to another, things can vary significantly to greatly. One other thing I would recommend (if you haven't already) is the shut down as many unessential processes which are running in the background as well as checking for any addon which might be killing FPS performance. I had to jump through a lot of hoops to get to where I am and I am super reluctant to add or change anything at this point (and I have all my current settings/files fully backed up in case something gets screwed up). I have no intentions of moving to FSXSE or W10 for as long as I can but my future system build will have a copy of P3Dv3(or later versions) and the forthcoming X-Plane 11 as well as DCS.

[Cees Donker]

The instability is the worst factor. I get 30 frames with 'heavy' planes and demanding scenery. And then, after10 minutes of flying, the sim crashes, freezes. Not always, but too often to be ignored.

Cees

[mal998]

I'm having more luck with Steam but having said that she crashed this morning so what do I know. But that is a bare bones install without all the bells and whistles. Kinda boring.

[gman5250]

The instability is the worst factor. I get 30 frames with 'heavy' planes and demanding scenery. And then, after10 minutes of flying, the sim crashes, freezes. Not always, but too often to be ignored.

Cees

As much as I'd like to get the PMDG NGX or upcoming DC-6, I just can't justify spending all that time setting up for a flight and then crashing the sim. I've already had to take the baseball bat out of the house and lock it in the bike shed.

[gray eagle]

I still am on WIN 7; if it ain't broke......

My son runs WIN 10 on a laptop and WIn 7 on desktop and told me I wasn't missing that much except if I wanted to touch the screen a lot to navigate here and there. Not in my wheelhouse.

I wanted to delve into P3d (Series) but I am on fixed income (Retired) and $$$ becomes issue however, the "Junior pilot" version of P3D looks tempting.

[mal998]

I'm still running Vista Ult . Couldn't find a full install of Win 7. Weirdly I get most of my crashes these days in FSX A when I'm in spot view. That's why I test all my new FDE's in Steam bare bones because of it's quick start up. Can't wait for 2 days for FSX to load.

[Ian Warren]

As much as I'd like to get the PMDG NGX or upcoming DC-6, I just can't justify spending all that time setting up for a flight and then crashing the sim. I've already had to take the baseball bat out of the house and lock it in the bike shed.
Gordo ... Really laughing my head off here, my younger bro decided it was time to get a computer just to be with the in-crowd , only lasted a couple months ... think he found your baseball bat :biggrin-new:

I did score a brand new printer, mouse , keyboard .... I'm sure it was Win10 that drove him to it :banghead:

[Willy]

I'm using Win 10 with FSX SE and the only fps issues I have is in large cities or extensive add on scenery. My comp isn't the latest and greatest, but it does fine.

[Jafo]

The primary issue with Win 10 is the 'forced updates'.
Pro can defer them at least but not prevent them.

WHEN you think you have everything working well...look forward to the whim of some moron at Redmond pushing out some supposed fix for some irrelevance which totally screws your particular system/stability.
Then your only option is to wait and HOPE the next so-called 'fix' manages to fix YOUR issue.

Anyone who has used computers long enough will have experienced the need to undo something 'done' that caused them trouble.

When that option is effectively denied you then your fate is in the lap of the Gods.....;p

[WarHorse47]

I feel like Cees, but for different reasons.

It's not the OS - I'm still with Win8.1. My frustration is with my replacement graphic card.

It's supposed to be better than the last one, but I keep trying to dial in FSX to get it to perform smoothly. No crashes, but long load times and inconsistent frame rates over heavy scenery.

I haven't found one valid resource for what settings work best for the replacement card and I've spent hours trying one tweak after another, only to return to the basic settings. I just don't have the time or patience to be a computer guru. There are days I just have to walk away from the computer. This hobby would be so enjoyable if there was a way to get FSX to play nice.

[Sundog]

I'm getting ready to build a new system. After reading this, I may just stick with Win7 instead of moving to Win10.

[JohnC]

I've only read a few lines in this thread (sorry if anything is a repeat). But a couple of points:

a) Development is brutal on any sim installation and crashes are cumulative; each one can cause corruptions that beget more crashes. You want the cleanest base sim possible, and to keep it that way. When I was developing regularly, I had every installed file needed to run the sim 'just the way I like' in a never-been-CTD'd sate backed up on an external HDD. About every 1-2 weeks, I would wipe and restore. I still use this method of file management (but only restore every couple of months), and it's really limited the number of CTD's. I had 3 CTD's in the last 10 or so flights, and thought it was really unusual....turns out it was the GPU kicking the bucket.

b) Get an PCI SSD (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA1YH4RC2591&nm_mc=KNC-GoogleMKP-PC&cm_mmc=KNC-GoogleMKP-PC-_-pla-_-Solid+State+Disk+-+Enterprise-_-9SIA1YH4RC2591&gclid=CJjI-f2Rx84CFUuSfgodVX0EVQ&gclsrc=aw.ds) that can house Windows and the simulator (on separate partitions). The file sizes in FSX/P3D are enormous, and no single purchase has done so much to improve frame rates/stutters etc. I bought one on a Black Friday deal last year, and it was reasonably affordable.

c) No firm opinions on Windows 10 (not the anniversary edition) other than it's what I run and haven't seen any significant de-stabilizing issues.

[gman5250]

Interesting thoughts John.

One observation. I've installed every revision of P3D since 2.0 was first released. I maintain a dedicated SSD for the sim, and only the sim. The "finicky" nature of P3D has been a constant since the beginning. I rarely update P3D, usually doing a clean install to make sure my R&D has not translated from previous version to the newest revision.

My observation has been that the sim FSX, FSX/SE and especially P3D does not like any disturbances i.e. things multi tasking in a multi-core processor, while it the sim is operating.

Case in point. I often open my internet browser (Microsoft Edge) while P3D is booting. Usually there is no issue, but many times if I drag a menu, or click a mouse button, that action translates to a mouse drag across the live Prepar3D window. A good percentage of the time P3D will instantly shut itself down. If I let it boot back up and do not try to use my browser it usually boots without a hitch.

Just one observation that may be helpful.

[UnknownGuest12]

Quit FSX entirely. Using P3D 3.5 on Windows 10, with no problems at all. Asus 970. Good frame rates no or very rare crashes.

[txnetcop]

Didn't really have any problems of any consequence on Win 10, still kind of wonky at times. Besides I just would rather use Win 10 for other things so dual booted Win 7 to my 1TB HD and FSX Gold with Orbx and FSX Steam (plain) run just beautifully, nice frame rates, no stutters, runs all the new stuff so far on an old high end socket 775 system. I swear that sometimes I think Windows 10 is being watched by Big Brother! I did just build a new high-end system with an Intel 6700K and 16GB of fast ram and an Nvidia EVGA Superclocked GTX970 that got me salivating...man there is some nice hardware out there and cheap! By the way, P3d is nice but I highly recommend trying X-Plane 10.5...very stable!
Ted

[BendyFlyer]

Cees, ********, yep I agree re instability. I can't add much as I am off-grid in a very primary way and rely only on solar/generator for power which limits my technological adoption. I have kept my box a basic off the shelf HP with WIN 7, dual-core chip set and 4.0 GB speed, I have rebuilt FSX so many times (hardware and scenery issues dominate the stuff ups for me) that I began to carve up the system to be kept in discreet parcels (directories) which I can put back in on a rebuild (All my scenery now resides outside of FSX except the default stuff and I have a minimum of aircraft to use unless I switch in a directory to replace the sim-objects (so I parcel them up according to eras, pre WWII, post WWII, the jet age etc) after a corruption occurs (and MS FS is really good at getting itself twisted a lot). I guess on one rebuild I looked closely at what the install was doing and realised that FSX likes the mundane or ordinary in hardware and trying to go super fast trips it right up, the other thing is I give it space and time when loading or shutting down. The other thing I shut off was all WIN7 updates (yes and the PC has run just fine ever since and as browser or internet access and work is a different beast [Java etc] so I dont care if there is another so called update, update what, they stopped developing WIN7 years and years ago) when I realised they were all to get me to go to WIN10 of which I have no interest in whatsoever. It seems to me that the FSX was really designed for the boxes available at the time and the coding gets easily fragmented or the run routines get out of whack easily if there is competition on the chip for space and if script calls are interfered with.

That being said all I have found so far is that a lot of tweaks have been abandoned and I just run a bog standard box with the settings FSX thought were appropriate for my system at set up and left it at that. I do not get CTD's or mid flight crashes at all. Where I get crashes or stuff ups is in the menu section or sim settings selections where FSX has to reset itself and the time function most of all will cause a major hiccup. This is where I discovered that FSX actually references non FSX software and hardware PC settings to provide information about windows behaviour, units of measurement, time etc. My thoughts about this is the more patches the worse that will get, so no more patches. Have I fix for any of this, nope, but I sure have mitigated the problems by not adding to them.

Just another way of looking at the same problem I guess. FWIW. Yeah and as an old hand Unix programmer I despise MS stuff always have, inelegant convoluted crap! But that is what is that is what is, now If I could make FSX run on Linux properly that would be the solution, but I can't, too hard to emulate.

[Killbilly]

I'm sorry to hear so many people having trouble. I run on Windows 10, allowing updates -- even the scary new one, and I just must be lucky. FSX is pretty smooth with detailed planes over FTX detailed airports (FPS usually around 35 where I have it locked). It does slow down over big cities, but not so bad that I can't enjoy the flight. I do some long flights, and I have yet to have a crash of the sim (plenty of crashes IN the sim). Once in a GREAT while, my screen will go black for just a second, but it comes right back.
Anyway, just know that it can be done. I don't know how I'm doing it, but it can be done.

Here are my system specs:

Intel Quad Core i7-6700K 4.1 GHz OC
Nvidia GTX 980 TI
Asetek Premium 240mm Sealed-Loop Liquid Cooler
32 GB DDR4 Corsair Vengeance 2666 MHz RAM
2 TB ADATA SP510 SSD
Windows 10 Pro
FSX + Acceleration from original discs.
CH yoke, pedals, throttle quadrant, and fighterstick.
TrakIR 5

[manfredc3]

This thread is an interesting read.

I have FSX A running on a dedicated computer, with FTX Global/Vector/OpenLC for scenery improvement. I have the PMDG 737NGX running smooth, and fly that in a multiplayer session every Saturday with no issues.

Over the years I have developed a specific routine when performing a clean install. My last clean install was last January, after 3 years of running FSX. The clean install was initiated after deciding to give windows 10 a chance. No regrets so far.

For the clean install I stick with a document I compiled, using my own experiences, as well as suggestions from Flight sim "guru's" that can be found on diverse forums.

My computer specs are:
PC 1:
Windows 10 (upgraded from W7 last December)
Intel I7 2600k Overclocked to 4.3GHZ. (Water cooled with a Corsair H70)
EVGA GTX 770, 4GB DDR5
120GB solid state for the OS.
A 500GB WD Black HDD for FSX-A and FSX-SE.
A 1TB WD Black HDD for FSX add-ons

PC 2 (networked):
Intel Q6600
Low end pc (approx 10 years old)
Windows 10 (upgraded from XP/W7 a few weeks ago)
Runs add-on's like ASN, FSC, Plan-G and Skype for communicating during multiplayer sessions.

Oh, and did I mention that the main FSX pc has 4 monitors connected? 3 for the outside.cockpit view, and one for the gauges.

I use NVidia Inspector and some FSX.cfg tweaks.
Settings are pretty much maxed out.
As I mentioned earlier, The sim is running smooth. And I think that is because I don't chase frame rates, but look for the soft spot.

I do use two different settings profiles, one for multiplayer, and one for free flight. (mainly as I limit AI Traffic during multiplayer sessions).

I hardly ever run in to crashes. I think that, for me, it is due to the way I have set up and tweaked FSX, and the fact that the FS pc is used for nothing else but running the sim, LUA and GoFlight.

I also know, due to my experience, that two computers with exactly the same components will still have differences in performance.

Cees if there is anything I can help you with that you may not have already tried, then feel free to shoot me a PM.

A happy FSX-A/Windows 10 flight simmer.

[Paul Domingue]

I have a mid-range computer, 3gig processor, with a fair to middling graphics card and running Windows 10 fully updated.
I get excellent results with FS9 and P3D and while not the best on FSX it is tolerable. One thing I don't have is extensive scenery addons and this is probably the reason for decent flying experiences in FSX.

My opinion is that recent developments in scenery and aircraft are exceeding the capabilities of this aged flight simulator software and I am hopeful that we shall see some vast improvements in the near future for both divergent systems of Microsoft's ESP.

LM has made some notable improvements for the technology industry and now DTG is making a strong effort to address the constraints of this software to reach a larger market share from the general public.

For the simmers this is an excellent outlook on a new horizon but for the developers, especially commercial, it will be problematic.

To say that you want FS to improve and blame all the problems on the OS sounds to me like a conservative mind frame. We all want everything to stay the same but better. It's just not going to happen.

For those who want to stay with earlier versions of Windows, and I can understand the frustrations, you will eventually find everything passing you by and the worst part of it, nobody will care.

For me, I will try to have the greener grass if I can and let my neighbor worry about his own.

[hairyspin]

Windows 10 is blamed by W8 users, W7 users decry W8 as wonky gadgetware, XP users insist W7 is the spawn of the devil and Windows 2000 users shake heads in despair as the world goes to hell in a handcart. Somewhere out there are the last adherents to Muppet Edition and 98 steadfastly serving their masters and FS 98. 'Twas ever thus and ever shall be.

FSX was rushed to market and the two service packs never really fixed everything as we now know all too well. At least they're still the same bugs we encounter as ever more ambitious add-ons drain the 32-bit memory model to the dregs. Now, about those artefacts I get on final to JFK in an evening thunderstorm...

[Jafo]

Windows 10 is blamed by W8 users, W7 users decry W8 as wonky gadgetware, XP users insist W7 is the spawn of the devil and Windows 2000 users shake heads in despair as the world goes to hell in a handcart. Somewhere out there are the last adherents to Muppet Edition and 98 steadfastly serving their masters and FS 98. 'Twas ever thus and ever shall be.



Mostly.

I remember 2000 was touted as 'bullet proof' ....and yet I could break it at will.
In the GUI skinning game you could even 'skin' the BSOD ...into any colour or style you liked. You may as well...as you'd see it often enogh you may as well make it 'pretty'.
"Ultramarine" was the colour of choice....cos that made it "U-SOD" - somewhat apt.

Windows 8 and beyond was Microsoft's FAILED attempt to make a universal OS for all applications/hardware....particularly for the 'Windows Phone' ....and just how well is that now going?...;)

The dumbing-down and blandness of all things post 7 simply demonstrate that the GUI [specifically] of 7 was the pinnacle of the Windows development for the Desktop user....[what everyone into Flight Simulators is].

The OS Kernel improved admittedly but the general user was and always will be oblivious to that.
The single most absurd 'requirement' of Win 10 is Forced Updates which can AND DO cause system failures.
The latest Anniversary Update is the perfect example. Many [if not most] survive the update seemlessly. Those who don't lose data, sanity and access to their computers without resorting to the jumping through hoops to get to Safe Mode [remember 'dumbing down'?].

If [and that's an 'if'] people survive whatever updates surreptitiously are inserted into your system then all is well and good....spiffy, even.

But WHEN it goes to poo you'll go find that baseball bat and beat the living crap out of an OS that thoroughly deserves it...;)

I have 6 systems....and 4 are on 10. One of those in particular is still a disaster. Edge is unusable, IE is no better, and I've made sure Chrome is the default as it's the most reliable/functioning.
All are 'Pro' so I'm still avoiding anything 'Anniversary'....until Redmond pulls its finger out of its bum and gets it right - properly.

[IanHenry]

I've never had any problems with W10. I think you need to wipe your disk and do a fresh install and use FSX-SE it performs far better than the boxed edition or, if your computers up to it P3D. There far better than the original FSX, the only drawback is the possibility of OOM's but they have never been that big a problem for me.



Ian

[Dutcheeseblend]

Hi,

I feel sorry for all your troubles.. Well, I don't have really those crashes. I run FSXA on W7, with a 4-year old HP Elitebook 8570w Workstation: 3rd gen i7 with 2.3 GHz, 8GB RAM and a Nvidia Quadro K1000M videocard. I often run Blender next to FSX and it works fine. No crashes at all.. Did have them before, but I downloaded the uiautomationcore thingy and now it runs well. With NL2000 and my own development aircraft.

[big-mike]

http://www.infoworld.com/article/3108405/microsoft-windows/microsoft-changes-win781-updates-pushes-even-harder-for-windows-10.html

Mike

[YoYo]

...of all the crashes, low framerates and hughe loading times I'm about to give up on this sim.

:banghead:


Cees


I understand it.
Check DCS.

Sametimes I also need a fresh air without crashes and jumping fps. It's a time to leave FSX and go to DCS World for few weeks/months.

btw. Now I'm returned to P3D but ... v3 and I'm very happy with this new version. Its a very stable sim, good fps (near stable 60) and no any CTD (!!!).
My FSX stayed on the top high shelf.

[ChipShop]

I'm on windows 8.1 and have FSX Acceleration in place with ORBX FTX EU scenery; up until recently everything was running perfectly smoothly, even with some of the larger aircraft like the RL A400M for example. But now, I find that my FSX now, takes a ridiculously long time to load; occasionally freezes and is rather stuttery in the frame rate department.:jaded:

I thought perhaps, it was to do with a slow internet connection or such like; or even that I had too many aircraft in my sim objects library; failing that, it might have been the recent ORBX SP5 update. But now having read this, I'm wondering if maybe it's to do with FSX as a whole!?:indecisiveness:

Hopefully a solution or some sort of service pack update will be forth coming and get things working smoothly again?

ChipShop

[ncooper]

I believe that the only service pack available for FSX is P3D.

[YoYo]

What I need more ;) ?

http://s10.ifotos.pl/img/Prepar3D-_apqwwnq.jpg

(Hudson river)

[Montie]

...of all the crashes, low framerates and hughe loading times I'm about to give up on this sim.

:banghead:


Cees

I gave up on FSX Acc. last year. Constant crashes, OOM, decreasing performance with add ons and loading time made feel more like work than fun. I am using P3D V3.2 on Windows 10 now and I have no problems what so ever. I am enjoying "flight simming" again like I was with FS9 prior to FSX.

[Dimus]

SSD + GFX(e.g. 970GTX) + P3D 3.3 will have you smiling again.

As for OS, I had no problems either with Win7 or Win10.

[ce_zeta]

I am running FSX:SE with W10 and no crashes with the exception of the v0.077 of KLN-90B. Downgraded to 0.076 and all works fine again.
One addon badly coded can be a pain in the ass

[b52bob]

Running a mid spec computer. I have fsx-se and p3d 2.5. I no longer use fsx because p3d is so much better. I think I have had a total of 3-4 CDT's in the last year. Have not upgraded to 3.3 as I am retired and on limited funds. I usually skip every other updates so am awaiting the 64 bit version of p3d which I hope is on the horizon.

[marijn]

I am running W10 and FXS-SE and have no problems whatsoever. My system is very mediocre but still gives me 30FPS at most times.

[SpaceWeevil]

I'm sorry you're having so many problems Cees. For what it's worth I've never found much in a vanilla FSX installation (especially SE) to cause problems. When they arose (they did, and still do occasionally...) I usually trace them to excessive frivolous switching of aircraft / locations in one session, or loading this old engine and my hardware beyond what it was conceived to handle - complex aircraft, hi-res skins, real weather, complex scenery, AI traffic etc. That might not be the case for you, but it was for me.

I've never found better advice than in Nick Needham's (in)famous 'bible'. It starts with matching CPU, GPU, memory & motherboard before optimising the OS and only then looking at installing and setting up FSX. It's long-winded, didactic and the tone sucks in places, but followed faithfully it revolutionised my FSX experience.

I also suffer from long loading times but this seems related to Orbx FTX regions, where the loading bar sticks at 6% for up to a minute - this affects P3D too. As several people have noted, P3D is more robust mainly due to improved memory management, but I don't find it magically runs everything better or smoother. This is just my 2p / 2c worth (probably about the same now...).

[glh]

I am running Win XP Pro (FSX Accel and CFS2 on 1 box) on my 2 old Dell tower boxes. Upgraded to a 512 MB video card and 4 GB RAM on each box. I do something else (sometimes cook dinner !!!) waiting for it to load and it does have the occasional crash. But I pick the plane, time, departure and destination when it's ready and it just cruises right along -- about 98% of the time. Sometimes, textures are slow to load as I change views but it gets there in a few seconds.

I do keep my addon scenery levels down. I have replaced the stock textures for sun, moon, water, night, etc., etc. with better aftermarket files. And StormILM had excellent advice in stopping processes before starting FSX. I use a utility called "EndItAll2" (which can be found on the internet) and my own batch file to stop unnecessary XP services.

For the money I put into it over the past 10 years, it has given me cheap, cheap fun and it still running fine. Every 2 years, I pull the boxes and vacuum the interiors to get the dust out of them and the fans.

These boxes are going to outlast me.

[Smashing Time]

I am running W10 and FXS-SE and have no problems whatsoever. My system is very mediocre but still gives me 30FPS at most times.

Ditto here

[Bjoern]

Windows 10 has its quirks, as does FSXSE but as the old saying goes: Adapt or go extinct.


Quite disappointed that MS axed the inofficial W10 support for the Nokia 925. Would have loved to try it, if only to check if some irritating Windows Phone 8.1 bugs are gone. Now I have to look for a sub-300€ Android device with regular OS support and a good camera. *Groan*

[WarHorse47]

In reading this thread over and over, I find it a little confusing. Cees original post was about the sim, and yet everyone is focusing on their setup or OS.

Perhaps if we knew more about what hardware and OS Cees is running, we might have some insight as to why he's experiencing problems with the sim.

What ya' think? :untroubled:

[Desert Rat]

...of all the crashes, low framerates and hughe loading times I'm about to give up on this sim.

:banghead:


Cees

FS9 mate, FS9!! LOL.

Joking aside, I have the latest and greatest setup bar the GPU (pending) and I still find FSX disappointing performance wise. I'm gonna run FS9 and X-SE for a while and see how they pan out. This is about enjoyment, right? I'll fly what gives me that. Just tried a couple of things I grabbed on steam on sale, not convinced by them. Il2 1946 and Wings of Prey, look okay, but not quite there.

Jamie

[glh]

In reading this thread over and over, I find it a little confusing. Cees original post was about the sim, and yet everyone is focusing on their setup or OS.

Perhaps if we knew more about what hardware and OS Cees is running, we might have some insight as to why he's experiencing problems with the sim.

What ya' think? :untroubled:

Reading Cees' original post, it is only quite natural that others will elaborate their own experiences with the (FSX) sim, their adaptation to it and fixes, if any, they have found that helped. If one is frustrated (head pounding against wall icon), there are only 3 things one can do -- give it up, accept it for what it is or find some accommodation to relieve or eliminate the frustration. As I stated, I do something else while the "graveyard" loading process is underway.

Or, perhaps since we ALL know that FSX-in-a-box is frustrating, let's just stop re-inventing that wheel in the future.

[Aharon]

I have been flying on FSX Deluxe with SP1 and SP2 set in Windows 7 Professional for years without problems until last May. Since last May, I get strange one real annoying crash or freeze per every flight. Do not know why and cannot find what is wrong with FSX.

What can I say??

Here is the annoying freeze or crash message that happens once every FSX flight since last May:

Problem Event Name: AppHangB1
Application Name: fsx.exe
Application Version: 10.0.61472.0
Application Timestamp: 475e17d3
Hang Signature: f7fc
Hang Type: 0
OS Version: 6.1.7601.2.1.0.256.48
Locale ID: 1033
Additional Hang Signature 1: f7fc88831a14516a1a53b7dc654b9c89
Additional Hang Signature 2: a500
Additional Hang Signature 3: a500f613cd82315a1a89ca2a82b07dda
Additional Hang Signature 4: f7fc
Additional Hang Signature 5: f7fc88831a14516a1a53b7dc654b9c89
Additional Hang Signature 6: a500
Additional Hang Signature 7: a500f613cd82315a1a89ca2a82b07dda

I wonder what are other people's freeze or crash messages?


Regards,

Aharon

[Jafo]

If you are having issues "since last May" go to your Windows Updates history and see what was installed/updated "Last May" and uninstall each/all of them until the system is stable again.

It's the one single reason why Windows 10's "Forced Updates" are a genuine issue with Computer users in general. They are guaranteed to give issues sooner or later.... not necessarily every time...but it's simple Russian Roulette ....and you are the unwilling player.

A few years ago the 'simple' updates to IE 9 and IE 10 [as well] initially prevented FSX on my Win 7 Ult box from even starting at all.
Reverting to previous version solved it....and some-when later the issue with the updating magically went away.

...until next time.

There are only 2 entities that can screw up your computer....you, and Microsoft.

And all too often it's not you...;)

[StormILM]

A few years ago the 'simple' updates to IE 9 and IE 10 [as well] initially prevented FSX on my Win 7 Ult box from even starting at all.

I remember that issue and new AMD/Radeon drivers that caused my FSXA install to stop dead in it's tracks. Another thing I had an issue with after buying the Aerosoft A319 was that the freeware FSX Night Vision addon caused my A319's FPS to be completely unusable. After isolating the component files for FSXNV, my A319 ran smooth as a top. Most of these performance killing issues are caused by a 3rd party addon or some windows related update.

[banjoman1960]

i stay at w7.........
and also before i update or install something(windows,grafik or orbx) i make a image..........found also grafik-drivers are somtimes very bugy..........so if all work,no change them......

i hope for a long time on w7,for me the best ever.......i can run fsx,fsxse and p3d for days without ctd..........p3dv3 is 460 gb

i have try w10 a few days on my old pc and i hate it,it´s back to w7 to........i hope that in a few jears you can run p3d on apple or other.......if so,good bye ms.

cheers
Ralf

[gavinc]

I run both FSX and FSX-SE on Windows 10 with reasonable results.

I did move to an SSD for the main disk holding both the OS and FSX / FSX-SE. I put most add on scenery on an additional HDD.

I run with a lot of AI (most major commercial airlines, GA aircraft and a selection of the MAIW military AI) and 3rd party add-ons (most ORBX products and freeware associated with them plus freeware Norway and South Africa)

Framerates are locked at 30 and usually are around there (down to 12 - 15 in busy areas like southern California and southern England) but the game is usually smooth enough.

Just to give a level set I have been timing load times ever since I re-installed on the SSD
Clean install of FSX + Acceleration - 34 seconds
Clean install of FSX-SE -40 s.
FSX-SE after installation of FTX Global, Vector, OpenLC, FreeMesh, civilian and military AI - 4.36 min booting default Cessna to Schiphol.
FSX after installation of all FTX Regions, several FTX payware airports, civilian and military AI - 5.46 min booting default Cessan to Compton Abbas

I have found the biggest issues with regards to stability are
1) AI - if there are missing aircraft in flight plans, missing textures etc this causes the system to spend time searching and trying to render no existent things. the best tool for fixing these issues is ACA-2013 http://aifs2.pvdveen.net/?p=233 It runs thru your FSX install and identifies all the issues.
2) Overlapping Airports. Sometimes I get conflicts between different 3rd party scenery packages and have multiple packages trying to render the same airport. The best way I found to resolve these is to back out packages until the system becomes stable again and then troubleshoot.

No idea if this will help Cees.

Thanks
Gavin

PS my system is an old I5 Gigabyte system (mildly overclocked to 3.2 GHz) with 12 GB RAM, GTX970 GPU, 500 GB SSD & 500 GB HDD. So not exactly a screamer but not bad.

[StormILM]

FSX after installation of all FTX Regions, several FTX payware airports, civilian and military AI - 5.46 min booting default Cessan to Compton Abbas

5.46 bootup to a default Cessna? I don't run FTX but have a massive amount of scenery and addon aircraft models and my bootup time with this 1 year old well used install is around 22 seconds and my FPS is a solid 32 (locked) and I run some high end models on unlimited FPS and obtain the former target rate. When I fly into FSDT Fort Lauderdale or Drzewiecki-design Miami or New York , my FPS with either my PMDG 738NGX or AS A-319 are stable and near target. I'm running a 3 + year old i7-3770 (non-K) @ 3.40 (w/turbo boost, non-OCed), 16gb ram, and a new 2gb GTX-960 SC. In my experience, once the hardware is G2G and set, it's all a matter of tweaking to CFG file and adding/changing what settings that run best for you. The other thing I avoid like the plague is the use of any FSX menu items like the map or flight planner which unnecessarily eat up VAS and cause other memory issues/lag over the length of a flight. I either use the FMS/FMC Nav, GPS, or good ole VOR/ADF type Navs. 99% of the time, I have no lag or VAS/OOM’s.

[StormILM]

I forgot to mention, I am using SceneryConfigEditor v1.1.3 to select and deactivate scenery which is not in use. That also helps with performance and VAS usage.

[hairyspin]

I see load times here which make my old rig seem lickety split! Has anyone with glacial performance tried running Scandisk on their HD? I had various issues a while back including apalling response times for IE's Favorites bar and after running Scandisk the machine was back to its speedy self. Too many packages installed, removed and bodged again for its own good, I think.

Scandisk is a command-line tool shipped with Windows 7, Vista and XP if you haven't used it before. Windows 10 & 8 have chkdsk which is used from a command line. Or you can use the Tools in your HD Properties from an Explorer window.

[glh]

Thank You, Mr. Spin. I shall try your tip later on.

[glh]

Mr. Spin:

I searched my Windows XP Pro system for Scandisk -- no such animal. However, it did pop up with the "chkdsk" utility run from the RUN box under START.

I proceeded to boot up my system and run EndItAll2 and my StopXPServices (homemade) batch file to terminate all XP services I deem not required to run FSX Acceleration. I got my cellphone and reset the stopwatch app to zero. I was now ready to test.

I selected my Logitech Pro Stick device in my Logitech game profile. I then clicked "Play Flight Simulator FSX", followed by my stopwatch. I sat and watched until the FSX Acceleration start page with the aircraft, time, start location, etc., etc. page came up and clicked STOP on the stopwatch. The elapsed time was 5 minutes and 5 seconds.

I then ran the "chkdsk" utility via the RUN box under START and let it do its thing. I did not watch it and when I returned, it was done.

I repeated the process described in my 3rd paragraph above. The elapsed time was 1 minute and 5 seconds.

WOW !!!!!!! I was surprised, sir ! A 4 minute reduction in the compile/check time is an approximate 80% reduction. That was an outstanding tip you gave and I thank you very much for that. I believe I will have to start running the "chkdsk" utility every week. Thank you again.

[Penzoil3]

Besides scandisk or chkdisk, how about defragging the poor drive once in a while ! I highly recommend Ultimate Defrag (payware) https://www.disktrix.com/, but Defraggler from Piriform (freeware) https://www.piriform.com/defraggler, works well too.
It makes a world of difference. :banghead:
Sue

[glh]

Personally, I use CCleaner and defrag the drives using the free version of Wise Care 365 -- about every 2 weeks. Never got a marked difference in reduced loading times until I tried Mr. Spin's tip.

[No Dice]

Come on Back to CFS2 , we miss you down there.

Dave