System Hardware: PC | MOBO | RAM | CPU | HDD | SSD | PSU etc

After starting up Flight sim and loading a flight I sometimes need to go back to the desktop. I then press the windows key and get to the desktop but when I re-enter flight sim the outside view is black. I am unable to change views or do anything until I press Alt/Enter combination and then the outside view comes back. Just wondering what is wrong and if there is a conflict with anything.Specs:P4 2.53 GHzATI Radeon 8500Windows XP HomeUpdated Drivers

I run FS2002 in full-screen mode and when I use Alt-Tab to switch to the desktop (to start up FS Meteo, SquawkBox, etc.), the screen does not get refreshed or redrawn. Where there should be an image of the panel + viewscreen, or even menu, there is a big black spot.This doesn't happen with other games, but it seems to me that it must somehow be card or driver related. Can anyone suggest a possible fix?FS2002 menu before Alt-Tab switch to WinXP desktophttp://ftp.avsim.com/dcforum/User_files/3e636d332887d3cc.jpgFS2002 menu after Alt-Tab switch to WinXp desktophttp://ftp.avsim.com/dcforum/User_files/3e636d5d295a4000.jpgThis doesn't happen with other games, but it seems to …

Greetings all,I am using the CH Products gameport Virtual Pilot Pro together with the gameport Pro Pedals. Could someone please clarify whether or not the toe brakes of the Pro Pedals should work with FS2002, and if yes, what needs to be done to activate them? I have thus far been unable to find an answer to this question, as most of the material out there pertaining to this matter is unclear as to whether it applies to the USB version of the pedals, or the gameport version, or both.Any help/comments would be greatly appreciated.Regards :-wave,Chris BrunnerCYVR

Does anyone have any tips for optmizing a Radeon 9700 PRO?Any website with tips on installing drivers correctly, tweaks, anything will be helpful.I just purchased mine at Best Buy for $269.00 (from $399).It's a nice upgrade from my old Geforce 2 MX 400...lolP.S. I'd like to also hear what version drivers everyone that has this card is using. I just downloaded the most cuurent from the ATI website, but I hear that Omega drivers are better...

When I start FS2002 (or SideWinder Control Panel) with SideWinder throttle control in minimum power position, the aircraft (and the SideWinder control) does read it as in maximum power. It is necessary to move a little the SideWinder throttle control to obtain it to return to the minimum power.Anyone of you has the same problem?O.S: MS Windows XP SP1Drivers: Original MS SideWinder Precision 2 Joystick driversJoystick on USB PC port

Hi all!Recently, Ive been getting a Blue Screen of Death, i like to call. It would happen about 5-10 mintues into flying. According to Micrsoft, it was a sound card problem. I never had this problem before, until I installed new drivers. The card should still be good, its a TB Santa Cruz. I remember intalling VxD drivers. Should I have installed the WDM instead? (<-the tech guy never got back on that one) The tech guy says I now have to have no sound acceleration in Direct 8, which is working and crappy at the same time. But is it the drivers?Thanks all!

hi, i have a nec multisync xv 17+ on an nvidia geforce 2 gts graphics card with 32 mb memory. why can't i go beyond 1024 x 768 resolution? in the website: http://www.monitorworld.com/Monitors/nec/m...7jc1745uma.html it says that the monitor is capable of handling up to 1280 x 1024. please help. thanks. Asad.

Well, folks, I've been going over my item list once again, and here's how it looks at this time:* Athlon XP 2400 (plus adequate cooler, of course)* ASUS A7N8X nForce 2 main board - standard issue with one LAN adapter * 512 megs of PC-333 DDRAM * new power supply with at least 350 wattsI've got one more question, though. Reading through some reviews back from when the nForce boards were just hitting the shelves, it would seem as if it might be better to use two memory bars in dual-channel mode instead of a single large 512 MB bar. Can anybody confirm that?On another note, please bear in mind that cost is an issue for me, which is why I'd rather go for the standard A7N8X wi…

Hi, I just couldn't wait any longer for the GeForce FX. First rumours said that it will be released (mass production) in 3rd week of January, and now they are saying that it will be in April, the first proper commercial release. Also, i read a gazillion reviews and I draw the line and went on and ordered ATI's Radeon 9700 Pro. Well, can anybody tells me that I made the right choice please? :) I am a little afraid that I might have not made this right, due to the GF FX release soon. I have a Pentium 3 1.1HGz with 512Mb Ram, with a GF 2 GTS, and I couldn't bare not to use some addons due to the low fps (like VMAX 747 classic, and PSS Dash 8). Can I have some feedback rega…

Has there been any meaningful progress in hard drive technology in the last 3 years ?. I am not talking about gigabytes of storage - I know you can get plenty of it these days but speed and seek time. I am planning to upgrade and I wonder whether I should still keep my ATA100 IBM 7200 rpm drive which though only 13.5 GB in size has proven to be very reliable. I don't care for storage but I definitely would appreciate extra performance in FS2002 and I do understand that SCSI technology doesn't really buy you much while simming.Michael J.

Gainward Ti 4800 128mb "Golden Sample"-----OR-----Radeon 9500 ProBoth cards go for about 200 bucks, so price isn't a factor. It will be going into the following machine:P4 2.53GHz CPUP4PE/L Asus mobo512mb PC2700 Crucial RAMWinXP (home ed.)Any thoughts?Tim13

Hi,I have a SB Audigy card installed in a P4 / Windows XP Home (SP1) / DX9 based system. Yesterday I decided to update the drivers by d/l and running the latest executable (dated 31/12/2002) from Creative Labs. My previous drivers were dated 12/8/2002.The process seemed to complete smoothly without any apparent hitches and at the end the system was rebooted.However, on re-running DX Diagnostics I find that the version number of 'ctaud2k.sys' remains unchanged from that shown pre-'update', viz. 5.12.0001.0253 These drivers are WHQL certified.Otherwise, all testing completes successfully as it does using the Creative Diagnostics 2 module. I am now wondering whether I shoul…

Ahhhh ... nothin' like a new toy to keep you busy :-newburnJust picked up a Thrustmaster Cougar HOTAS stick. Very cool. Lotsa buttons, lotsa hats, 2-stage trigger, micro-stick ... yeah baby!!However ...I've configured FS2002 to use the throttle's Z-axis for "Throttle", XR-axis for "Prop Control" and S1-axis for "Mixture Control". FS2002 recognizes the axes, but can't get the controls to thier highest and lowest settings (F4 and F1 equivilent) using the throttle's controls. All engine controls seem to top out around 85% and bottom out around 15%. In the C182S max throttle gives me 23" and idle gives me 1200 RPM.The calibration utility shows full range on all axes. Usi…

Is there a "workaround" when upgrading the MOBO and processor when using XP? The last time I did it I had to reload winxp and you know the rest, ALL my FS goodies. I don't want to have to do it again. Last I heard about a year ago was that it isn't uprade friendly. Thanks for your thoughts,Rob

Hi,Just recently, I often experiencing the dreaded blue screen when I started my computer (not all the time, but quite often). The message says: " A fatal exception OD has occured at 0028:C005900C in VXD VMCOD(01) + 0000035C. The current application will be teriminated."My system's spec is: AthlonXP 2600, MSI KT333 mobo (latest Via 4in1 driver), GF4 Ti4600 (Driver 41.09), 512 MB PC2700, Win98SE.Can anybody help me solve this problem?Regards,japangg

Hi. I have a minor problem starting up my computer....when I start it up the screen comes and the desktop comes.....however, in order to complete the startup, the computer screen goes blank for about two seconds after everything on the desktop appears and then the computer is ready to use. This didn't use to happen before. Please help. 954mhz, 384mb ram, win xp, msi geforce 2 gts video card with 32mb. Also, do cleaning the fans help reduce noise in the computer? Thanks. Asad.

CPU speed and graphics card speed and RAM aren't everything.In fact, without a motherboard, RAM, and other components that can keep up the fastest CPU and GPU are completely useless.A good system is a system that's well ballanced. A 3GHz CPU in a motherboard that can only make effective use of it at half that speed is no better than a 1.5GHz CPU on that same motherboard.a GF4Ti4600 with 128MB RAM won't give you any better performance than your old GF2Pro when you are running a P3-700 with 128MB RAM.New superfast memory won't do squat when your motherboard can't write and read it at that speed or your CPU can't provide the motherboard with data fast enough.So take the time…

How critical is power supply to the operation of this video card ? Is there a minimum power requirement to run it ? I currently have a Dell 4100 system.ThanksJohn

My wife recently bought me the Saitek X-45 setup for my birthday. Really nice piece of equipment although I had my eyes on a yoke and pedal setup. Here's the problem. Installed the latest driver for XP straight from Saitek.com. Smooth installation, no problem configuring or calibrating the pieces. One problem. If I leave them plugged into my USB ports and shut the machine down, upon startup I get a BSOD that states: Internal_Power_Error with the address listing. As soon as I unplug the devices, reset I get a normal bootup w no problems. Any ideas as I have searched both microsoft and Saitek and have come up empty handed.Thanks in advance.Bobby

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I have just bought the following to upgrade my system Asus A7N8X Deluxe motherboardAMD XP 2400 CPU1 GB Samsung PC2700 memory.However when I put in my Leadtek Ti4200 graphics card and install Win ME it recognises the graphics cared as a standard VGA card. Then I install the nVidia drivers (various versions - all have the same result) the system hangs with various messages like Cannot find Kernel386 invalid path. If I reboot into safe mode and delete the nVidia drivers and revert to a standard VGA card the system will boot but only to 640x480 16 colours. I tried my older GTS card with the same result. It seems that when I try to access anything in the AGP slot other than st…

I noted that after flashing my BIOS and then resetting the CMOS, that the option "Video BIOS Cacheable" is now enabled. I'm sure I had it disabled before.What does this do (the ABit manual is very vague). And should it be enabled?Thanks. WinXP, 1.80G P4, 1G PC-2700 RAM, G3/Ti200 video, ABit BD7-2 mainboard.Bruce.

A question for the experts:Just installed a Gigabyte GA-7VAXP with an AMD 2400XP. Kept my Crucial 512MB PC2100 memory, GF3ti200 and 7200 40GB hardrive. Ran FS2K2 and it doesn't seem like anything changed, FPS kind of stayed the same. I'm running a network off this computer so I know that draws resources.Running Easytune to overclock it shows I'm running the FSB at 140mhz, and this gives me a software overclocking setup at 2100mhz. Anyone else running this program? What are your settings? Comparable specs? On the mobo, I've got the switches set at AUTO for the clock ratio and 133mhz for the CPU clock. When I set the clock at 166 mhz, computer won't turn on. When I set the …

Looking to replace my GeForce 3 ti 200, gonna put that one in my son's new computer, and I'm looking at the ATI 9700. However, I'm noticing that at BestBuy there's a 9700 for 399.99 and a 9500 for 199.99 (after rebate). The only difference I can see is the memory speed, the 9700 running at 620mhz, the 9500 running at 540mhz. Is this the only difference, would this difference in memory speed make up for a 200.00 dollar difference? Anyone have a 9500?Also, memory. I'm running PC2100 memory right now, it's going to have to migrate over to my son's computer, so I've got to get new memory for my GA7AXVP mobo. I found some GameVE (house brand made by Giel) PC3200 for a go…

I currently have a Geforce Ti4600 and get a big slow down when I turn on 4x FSAA and 8x AF. I get around a 60% slow down in frame rate when turn on 4x FSAA and 8x AF. Would upgrading to a Radeon 9700 Pro give me much faster peformance if I want to use 4x FSAA and 8X AF in FS2002?