Can a Computer Simply Burn Our from FS9?

[Richiemon]

Hi gang. I have a 16 year old laptop. It's an i7 with strong graphic card. I've had FS9 on it since day one. A few moths back it would no longer run FS9. When I would start the game I would get the warning sign "Microsoft Flight Simulator has stopped working". I uninstalled it, then reinstalled and it worked. Until today. I got that same warning (after trying to reload Quality Sim 757) and I have uninstalled twice, reinstalled twice, and I still get the same message. The computer works fine otherwise. Is it possible that some function needed in the computer to run FS9 has just stopped working. Burned out maybe. Does that make sense. To have to buy a new computer after 16 years doesn;t really bother me. This computer has served its purpose. But given that the computer works otherwise, I just want to make sure I may not be missing some obvious trick to correct this before I buy a new computer. Any thoughts 

[ViperPilot2]

28 minutes ago, Richiemon said:

Hi gang. I have a 16 year old laptop. It's an i7 with strong graphic card. I've had FS9 on it since day one. A few moths back it would no longer run FS9. When I would start the game I would get the warning sign "Microsoft Flight Simulator has stopped working". I uninstalled it, then reinstalled and it worked. Until today. I got that same warning (after trying to reload Quality Sim 757) and I have uninstalled twice, reinstalled twice, and I still get the same message. The computer works fine otherwise. Is it possible that some function needed in the computer to run FS9 has just stopped working. Burned out maybe. Does that make sense. To have to buy a new computer after 16 years doesn;t really bother me. This computer has served its purpose. But given that the computer works otherwise, I just want to make sure I may not be missing some obvious trick to correct this before I buy a new computer. Any thoughts 

 

Usually when you get the "Microsoft Flight Simulator has stopped working" Message, there's an option for 'More Details'. Click that and read the Summary that follows. What's it telling you?

[Richiemon]

All is says is "a problem caused the prgram to stop working correctly. Windows will close the program and notify you if the solution is available." No option to click for details. ANd I get no notification. 

[JSkorna]

It might be a heat issue. Clean all the air vents out with compressed air.

[chris_eve]

Wondering which version of Windows you're running?

I recently ran into a couple of "weird" issues under W10 which required generating a new (different) Registry key.

 

I'm running W10 64-bit, fully updated, so this may not apply to other systems, but I've found (more by luck than judgement) that there needs to be a registry entry such as this :-

 

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\Microsoft Games\Flight Simulator\9.0]
"EXE Path"="C:\\Flight Simulator\\FS9"

 

for things to more or less "return to normal".

Do note that the path presented here reflects the installation on my machine ... you may need to edit to suit.

 

I posted this in the "Installing FS2004 into Windows 10" thread above, but it won't do any harm to mention it here.

[Skywatcher12]

Your computer is fine.
The error message could be triggered by one of a billion things.
Nowhere near enough information to evaluate anything.
Can you post your PC specs and operating system?
Try a fresh FS9 install and note exactly at which point the error returns.

[lnuss]

I concur with Mark- that's the signature of a software problem, not hardware. Since you had been running the program for years without the problem, it appears that something in your software got changed or corrupted. So as other mention above, more info is needed so you need to make copious notes about exactly what happens when -- even the most trivial detail might be important.

[Richiemon]

Hi all - I'm running windows 8.1, Intel core i7 - 4700, 8.00 GB, 64 bit

 

All I can tell you is that I uninstall FS9, then reinstall it using the 4 disks, leaving disk 4 in the CD case as I always have. I get no error messages during the reinstall. Everything is fine until I try to start the game. It starts and about 2 seconds in I get that message saying that "microsoft flight simulator has stopped working." And no option to ask for details.  And that's it. So if indeed a software problem, I see no indication as to what it is. I'm going to go in and make sure I;ve deleted every old FS9 file in the hard drive, like any add-on scenery etc. Other than that, not sure what to do. If some software is corrupted, I can find out what it is, and I've always ben able to fox any problems I;ve had in past with a reload. So while maybe my computer is fine, I may have to purchase a new one just cause I may never know what software corruption exists. Thx everyone for your responses. 

[jgf]

Have you checked the Windows event log?  Also there is a little utility called Who Crashed (https://www.resplendence.com/whocrashed) that might give some insight.

[wobbie]

Maybe try install the FS9.1 update & the 9.1 patch. This should have been done years ago.

That, at least will let the sim start without CD4.

 

Instead of uninstalling & reinstalling, and deleting everything, all you have to do is to delete the fs9.cfg & then restart the sim.

When in doubt, 1st thing to do is to delete the FS9.cfg

 

The above sorts out 95% of issues.  

Oh, & Fs9 works very well, in fact perfectly with Windows 11. The usual caveats apply though.

[Skywatcher12]

15 hours ago, Richiemon said:

Hi all - I'm running windows 8.1, Intel core i7 - 4700, 8.00 GB, 64 bit

 

All I can tell you is that I uninstall FS9, then reinstall it using the 4 disks, leaving disk 4 in the CD case as I always have. I get no error messages during the reinstall. Everything is fine until I try to start the game. It starts and about 2 seconds in I get that message saying that "microsoft flight simulator has stopped working." And no option to ask for details.  And that's it. So if indeed a software problem, I see no indication as to what it is. I'm going to go in and make sure I;ve deleted every old FS9 file in the hard drive, like any add-on scenery etc. Other than that, not sure what to do. If some software is corrupted, I can find out what it is, and I've always ben able to fox any problems I;ve had in past with a reload. So while maybe my computer is fine, I may have to purchase a new one just cause I may never know what software corruption exists. Thx everyone for your responses. 

You need to install the 9.1 patch and nocd patch.
FS9 won't run using disc 4 any longer.
Do this and you should be good to go.

[Richiemon]

Hi all. Thx for input. I will say this. I tried to copy discs 1 and 2 over to hard drive and install from there (based on a recommendation I saw). The contents from the first disc loaded fine. But when I tried to load the contents from disc 2 it didn't even provide an option to run the disc install. So that leads me to believe disc 2 and its contents may be corrupted? Since it wouldn't load from the CD-ROm nor my hard drive. I can try to do the 9.1 patch. And you say that FS9 won;t run using disc 4 any longer but it did a week ago. I may just buy a new FS9 package on ebay, try to load on this machine, and if that, and the 9.1 patch doesn;t work, just buy a new machine. 

[Skywatcher12]

4 hours ago, Richiemon said:

And you say that FS9 won;t run using disc 4 any longer but it did a week ago. I may just buy a new FS9 package on ebay, try to load on this machine, and if that, and the 9.1 patch doesn;t work, just buy a new machine. 

No it won't.
You would need to have a very NOT updated Windows for it to work.
Are you sure you haven't received a Windows update in the last week?

[wobbie]

1 minute ago, Skywatcher12 said:

No it won't.
You would need to have a very NOT updated Windows for it to work.
Are you sure you haven't received a Windows update in the last week?

???

Mark, a very NOT updated Windows for it to work?

My Windows 11 is very much updated, on a weekly basis, & my FS2004 (& my Golden Wings version) work perfectly, subject to the usual caveats, such as..

NOT installing in it's default C:\Program Files folder

Having the 9.1 update & patch installed

and for me, running it in XP compatibility mode, and as Administrator.

5 hours ago, Richiemon said:

Hi all. Thx for input. I will say this. I tried to copy discs 1 and 2 over to hard drive and install from there (based on a recommendation I saw). The contents from the first disc loaded fine. But when I tried to load the contents from disc 2 it didn't even provide an option to run the disc install. So that leads me to believe disc 2 and its contents may be corrupted? Since it wouldn't load from the CD-ROm nor my hard drive. I can try to do the 9.1 patch. And you say that FS9 won;t run using disc 4 any longer but it did a week ago. I may just buy a new FS9 package on ebay, try to load on this machine, and if that, and the 9.1 patch doesn;t work, just buy a new machine. 

 

Just a thought!!

If you still have FS2004 installed, even if it's not working!!

Can you try install the 9.1 patch & the 9.1 crack?

Try to copy the whole FS2004 folder FROM it's C:\Program Files directory, and paste it just in C:\

 

[ViperPilot2]

15 minutes ago, wobbie said:

Just a thought!!

If you still have FS2004 installed, even if it's not working!!

Can you try install the 9.1 patch & the 9.1 crack?

Try to copy the whole FS2004 folder FROM it's C:\Program Files directory, and paste it just in C:\

 

 

Wouldn't there be Registry issues moving it from C:\Program Files to C:\?

 

I will say that the Laptop I'm currently using has a 'vanilla' Install of W7 Pro 64 bit, and I purposely turned Win Updates OFF. I loaded Nine from the Disks into C:\ + 9.1 and the No CD Fix. Nine is the only thing on this HD other than W7 and Silent Hunter 4 (Submarine Sim). No Internet connection, either... just like the Galactica. 

[Tom Gibson]

Yes wobbie, a very NOT updated OS.  An OS update stopped FS from running with disc 4 in the drive - you have to use the noCD patch now.  If he had an OS that was not updated it would have still run with disc 4 until he got an update.

[wobbie]

1 hour ago, ViperPilot2 said:

 

Wouldn't there be Registry issues moving it from C:\Program Files to C:\?

 

I will say that the Laptop I'm currently using has a 'vanilla' Install of W7 Pro 64 bit, and I purposely turned Win Updates OFF. I loaded Nine from the Disks into C:\ + 9.1 and the No CD Fix. Nine is the only thing on this HD other than W7 and Silent Hunter 4 (Submarine Sim). No Internet connection, either... just like the Galactica. 

A registry problem mainly with payware add-ons, but a Registry Repair Tool from Flight1.com - Flight Simulator Add-ons for FSX and Prepar3D will sort it out.

 

I'm running 2x versions of FS2004 & P3D from a 2TB portable drive, as my laptop's SSD is only 500GB.

I also have a spare 'vanilla' FS2004 install on the drive for backups, and also if I decide to have another install.

 

For possible Registry issues, as some installations look for FS2004's default install, I have a FS2004 install in it's default install folder, with ONLY the FS9.exe in it, nothing else. Then I just copy & paste from there, to my D:\ drive, where the sims actually sit.

 

So far, I've been running the sims of the portable drive, thats permanently plugged in to my laptop, for 2 years, now, with no issues at all, maybe a very slight delay in selecting planes or scenery.

[Skywatcher12]

Robin, yes, as Tom again clarified, if he has an updated Windows, FS9 won't work which is exactly what I said.
The most likely and highly probable reason for his issues is not having the patch and crack installed.

I rarely bother with Windows advice because it's just too hard to get things through to people here.
FS9 also does not run perfectly under Win 11 as you suggest. As I have said in the past and been the only one to discover, Win 10/11 made FS9 unusable on likely any system running internal graphics. That's a serious issue!
Yes, you can run in a compatibility mode and as admin and it's a workaround but this is the last thing anyone should do with a program that interacts with so many other add-ons.
People absolutely will run into problems at some point.

Anyhow, I just make sure my PC is sorted. I've done this and have a perfect FS9 on Win 11 now running literally everything I have ever tried including masses of payware add-ons.
It takes a lot of work to get to this point.

[wobbie]

Hi Mark, 

My laptop has both internal AMD Radeon graphics as well as a GeForce RTX 3050 GPU.

My FS2004 Golden Wings I run using the internal AMD GPU & my FS2004 Silver Wings version I run using the RTX 3050 GPU. Both run perfectly, 2 years with this configuration.

 

As I said, for me, and the payware & freeware add-ons I use, I have no issues at all.

Like you, I have an Updated Windows 11. 

 

As you say, others may have different ideas & results. For me, running in compatibility mode has no issues.

[Skywatcher12]

37 minutes ago, wobbie said:

My laptop has both internal AMD Radeon graphics as well as a GeForce RTX 3050 GPU.

My FS2004 Golden Wings I run using the internal AMD GPU & my FS2004 Silver Wings version I run using the RTX 3050 GPU. Both run perfectly, 2 years with this configuration.

I know in the past you were running internal graphics and this is why you used what you did or your FS9 would not function. The internal graphics were the reason it would not run and this is due to Windows 10 changes.

With your current system, you shouldn't need to run a compatibility mode or as admin at all.

[wobbie]

Habit, I suppose..but it still works (for me).

[defaid]

Richie, if you know your way around PCs and still haven't had any success, try running FS9 again and, after it's failed to launch, take a look at the windows event log. There should be more info there.

 

D

[Richiemon]

I am so not a PC guy. I struggle with a lot of the advise here just cause it doesn't make sense to me. And now I can;t even load disk 2, either directly from the CD player nor if I load it onto hard drive and try from there. I purchased a new FS9 package off ebay. It was like $15 so I figured why not. I'm gonna see if maybe that works and if not, I don;t know, maybe new computer or some deeper investigation as to this one. What stinks is that whenever I reloaded FS9 in the past, my computer remembered the settings. I would check and all the settings were as they were when I uninstalled. And what was more interesting, I had active camera, which I lived by cause I like sitting in diff places in the cabin. It isn't supported anymore but when I last reinstalled a few weeks ago it still worked. It's as if it was baked into my computers memory. A new computer will lose all that. But oh well. I'll see what the new FS9 disks bring and go from there. Thx all for your feedback.  

[wobbie]

Best of luck. We all hoping it will come right for you.

[Skywatcher12]

15 hours ago, Richiemon said:

I purchased a new FS9 package off ebay. It was like $15 so I figured why not. I'm gonna see if maybe that works and if not, I don;t know, maybe new computer or some deeper investigation as to this one.

You will end up with likely the same problems but this time would've paid money to have them.

Uninstall FS9 if it is installed.
Install FS9 using the CDs.
Do not install FS9 to where the installer wants to install it "Program Files".
Create a new folder somewhere on your PC, even on desktop is fine and point the installer to install FS9 into new folder you created.
If CD2 provides any problems, tell us what is going wrong.
Once FS9 is installed, download the FS9.1 official patch and apply it.
Then install the FS9.1 nocd.
Launch the game.

Ask here for clarification on anything.