Need Help, At A Dead End

[strikehawk]

It's not often that I ask for help with FS9 these days but I am at a complete loss with this one. Last weekend I had no trouble with frame rates considering the age of my machine but when I went to resume a MP hop list my frames were at <1-2 FPS. I first thought someone else has an unconfiged router so every one that was not a regular got the boot, reset my flight, same frame rates.
These are the next things I have tried;

1 ran the diagnostic program on both my planes and scenery via Raninsoft's FS manager other that a couple birds that I barely use, everything came back ok.

2 reset all my graphics to default test flight, frame rates went up to 3FPS

3 dumped the fs9.cfg built a new one, test flight, same 3 (if I was lucky)fps

4 copied my back up cfg into the FS folder, this was made last summer, ran the game, test flight, no joy back to less than one to one frame.

I am sure I missed something but what it is I'm at a loss.

I'm sure that this will be asked so here it is, please don't laugh:
Sys Specs;
CPU Celeron 2.20GHz
RAM 1 GB
Video Card
Radeon 9250 with 256 MB memory

At the moment I can't think of anything else short of a clean install.

[WarHorse47]

Have you checked to see if anything is running in the background?

Sometimes a new program or something else is running in the backgound consuming resources.

--WH

[OBIO]

Do a full system anti-virus/malware sweep with multiple A/V packages. Trojans/viruses and ad-aware can be major resource hogs.

Clear your temporary internet files and cookies.....using CCleaner.....you'd be surprised how those files can bog down your system and how many nasties lurk within those files.

Then...shut down your system. Unhook all the cables and cords. All of them. Once unhooked totally, press and hold in the power button for 30 to 45 seconds to drain residual power from the PSU and MOBO capacitors. Open the system up and clean out all dust and cob webs. Heat build up is a major system choker.

Have you updated any software drivers lately that may be the cause of the FPS loss? The latest drivers for sound cards, video cards are not always the best drivers to use.

OBIO

[Wild Bill Kelso]

Additionally to the points WH47 and OBIO mentioned, I'd add these:

- defragment your HD,
- try a tool like "Game Booster" to shut down all unneeded background processes.

With only 1 GB RAM, you won't have any space to waste...

Cheers,
Markus.

[middle]

I was having the same problem with lousy framerates....I installed gamebooster, defragged, cleaned a bunch of crap out and took the computer, opened it up and vaccuumed and cleaned with rifle cleaning patches every nook and cranny..especially the fan housings and blades...it now runs smooth as silk. The only time it's dropping now is if I am flying over a city with all the autogen sliders and scenery sliders maxed. Not to mention that my machine is running very quietly now. It tends to get noisy when the fans and the grating over the power supply starts to get clogged up with dust and dander. Happy Trails, middle

[aeromed202]

Also you may have added a new program, or one was quietly added when you thought you were just downloading something, that has been set to automatic start-up. I'm guessing you have XP but this should be doable for 7 also. To see what's running, click on the Start button then click Run. Type in msconfig then click OK. The window that pops up will have tabs along the top. Click on Services, then in that window go to the bottom and check Hide All Microsoft Services (so you don't kill something it needs to run). What you will then see are all the programs that will start up automatically when you turn on your machine, if they are checked. I review this list every so often. The only things I have checked are the ones involved with the anti virus/spyware program and a battery back-up program. Things like Real Player, AVG, and any number of others will typically default to automatic updates or active web searching unless you teel them not to. I much prefer the manual touch so my slower machine won't bog down until I'm ready to let it do what it needs to.
This is a fairly simple and safe check to perform. There is a more comprehensive way to examine all the services, but not being familiar with it a person can wreck things up. If you do the above and make any changes, on re-start you will get a notification box about what you did. Just check the don't show this box and it will go away. Good luck.

[hawkeye52]

As stated by aeromed, many, many downloads bring along uninvited "guests". Years ago I started using a small program named WinPatrol; it notifies you of any attempted change/addition to your system and blocks it unless you accept the change/addition. I invariably disallow the proposed change 99.9% of the time.

Here is a link: http://www.filehippo.com/download_winpatrol/

You will be astonished at all the crap that tries to stealthily climb into your machine! :icon_eek:

- h52

[tgibson]

One easy thing to try, in case your current Flight is messed up:

1. Load the default Cessna at SeaTac Flight.
2. Switch to the plane and airport of your choice.
3. Connect and take off.

Hope this helps,

Tom