Stuttering system

[Lysander77]

Every few minutes FS 2004 freezes up for about five seconds, then recommences with no problem.

[Delta_]

Try getting rid of background apps, before starting fs.

[Lysander77]

Many thanks! I'll give that a try...
                         All the best,
                                  Lysander77

[dave3cu]

What are your system specs?

Did you do a full install?,  so FS doesnt have to update scenery, etc. from CD?

Cheers,
Dave

[Lysander77]

Many thanks, Dave.  Yes, I did a full install -- but have also loaded in a number of "add-ons": aircraft, scenery, terramesh, airports, etc. Perhaps this plethora of bells and whistles is provoking these stutters.  However the initial advice from the first reply -- to close any backbround programs -- has helped a great deal. Now there is only one stutter, just before take-off.
Thanks again for such helpful and considerate responses.
                 All the best,
                           Lysander77

[Black ZR-1]

Don't forget to update your video drivers and defrag your system!

[JVC_systems]

What are your system specs? Cause that where we have to start from. But I would recomned doing what most people in this topic suggest. Hopefully it will help

[codered]

Clean your hard drive often.  Get rid of all those temp files and compress the ones that you don't use very often.  In your start menu under systems defrag and clean up the hard drive.  My performance always picks up after this.

Also close all background applications before you start FS9.  I shut down explorer, local network, etc.  Then start up FS9 via the task manager.  Don't forget to close the task manager.  You can use Alt-Tab to move in and out of FS9.

[Lysander77]

Many thanks for so much helpful advice.  Everyone has been most responsive. My system information is:

Windows XP
Processor: Intel 15 Model 2.4 GHz Stepping 4
Memory: 1023 MB (19% utilized)
Hard Drive: 74.53 GB
Video: RADEON 9100 Series Ver. 6.14, 1152 x 864 in 32-bit color
Compaq 6350US

[garymbuska]

If you do a defrag on a hard drive of that size I hope you do not have any travel plans As it will take it some time to do this. Also I read somewhere that is not a good idea to defrag your drives that much as it can create problems. Unless your hard drive is more than 50 % full defrag is not really necassary. One area that most people dont think about is the cache where you store your web pages if you do not clear this from time to time this file can get huge. Also check your email boxes and remove any old emails that you do not need.
Some people have a huge inbox and never remove any old messages. Basic house keeping can help your systems preformance.

[Lysander77]

Good advice - which I intend to follow. You're quite right about the length of time needed to defragment an 80 gigabyte hard drive; the best part of a working day, in fact.
Thanks again for your thoughtful and pertinent response to my inquiry.
                All the best,
                      Lysander77

[MichaelH]

Lysander 77

clean out all the temp files and garbage, then run error checking on all volumes (especially the one where fs9 sits)
over time your drive will develope lost file fragments, cross-linked files, and other file system errors.
To fix these types of errors:

Go to 'My Computer'
right click on the drive you want to check/Properties/Tools/error checking/tick the box for 'automatically fix file system errors'/check now

You will need to reboot before it will check the volume.

I would download and install 'Disk keeper lite'

http://www.mywebattack.com/pcapp.php?id=105088

much better and faster defragger than the one that comes with XP and it's free.

After you have done the chkdsk you should defrag all volumes. This should not take that long on your hard drive unless you haven't defragged for a very long time, and even then it shouldn't take more than an hour. Once you have defragged it the first time it will defrag quite fast if you do it every week or two. I have an 80 gig western digital which I defrag about every week and it takes about 5 to 7 minutes to do the whole drive.

Contrary to some opinions, you do not hurt your hard drive at all by defragging.  Defragging does not create problems, it will help you avoid them. This is true whether your drive is almost empty or almost full. Although, if your volume is really full there may not be enough room for the defragger to work properly.

Your games and programs will run much better on a volume that is free of file fragments.

codered gives you good advice re turning everything else off while running the sim.
Look at your system tray (next to the clock) and see how many programs load up at startup.  Shut them all down before starting the sim.


Also, a lot of Windows XP services can be disabled. If you want to see what can and can't be, go to the website below.

http://www.blackviper.com/WinXP/servicecfg.htm


Good luck

[Lysander77]

Many thanks to everyone who offered helpful advice. The problem has been resolved by following the various suggestions. The chief culprit seems to have been a Spy Sweeper program recently installed, which evidently interposes itself somehow and hence momentarily freezes FS 2004.
I am most appreciative of all those who took time to suggest answers for this problem.
                       Many thanks to all,
                               Lysander77