Simviation Forums

It's me again (Darcy Cameron)

Well I've sort of got the game working, but it will only start in safe mode and I can't actully start a flight and get it to work.  I installed the latest 44.03 drivers for my GF4 video card, I downloaded and intalled the direct X 9.0a and I ran the config program that came with the game.  I can only start it if it's in safe mode, yet everything still seems to run very, very slowly and all the graphics look like crap. The intro movie won't start when I start the game, but I was able to watch it off the disk without starting the game (so that part still works).  I put on the "No CD patch" off the simviation site and it seems to let me into the game, but that's essentially all that I can do. I am currently trying to get an other copy of the game (maybe this one is just messed up).  You guys have the knowledge and the experience to help me out, so I convey to you my deepest and most heart-felt pleeds.  Help a poor guy out, give me your assistance.  :'(

My System Specs:

Processor: Pentium 4 2.4 GHZ
Memory: 512 MB DDR
Hard Drive: 80GB
Video Card: GF4 TI4200 128MB
Sound Card: SB Live OEM
CDRW: 52X24X52
O/S: MS Windows XP Home

Thanks guys for your time. I really appreciate it.  ;D

Darcy

Hi Darcy,

You shouldn't have any problems flight simming CFS3 on your system. There's no reason why you should have to use "Safe Mode" to fly it.

But you may have screwed up by installing the No_CD crack without FIRST updating CFS3 with the CFS3 3.0 Update which will update CFS3 to version 3.1.

If I were you I'd first uninstall CFS3 in the Add/Remove Programs in the XP Control Panel. Then restart your computer and delete the CFS3 folder in C:\Program Files\Microsoft Games.

Then I'd restart again and defragment your C:\ drive.

Restart again.

Then close all the programs that you have running in the background especially any anti-virus program. Then install CFS3 and run the config program once and you should be able to fly pretty well with the sliders set to 3 or 4.

Then go to http://microsoftgamesinsider.com/CFSIns ... _Notes.htm and download the 3.0 Update.

Then fly CFS3 a little bit to make sure everything still checks out. Restart again. Close all unnecessary programs running in the background and then install the No_CD version 3.1 crack, restart and see if CFS3 will fly okay without the CD in the CD drive.

I'm a nut about restarting my computer after every little change I make. I can't help myself!  :)

Then if you want you can download and install the CFS3.1 Aircraft Update at the above website too. That's about all I can tell you to do.

Are you sure that you installed DirectX_9.0a correctly? Some people follow the instructions but for some reason it doesn't install correctly. To check what version of DirectX you have installed go to "Start", then "Help and Support", type in "DirectX" without the quotation marks, then click on "Troubleshooting DirectX" and open up the DirectX Diagnostic Tool and on the System tab the version that you have installed will be indicated there at the bottom of the page. While you're there you may as well run all the diagnostic tests to check it out.

There's an easier command line way of accessing the DirectX Diagnostic Tool but I forget it right now.

You can also go into CFS3 Config and click on Custom Settings. Then on the menu bar click on "Window". Then select "Overrides" and uncheck the "Dual Pass Render" box and check the "Hi-Resolution Z-buffer" box. This should speed your system up a bit without any real noticable decrease in graphics quality.

If your computer seems to be running slowly overall, in other games etc. you may start thinking about formatting your hard drive and re-installing XP. There's a great "How To" interactive guide at Paul Thorrott's Windows Supersite.

http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/wi ... _clean.asp

Formatting your hard drive will erase EVERYTHING on your hard drive so make sure you back-up everything you want to save. Before you format and clean install XP you may want to consider partitioning your 80GB hard drive. I only have a 40GB hard drive and have it partitioned into 3 separate partitions of C:=20GBs, D:=10GBs and E:=10GBs. In this way whenever you choose to format and partition again you'll be able to back-up everything you want onto the D: and E: partitions. I have my mp3s and all the files that I know I want to save onto my D: and E: partitions so I don't need to back these up onto CD-Rs or whatever when I format and clean install.

Good luck.

Thanks for the help Bob, I followed all of your directions and the game is working a little better now.  It is still very very slow to play though.  I don't have any of the display settings very high (all level 2).  The intro movie works now, but loading the game is very slow and the main menu barely runs.  Opening up the options menu and the missions menu takes so long! It's a good 60 seconds just for the game to recognize that pressed the button!  The little animation of the pilot standing by the plane barely works. The scene changes one frame about every minute. But it still looks crappy. Why?!  ??? I have tons of RAM and a great processor.  I even tried disableing the anti virus software and configuring the display options to a very low setting.  It's still painfully slow.  :'(
Have I just forgot some stupid thing like a resolution setting or something?  I think that I properly installed the new 44.03 display drivers for the video card.  There is a file for the new drivers in the GF4 program files, but there is also a file for the older one in there too.  Is this okey. Is that the problem?
Anyway, if you guys have any ideas please let me know.

Thanks  :)
Darcy.

I can sort of get the game going but it's running so choppy.  It takes like ten seconds for the stuff on the screen to change during the flight. It's like it's constantly trying to load or something.  The little hourglass by the cursor is constantly showing.  What's up?  How can I fix this?

Darcy

Hi Darcy,

If you've never run an anti-spyware program like Lavasoft's Ad-Aware program (or SpyBot) on your computer then this is the best/easiest thing to start with. What type of ISP do you have .. dial-up or broadband?

Download and install the free version of the Ad-Aware anti-spyware program and run it on your system. If you're not aware of spyware and such it's quite possible that your computer is just loaded with this stuff and that's what's slowing your computer down so much.

http://www.majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=506

And if your anti-virus program isn't up to date or if you just fail to run it every once in awhile this too can cause your computer to wimp out. You may have a virus running around in there. You can download a free anti-virus program from Grisoft called AVG 6.0 at:

http://www.grisoft.com/html/us_downl.htm

Download and install it, then download the online update program and run it again to check it and/or to clean your computer from any possible virus('s).

You just want to close your anti-virus software when you install new programs because it can interfere with the installation. But if you haven't updated your anti-virus software and then deliberately run it to check your system out then it's not doing you any good at all.

When you install new drivers for your video card there are directions at the nVidia website for doing so. I have an ATI brand card now and it's recommended that I UNINSTALL the older drivers first, before attempting to install the newer ones. Go to the nVidia website and read up on how to properly install the new drivers.

You said that you followed ALL my directions and that probably isn't so. I mean formatting and clean installing your Operating System is a real big deal, not to be taken lightly. But anyway.... formatting and clean installing your OS is the last thing to try.

Did you check to see if you have DirectX_9.0a properly installed like I suggested before and then run the diagnostic tests on your system?

But you NEED to uninstall CFS3 because you installed the NO_CD crack version 3.1 on top of the 3.0 version copy of CFS3. This is definitely a very bad thing to do!

After you properly uninstall it, like I said in my earlier reply to you, you need to delete its folder and then restart your computer and reinstall it again. I don't want to re-write everything I said earlier but you need to start over with it.

Your computer specs are fairly close to mine so you shouldn't be having these hang-ups and slow downs. Something isn't right with your computer and CFS3 is just showing you the symptoms.

Alienware Intel D850GB mobo w/P4_1.3GHz 400MHz FSB CPU upgraded to a P4_2.0(A) with the PowerLeap PL-P4/N adapter and then finally to the P4_2.6GHz. I'm tired of smearing thermal grease!
Sony 21" Multiscan E540/B
WinXP Pro_SP-1
512MBs PC-800 RDRAM
Radeon 9700 Pro w/Catalyst 3.4 Driver Suite
DirectX_9.0
45GB 7200RPM IBM Deskstar
Creative Soundblaster Live! Value (yeah, I know!)
Klipsch ProMedia 4.1 speakers
U.S. Robotics 56K Fax PCI (ain't offered broadband here yet)
HOTAS Cougar joystick/throttle
Latest 3DMark2001 SE = 14,230

I wish you lived next door. I'd love to get my hands on your computer and fix it up. You need some work done on it and all I can suggest for you now is what I already said. At least for starters.

Computer problems and the remedy is usually a process of elimination. Start at the bottom and work your way up. I really feel for you because I used to be in the dark about computers until I learned everything I know the hard way. The long and winding road to computer fine tuned efficiency.

1-Run an anti-spyware program.
2-Run an updated anti-virus program.
3-Uninstall CFS3, then delete its folder and reinstall it.
4- Properly install the new video card drivers (probably) by uninstalling the older ones first.

Um, I read here before about someone turning off their "Wait for Vertical Sync" and it fixed all their problems. It may be something really simple that we're overlooking. If you have access to a friend's video card you could try installing that to see if it helps to fix your problem.

Your system should run CFS3 almost as fast as mine. You have a problem there and it isn't the combat flight sim. Odds are that it's either the way it's installed or that your system is just gunked up with spyware or a virus.

I could go on but you need to start at the begining and track the culprit down.

Good luck.

Well thanks a lot Bob, I hot her running and she is fine!  All I had to do was uninstall the display drivers for my GF4 and install the updated 44.03 drivers again.  In regards to your suggestions towards reformatting the computer, I just got this system like 3 weeks ago, so I won't be doing anything like that for at least a year.  I updated my Norton antivirus software and did a system check and came up with nothing (thank god!).  I didn't think that either of these would be the problem because I have Battlefield 1942 and Raven Shield running at max settings with absolutely no problems.  it was just the silly driver installation.  Thanks a lot for your help, I'll be shure to enjoy the game and help out others in the future.

Thanks,
Darcy  ;D