Cheers RF...
One of the most useful hints Ive had so far!
(no offence to the others(IFR), but Ive tried those already..I always have disk2 inside and instead if the std installation which worked okay at first, I reinstalled trying COMPLETE installation etc!!)
and yes it is the Pro edition!
Ill give it a whizz tomorrow.
Any idea about the cabin noise? I saw a demo where there was PAX background noise etc. Quite realistic, if I could get it going again.
BTW***WHAT Does that thing with the registry mean? Is my PC buggered now?
cheers again everyone...

Just tried the suggestion of installing to a different directory…still no luck.
Im not happy any more!
Mr. Gates, if you are reading this, whats the problem!?!

This may not seem helpful, but it works for me. Back-up your data, format your drive and start all over again. I format my drive a couple of times a year anyway and have found it to be the panacea for problems I don't even have (as well as keeping the system running as fast as possible).

And that's the reason why I think that Billy is on the move. While that's OK for you, and it is a valid option, when there's maybe 15 or 20 applications on the machine, 10 Gb+ of data, in over 25000 files, to do such a restart is over 2 days work, let alone the complications of then trying to find all the patches that have been applied ( sometines without asking) after the original load of the system. I've never yet got the same result twice when reloading systems, there's always a few files that I can't be sure where they came from or why, and in theory, I'm supposed to know about this c**p. Any of the Microsoft applications , both operating system and end user, have got so bloated with stuff that's of no real interest to the user, it's got the the stage where there is room and need for a mean clean tight and reliable operating system that can be managed without logging on to a web site every couple of days to check for the latest and fastest way to crash your system. I think that Bill is more than a little worried about Linux, and his original plan, let it get big enough to be useful, then buy it out, is no longer a runner, as he's not going to be allowed to go that way any more, the Department of Justice case has seen to that, so now he has to get Microsoft back to producing product that gets good reviews from the people that are not in his pocket, and work when they're loaded, not after the first patch within a week of release.


Time will tell, I think things are going to be quite interesting for a while!


------------------
"Irish" Steve

Bovington, re your question on cabin sounds, the only thing I can find is a view from the cabin by doing the following
The cabin views are an option that you can choose when installing FS2K. You
have to make sure to check the option.
SB

In the Fs2000.cfg file in the main directory is a line saying:
See_self=1 Change this to see_self=0 and you will not see interior.

Cheers for that...
Only prob is I can even load up the program.(See above posts by me)
I tried to call PCWORLD where I got the program, but I just get fobbed off to other lines etc. Eventually told I need to call a £1/min line! PANTS!
I tried to reinstall several times, still no luck though. I only get "THIS PROGRAM AS PERFORMED AN ILLEGAL FUNCTION AND WILL BE SHUT DOWN" Does any PC genius know whats it all about? Someone mentioned installing it under a different directory to the default one, alas no luck!
C'mon folks...getting desperate now! (Will trade my copy of FS2K Pro for a couple of jumpseat rides!!

Bovington, have you installed or uninstalled anything prior to this happening. Trouble with a lot of software is it shares certain files and one that is required by FS2K could of been overwritten and if this file has a later date on it than the one FS2K is trying to install it won't be overwritten. If you can remember what else you put on, uninstall that. If not it really looks like a clean install - back up all important data and reformat your hard drive, sounds viscious but in the end you will end up with a very clean windows environment. Just reinstalling windows probably wouldn't help. Depending on the size of your drive it may be worth partitioning it and installing certain types to certain partitions. For instance drive F could be for all your flying stuff. Doubt very much wether pc world will/can help, past experiences with them not good i'm afraid. Good luck and welcome to the wonderful worl of Microsoft!!!!!!!

Have you loaded any software off magazine cover discs, such as an Internet Explorer update or similar. Almost certainly, if you have, it's also at the same time installed a newer ( supposedly better) version of Direct X, and FS is notorious for not liking anything other than the version it came with.

If that's the case, a reinstall will probably not fix it, as in this situation, if it finds newer versions of a file, it leaves it there, and it may not offer the option to replace it, and in that case, the problem is not fixed. It may have an uninstall for Direct X ( probably version 7) and if so, do that, then reinstall FS to get the correct drivers again.

Hope this helps.

Regards



------------------
"Irish" Steve

Steve..
Thanks for that.
How do I find if i have a latest version of Direct X?
Unistall FS completely thenuse FIND?

Not completely sure, as I have recently made strenuous efforts to prevent my machine from installing Direct X 7! :)

You may be able to find out by having a look at what can be uninstalled in the control panel , add/remove programs option, then look at what it says can be uninstalled. If it mentions Direct X 7, then it's installed it. Other than that, there may be a clue in the updates folder that I think lives in the Windows folder, but there tend to be subtle differences between versions, so I can only provide hints rather than cast iron directions for some of these things.

Hope this helps



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"Irish" Steve

Bad news is that FS2000 MUST HAVE DX7...but there is a later version DX7-a. That's the one to avoid. Unless you have puposely put it there it won't appear. FS2000 only puts in DX7.

BTW Steve what probs have you have with DX7...to date I have had no problems, whereas previously I got the occasional headache when playing multiplayer games with linked machines (I'm still not brave enough to install DX7a however based on all reports).

Oops, forgot to answer the question...too find out what version of DX you've got, go into the windows folder and open 'regedit.exe'. Then expand the following:HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/Software/Microsoft/Direct X/Version

If you don't like messing with the registry, click on start - run type dxdiag and press return and you will see everything you ever wanted to know about Direct X. Have fun.

Also go to http://search.miocrosoft.com and put in the details and it may come up with a solution for the error message you get.


[This message has been edited by spannersatcx (edited 24 January 2000).]

I've seen lots of reports on the flight sim forum I help with complaining about problems with DirecX7, and the programmer that's working on scenery for a different Sim has cursed it in so many ways, I'd get banned if I repeated it :)

Personally, I've not done too much with FS2000, as I've been very busy on some other work, so some of the comments I've made have been based on the distillation of those comments. It'll be interesting to see what the eventual answer to this one is :)

------------------
"Irish" Steve

Bovingdon, still having your problem with fs2k mate? I had exactly the same problem as yourself! "This program has performed an illegal operation and will be shut down"...
I am no computer expert and don't pretend to be one. I called the £1 p/min helpline and came off the phone non the wiser(robin' B'stards)Eventually I got hold of someone at PC World and he assured me that the only way to correct the fault was to re-set your PC to the manufacturers settings (see PC handbook)...a bit harsh I know but it works just fine now!! anyway must dash i'm off to Funchal in my B777 ???!!!!

Clownfish..
Whats wrong with the DirectX ver 7a??
When I checked it, I found a file to be missing. If i post it here, can someone email it to be?

Bov, I'm still using DX7 as others I know have had unexplained illegal errors causing FS2000 to shut when they have 'upgraded' to DX7a. BTW I had all sorts of problems runnnig this program on my first install, some of which have been mentioned elsewhere on this forum...all have now been resolved and the program is running just as the maker intended. WRT DX7, I actually installed DX7 off a mag cover CD so I could chose not to install it from the FS2000 setup program. Unlikely though it is, the DX7 off the FS setup may be the cause of your problems. And to answer your next question, my initial problems also came after an initial period when everything was working fine.

[Cheers for that mate.
Still no luck with my prob.
*Anyone wanna buy a copy of FS2k? Hardly used!! Im getting no use out of it!
Called MS Supportline, but engineers were busy. They can only call during office hours! (When Most folks are at work duh!!)
Still waiting for their e-mail though!

Re DirectX 7.0 and 7.0a

I have 7.0a installed, but dxdiag reports 7.0, so if somehow you got 7.0a, you most likely wouldn't know it!

Also, Bovingdon, in my DirectX setup, dxdiag reports some files as beta versions and warns they could cause problems. Have tried re-installing 7.0 and 7.0a patch, but can't get rid of them!!

Not running FS2k, so no probs with applications (yet)!

Bovingdon asked a long time ago - this may be old info now http://www.pprune.org/ubb/NonCGI/frown.gif...

If they are all set to open on Windows start-up, yes they will. If a prog or file doesn't open or start automatically when you switch on or start Windows, here's how to make it happen:-

Using Windows Explorer, find the program or file and create a shortcut by right-clicking the file or prog and clicking Create Shortcut. The new shortcut will appear at the bottom of the file list. Right click the shortcut and copy. Now place the shortcut in in the Start-Up folder as follows:-

Right click a blank area of the taskbar, click properties, click Start Menu Programs tab, click Advanced, expand the Programs folder by clicking the + sign next to it, scroll to Start Up, click it to open it, right click the right hand pane (with the other shortcuts in it) and click paste.

Done!

Spannersatcx wrote

Be careful! Some programs listed here may be components that are essential to your Windows system. My list includes a sound-card driver, a mouse driver plus others that I cannot recognise. Anyone know what OSA and Stimon do? While closing programs like this in a trouble-shooting exercise I came close to a complete system crash. The machine wouldn't close down. When I did a cold boot (the good ol' power switch) it couldn't see the hard drives. Got it going with a start-up disk, but now don't take too many risks in the CTRL-ALT-Del department!