First of all, while flight simming, bear in mind that Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004 is a program that really does need a lot of resources. It is helpful to shut down other programs in the background while flight simming. First of all, the main thing that you will want to turn off is any anti-virus software, for this can have a severe impact while flying. Not to worry - you can always do a virus scan afterwards. I have been flight simming since Flight Simulator 2000 and have not yet aquired a virus while flying online whether it be using the real world weather with Active Sky, or flying online with Vatsim (knock on wood) and hope to keep up this record. One thing that I have been trying to do is keep a regular schedule of virus scans - at least three times a week if not more. Also as part of virus scanning, always, always, always make sure you have the most current virus definition updates! This will help you be protected from newer threats, and not just the old ones that are still floating around out there.

Get rid of old files. Clean up your computer every now and then. Use the disc clean up wizard and clean up those files that are cluttering your hard drive. That will free up more memory and resources for Flight Simulator 2004. Also, it is a good idea to go through and clean up some of those unwanted older screen shots that you're not going to be looking at any longer.

Defragment your computer on a regular basis. Try and work out a schedule that will be easiest on you. I usually try to defrag my computer at least three times a week as well when I run my virus scans, usually on the same days when I'm done with the PC and know I won't want to use Flight Simulator 2004 any longer.

Performance on computer systems will vary so please don’t email me about my FPS too slow if I mention them on mine. Computer system for this article and all others of Flap’s Flap is the following: Dell Dimension 4600 2.66 GHz Pentium 4 Processor 512MB RAM 128MB Nvidia GeforceFX 5200 AGP 8X Graphic Card 19" Flat Screen Monitor Altec Lansing Surround Sound Speakers Go-Flight Cockpit Control System

There are also some programs out there that will help free up system resources. I use one freeware program called Rambooster which cleans RAM before using Flight Simulator, and it does help the performance. Just do a search under Google for Rambooster, and you should find it just fine.

There are so many things that can affect computer performance for flight simming. Just make sure you remember the above guidelines. The most important one I'd say is shutting off all background programs while simming. That to me is the main killer in frame rates and system resources and I'm sure you'll notice a big difference. Remember: You can always scan for viruses after you're done flying.

Well, that's it for this month and look forward to seeing all of you next month on Flap's Flap #12, how to take great screen shots!

Ideas for future articles? Email me! I love to hear from my readers, and also welcome suggestions and tips and tricks as well for future publications.

Now, for some light legal stuff:

Flap’s Flap does not accept any responsibility for varied performance in systems. Please note my system specs and the display properties work fine with MY system. Set your display properties accordingly to your computer. Also, with any How To items that are given in these articles, please use at your own risk! I will hold no responsibility to any damage done to your system. And, as always, remember: Back up your files before changing them!

John J. Thuot II
ragtopjohnny01@aol.com