Why wont FSX run on my comp???

davidd24

Ok fairly good comp (i think)
1.5 tb hd
512 ram
ATI 64 graphics card
Windows XP.

I put the disc in and it does not auto run or anything???
Disc is brand new.
Im thinking its the OS im using, would i be right?
Can anyone shed any light on this for me.

Nforce

Can you post the full specs of your PC,especially which processor it's running.

davidd24

Will have a look when i get home this evening.

bandit197

You need more RAM for starters, forget about running FSX with any less than 2GB. Ideally you would need 4GB of RAM and 64bit Windows 7 (A 32bit OS cannot see the full 4GB)

Running FSX at relativly high settings depends mostly on your processor speed. A good graphics card is also needed but is not as important.
Your graphics card at 64MB is not up to the task. At a minimum you need a 256MB card with about an 800Mhz clock speed. Even at that you will be running FSX at the lowest settings.

Post up your processor type and speed.

I think you would need to upgrade your pc to run FSX.

partyatmygaff

davidd24 wrote: »

Ok fairly good comp (i think)
1.5 tb hd
512 ram
ATI 64 graphics card
Windows XP.

I put the disc in and it does not auto run or anything???
Disc is brand new.
Im thinking its the OS im using, would i be right?
Can anyone shed any light on this for me.

FSX works fine on Windows XP. You just need to open the DVD drive in explorer and click on setup.exe if autorun doesn't work.

As for your specs they're simply going to struggle to play FSX even on low settings. You really need a fast modern CPU and 2GB of RAM at minimum as well as a fairly recent graphics card.

davidd24

bandit197 wrote: »

You need more RAM for starters, forget about running FSX with any less than 2GB. Ideally you would need 4GB of RAM and 64bit Windows 7 (A 32bit OS cannot see the full 4GB)

Running FSX at relativly high settings depends mostly on your processor speed. A good graphics card is also needed but is not as important.
Your graphics card at 64MB is not up to the task. At a minimum you need a 256MB card with about an 800Mhz clock speed. Even at that you will be running FSX at the lowest settings.

Post up your processor type and speed.

I think you would need to upgrade your pc to run FSX.

Ok My computer specs;
Pentium 4 2.4 Ghz
Running 2.39 Ghz with 512 MB Ram
Nvidia GEforce Fx5200 Graphics card.

pclancy

What happens when you double click on the disk icon in My Computer? If it doesnt Autorun, can you see a file on the DVD called Setup.exe?

There was also bug where some DVD recording software meant FSX disks wouldnt run.

Its not your OS but computer specs might not hack it, it will run okay if you keep the detail and shadow settings low and get some more RAM. At least 2Gb as said. RAM is pretty cheap. But its not going to do the program or its graphics justice. But sure give it a shot.

davidd24

Things are looking bleak.
Spoke to my computer supplier and a whole new system might be on the cards, Ive gotten the whole Saitek proflight range set up now and i am running fs9 perfect on full sliders i just want a bit more now...

partyatmygaff

davidd24 wrote: »

Things are looking bleak.
Spoke to my computer supplier and a whole new system might be on the cards, Ive gotten the whole Saitek proflight range set up now and i am running fs9 perfect on full sliders i just want a bit more now...

Computer supplier?

Forgive me if i'm wrong but when I hear "computer supplier" I hear rip off warning bells ringing in my head

You can build a system to run FSX at relatively high settings quite cheaply nowadays.

davidd24

partyatmygaff wrote: »

Computer supplier?

Forgive me if i'm wrong but when I hear "computer supplier" I hear rip off warning bells ringing in my head

You can build a system to run FSX at relatively high settings quite cheaply nowadays.

When i say computer supplier, its a family friend but yeah true,he has to make something out of me i suppose.
I wouldnnt know where to start tbh... Ive seen loads of "built" gaming machines for sale on adverts for big (ish) money.
I know what I want from a rig in my mind but where to start and what spec i would need is another problem i do not know where to begin from.

partyatmygaff

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=842

There's hundreds of people on that forum who'd be willing to help all the way from choosing parts to putting them all together (Including me )

davidd24

partyatmygaff wrote: »

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=842

There's hundreds of people on that forum who'd be willing to help all the way from choosing parts to putting them all together (Including me )

Right, Great! Im gonna have a look and maybe post up what i want from a machine and see what its gonna cost me.
Thanks partyatmygaff.

bandit197

You will be able to reuse your 1.5TB hard drive

I've built a few for friends and you are looking at 450-550eur for a pc that will run FSX quite well on medium settings (using your existing harddrive, keyboard, monitor etc) and if you are prepared to pay a little more, eg 600+ you could have a machine that would run FSX at relatively high settings.

Its down to your budget really, let us know what you would be prepared to spend and Ill put a few specs together for you so you have something to go on.

davidd24

bandit197 wrote: »

You will be able to reuse your 1.5TB hard drive

I've built a few for friends and you are looking at 450-550eur for a pc that will run FSX quite well on medium settings (using your existing harddrive, keyboard, monitor etc) and if you are prepared to pay a little more, eg 600+ you could have a machine that would run FSX at relatively high settings.

Its down to your budget really, let us know what you would be prepared to spend and Ill put a few specs together for you so you have something to go on.

Would be willing to throw 7-800 at it.

Nforce

I'm replacing my current (3 year old) overclocked QX9770 system at the moment with an Intel i7 2600k build. I've ordered my kit from hardwareversand.de

bandit197

davidd24 wrote: »

Would be willing to throw 7-800 at it.

The build that the posters are suggesting in the building and upgrading forum looks great. I would be going along the same lines. Good luck with it, let us know how it works out.

davidd24

Will be away working for the next three weeks.
When i return ill be ordering exactly what was posted.
Thanks.

pclancy

That PC will eat FSX for breakfast. Make sure and buy REX and some nice ground scenery to make it even nicer.

davidd24

With 1.5 TB to completley devoted to it I wanna get lots of good decent scenery and add ons.... looking forward to starting this!

bandit197

Partitioning your drives and making backups can make life so much easier in the long run too.

By doing this you can have a fresh install of Windows7 and FSX back running in minutes rather than hours if a problem occurs.

In your build I would do the following:

1TB drive

1. Create a 150GB partition for windows........C:\
2. Use the remaining space on the drive to create \ (Programs and Storage)

1.5TB drive

1. One partition using the full drive E:\ (Sims) would be enough to allow expansion but you could add more partitions if you wish.
2. Inside E:\ create three folders...FSX, Addons and Storage(for your installers etc)

Windows
Install Windows7, all your drivers and updates including SP1 to C:\. Defragment using defraggler or similar.

Install antivirus, browsers, pdf readers etc etc and defrag again.


FSX
Install FSX and service packs, Acceleration etc to the FSX folder in E:\

Run FSX once and shut it down. Defragment.

Copy the FSX folder to another location eg E:\Storage\Backups\FSXbackup
(you can compress it here using winrar to save space)

Backup C:\
Take a backup of C:\ using Acronis or similar imaging software. Acronis is very good. Store the Acronis image of C:\ in an external drive or in E:\Storage\Backups\


You now have a clean, updated and defragmented copy of windows7 and a new install of FSX fully backed up.
In the case of an issue (bad addon, virus etc etc) you can delete your FSX folder and replace it with the backup and reimage C:\ using Acronis and you are ready to go again.

I'm not saying this is the best way to do things as everybody has their own methods but it works for me. Hope it helps.

davidd24

Does this actually give an improvment on performace or is this a safeguard thing youve done cause you have alot of addons?

pclancy

Defragging with a proper utilty will help performance somewhat but backing up is real important as its a pain in the ass to reinstall FSX, activate it, then reinstall all your addons if things go belly up.

Another thing to do would be get your FSX.cfg file tweaked using this free utility by a guy called Jesus

http://www.venetubo.com/fsx.html

Greatly added to FPS for me.

bandit197

davidd24 wrote: »

Does this actually give an improvment on performace or is this a safeguard thing youve done cause you have alot of addons?

Installing windows on a separate drive to Windows makes a big difference in performance and defragmenting the drives regularly will help a lot.

I just do the steps above to make a reinstall less painful and also a lot quicker. I don't backup any addons, I just run the installers again.

The Jesus tweak that pclancy linked to above helped my framerates too. Some of the tweaks that are made there are recommended by PMDG for use with their new 737NGX.

I've attached a pdf, its an FSX settings guide by Mathijs Kok from Aerosoft. Some good info in there.

davidd24

bandit197 wrote: »

Installing windows on a separate drive to Windows makes a big difference in performance and defragmenting the drives regularly will help a lot.

I just do the steps above to make a reinstall less painful and also a lot quicker. I don't backup any addons, I just run the installers again.

The Jesus tweak that pclancy linked to above helped my framerates too. Some of the tweaks that are made there are recommended by PMDG for use with their new 737NGX.

I've attached a pdf, its an FSX settings guide by Mathijs Kok from Aerosoft. Some good info in there.

Thank you very much..
PClancy Thanks too!