Hi Guy's,

Just read a post in another thread with a gentle and subtle dig from our one and only Ray P <LOL>. SO, if you have a question or two just fire away.

On the machine spec questions I know will come then just to let you all know that I'm running FSCOF on 5 pc's of different spec's from a 233Mhz machine upto a 1600Mgz machine with a wide range of graphics cards. the 1600 has 512 Ram and a Matrox Perhelia 128 which runs FSCOF at a constant 18fps (as that's what limit I have set). I tend not to bother having the counter displayed unless I'm messing with settings.

On Frame Rates you might try out a few things for yourself I know Mel has his usually maxed out <S> but from FS2002 day's the higher you have the frame rate set at the LESS resources are given to parts of the programme that needs it. SO, with that set your frame rate to 25 and see what you get in relation to the feel and look of the flight you are doing. If it's handling OK drop it to 20 and try the same again. If it's ok drop it some more and see. Keep doing this till you start to observe the stutters, then crank it up a couple of notch's.

Regards,

James (CONman) Anderson

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• RE: FSCOF Discusions,WScofield, 20:52z, 07-30-03
  • RE: FSCOF Discusions,Ben_Chiu, 21:09z, 07-30-03
    • RE: FSCOF Discusions,WScofield, 00:52z, 07-31-03
      • RE: FSCOF Discusions,James, 23:30z, 08-01-03
    • RE: FSCOF Discusions,WScofield, 10:55z, 07-31-03
      • RE: FSCOF Discusions,Emile, 12:51z, 07-31-03
        • RE: FSCOF Discusions,WScofield, 13:39z, 07-31-03
        • RE: FSCOF Discusions,WScofield, 13:45z, 07-31-03
          • RE: FSCOF Discusions,jonahbird, 15:33z, 07-31-03
            • RE: FSCOF Discusions,WScofield, 19:54z, 07-31-03
            • RE: FSCOF Discusions,Emile, 05:10z, 08-01-03
              • RE: FSCOF Discusions,WScofield, 15:06z, 08-01-03
          • RE: FSCOF Discusions,vgbaron, 15:33z, 07-31-03
            • RE: FSCOF Discusions,WScofield, 19:51z, 07-31-03
            • RE: FSCOF Discusions,jimh, 15:34z, 08-10-03
              • RE: FSCOF Discusions,vgbaron, 16:49z, 08-10-03
                • RE: FSCOF Discusions,jimh, 17:06z, 08-15-03
                  • RE: FSCOF Discusions,vgbaron, 21:03z, 08-15-03

OK, so I went to the store and bought FSCOF, took it home, tried to install it, and can't get to square 1. I reach the first screen that says "Initializing setup engine, please wait." But nothing happens after that. Not a beep, not a whimper, nada. I've tried disabling the antivirus software (McAfee VirusScan Online), to no avail. I've scanned for viruses also - but everything reports clean. When I try to quit installation, it won't quit either. I have to force a quit with the Windows Task Manager.

This is a first for me. Any ideas?

William

Greetings William:

>OK, so I went to the store and bought FSCOF, took it home,
>tried to install it, and can't get to square 1. I reach
>the first screen that says "Initializing setup engine,
>please wait." But nothing happens after that. Not a
>beep, not a whimper, nada.

I don't recall when that message shows up. Can you refresh my memory? Does this happen with the first disc of the install or later?

Also, I assume you're waiting for a long time before shutting down. I seem to recall that there are some pretty long "pauses" during the install, so you may want to try getting a cup of coffee or something while waiting for something to happen.

If this happens on disc 4 or during the first startup of FS, you may have a drive that doesn't like the copy protection.

More information would be helpful.

Thanks!
Ben

As I said, it was the very first screen, which is with the very first disk. And no amount of waiting, cups of coffee, etc., are any help.

I found a semi-work around on the MS web site, which suggested a procedure for a "clean boot" that involves disabling all background programs. Essentially, everything except the services and programs that come from MS must be disabled. Then the install routine can run. Now I need to go back and find what is actually causing the problem.

My suspicion is the anti-virus software (McAfee). I don't really know how to get around this problem, as the world of viruses is growing prolifically every day. I can't really see leaving my computer exposed, if I can help it.

William

Hi William,

It's not McAfee that's the fault here as I have that programme on ALL my pc's and installed FSCOF from Alpha through to Gold with no problems. Your pc specs would be helpful.

Regards,

James (CONman) Anderson

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Something else interesting I have found. In order to get FS9 to install, I disabled just about all the "startup items." After installation, the program ran fine. Average fps in the 20's and 30's, with most sliders maxed out at Ultra High for scenery density, etc. (Athlon 1900, 512mb, GeForce 3 Ti200 64mb)

Then I went back to a "normal" startup - no other changes to FS configuration. It ran like a dog - fps in the single digits. Unflyable. When I tried the "clean boot procedure again, I was back over 30 fps.

Answer - don't get a new computer to fly this program, just turn off everything else you can. For more information, see articles 258496 and 331796 in the MS Knowledge Base.

William

Hello,
Did you try using the "EnditAll" program?

http://www.pcmedixwebs.com/enditall.htm

Regards
Emile
EBBR Brussels
Belgium

Hi Emile -

>Did you try using the "EnditAll" program?
>http://www.pcmedixwebs.com/enditall.htm

Not yet. I have used it in the past. Your suggestion is a good one, though. Thanks. It will be interesting to compare with the "clean boot" with msconfig.

Regards,

William

Emile -

I just checked, and it doesn't look as if EndItAll is XP compatible. The information states:

"First Published on the PC Magazine Extra Web site, October 16, 2001, v20n17
EndItAll, Version 2.0
Platforms: Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows ME, Windows NT 4, Windows 2000"

Do you know for a fact that it works with WinXP?

William

Hi William

>>it doesn't look as if EndItAll is XP compatible<<

Version 2 certainly is: I use it.

Frank

Hi Frank -

>Version 2 certainly is: I use it.

Interesting. I wonder why it didn't seem to say so. But anyway, sounds like it's worth a try.

William

Hi William,
I use it on XP Pro SP1
Regards
Emile
EBBR Brussels
Belgium

Hi Emile -

Installed and ran EndItAll 2 today - it was great. It allowed me to close or kill just about everything except "protected" items, which I left alone. Then I fired up FSCOF, and it ran fine - very comparable performance to doing a "clean boot" using the MS config utility.

BTW, so far I must say I am impressed with FSCOF. I still think the flight models are far too twitchy (unrealistically so) during taxiing, just after takeoff, and on short final - when the controls in a "real aircraft" get sluggish. MS has never gotten this right, in my view. But once aloft, the graphics I have seen are terrific, and the variety of aircraft are lots of fun. I wish the DC-3 didn't look so battered up, though.

William

Yes, William - I'm running in with XP myself. Also you might look for a free program called STARTER from CodeStuff. Makes it easy to do a clean boot when needed - or to disable startup items selectively.

As far as the virus stuff goes - you really only need disable it when installing. It can run in the bg after that if it makes you happy. Most virii these days are transmitted by email attachments or downloaded files. If you set your system to scan those things when you use them you should be perfectly safe. MacAfee and Norton and others have been making millions for years by promoting paranoia.

Anyhow, that's another subject entirely <g>

HTH,

Vic

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Hi Vic -

>As far as the virus stuff goes - you really only need
>disable it when installing. It can run in the bg after
>that if it makes you happy.

The really interesting discovery I made (see note above)is how much better FSCOF runs after "clean booting." I will need to look at that, and see how much that has to do with anti-virus programs, and how much it has to do with other things. But I can tell you the difference I saw was remarkable, as in 4 fps v. 30 fps.

William

Hi Vic,

I've been monitoring this thread with interest, although I haven't yet got Fs2004.

I haven't used End it All for quite a while, and now have WinXP. Having seen your recommendation I installed Starter. As far as I can tell, to get the benefit of its selections, you have to restart the computer. Is this how you find it works? I apologise for asking a dumb question.

When I used End it All, it killed everything but Explorer and Systray, clearing the system at that moment for MSFS, and leaving the next boot as standard.

I wouldn't want Starter to do a stripped-down boot every time, and I don't see any way to save particular settings.

regards, Jim

Hi JIm -

I use both Enditall and Starter. When I'm flying, I use Enditall to get a clean setup. When I'm adding new stuff or troubleshooting, I use Starter to get a clean boot thru the install process. I agree, using starter everytime would be cumbersome. For example, when I install a new video driver, I first use starter to get a clean boot and go theru the process, rebooting as necessary. When all is done, I redo the startup and see if there's any trouble. That way I can eliminate any conflicts at the start,.

HTH,

Vic

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Hi Vic,

Thanks for your explanation.

Since I asked, I've been to the "Startup Web Site" at
http://www.pacs-portal.co.uk/startup_pages/startup_full.htm

I've found that nearly all the long list of stuff in my start menu can be disabled, and Starter is great for that.

I'll wait a bit to see the effect of the change, before going back to PC Mag for End it All. Thanks for the pointer to Starter in the first place!

Regards, Jim

My pleasure, Sir!

Happy flying,

Vic

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