Crashes to desktop on splash screen...

[greenfeld69]

Hey all

Just got MCFS3 today and am pulling my hair out!

After full installation, I click the desktop icon and all that happens is, I get the splash screen, the monitor clicks a few times (as games often do when changing resolution) and it kicks me back to desktop.

I've tried changing the compatibility settings through the desktop icon to no avail.

My system is as follows: P4 3Ghz, 512Mb RAM, Radeon Pro 9800 running Windows XP.

Should I take it back and get MCFS2?!

[farmerdave]

Did you try starting it just out of start/programs/microsoft?

[Woodlouse2002]

Go and download the latest drivers for your graphics card. Then reboot and start up CFS3. If this doesn't work report back and we'll try something else.

[GhostFlyer]

Just recently my machine (see specs. below) has started to exhibit the same startup problem.  So far, it seems to fix itself if I reboot and try again, but I haven't found the cause yet and it is rather annoying.

I can't think of anything that I've changed that would cause it (since it used to work just fine) - so if anyone has any clues or cures I'd love to know the answer too!

[greenfeld69]

It hasn't worked once yet!  I've tried it from the start menu, the graphics card is 100% up-to-date, Windows is up-to-date and I am well peeved!

Would a no CD crack work?

[farmerdave]

Would a no CD crack work?

I have that installed and mine still crashes.

[Hagar]

It worked for me. Installing CFS3 seemed to cause some sort of conflict with other M$ sims I had installed which locked my system solid almost every time I tried to run it. This involved the inevitable cold boot & Scandisk. Very annoying. The No-CD patch fixed that with no further problems.* Mind you, this was when CFS3 was first released using the old patch. I think you would have to install the CFS3 Update first to use the latest one posted on this site. I'm not sure this would be possible without running the sim but if it doesn't run anyway it's worth a try.

*PS. I had exactly the same sort of conflict when I first installed FS9. The FS9 No-CD patch fixed that too.

[GhostFlyer]

Just sat down intending to do a bit of Quick Combat, but again the "crash to desktop on splash screen" prevented me ... however rather than re-booting I decided to have a nose around for a possible cause.
Like the other guys, it made no difference whether I ran CFS3 from the desktop shortcut or by navigating through the menus - I also shut down every other program that was running (including VET virus checker) but still no go.

Then I ran the CFS3 Config program (which told me it was all configured, of course!) - however when I selected "File", "Change Display Options..." I found it had re-set itself to 800 x 600 x 16-bit (when I have the screen resolution always set to 1024 x 768 x 32-bit for all aplications - including what I use for CFS3).  I have also noticed that CFS3 has developed a habit of re-setting the display resolution between sessions, but as yet I can't work out why.

The good news is that as soon as I changed the resolution back to 1024 x 768 (either 16 or 32-bit), then CFS3 would start & run okay.  I did notice however that when set at 32-bit, it took a long time to change to another program using alt-tab.  Maybe this could be a clue - I'll let you know if I have any more progress.  Meantime, check the resolution settings to make sure CFS3 hasn't mucked about with them.

[Stormtropper]

Try to run the CFS3Config and set it to SAFE mode and then start it. Once CFS3 starts set your display setting to the lowest and then exit and restart CFS3, now set your display setting back and it should work. Same thing happens to me when ever I run out of memory.