FSX Steam Freezes

Hello all,

Thank you in advance for any help you can offer.

I have been using FSX- Steam for the since late 2016. Up until now, it has been stable. I have encountered two episodes recently during which the simulator freezes. I can hear sound, but I have no control of the sim what-so-ever. The entire video freezes on the last frame.

During these events, I also lose most of my control of Windows 10. For example, I can call up the task manager, but I cannot actually click on anything in the application. As soon as I do, the computer reverts to the frozen version of FSX.

I looked at the Event Viewer, and no events are shown.

I think I found a thread on a forum that said that some people have encountered a similar problem, and their sim will begin to work again after about 10 minutes. Has anyone encountered this?

Any questions, please let me know.

B.

Hi. Are you running any software in the background while flying FSX:SE that has automatic updates or prompts you that an update is available?

APUtech

I think Dell's automatic updater runs in the background, but I did not see a notification that directly correlates to the freezes. Do you think I should disable it while running the sim?

Thanks for your response.

B.

In general, you should stop or disable all "unnecessary" tasks running in the background, as they "steal" CPU ticks that FSX needs - FSX needs all the CPU ticks it can possibly get.

Such tasks include iTunes, Skype, various updaters, iCloud, OneCloud, Samsung's Magician and many, many more.

It is difficult to advise you on which to stop or disable, because that of course depends on what else you use the computer for.

But a neat tool that can help you is Ccleaner, which comes in a freeware version. You'll find it here:

https://www.piriform.com/ccleaner/download

Once you have it installed and you run it, select Tools from the left-hand column, then in the second column from the left select Startup. Keep a log of what you do, so if you stop or disable too many tasks it's easy to re-enable.

Jorgen

I think Dell's automatic updater runs in the background, but I did not see a notification that directly correlates to the freezes. Do you think I should disable it while running the sim?

 

Thanks for your response.

 

B.

Well, (at least in my case) the updater popups were the root cause of my freezes; Malwarebytes and for a while Avast (which I got rid of in favor of a less invasive antivirus app) were the usual suspects. When I'd go to the Task Manager after the freeze to kill the FSX:SE app I'd see that the updaters were running (booooo! :( ). So, I turned off the updater notifications and haven't had a freeze since.

I also ran msconfig and did a Clean Boot and turned off all services that weren't necessary, which not only freed up more memory, but when I rebooted in that "cleaner" configuration, also gave my FSX:SE a slight boost in performance/frame rates.

Just a few ideas. :)

Happy Flying!

APUtech

Well, (at least in my case) the updater popups were the root cause of my freezes; Malwarebytes and for a while Avast (which I got rid of in favor of a less invasive antivirus app) were the usual suspects. When I'd go to the Task Manager after the freeze to kill the FSX:SE app I'd see that the updaters were running (booooo! :( ). So, I turned off the updater notifications and haven't had a freeze since.

 

I also ran msconfig and did a Clean Boot and turned off all services that weren't necessary, which not only freed up more memory, but when I rebooted in that "cleaner" configuration, also gave my FSX:SE a slight boost in performance/frame rates.

 

Just a few ideas. :)

 

Happy Flying!

 

APUtech

What they both said!! The less you're running the more FSX you can run!! Remember most CPUS have trouble keeping up with anything but the most basic FS in the first place!;)

In fact when on "long flights" or high scenery or IFR flights, I even turn my internet completely off. It's a real P.I.T.A. to have something pop up and cause a "crash" near the end of a long or involved flight!!! :mad::mad::mad:

Michael

Thanks everyone. I will look into those things.

B.

Hello all,

 

Thank you in advance for any help you can offer.

 

I have been using FSX- Steam for the since late 2016. Up until now, it has been stable. I have encountered two episodes recently during which the simulator freezes. I can hear sound, but I have no control of the sim what-so-ever. The entire video freezes on the last frame.

 

During these events, I also lose most of my control of Windows 10. For example, I can call up the task manager, but I cannot actually click on anything in the application. As soon as I do, the computer reverts to the frozen version of FSX.

 

I looked at the Event Viewer, and no events are shown.

 

I think I found a thread on a forum that said that some people have encountered a similar problem, and their sim will begin to work again after about 10 minutes. Has anyone encountered this?

 

Any questions, please let me know.

 

B.

Hey guys I just registered so I could give every1 a heads up on how I solved my problem. I played for years with 0 problems and then, all of a sudden, every time I tried to load a flight, it would freeze on 100% completion and I had to log out of windows or shutdown the computer!

So I started reading but none of the fixes worked 4 me and YES, I did remove the game, renamed files, the whole enchillada! It's not my 1st rodeo as they say. Having bought a new joystick but having a powerfull enough laptop to play FSX full spec but not powerfull enough to even run X-Plane on low, not playing FSX was NOT an option! So I started messing with the settings, changed resolutions, etc... But I digress! How I was able to load flights was... suspense... through FLIGHT SCHOOL! YEP! I just loaded a flight school, old Cessna 172 lesson and voila! After I completed it (might as well enjoy it, right?) I was able to return to free flight or mission mode pronto!

Cheers,

N