Testing Barb's new computer upgrade...

[Groundbound1]

Where did 'dis loud "bonk" come from, speakers or the tower?

The speakers, silly!

That answered my question, but you understand that was talking about the computer tower, and not atc right?

[RaptorF22]

1. Are there any associated messages with the crashes? Also, does the program freeze, go to a black screen, or go instantly to the desktop?

2. Have you tried doing a fresh install of the program and defragging the hard-drive?

3. Are you using XP 32 bit or 64 bit? If using 32, adding more RAM won't matter, since you are already at the maximum amount that the 32 bit version will recognize.

1) Normally it's when I am doing something like switching between views, from 2D cockpit to virtual cockpit... then it keeps loading from the diskdrive and doesn't do anything. Then when I hit "escape" it is re-starting FSX

[Rocket_Bird]

Just a few things to add:
-Do a virus scan if you haven't already.
-Do a spyware scan, if you haven't already.  If anything, it'll make your computer run a lot smoother by getting rid of everyday malevolent web junk.
-Ensure that your power supply can support your video card.  I only mention this because a jump from a GF 9600 to an HD 5850 is a pretty hefty upgrade that takes up 66% more power than what your old card required.