help please

[freakycat]

right you guys/gals may think this is a dumb quistion but bear with me .
why when i download planes
1.....the panel is there but not the instruments
2........why do some planes assume the panel instruments of already installed plane .
this is doing my tiny little mind in .
any advice please .
ps im a puter dumbo so steady on the tech jargon .lol

[Hagar]

Hi Freakycat. Some aircraft don't have their own panel (or sound) files. They use the panel & sound of a default aircraft instead. This is known as Aliasing & is done to keep the file sizes down. You can download/install a more suitable 3rd party panel if you wish.

If the gauges don't display the aircraft probably has its own panel but you didn't install the gauges. Look in the downloaded file for a folder (or zipfile) named Gauges or similar. To install gauges open this folder & paste all the included files into the FS2002\Gauges folder. Don't overwrite existing files if prompted.

[Scottler]

One thing I do every time I do a reinstall (which is quite common because I try out so many downloads) is this:

Before I touch ANYTHING else, I go into my gauges directory and my effects directory, and I create a back up of them.  With XP it's as easy as right clicking and zipping.  Then I keep that right in the original folder, so I'll always know where it is.  

This is a lifesaver!

[Dan]

PM me if ever you need help. Always glad to advise, especially on panels.
Dan

[freakycat]

thanks for the help im going great guns now lol