Has your copy of Flight Simulator
stopped running for no reason?
These problems or CTD's (Crash To Desktop)
are varied from system to system with no "just one" quick fix
to solve them. These CTD's have been more than an annoyance to some,
however there is light at the end of the tunnel. I
have recently found a forum post that has helped me with my own experience
of the dreaded CTD. Therefore, I would like to pass this information
on to other Flight Simulator enthusiasts.
This series of tweak instructions are for use
with systems containing more than 2GB RAM ONLY!
Microsoft in its infinite wisdom has put a limit
on how much RAM a program can access utilizing its 32-Bit Operating Systems.
This limit is 2GB, meaning that any program will utilize 2GB to operate,
and if the program requires more RAM, it uses virtual memory (page file)
as the next source. When the OS uses the page file, your system is accessing
the hard drive using a portion of it as virtual memory. And as we can surmise,
page files slow down operations.
The CFF Explorer program and tweak listed below
will set your fsx.exe or any other *.exe (executable) file to allow more
than the standard 2GB address set.
First you will need to download CFF
Explorer Suite. This is the program that will allow you to edit
the fsx.exe or any other*.exe file.
Click here to download CFF Explorer Suite.
* * * IMPORTANT * * *
* * * BACKUP YOUR EXISTING FSX.EXE FILE
FIRST * * *
THE FOLLOWING INSTRUCTIONS ARE
FOR
WINDOWS XP & WINDOWS VISTA 32BIT OPERATING SYSTEMS ONLY
Editing the FSX.exe File
After you have downloaded the CFF Explorer
program, you will see Explorer Suite in your programs list. Click
on Explorer Suite then run CFF Explorer.
- Open the FSX.exe file located in \Microsoft
Games\Microsoft Flight Simulator X folder.
- On the left side you will find "NT Header | File
Header".
- Click on "File Header".
- On the right side click on "click here".
- Now you need to enable "App can handle> 2gb
addressset".
- Next, click in "File", then "Save".
The final step involves enabling your system
to accept the change in the 2GB address set.
WINDOWS VISTA 32BIT OPERATING SYSTEMS
ONLY
- From your Windows Desktop, click on "Start
| All Programs | Accessories | Command Prompt".
- Type in or copy & paste the following text:
bcdedit /set IncreaseUserVA 3072
- If you entered this text correctly, you should receive
the message:
The operation completed successfully.
- When you are finished, IT IS IMPORTANT that you REBOOT your system.
I highly recommend that you perform this function
with all of your graphic demanding games and programs, as this will only
enhance the performance of those programs as well as FSX. But remember,
only modify the *.exe (executable) file.
Another CTD Prevention Tip
Another forum post by Greg in Switzerland stated
"In the end it looks like a race condition during loading, where some
settings are not initialized properly". If you do some preliminary
modifications to Scenery settings & save a flight, his and many other
Flight Simulator enthusiasts CTD issues went away. Here are Greg's
instructions:
- After the flight sim loads initially do not select or
load a flight yet!
- First navigate to "Settings" and press
the "Customize" button. In the "Scenery"
tab set the "Level of Detail Radius" to "Small"
and "Mesh Complexity" to "0"; Both sliders
to the left edge. Confirm with "OK".
- Now load or select a flight and let the FSX load it.
When the flight is ready, go to the menu "Flight|Save"
and save the flight (any name you like..) (do not omit this step!)
- Now go to menu "Options | Settings | Display"
and move the two previously changed sliders to a position you like.
- Press "OK"
That's it! No more crashes! This workaround may or may not work
for you.
CTD After Installing FSX SP1
Many Flight Simulator enthusiasts have experienced
CTD's after installing FSX SP1. One reason for this according
to Microsoft, FSX SP1 requires a "clean install"
of FSX prior to FSX SP1 installation. This means "no addon's"
should be installed prior to FSX SP1 installation.
If this is the case, here's a good set of instructions
to rectify this situation:
- Remove FSX from Add/Remove Programs or from FSX
Disk 1.
- Manually delete the C:\Program Files\Microsoft Games\FSX
folder (don't touch the FS9 one if you have that installed!)
Also remove these folders
Documents and Settings\All Users\Application
Data\Microsoft\FSX
Documents and Settings\[Your Computer Name]\Application Data\Microsoft\FSX
- Save Logbook.bin & GrantedRewards.bin
if you don't want to start over on flight time and mission rewards.
- Defrag now.
- Install FSX clean from the DVD (uncheck the box that
says run FSX after install) DO NOT RUN FSX!
- Install the VS 2005 SP1 redistributable if you
haven't already (if you are running Windows Vista, you can omit this
step).
- Install FSX SP1. (do not run FSX yet.)
- Reboot then run FSX and activate
- Install latest DirectX 9.0c drivers dated 04/2007
(if you are running Windows Vista, you can omit this step).
- Defrag again.
If you have any further questions regarding
CTD's, please do not respond to me for help. Instead, search the various
FS Forum posts (ie: AVSIM,
FlightSim.com,
Sim-Outhouse.com,
etc) for more CTD information.
This page is for reference only and I have no
knowledge of CTD's, nor do I have a "magic bullet" that can help
you with your CTD issues.
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