Throwing in the towel

[AussieMan]

After running a beta version of Windows 8 for many months with no real problems which included both FSX and P3D running flawlessly I got an offer too good to refuse. Yep as someone who was registered running the beta W8 I was given a downloaded version of Windows 8 for $40. Only problem there was it had to be a clean install which wiped the registry. To cut a long story short, after installing P3D I sent an email to LM advising them of what I had done and requested re-activation of P3D. That is when my problems started. I kept getting the dreaded 5008 error telling me that my licence could not be located on the server. After many emails being exchanged, even sent them a copy of my invoice, and being told to make sure I have typed in the correct Licence ID and password and constantly telling them I use copy and paste I have decided to give up on P3D and only use FSX to check any aircraft I repaint.

[Navy Chief]

So far,I have resisted upgrading to Windows 8. It is stories like yours that affirm my decision to wait!

NC

[Landman]

I concur. I have windows 8 on my new desktop and it Sucketh horribly when used to run FSX. It took months of me fighting with tweaks and mods and editing of this and that to finally get it to run FSX smoothly. I had to deal with new issues that I never had before like having to globally edit all the security settings on all the files in the entire FSX folder just to be able to edit a .cfg file or a texture file. I had to "take possession" of all the files in the various FSX folders to be able to make any changes and not have various error messages pop up while running FSX. When I first installed it, FSX used to crash to desktop quite often until I made all the various tweaks, mods, etc. It was a royal PAIN IN THE POSTERIOR. All these new windows security features are more of a P.I.T.A. than they are worth. I could go on and on about all the things I hate about Windows 8 but many of them have nothing to do with flight simming. Just suffice it to say that windows 8 is an EPIC FAIL. I still say, and I have heard many others agree, that XP was the best operating system Microsoft ever made. When Vista came out it all started to go downhill rapidly and that downhill momentum got a JATO assist with windows 8.

[Dangerous Beans]

AussieMan, where are you copy and pasting your licence from ?
Maybe some hidden formatting is creeping in somehow maybe a win8 thing.
I know its a pain but try typing it in manually just in case.

[AussieMan]

I was doing the copy/paste from the invoice I got with the purchase. LM has sent me a new password and all is fine now. Sim is now activated.

[Lionheart]

I was doing the copy/paste from the invoice I got with the purchase. LM has sent me a new password and all is fine now. Sim is now activated.

Whewww... Glad its now working for you, AM.


I am staying very far away from W8. I have heard one person say that W8 is runs FSX very very fast (dont know about P3D). He said before it was 36 FPS, and now its 76 FPS and higher. I think he said its touching 100 FPS. But man, how can you walk away from W7 with all its cool, refined, nice looks and smooth operations and go to something that looks like a giant version of Windows cell phone OS with giant uni-colored squares. (Maybe I just need to demo it for a bit and see what it does... ).


Again, glad its working for you, AM.

[n4gix]

... and go to something that looks like a giant version of Windows cell phone OS with giant uni-colored squares. (Maybe I just need to demo it for a bit and see what it does... )

It is entirely possible to set up Win8 to look and run just like Win7, but it is a shed-load of work. Thankfully, it need only be done once (unless you have to reinstall for some reason).

That said, I did take my old development machine's dead hard drive out, and installed an older and smaller hard drive, then installed Win8 on it.

Unfortunately, I've had zero time to experiment on it other than to make certain it boots properly. One of these days I hope to make some time to install and find the 'tweaks' necessary to make FSX sing-and-dance without problems.

[Clutch Cargo]

I thought LM dosen't "officially" support Win8 for P3D, or has that changed?

[AussieMan]

Actually I had been using a beta version for more than 6 months with no problems. People who had beta versions were offered a release version of W8 Professional for less than $40. It meant I had to do a clean install but I believe that had nothing to do with the P3D problems. Somewhere along the way something happened but it is all fixed now. I have found that my computer boots up three times faster that it did before.

[Gdavis101]

There is no way I would go to Windows 8, looks like a ******* Windows Phone and I do not need an APP for that! I like 7 and will probably stick with it as long as I can.. Glad to see you got your problems figured out.

[Hughes-MDflyer4]

I wish people would form am opinion AFTER trying Windows 8. I made the same mistake early on when I first saw the Metro start screen. In all reality, it is most certainly not a Windows Phone...nothing like it. It is the same operating system we've always used, just with major optimizations and better boot times. (With an SSD + SETA II cable, my bootup time has been about 40 seconds, and has not changed since the installation 2 months ago) The overdone glassy form borders are now flat and clean. I've had zero problems with FSX so far. Performance is significantly better. (I can even run in windowed mode or full screen with no change in FPS...on 7, I got terrible FPS in windowed mode) I haven't tried Prepar3D too much yet, but no problems as of yet.

The start screen is the only significant UI change. Once you get used to it, it's really not that bad. I hated the Metro start screen when I first saw it during the development stage and was terrified of it, but after watching a friend use it for a few months while 8 was out as a Developer's Preview, I learned how it was actually used. It's not as bad on a desktop PC as one might think.

I didn't mean for this post to sound like an advertizement...just trying to get the point across that it is actually a good operating system when given a chance. I always loved 7. It was the most stable and problem-free operating system ever. Win 8 has been the same and more.

[AussieMan]

I totally agree with you Hughes. These days people jump to conclusions too quickly. When I started using the early beta version I was a bit apprehensive. So much so I actually removed it and then later re-installed it twice before settling down and getting used to it. I even have a W7 style of desktop I can use as well. My startup time with W7 was between 75 and 90 seconds but now it is between 30 and 45 seconds. It is the old story, never judge a book by its cover.

[n4gix]

I was fixing to say that it is entirely possible to reconfigure Win8 to pretty much duplicate the UI of Win7 with just a bit of effort. It only needs to be done once unless you reinstall Win8 for some reason...