Windows 8 help

[Shadow Wolf 07]

I just loaded CFS2 on my new Win8 system. I've made all the desktop shortcuts I want to make except for the cfs2.cfg. I can't find one in the main folder! I'd like to have a shortcut to it so I can change collision seconds (collision bubble), and the force feedback settings when they inevitably reset. I'd also like to add the bomb trainer data to it. Does anyone know how to find it? Note: I just loaded the game and haven't flown it yet... does the file get created after the first flight? Thanks in advance!

[Allen]

It should be made when you run the game for the first time.

[stoney]

I now have Windows 8 after a complete melt down of my good old Dell. What I did was make a short cut of the main CFS2 Application in the game folder. Then move it to my deck top and it worked okay.

[Shadow Wolf 07]

Thanks Allen. I suspected that. Stormy: I'm way ahead of you :salute: I've made all the other shortcuts.

[Shadow Wolf 07]

I am modifying my game - new gun site, HUD, country config etc. I keep having to verify everything I do or change as an "administrator"... It's annoying. Is it okay to turn User Account Controls completely off as was done with Vista/Win7, since I am the only user of this computer? Also , I find that Win8 spell checks me as I post here - that wasn't done for me before with other operating systems - but I can't return my cursor to the next line to start another paragraph here. Has anyone else noticed that?

[stoney]

Yes, I have to giver permission for EVERYTHING it seems, what a pain. Personally, I'd like to have my XP system back. I'm not too good with computer stuff so maybe someone else can help. I will say my new PC plays CFS2 real well, windows 8 or not.

[Shadow Wolf 07]

I made some additions in SCENEDB and started the game as usual (several times), but the filelist.dat files did not regenerate! Also, no cdp was created for the aircraft I used. PS: a cfs2.cfg was not created either.

[Shadow Wolf 07]

I think I found a solution by accident, thanks to Rami. Open the CFS2.exe Properties window, select the Compatibility tab. Then set compatibility to Widows XP, apply and close. Right after doing that I opened the game and all the filelist.dat files regenerated! Rami steered me to that .exe file to fix another problem but it also solved the problem noted in the posting above. :salute: to you Rami!

[Shadow Wolf 07]

I discovered that after the filelist.dat file problem cleared up, all my settings - joystick, flight model and scenery library - went back to default settings. After reloading my scenery library, and resetting the other parameters I went to free flight and noticed (as did Stoney) the aircraft selection tab preview window was blacked out. I can live wit h that if I have to. Note: the previously selected F6F-3 had reset to the default F4U. I think Win 8 is gonna be a problem with this game...

[stoney]

Flogging Windows 8. What a bunch of @##$%%$#@@! My IL2 1946 works okay as does my CFS3 , yuck, (I'm going to install "Over Flanders Fields"). Now my FS2004 Golden Wings install will not play with out the Task Bar and the blue bar at the top not showing.

[Shadow Wolf 07]

Stoney: I recommend we keep this thread open as a Windows 8 problems data base. More and more people are going to be getting that operating system and we need to log in our problems and solutions. I haven't loaded IL-2 1946 yet but probably will this weekend. Oh, and the cfs2.cfg finally was created. I found that when modifying one of the files - panel.cfg, mdlnames, aircraft.cfg, airbases.dat etc, - I cannot save it in place. Windows won't let me. I have to save the file in a location outside the main CFS2 folder and then copy and paste it in place. with that in mind I wonder if the cfs2.cfg will modify itself if I use custom weather in Free Flight or change itself when I fly a campaign? We'll see... :mixedsmi:

[bearcat241]

You guys can put an end to these type of headaches by just creating a new partition on your shiny-new, big-capacity hard drives and use it exclusively for sims and games. If you're not sure how, just take the rigs back to the geek department of the store from which you purchased and ask for help with software tool choices and other do-it-yourself advice, or just pay them to do it for you. Putting all of your fav games and sims on another partition drive or another internal hard drive is the best way to get these newfangled Windows OS's to stop interfering so much. Its still useful to turn off UAC when possible and use compatibility choices when applicable, but from a security standpoint, these newer systems like Seven and Eight also behave entirely different to mod work done to programs on drives other than the system drive -- they just don't care.

The other benefit is that if your system drive gets FUBAR for whatever reason and you have to wipe it and reinstall the system, your customized favs are spared from any data loss. You may find that you need to have registry entries for these programs in the system registry in order to install many payware addons. If this is your situation, you rename the old sim folders on the other drive to whatever, reinstall the sims again with their original folder names, rename these newly installed sim folders to something else, then rename the old folders back to their original names and delete the new sim folders with Shift+Delete for permanent wipe. What this does is protect your old stuff from being overwritten during program re-installation while the system creates their new registry entries.

[Shadow Wolf 07]

Thank you for your suggestion Bearcat... I never thought of that.

[stoney]

Clearly you know what you're doing bearcat241. I'd never thought of these things, thanks. Sadly, when it comes to computers I'm still somewhat afraid of them. I figure I'll bugger the whole thing up if I hit the wrong keys. I've been through XP; Vista; W7 and now W8. On the whole I still think XP was the most user friendly of the lot. So Shadow Wolf 07,did you figure out how to get the aircraft menu to show the 'planes yet?

[Shadow Wolf 07]

... So Shadow Wolf 07,did you figure out how to get the aircraft menu to show the 'planes yet?
Nope, not yet. Maybe once I learn how to and move everything to another volume/partition it will work and they will show.

[stoney]

Hmmm... well, let me know if you have any success. I have not as of yet. I'm not sure I know how to do that partition thing. Did you try that "Plane Tour" bit yet? It's down at the bottom of the select plane menu. The picture does show there!

[bearcat241]

You're welcome guys. W7 and W8 are designed for more protection against system intrusions anywhere on the root system drive. Unfortunately for CFS2 users, historically, such intrusions have greatly involved certain internal file types used extensively by CFS2 users like *.cfg, *.dll and *.dat files. So the systems have some trouble allowing you or the sim to play around with these types. There may be other types as well.

However, these systems are designed to overlook program activities on other drives and just let them roll. That's where you want to put stuff that's low-risk and not security-sensitive like games and sims.

Stoney, i didn't know squat about this computers stuff until i just swallowed the fear and started learning and applying my lessons. I got started in system tweaking and optimizations through my passion for gaming, which also taught me how to build computers from scratch. Being the self-reliant type, i have no issues about making mistakes - just makes me a quicker study. And anything you want to learn is free on the internet if you figure out where to look.

[Shadow Wolf 07]

I read you loud and clear Bearcat. I have a buddy who is an IT specialist who will help or show me how to create a partition on the HD. Once I get that done, sometime next week I'll wrestle with loading the game on it. :applause: I've gone through two different Help wizards on this thing and the tell me what a partition is, but not how to create one. So I'll wait for expert assistance. :salute:

[Shadow Wolf 07]

Having a partition put on tomorrow... Will also learn how it's done. I'm gonna leave tit as Win 8 and hope it goes like Bearcat wrote: the OS will not care what is on the second volume. Then I have the long tedious task of reloading CFS2 and others on it. I'll post if I have any problems. :running:

[bearcat241]

Sounds like you got it down Shadow Wolf. Like i said before, once you complete the new partition, do the sim re-installation steps to the new volume, then delete the folders of the new installs manually, not via the the normal program uninstalls. This will keep the registry paths to the new volume intact and available for the old customized programs to use.

You should now be ready to copy/paste the old folders to the new volume. Don't use the "Move" option, just the "Copy/Paste" option. What this does is prevent the op from being interrupted as you are constantly being asked about moving any "read-only" files that may be in your customized installs. This can be annoying and will require that you attend your computer until the lengthy operations are complete. But by using copy/paste for the op, you don't get these queries and you can do this unattended and essentially go watch TV or something without having any interrupts.

As i'm sure you know by now, you only need one registry installation of the main "Combat Flight Simulator 2" program. All other CFS2 theaters can be transferred without fuss because they don't have registry entries.

The FS series programs may have a slight wrinkle after the re-locations if the relocated programs can't find their "operating" folders in the typical User paths, i.e., C:\Users\YOURNAME\Documents\Flight Simulator Files (FS9) or C:\Users\YOURNAME\Documents\Flight Simulator X Files (FSX) or C:\Users\YOURNAME\Documents\Golden Wings Files. There are remedies for this as well, but we'll get to that later if necessary.

[Shadow Wolf 07]

Sounds like you got it down Shadow Wolf. Like i said before, once you complete the new partition, do the sim re-installation steps to the new volume, then delete the folders of the new installs manually, not via the the normal program uninstalls. This will keep the registry paths to the new volume intact and available for the old customized programs to use...
Confused: I have the new volume/partition set up, but I cannot find a way to "do the sim re-installation steps to the new volume" - the installation/reinstallation wizard steps simply do not offer me a choice of destination folders, let alone volumes to which to aim the install. I can rename or transfer the original installation easy enough. Should I do so and then install the new, copy and paste it to volume 2 and then send a shortcut of the .exe to desktop? :icon34: :confused:

[bearcat241]

Sorry for the confusion buddy. Take these steps:

1---Copy your existing original to what will be its final destination and rename it temporarily to whatever you like
2---Uninstall it the standard way (you know, the Add/Remove procedure) from its original location on the root drive and be sure to delete anything left over after the process completes
3---Re-install the program to the new volume next to the copied original
4---After that, its now safe to delete the new install and rename the old original back to its previous name.

[Shadow Wolf 07]

With Bearcat's help, I have finally installed the game on the new partition/volume. :salute: Everything seems to be working fine from the set up except the aircraft preview window is still blacked out. I can live with that... Next I'll try customizing the install with added scenery, aircraft and ships and see how it goes.

[bearcat241]

Good job Shadow Wolf. I guess its a little late to check it out, but i'm curious as to whether the newer install would have displayed this same preview window problem before you deleted it. It could be a DirectX issue. CFS2 was originally designed around DX7, with compatibility to DX9, but i think W8 may be strictly reliant on DX10 (don't quote me on that), which might explain any strange graphics problems. I dunno...

[MaskRider]

Great thread guys. I am toying with the idea of getting a new sim-dedicated system built and this thread has been a gold mine.

MR

[Shadow Wolf 07]

Great thread guys. I am toying with the idea of getting a new sim-dedicated system built and this thread has been a gold mine.

MR Good MR. I started it not only to get the answers for myself but to start a Win 8 data base as more and more people get this new OS and have toe wrestle with it.

[stoney]

Well bugger it! Nothing I do will bring the aircraft back into the aircraft selection window. It's still black. The partition didn't effect it. So, I can live with it.

[wolfi]

As far I have no problems with Windows 8 and CFS2 even on a few years old PC, my question is did you install an actual Graphics Card driver? After installing Win8 I had a few issues with the old PC but after installing an actual driver they are solved.
wolfi

[Shadow Wolf 07]

As far I have noproblems with Windows 8 and CFS2 even on a few years old PC, my question is didyou install an actual Graphics Card driver? After installing Win8 I had a fewissues with the old PC but after installing an actual driver they are solved.
wolfi
I am updating my video drivers now and will experiment again tomorrow.

[mcanx]

Here is what I did to get preview window to work. Paste these parameters to your cfs2.cfg under [Main]. Your video resolution may be different then mine so enter accordingly.[MAIN]
ShowLogo=0
RUNNINGBADHW=0
Location=0,0,1440,900
HideMenuNormal=0
HideMenuFullscreen=0
Maximized=0 Robert:icon_lol:

[Shadow Wolf 07]

mcanx/Robert: I tried your solution with no success yet. I will try tweaking the settings/numbers some more though. I haven't given up. :salute:

[stoney]

As did I. Sadly, no joy.

[Shadow Wolf 07]

I now have 3 working installs on the second partition and not a single working selected aircraft preview window between them... oh well! I have one with a PTO install with MR scenery and all the ships and planes and objects I need for my campaigns. Another is for a soon to be set up ETO install. And the third is a spare. Gonna enlist Rami's help in setting up the ETO.:running:

[mcanx]

Ok guys try this. For some reason preview will not show in Full Screen. So I experimented and edited CFS2.cfg under [PREFS] and changed this setting to 0. FULL_640=0 Hope this will work for you now. If it doesn't could be a video card problem. My computer runs an Nvidia card.

[Shadow Wolf 07]

Mcanx: Are you describing to us a way to set the game to a "windowed screen?" Actually I prefer the full screen. FYI: I am working off a laptop with an Intel HD Graphics 4000 video chip with the latest drivers, 8 Gb RAM, I5 processor @ 2.60GHz,

[mcanx]

Yes a windowed screen. Before when I ran Win 7 every thing worked fine. Full screen or Windowed but when I upgraded to Win 8 Pro my problems started just like the rest of you guys. Since, I have got used to the windowed screen it doesn't bother me any more. Like you I sure would like to know what was changed in 8 to cause this. Any way good luck to whom ever finds a fix.

[Jaxon]

Hi guys,

I am using CFS2 on my new Win8 notebook for some time now - there is already a thread for this.

Nearly all is fine at the moment. CFS2 loads fast and runs smooth.
I only wonder about the "few" frames in full screen mode (fewer then expected).
Seems this is a topic on notebooks only, though - the decent 64bit processor is idling more or less in full screen mode, but the mobile Vid Card has all the work to to.
In window mode, the main CPU does more of the work and the frames increase dramatically.

One thing was, that some planes caused a CTD when switching through the views, who worked fine on my old system.

I found out quickly, that this seemed to be a panel problem.
Indeed I needed to change all panel.cfg entries of these planes "render_3d_window=1" to render_3d_window=0 and the CTDs are gone now.

[Shadow Wolf 07]

JAX: I remember someone started a Win 8 thread some time back, but I forgot who. :isadizzy:

[Shadow Wolf 07]

Has anyone had any luck in launching Mission Builder in any of multiple installs in Win 8? I tried the "usual method" of creating a /BUILDER shortcut but that did not work at all.

[stoney]

Well, I guess that there isn't any way to fix this problem. Nothing I have tried has worked. I'm like mcanx, I'll get used to it.

[Shadow Wolf 07]

Well, I guess that there isn't any way to fix this problem. Nothing I have tried has worked. I'm like mcanx, I'll get used to it.
Stoney: What about Mission Builder? Have you had any luck in setting it up with multiple installs? ...or a single install?

[stoney]

Mission builder refuses to engage, although I haven't tried everything yet, I'm not holding out much hope there either.

[Shadow Wolf 07]

I found that I can reach MB via Free Flight and hitting alt to open the CFO dropdown menu. Another glitch I found in at least one of my installs is that when I take a screenshot using GCS (Grab Clip Save), the resulting shot is completely black. I'll soon test and see if this holds for the other 2 installs and what happens when I take a video with GCS. :isadizzy: PS: It seems that the latest version of FRAPS (3.5.99) is not compatible with Windows 8 neither for stills or videos. BTW: In videos, the sound records but the picture is blacked out. Also it would only play if I manually changed the video format from .avi to .mpg.

[Shadow Wolf 07]

The FRAPS people emailed me that the current version is working with "some" games. But they will coming out with a new version soon that will be fully compatible with Windows 8.

[Shadow Wolf 07]

I'm not sure if it's a Win8 or an IE10 problem, but I found I can't upload screenshots to this site. I open "Manage Attachments" tab and go through the procedure to select and upload a pic and it hangs up at the "upload" phase. I tried it several times and waited 10 minutes + to give it time to finish cycling, but no joy. I even tried a smaller size screenshot (960 X 770).

[wolfi]

I had the same issue, so I think it must be IE10.