HoratioWondersocks

Hello All I am happy to say no reinstallation required. And no copying and pasting either. A local PC technician managed to save all my data (including FS9)which was then transferred onto a new ssd. I am happy to say that I am just about back to were I was before my original hard drive died. Flying tonight for nearly to weeks and have to say I didn't half miss it. Cheers all for your help. Andy

Hello All I am happy to report that FSnavigator is running as normal. And that I now have two copies (one is a backup) of FS9 again. I am looking forward to my first flight for nearly two weeks. At the beginning of the week I really thought my flight simulator days were over,I made such a mess of my PC by unskilled tinkering that i thought that's it. My twenty year hobby is ended. To the rescue came a local PC technician who did a remarkable job of fixing the PC and installing a new SSD (old one died which was the start of all the problems)Cdrive and some extra ram to boot. My problem with serious computer problems is that I have no real skill, but massive levels of persistence in trying to fix things. This usually results in a mess .This particular mess was of epic proportions and as I certainly could not justify the cost of a new PC i contemplated a life without Fs9. (A horrible thought) Anyway one really big and unexpected bit of good news was that Brad the techno wizz managed to salvage all my data from the old failing drive which meant a much easier and quicker resumption of Fs9 joy. I am getting ready for a flight tonight to see how things go. I did create a test flight in which I just left the aircraft flying for two hours unattended and that went ok no ctds etc (which as 9ers will know is a rare almost unknown event these days anyway) Cheers All Andrew

Thanks to all for helping. Just to say I used to have two copies of Fs9 on my PC. One in the Cdrive and one on an external ssd (a backup) Unfortunately the Cdrive died taking with it that particular installation of 9. I now only have thebackup on my external Fdrive ssd. So what I have decided to do before anything else is to reinstall an original copy of Fs9 into my new Cdrive and THEN copy and paste my full backup over that new installation. Iam sure I have done this before in the past, and it worked, but just wanted to be sure by picking the brains of the knowledgeable here at Fscom. Thanks Andy

Hello All When I get my PC back tomorrow, the first thing I want to do is to make sure I have two copies of my fs9 installation. My question 1. If I install a clean installation of 9 from my original four disks into my new Cdrive and then copy and paste my fully backed up copy over the new installation will that function normally? Question two. If I were to copy and paste my fully backed version from my ssd into my new Cdrive WITHOUT first installing a clean installation from my original disks. Would THAT work? It would certainly be quicker than my first option in question one. Thanks all I await the whirring of grey matter. Andrew

I have just had my main Cdrive die on me. Thats bad news. However the good news. I had my fs9 backed up to an external ssd . One the components of that backed up copy is FSnavigator in the modules folder. Will that still run? Iam sure in the past when I have had incidents of this nature FSnavigator still worked as normal from a backup of Fs9. No reinstallation was required ,which is good because I have no installation package for it. FSnav is really an essential part of my sim enjoyment. A great program, but is it still available anywhere just in case it won't function from my backup of 9? I know support for it was discontinued years ago, but I would certainly pay for it if I had to or could. Thanks all Andy PS I can't try running FSnav till I get my PC back tomorrow. So I thought I would ask here.

Hello I too get this problem with Fs9 occasionally. My solution is to press CTRL,ALT, DELETE. This opens TASK MANAGER This, in turn, brings up a menu of various options concerning running processes (including Fs9) I select the option to close Fs9, then restart the SIM as normal (using its desktop icon), it then opens correctly and is ready to go. Maybe worth a try. Andy

Hello Flappers Like yourself I also have had problems with both FSrealweather lite and also FsRealweather Pro. The problem being wild wind changes, massive drops or increases in air speed occurring instantly , ie m70 to m90 as an example or the reverse sometimes causing stalls. I did try Tom's suggestion of setting wind speed in FSUIPC to 1 and in my case this seems to have fixed the problem.BUT! I am aware that these weather gitches can seem to have disappeared , only to come back again to catch you unawares. If the weather gets so unrealistic and wild in the sim I will close FsRealweather and simply select a weather theme instead to continue my flight PS I used to find that the original live weather option that was originally part of Fs9 was also prone to this weather wind mayhem. Cheers Andy

Thanks Tom I haven't tried that particular tweak yet, but will give it a go tonight. I have tried various FSUIPC settings relating to wind gusts etc but with no joy. PS I don't get extreme weather on every flight using FSrealweather, so I don't want to put anybody of trying it,but it definitely is a problem for me from time to time. Cheers Andy

Hello I have both FSrealweather lite and also FSrealweather Pro. Both are free, but I think? to get the Pro version you may have to register with the site. The Pro version is a much more polished-looking app than the Lite (has more airport weather reports than the latter) BUT! In my experience, you can quite often get unrealistic (to me anyway)wild weather conditions (similar to the original live weather that used to be available for Fs9.) For instance, you may find yourself cruising quite nicely minding your own business at M75 when out of the blue, and in an instant, you will rocket up M90 with Overspeed warnings, then just as quickly going the other way drop to stall speeds (and actually stall if you're not careful). Last night during my flight this very thing happened, and it was so bad I had to clear the weather and load a simple weather scenario (winds Northerly to match my destination runway heading. ) Both these apps work, but it is worth bearing in mind my findings. I do still use them but am prepared to switch to a simple weather scenario if the extreme (unrealistic in my view persists.) Cheers Andy

Hello I would just like to say thanks to all who contributed to my thread. My landings have really improved over recent weeks. My original query mentioned landing on the centre line after each approach, and I realize that may not be possible either in 'Real-world' aviation or sim flight aviation, my real problem was not really in trying to achieve perfection in that way, but just trying to manage landings where I at least stayed on the runway after touchdown (even if that did involve much yanking on the joystick and clamping on the brakes as hard as I could. This landing problem was particularly noticeable with one of my favorites the Posky 747 of which I have many. I would appear to be on track for a good landing, but soon after touchdown having applied reverse thrust, etc slowly but surely the aircraft would start to wander off the runway until I managed to slow it down and stop it in a field or suchlike beyond the runway. VERY unsatisfactory! To finish off this post now I say again thanks to all for your help, and that things have definitely improved landing wise but realize more practice is required. That is fine by me. It keeps me coming back for more. Personally, I find making a good landing is so satisfying and rewarding (I like to taxi to the gates and shutdown engines the whole thing) almost regret having to end the flight :) Cheers Andy

Hello Alan I watched your video on landing with a shoestring and have just tried it myself, using the finest in-flight sim bootlace technology so while watching your video I then had two visual references, your string, AND my bootlace. Both worked ;) Next, I opened fs9 and selected the last phase of my Airsource flight of last night (I saved that flight as "Landing practice" for later use) I have to say your little trick was very effective at keeping me on track for a good(ish):)(more practice needed) landing and certainly much better than my more recent efforts. My only little hiccup...I did come close to stalling on turning towards the runway for the final app/land. One more thing I flew this landing phase(of last night's flight)n the morning when I was much more alert, and certainly alcohol-free, and this made a big difference to the end result I am sure. I do have to say that my flights are always taken at night and are usually accompanied by ale, and that combination plus general knackerdness can often have me falling asleep before I have even attempted my approach. What I have been doing recently to try to combat this disgraceful lack of self-control on my part is to end my flight nearing the descent and ( I use Pete Dowson's great auto-save app for this purpose as well if needed) and then I complete the landing phase following day with a clear head. Thanks for your video and the great use of string :) cheers Andy

Thanks, Guys For all the info. I have certainly learned that landing (like so much of SIM flying) particularly is so dependent on so many variables i.e. weather, weight, etc, but I am sure I was much better at it five or ten years ago. By the way... I also have a thread concerning takeoffs and the use of the toga procedure and I have to say that isn't going too well either. I am beginning to wonder if I am perhaps overthinking all this? ......But!, on the takeoff, something has helped but in an unexpected way. Before I got into all this, my usual takeoff procedure was to set altitude, heading, speed, etc The autopilot was off at this point, flaps would be set. The autothrottle was set but not activated. I would start to open the throttle and roll down the runway, and at v1 V2 I would takeoff. There were usually no problems encountered. Unfortunately, after this initial phase is where my troubles would begin. When climbing out with the flaps and gear up, I will select the autothrottle to increase speed to just below 250kts,(10 thousand feet) I would select it but! on most flights, the autothrottle would not respond, which resulted in me having to repeatedly switch it on and of or the speed button to eventually get a response. (predominantly this was a problem with the PA Airbus) I decided I would look into TOGA takeoffs for this aircraft; however, another method using the autothrottle was also revealed. This involved having the aircraft lined up and ready to go, but instead of manually using throttle as was usually the case with me I would instead activate the autothrottle and allow it to control my rollout till take-off point; this worked although it took a long time to build up the required speed and would have been tricky on a short runway. This method did allow for good quality takeoffs with the autothrottle functioning correctly now, and ready for the next phase of the flight to flt180. This was all good stuff until I read that a pilot would never use the autothrottle on the ground like that; whether that's true or not? all was not lost though as I went back to my old method of takeoff described earlier in this post, with one difference I would select the autothrottle very briefly just to see if it was functioning i.e. slight movement of the aircraft plus change of engine note, I would quickly disengage it and then throttle up manually, climb out, and when it came to the point of activating the autopilot and autothrottle again, they would do just that, and not give me the problem of nonactivation with me switching the AT or the speed button on and of to try and get it to respond correctly. Anyway guys I know this thread of mine was concerned primarily with landing rather than takeoff, but it's both ends of the same story and maybe will just add a little more to the great FS9 (X) knowledge base. Now back to landing (that HAS been improving somewhat thanks to all the advice received here.) PS I noticed a post in the FSX forum I think it was asking "How do you keep FSX(FS9 Interesting") In my case the reply? 'Just using it' Cheers Andy

Hello Alan Here's Peters guide for takeoffs. It has much improved mine. Andy, assuming you tried the aircraft.cfg tweaks to no avail. Sorry for trivia but Auto-throttle engagement would not work without the IAS hold (in some cockpits SPD) button selected. Just as a test, what I usually do, actually take-off with Auto-throttle: 1/ Select AP runway heading 2/ Select the AP altitude 10000, VSI select lets say 1500 FPM 3/ Select speed dial to 250kts 4/ At this point all AP functions disabled and lined up for take-off, engines running 5/ Autothrottle ON 6/ IAS hold (or SPD) on - aircraft starts to accelerate 7/ Rotate command - rotate to selected VSI 8/ AP engage, AP heading engage, AP altitude engage 9/ Gear up 10/ Flaps up At this point the speed stays at 250kts and aircraft climbs to the selected altitude maintaining the selected VSI. Then I change tohe AP heeding and altitude as directed by ATC. Increase AP speed dial after 10000ft. This always works for me. Occasionally after take-off the speed exceeds 250kts slightly but reduces to the mandated 2 . I hope this helps Alan Cheers Andy

Hello Peter Some time ago I was seeking info on the use of the toga method of takeoffs. you kindly posted a reply showing how you achieved this yourself. I noticed that the last post was by me saying I would give your method a try. Well, it's taken a long time (months /years), but today I have finally got round to trying it and I am more than pleased with the results. I have used both the PA Airbuses and the Posky 737s so far. The results have been much-improved takeoffs. For many years I have struggled with this phase of flight, and never really felt satisfied with the results. The only plus side being a long-time sim flier I could rectify the situation if it got out of hand IE stalls etc by taking over manually until autopilot/throttle resumed correct functioning. I particularly had problems with the PA Airbus and getting its autothrottle to activate, it was very variable in operation sometimes it would work, but other times I would have to keep turning it(or SPD) on and off. Anyway adopting your instructions for setting up an aircraft for take-off (it's still early days yet and I will probably still make some mistakes till I am completely au fait with your method) and executing that take-off has resulted in a much more controlled and satisfying result. So belated thanks to you. Cheers Andy PS I have also been posting a lot recently about the other end of a flight and my difficulties with landings. If I can improve those as well I will be very pleased.

Hello I always know the direction of the wind at my destination airport as I use FsReal Weather. I download a snapshot of the world's weather then turn of FSrealweather (no live updates) and to be completely satisfied I will move my aircraft to my destination airport just to check the runway selected is the appropriate one for wind direction, when iam satisfied that it is ,I then move my aircraft back to my departure airport and having created a flight plan in FSNavigator I then fly the route. All a bit long winded, but it's all part of my daily flight selection and operation. Cheers to all PS with this thread going on, and another concerning the cloning of my PC. My brain is in full ache mode at the moment. PPS in another twist concerning my of centre landings I actually completed one of my best ones for a long time BUT! it was born out of near calamity as when using an Ifr approach I found myself about to crash as I realised I was not going to make it to the runway. I very quickly turned of the autopilot/autothrottle shoved the throttle levers open for a short burst ,turned onto the runway and executed a really good touchdown. Such is life part two. I will be of again very shortly to try yet again. Cheers to all

Hello Rick I am beginning to confuse myself as to what I am actually trying to achieve.:) I believet that cloning is best way to protect yourself against catastrophic disk failure. I also believe it means that you can bypass the long winded process of installing Windows again if the above should happen. And I think? you can use a clone to set up multiple PCs as well;but I have heard that if your clone is stored on a USB connected SSD then you can't boot up your pc from that disk if you should need to. Cheers Confused of UK

Again thanks Guys for your help. There appears to be a new problem now. It seems that you can clone to a USB connected SSD, but won't be able to boot from it.(Some sort of Msoft restriction I believe. Any thoughts on this. Thanks to all Andy

Thank you Chuck. I will try your suggestions,but just to clarify a point,if I buy a new ssd , should any clone or image I create be the only thing on that SSD? Cheers Andy

Hello Both you Larry have mentioned this. I have in the past tried that ,but don't remember any significant improvements in my landings .I will try again and see what occurs. Larry also mentions trying light aircraft, but I have in the past flown the lights,historic (dc3 etc)and others (actually some superb models available) at Fseconomy. The problem there was not the aircraft,but the very complex nature of the site itself (to me anyway).:) One possible clue to my poor landings ? Iam nearly always to high on approach. No matter how carefully I make it (using Werner schots guides for various simulator aircraft and there performance) I am still high. I these cases I often have only one option... Kamikaze!!! A rapid dive towards my designated runway which I quite often manage, but not satisfactory for me and probably of the centre of the runway to boot. OK I will give you some idea of my fights why I fly them and why I prefer the airliners. Every evening I will select a flight of approximately 1000 to 1100 miles. I take off climb to my cruising altitude. I will then wait until I get to roughly 750 to 800 miles of my destination. At this point I will mute the sound of the flight(I don't interact with ATC at all so no problem there) I will then select a documentary of an hour in length that I have previously downloaded from the BBC iPlayer When that finishes I will unmute the SIM and be approximately 300 miles from my destination and ready for descent into final approach. I have done this for years and it really suits me (possibly a bit of autistic spectrum who knows) It would just be nice to finish it off with a good on the centreline (or thereabouts )landing.....a very rare occurrence though it does happen sometimes ;and its such a good feeling I make sure I follow through with a proper taxi to the gate and shutdown.. Any other of my mostly poor landings I don't bother and just close the SIM. I won't file any bad landings , crashes, overshoots etc to Airsource my favourite VA (well not strictly VA but a wonderful place for virtual pilots to fly the virtual world). Anyway that hopefully gives you some idea of how and what I like to fly. I may even try the lights again at some point ,you never know I just need to find flights of these smaller aircraft of approximately two to two and half hours so I can STILL fly my routine of....takeoff,climb-out,climb to cruise,mute, watch iPlayer program,descend and land Probably still missing centre etc. Life is a circle . Cheers Andy

Col refreshing honesty and humor on your part And Zippy I admire your don't get too hung about things and just enjoy the sim attitude Actually, while I am here Zip you described to me once how you used Toga for takeoff . If you could refresh me I would appreciate that. I will keep plugging away as I have for the last seventeen years. In another seventeen I could well be in the great departure lounge in the sky. So I better get flying tonight as usual with hope in my heart. I wonder if lager could be contributing factor? to my landing woes Perhaps I am seeing two runways? cheers Andy

Hello All I have been flying FS9 for seventeen years now. I am ashamed to say after all this time and Gawd knows how many flights, I still can't land on the centerline. I have all the right approach conditions, flaps correct, App engaged correct speed, etc etc. but no blinking cigar. At a few miles out, everything looks fine, heading right at the centre line but as I get closer to touch down the ground approx. fifty feet to landing I invariably find myself slowly veering off course, and have to try and inelegantly pull on the stick to at least get some sort of landing where no one would have died. PS I fly ninety-five/six per cent airliners by the way. I am beginning to wonder whether there is some psychology going on here perhaps I will lose interest in the sim if I finally crack the landing? Actually, I don't really believe that. In fact a load of old cobblers; But! every flight I take is really about the landing, although I still enjoy all the other aspects of flight. I know there are many variables to consider in a landing, but any info you may have would be appreciated. Thank Andy

Hello All I think it's about time I learnt about cloning and imaging. There will probably many questions, so I will start with these ones. I am not sure which option I should go for Clone or image or both. I will be buying a new SSD to clone/image too. Should the new clone/image be the only thing on the new SSD? I have just spent an hour or so trying to find info on the net about whole process of cloning/imaging. Happily there is plenty out there, but invariably it seems start simply enough, but gets increasingly difficult to take in until glazed eye syndrome takes over. So there are my first questions. Cheers Andy

ZIP Mate. I've just got it...By George!! Andy

Hello All I am sorry I have not replied to you all for your valuable input. I have only just opened up the thread and was very surprised to see how many of you had replied. My original query about making a new copy of the original fs9 installation discs was actually born out of needing something to do on a bit of a dreary morning. However, reading through your replies and particularly those on the topic of cloning my entire windows installation as a safety backup has me interested in trying it for myself. I actually find all this kind of stuff pretty interesting as I like to try and increase my knowledge of PC operations generally. Back to disc copying using (is it called disc burning software? ) I experimented on one of my must-have addons for FS9 that is called FS Global (I have owned this for many years now)I had become aware that the discs were looking a bit scratched and worn. I was worried that they may have eventually become unusable so downloaded some free cd burning software and just jumped in (as I often do without really taking the time to read the correct instructions for trouble-free operations though. :) Anyway, this time I was lucky and got away with my instruction manual avoidance method as I successfully managed (and tested ) my newly copied discs...and blimey! they worked. :)(the whole operation took quite a while to perform though) but as I mentioned before it was just another small step in increasing my knowledge of PC operations. I think as simmers it is important to really get a handle on backing up, copying, paste-Ing, saving, transferring to other hard discs, etc to preserve our precious installations Anyways I await another rainy day to start checking out disc cloning next. Thanks to you all for replying to my post. Andy

Hello All Is it possible/legal etc to make copies of the four original Fs9 installation discs ? Are they write protected? I would just like to have that extra bit of security in the event of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan ,and resultant world conflagration that I could still jump in the Cessna for a slow meandering flight along the course of the river Thames. Dark humour aside , it would just be nice to have an extra set of installation discs. If this is definitely a legal no no then I shall of course respect Flightsim coms rules on such matters regarding any possible advice that may be offered. Cheers to All Andy.