'Puter' Mystery Problem;(Solutions?)

[Wyld45]

Have an interesting problem,...could be as simple as maybe not having
enough ram or something similiar,but theres a strange part to this.

Have an older Dell,but it has been upgraded. Its a 38 gig cap.and
have 11.6 left over. Currently it has 512 ram and running a 228 pci twin
video card. Now for the weirdness,..

I like a clean-running game so I fathfully go to the control program
menu,go to internet options and hit the "Delete All" box. Times I have
done this before the game and look for the "run-box" deleting items,
if its clean,run-box does not appear and run of course.

Im in the middle of my campaign,(note;mostly when I hit warp,but not
always) game totally shuts down and exits,I'll go to the Int.options
and hit the "delete all", run-box pops up and is apparently deleting
"something" out that wasnt there before. Was this just maybe "error-
reports" being deleted, or possibly even one of them "annoying" bugs
that do all kind of wacky things?

I have symantec and currently it has quarantined about 6 or 7
items I know of,and of course a few attached to key-components
that comp. needs to function. Keep in mind the "box" is always
cleaned out before I game,and its always random. Alot of times
I'm able to finish my mission before it happens.


Thank-you for any thoughts or comments you may have. <S>

[OldCrow]

Maybe try to disconect from the net before you play?

[popsaka]

Check the status of your swap file.

[Wyld45]

Well, I have uninstalled and am re-doing everything. I'm leaving NEK
out of it though. Just seems like I had alot on here so going to try
minimizing the game and then see what happens. Thank you gents,
let you know how it goes!

[Daiwilletti]

Hi Wyld45.
Symantec is one clue, that may be an issue. Turning off all non-essential Windows XP services is a good idea.

Defrag is always good. Don't forget to run a modified preload.xml it helps with delays/stutters. And yes the error reporting function may be running after the crash.

BUT the main thing that causes my instal to crash in mid warp is a spawning event that calls for an aircraft that is stuffed. So if you have an aircraft in your instal missing the correct link to a sound file, or missing a texture, a weapon, a pylon, the game will crash as you warp. Also if you've played around editing spawn files funny things happen. Also if you are missing a weather file or texture funny things can happen.

Don't you just love dear ol' CFS3? it drives me nuts some days

[Wyld45]

Hi Wyld45.
Symantec is one clue, that may be an issue. Turning off all non-essential Windows XP services is a good idea.

Defrag is always good. Don't forget to run a modified preload.xml it helps with delays/stutters. And yes the error reporting function may be running after the crash.

BUT the main thing that causes my instal to crash in mid warp is a spawning event that calls for an aircraft that is stuffed. So if you have an aircraft in your instal missing the correct link to a sound file, or missing a texture, a weapon, a pylon, the game will crash as you warp. Also if you've played around editing spawn files funny things happen. Also if you are missing a weather file or texture funny things can happen.

Don't you just love dear ol' CFS3? it drives me nuts some days

Thank you so much Dai, The "stuffed" air.file I believe is exactly
the answer I was looking for! I had those suspicions because I noticed
it didnt happen in my "Brit-Ftr" or "US-Ftr" Campaigns. I know the other
issue on "Symantec" could be also. Yeah,driving me nuts when I've
got some "golden-kills" under my wing,headed back to base, then,>>>
>>>(((('BLINK'))))) "AGHHH!"

[hairyspin]

Symantec is one clue, that may be an issue

Good old Symantec has been my friend since 2005 IIRC and still is - NIS 2009 now and their best yet imo. Even on my old clunker it never interfered with CFS3 and I have OFF, MAW and ETO as well as vanilla. In fact I only had a software conflict with Symantec once and that was years ago, don't remember what with now. Oh and online groceries early this year - but the store has fixed their service since.

But if it has quarantined several items, there usually is a reason for it and it's usually a good reason. Downloaded any software lately? I'd recommend scanning anything and everything as and when you d/l. I use a download manager and it's set to scan all downloads automatically.

If you're short of memory, you can use MSCONFIG (system configuration utility) from the Run... item on the Start menu; on the General tab set Selective Startup, then on the Startup tab set Hide All Microsoft Services - these are the operating system services, duh.
Then, and only then, click on Disable All to disable all those add-ons, updaters and other clutter that fill up your System Tray.

After a reboot you'll have a much leaner, quicker system to play CFS3 on. At each reboot, the same System Configuration Utility will pop up so you can set everything back to normal for the next reboot by selecting Normal Startup

But for pity's sake DON'T go online like that - you'd be as well walking through the Bronx in cloth of gold carrying kilo bags of smack.