Important !! Important!! Important!!

[FSTipster]

mmm ok..so does "811493" come with the XP Pro or is it something that you have to install, cause theres no other SP1's on my add/remove, could it be hidden, if so where could i find it..

You get it from Windows Update.

If you haven't used that (you'll find it in your start menu) I strongly recommend you do. There are dozens of updates - some critical.

Just avoid the one ramsa mentioned.

Edit: If you want to see what updates you have installed, go to Control Panel/Add/Remove programs.

Any updates will be listed in there with their numbers (all prefixed by`Q`).

[Erhan]

ok thanks..

[ramsa329]

It was something that you would have had to download from Microsoft Update.

If it's not there than don't sweat it.

[Whiskey_Zulu]

I've had Win XP running FS2002 for over a year in total and I have never, repeat never, had FS2002 crash on me once - or the OS as a whole for that matter.

I've had WinXP running FS2002 for over a month and it crashes on me all the time.  It probably has at least a 50% chance of locking up every hour of use.  

I've played countless hours on at least half a dozen other games on XP and only once or twice have any of them ever locked up.  FS is about 1000X less stable than any other windows program I have, game or productivity.

FS2002 is also probably the buggiest payware game I have ever played in my entire life, and I've been heavily playing console and PC games since the Atari 2600.

I am not exaggerating one bit here.  I can't believe I still play the game despite its bugginess... it's probably because I got up to Multi-Engine, Commercial, and Instrument airplane ratings in real life, and nearly became a CFI before just getting sick of flying, but this game lets me relive the fun parts of flying while skipping the annoying bullshit and enormous bills.

The main bugs I experience are the crashes and the way when loading a new game or lowering time acceleration from >4X to 4X or below the IAS suddenly gets set to TAS for a second, causing overspeeds and altitude gains (due to increased lift from higher speed).  Also, the game has an autopilot that sometimes sends my planes into annoying oscillations, ATC that tells land airplanes to land on seaplane water runways, or vectors you into mountains, plus tons of other crap... and THERE ARE NO PATCHES!!  I just can't understand why such a buggy piece of crap as this game doesn't have any patches when every other, far-less buggy game would have about six patches by now.

[packercolinl]

Just to add to the confusion I've got '811493' installed and have seen no difference in operation.
When I looked to remove it a list of four programs its removal would affect came up. I left it alone.
As far as FS2002 crashing,I've only had problems with addon A/C and few at that.
Apart from that the only real bug I've got with it is the NAVLOG-fly at 165000 over desert at 1500 then fly at 6500 in mountains where your T/O field is at 5100 and tour landing at 6447

[FSTipster]

Just to add to the confusion I've got '811493' installed and have seen no difference in operation.
When I looked to remove it a list of four programs its removal would affect came up. I left it alone.

I understand the conflict causing the slow down lies with Antivirus software equipped with live scanning (Norton AV is a good example). If you don't have that, you shouldn't encounter a slow down.

Either way, the windows claim that those other programs will be affected is bogus.

The update itself is pretty much useless to 99.9% of users - it only affects you if you're on a LAN and are concerned about another user on the same LAN compromising your files. Business orientated really.

[FSTipster]

[quote]

I've had WinXP running FS2002 for over a month and it crashes on me all the time.

[packercolinl]

John,I'm running NAV all the time and as far as the connection to other programs I think you,re right. I just didn,t see the point if there was no problem(for me at least) Cheers

[ramsa329]

FsTipster is absolutely correct in all of his observations.

There is no use arguing that this update doesn'y cause any problems It does and that's a fact Microsoft knows it and so does everybody else.

I would also like to add one more bit of info. To those of you who run Norton.

It is my suggestion that you remove it and all of its parts from your machines. It causes many interoperability problems.

There are free virus checks available on the web and many other anti-virus programs available which cause far fewer problems and less OS interference than Norton.

[Whiskey_Zulu]

Let me hazard a guess - you upgraded a previous version of windows rather than re-formatting?

No, it was a clean install.  I've had this computer for about 17 months and have re-installed XP at least 4 times so far.  The last time was in February.

[FSTipster]

First instance I've come across of such problems on a clean install.

Without knowing what else you install and how it's all configured, it's difficult to know why.

[Whiskey_Zulu]

I have maybe a half dozen other games installed, and one of them have a problem with locking up.  I haven't tweaked my computer any weird way to maximize performance.  The way it usually happens is I do something that causes FS to search the hard drive.  And it keeps searching for about 15 seconds, until that Microsoft Default Error Reporting thing pops up.  I basically save the game every 15 minutes to avoid losing my flight, because there is virtually a 100% chance of it crashing after two hours of play.  No program or game I've ever used in my life crashes like this one.  I mean the game is fun, if it weren't for the crashes (retarded ATC is bad too, but that's easy to ignore).  Several times I've been about to return FS but I guess it's just barely fun enough that I keep playing it despite its problems.

[FSTipster]

[quote]I have maybe a half dozen other games installed, and one of them have a problem with locking up.

[Whiskey_Zulu]

Thanks for the help.  I haven't really kept track of which airplanes cause a crash, but it seems to happen with all sorts of airplanes.  I'll keep track of it in the future.  I don't have that program you recommended, but I'll check it out.

[FSTipster]

There are a couple of other things that can cause this to happen related to gauges.

Quite a few rely on you having two dll files in order to work properly:

FSUIPC