Flightsim stops responding.....

[Moach]

hi there...

i've been having trouble with FS lately...

i haven't been able to play it for more than 5 minutes without it stop responding...

problems started when i upgraded my video card to a Radeon 9800 xt and also changed the mother board... but all other games run fine (and with awesome framerates )

BTW i had to reinstall windows when i changed the mobo, but i didn't format the hard drive as i can't afford to lose what's in there...

i've already tried reinstalling FS, running it on a clean boot, downlading the latest ATI drivers, reinstalling directx 9.0c, and i bought a new, more powerful PSU... nothing seems to work

the radeon is well fed and is not overheating...
i'm out of ideas...

my system specs:
athlon xp2000
asus a7n8x mobo
1 gig ram
radeon 9800xt 256mb vid card
windows xp
sound blaster live x-gamer sound card
350W (real) power supply unit
directx 9.0c
latest ATI catalyst drivers

anyone have a clue?

thanks in advance...

Moach

[JBaymore]

Moach,

Did you have an ATI video card before?  Contrary to the ATI instructions for updating the drivers.........

AFTER using the ATI utility to uninstall the old drivers......
use DriverCleaner to get the stuff the ATI uninstaller leaves behind........ particularly in the registry.

THAN install the new drivers.

Just guessing.

best,

.................john

[Moach]

actually, no...

i didn't have an ATI card before, and also, the new drivers were simply installed OVER the old ones....

but i should mention that FS was crashing even BEFORE i updated the drivers

thankz anyways...

Moach

[Wing Nut]

It never responds to what I want it to do either.  Especially when I'm shooting an approach...  ::)  ;D

[Nav]

Moach, you don't say exactly what happens when it 'stops responding'.

I had a slight problem a few months ago - the screen 'froze', and I had no mouse pointer.  I used to have to use 'Ctrl/Alt/Delete' to restart, and then Scandisk.

In the end I found that it wasn't the game at all - it was some kind of loose connection at the back - but it misled me because the problem only showed in FS, presumably because it is the most demanding program.  

I unplugged everything and plugged it all in again, and it's been fine ever since.  If you've been fitting a lot of new hardware something could have been left loose.  Maybe also check that the new video card is firmly seated in its slots.

Try it anyway - here's hoping!

[Moach]

when fs stops responding, the screen turns black and i get the 'this program has stopped responding' screen...

i hit 'close' and it goes back to desktop....

(also, every now and then, instead of the black screen and closing to desktop, i get a completely BLUE screen and i have to push the reset  button.... --might be a completely different matter, i don't know )

[Nav]

Well - try 'policing' the plugs etc., anyway.  And maybe clean the CD, and perhaps check the CD drive?

I usually find that it's best to attack these problems on a 'broad front'!  :)

[Hagar]

I have a couple of suggestions. If you haven't already done so, install the No-CD patch to take the CD-ROM drive & the CD out of the equation.
It could be a virtual memory problem. Check your virtual memory settings from Start/Settings/Control Panel/System/Performance (WinMe). Make sure they haven't changed since FS9 last ran properly. I find setting up a proper Windows Swap File more efficient than letting Windows manage it. I think this has a different name in WinXP but will be much the same.
Also check that no unnecessary applications or scheduled tasks are running in the background. One of these starting up could cause an error or FS9 to lock up completely.
Anti-virus software is a common cause of unexplained glitches when installing or running the later M$ sims as it automatically scans each file for viruses as it's opened. This uses up system resources & slows things down. I usually disable anti-virus software if I intend using CFS2 or FS2002/4 for any length of time. This could be awkward if you play online.
Finally, it might take time but a regular Defrag never did any harm.

Hope this is some help. Please tell us if you fix it.

PS. As you've installed new hardware make sure it has adequate cooling. I've heard that overheating is a common cause of these problems.

[Moach]

thanx for the help guys but i've already tried all those things...

i tried running FS on a clean boot... this means that nothing but FS and the minimal essential files are open... it still crashes.....

this leads me to thinking that this problem might be hardware related...

well, the video card is not overheating... i checked (will check again just to be sure) and it can't be underpowered either, since i just bought a new PSU.....

oh, and i DO have the no-cd patch installed...

i'm gonna have a looksie inside and see if there's something wrong with the radeon or something....

i'll post back if someting (or nothing) happens

c ya

Moach