I've got so fed-up...

[Fozzer]

.....with Windows 8 refusing to allow me to alter files in the "C:\Program Files" location, even though I have full Admin Rights to do so...(apparently)....
....that I have spent the past 2 days un-installing ALL of my various FSX Software; Flight Sim, plus all of its bits and bobs, Payware and Freeware...

...and re-installed all of it directly onto the C:\ drive location in the hope that FSX will run more reliably, and I can modify the various files without being told that; "I am a very naughty boy, and mustn't try and alter things"..... ...!

Its taken ages to set everything up again, (EVERYTHING MUST be downloaded and reinstalled again, in the correct new locations).

Compared to (reliable) FS 2004, FSX is very "pickey", and can fail to load, or crash to desktop, at the slightest provocation!

Just got FSX + SP1 &SP2, Orbx FTX Global, UT USA, Instant Scenery 3, grass bits, and my previous Add-On Scenery bits and bobs, re installed...

(Interestingly, the "road traffic" only appeared on the roads AFTER I installed Orbx FTX Global and UT USA!)... ....!

It all takes forever, interrupting my "Flying Time"; so fingers crossed, time will tell if it all works smoothly, and trouble-free again...

There's no doubt that the slightest thing will upset FSX...(and me!)

Paul....back up in the air...again... ...!

FSX Deluxe Edition... ...!

[mjrhealth]

It is highly recommend you put FSX on it own drive, saves all that fragmenting that happens on C drive. Once you have a clean install, copy teh whole FSX folder to another drive, that way you will have all the original files in a safe place in case of emergency. If you have payware, save them all into a backup folder with the keys etc in text files, that saves the downloading all over. It isnt that hard. I have keys and files of all my purchases.

[garymbuska]

.....with Windows 8 refusing to allow me to alter files in the "C:\Program Files" location, even though I have full Admin Rights to do so...(apparently)....
....that I have spent the past 2 days un-installing ALL of my various FSX Software; Flight Sim, plus all of its bits and bobs, Payware and Freeware...

...and re-installed all of it directly onto the C:\ drive location in the hope that FSX will run more reliably, and I can modify the various files without being told that; "I am a very naughty boy, and mustn't try and alter things"..... ...!

Its taken ages to set everything up again, (EVERYTHING MUST be downloaded and reinstalled again, in the correct new locations).

Compared to (reliable) FS 2004, FSX is very "pickey", and can fail to load, or crash to desktop, at the slightest provocation!

Just got FSX + SP1 &SP2, Orbx FTX Global, UT USA, Instant Scenery 3, grass bits, and my previous Add-On Scenery bits and bobs, re installed...

(Interestingly, the "road traffic" only appeared on the roads AFTER I installed Orbx FTX Global and UT USA!)... ....!

It all takes forever, interrupting my "Flying Time"; so fingers crossed, time will tell if it all works smoothly, and trouble-free again...

There's no doubt that the slightest thing will upset FSX...(and me!)

Paul....back up in the air...again... ...!

FSX Deluxe Edition... ...!

I feel for you man
One of the first things I did before switching over to Windows 8 64 bit was to find out what problems I might run in to. That is how I discovered that it is advised not to install FSX into the default directory. Of course I was not planning on doing that any way. I have three hard drives two internal and one external. Even on my old system I had three internal hard drives I had read that FSX or FS9 runs better on a different hard drive and not on the same drive as your operating system is on.
I know there are people out there that installed FSX in the default location and are using either Windows 7 or 8 and are not having any issues SO FAR
Not every one has more than one hard drive as the system they are using is a store bought system and most of them only have 1 hard drive in them . Of course any decent system will allow you to add at least one other internal hard drive and nowadays you can find them pretty cheap. I got a 1 TB external USB 3.0 drive for under a $100.00 that includes tax tag and title as they say.
I build my systems from scratch from the case right on up. This way is usually cheaper and you can control what software you have. Most store bought systems have programs that most people will never use. The biggest culprit here is Microsoft Word. and all of its other related programs like EXCELL and POWERPOINT. I have no use for these programs on my system as this is strictly a gaming computer.
The biggest advantage of building your own system is you own the operating system and do not have to worry about your system . Of course Microsoft decided to release windows 8 as a OEM version you are limited as to what changes you can make on your system without having to buy another copy of Windows 8. The only way around this was to buy a update version which I could not do because I was going from a 32 bit to a 64 bit operating system. I have not even updated to the latest version of Windows 8 because I do not need it I have finally gotten used to the fact that I do not have a start ICON. Once you figure out where it put things at and how to access them I do not need a start button. I can do any thing I need it is just knowing where to look to find things. The big one here is right clicking with the pointer in the lower left hand corner this gives you access to the control panel and other kind of goodies. Of course it took me a while to find out where minimized programs went Upper Left Hand Corner. And then figuring out how to shut the system down was a little different as well. But now I have gotten used to it.

Glad to see you back up in the air I know that was a pain in the behind to say the least.

[Fozzer]

Hello Garry...

Up to now I have been building my own Desktop/Tower computers from scratch since the 1990's, but most of my old stuff is now obsolete and cannot be upgraded, so this Xmas I splashed out and purchased the wonderful, ready-built Tower listed below, on sale for £168, containing a super-dooper, high-speed Intel i7 processor, which alone, is half the cost of the complete computer!...... and less than the cost of a middle grade Laptop!

I think it was cheaper and quicker to purchase the COMPLETE (bargain!) tower computer, rather than search for bits and pieces and build one up from scratch...
...and being modern, is easily upgraded with modern components as required!

....its nice being "modern"!.... ..!

http://www.adventcomputers.co.uk/produc ... desktop-pc

..and its black, and lovely and shiny...and quiet!


Paul.....Happy Bunny.... ...!

..I've just got to hire a truck now, to dump all my old computer stuff into a big hole in the ground...(environmental friendly?).....NAH!.... ...!

[logjam]

Paul, I researched everywhere to see what PC to use for my new Win 8 computer. One thing which everyone seemed to agree on was that the I5 or I7, having integrated graphics would not run games very well. They seemed to think a separate graphics card would be better. Anyway, I decided to get an all-in one pc with a 23" screen and opted for the HP Envy23 which has a radeon graphics card: 3.40 gigahertz AMD A10-5700 APU with Radeon HD Graphics(AMD Radeon HD 7660D)
Exactly 1 year to the day I bought it, I updated to win 8.1 and went through all the things you did to get this heap of junk working with FSX. I still don't know if it will work the next time I fire up FSX or not. I can get it to work most times by loading some of the previously sved flights, but I can't get to change planes without it crashing. Anyways, I sympathize and if you find a slotion, please share.

[boromir125]

Like the rest of you, I too have had my share of problems with win8/8.1 and FSX. I believe part of the issue is with the OP, the remainder with the ability of my present system to accurately work with directx 11. It seems that when directx 11 loaded with the 8.1 upgrade, my problems began, and even following directions, it will not allow itself to be deleted in favor of 9, which FSX was designed around in the first place.

I have found several 'workarounds' but they are far from stable to work all the time. The system crashes on long flights for no reason I can think of, and when changing settings in mid-flight. I hate it, but live with it the best I can. Microsoft has abandoned us in favor of money so we're really on our own. There is no apparent interest in helping us take care of our problems; the funny thing is, I really believe they (Microsoft) do have the answer, and are just sitting on it, because there is no real money in it anymore....

[OldAirmail]

For whatever it's worth check out the "Windows 8" search on this blog - FSX Times.

Newest is at the top, oldest at the bottom.




There are two programs that may be useful;

The first one.
SimLauncher - it works with both FSX & Prepar3d to setup your flight & launch the sim. Boromir125, this will make it easier on you until you find a better solution.

.

The newest file is supposedly on FlightSim Eindhoven, but that download link was bad when I tried it.

Go to Fly Away Simulation to get the older version. It should automatically check for the latest update. Download that, and your in business.

AN ABSOLUTE MUST!!!! - You must download & install a free program called MakeRunways 4.674. IT IS LISTED UNDER the FS2004 section.

You need this for BOTH FSX and/or Prepar3d V1.x or V2. Put it in the FSX and/or Prepar3d root folder before you run it. It'll generate 2 files.

I don't think that it was really made for Prepar3d V2, but with only the smallest amount of effort it will work. If I recall correctly, I had to make a empty text file or two with the names of files that it was looking for. It then overwrote the non-information in them. I also think that there were problems getting the paths right, but that might have been due to my installing Prepar3d V2 in a different location.

[Fozzer]

Hello Garry...

Up to now I have been building my own Desktop/Tower computers from scratch since the 1990's, but most of my old stuff is now obsolete and cannot be upgraded, so this Xmas I splashed out and purchased the wonderful, ready-built Tower listed below, on sale for £168, containing a super-dooper, high-speed Intel i7 processor, which alone, is half the cost of the complete computer!...... and less than the cost of a middle grade Laptop!

I think it was cheaper and quicker to purchase the COMPLETE (bargain!) tower computer, rather than search for bits and pieces and build one up from scratch...
...and being modern, is easily upgraded with modern components as required!

....its nice being "modern"!.... ..!

http://www.adventcomputers.co.uk/produc ... desktop-pc

..and its black, and lovely and shiny...and quiet!


Paul.....Happy Bunny.... ...!

..I've just got to hire a truck now, to dump all my old computer stuff into a big hole in the ground...(environmental friendly?).....NAH!.... ...!

Sorry Chums... ....

Miss-type!...£168... ...!

That would have been the bargain of the century!

Should read £680!......Still a bit of a bargain for an i7 3.9 GHz set-up, with a top-grade Graphics card!!
http://www.adventcomputers.co.uk/produc ... desktop-pc

Paul....too many fingers and too many keys... ...!

[JP]

I got 2 hard drives, however the one FSX isn't installed on is pretty much full and even if it was empty it could barely handle FSX with all my addons.

[boromir125]

Thank you Old Air Mail, I will check those files out ASAP. I know that others have had the same (and some more serious) issues and it's great to have a source of information and other directions to try. Again, my sincere thanks.

[wifesaysno]

Paul,

With PRE SP1, SP2, and Accel, it was rock solid. After updating and Accel it became unusable. There was a very simple fix though.....turn on DirectX10 preview and run in a window. Now it is just as stable as FSX has always been

Which is why FS9 is STILL on my new computer

[Fozzer]

Paul,

With PRE SP1, SP2, and Accel, it was rock solid. After updating and Accel it became unusable. There was a very simple fix though.....turn on DirectX10 preview and run in a window. Now it is just as stable as FSX has always been

Which is why FS9 is STILL on my new computer

Hello Adam!

I tell you what FSX doesn't seem to like, is changing "things" in the middle of a flight session, aircraft, airfield location, other settings, etc,....
I often find that the Sim gets confused and reverts back to the desktop (crash) after a very short flight time!

It seem to be more reliable to; "End the Flight", then make the required changes, and re-start the flight again from scratch.

Things also seem to be a bit better after putting ALL my FSX stuff directly on the C:\ drive, instead of in; "Program Files"... ...!

Note: I always run FSX (and FS 2004) in Windowed Mode to get instant access to my GPS Maps (FS Navigator+FS Tramp+Plan-G, etc), in the bottom Task Bar...
...also, some programs insist on running in; "Window Mode" to prevent problems!.... ...!

Paul...FSX Deluxe + SP1+SP2...(no "Acceleration"...whatever that is?).... ...!

[FoMoCo63]

Hope this post finds you, and your Flight Simulator in great shape now