While attempting to load a flight plan from the Planning menu, I noted that after the full panel view of the 172P came up, and after making all of the normal "checklist" settings, hitting the "S" key to start the engine immediately crashed the program. I also noted the CD ROM drive light to be flickering continuously. The pull down menus were frozen and the only way to exit was to reset the computer. This flight plan had always worked without difficulty in the past, but this lockup was repeated numerous times with the same result. At a later date I had to work in a different program and so had to take SPP compact disc #1 out of the drive. However, I did not put the disc in the case, I laid it on the worktable next to the computer, where it sat uncovered for about 12 hours. When I went to put it back into the drive, I happened to notice an approximately 3.0mm fingerprint segment on the "shiny" side of the disc, so I wiped this clean with tissue paper. After loading SPP I decided to try to load the flight plan in question, only this time it loaded normally and ran fine. Therefore, it may be worthwhile to wipe the disc clean from time to time, and especially if an unusual failure of sudden onset occurs.

The following was obtained from Spaztic, one of the Pro Pilot developers:
Alternative way to install to another drive than "C" is as follows:   Go into notepad and create a file with the following lines in it:  [SIERRA] SierraDir=X:\SIERRA (X is any drive letter you want).  Then save it into C:\windows using the file name SIERRA.ini  .  The installer will then look for this file and install into the drive you specified in the file.

If you have adequate disc space on the hard drive where your Windows 95 system resides (system drive) (60 MB or more) you should be okay if you simply let windows handle your swap file size. 60 MB is a very small amount of free disc space for your Windows 95 drive. I would say a good rule of thumb is that if you have less than 200 MB, you should clean everything off that drive that you can, and refrain from allowing any new software to install on the system drive.

If you wish to control the size of your swap file do so by:
Clicking on "My Computer," then "Control Panel," then "System," then "Performance" and finally "Virtual Memory." Click on the button "Let me manage my own VM" and set the "Max" and "Min" numbers to the same value. This value should be at least 60 MB, or the same number of MB as your system installed RAM, whichever is greater. It will ask if you want to restart then click ok. It's okay to make it larger, but do not use up all the free space on the system drive with the swap file. Some will say to make the "Max" and "Min" numbers different, but if you do, there is extra overhead on your system by it constantly changing the size of the swap file. I have been able to move the swap file on my system off the system drive to another with a decent amount of free space. If you tell the system you want to manage the memory, it will allow you to select a different disc drive. It is advisable to use a product such as Norton Utilities which upon defragging, will move the swap file to the front of the drive. If you don't have such a uiltity, you can do it yourself. Copy everything else off that drive except the swap file, which should be named Win386.swp, to another media source. Do a defrag and optimize the data in the swap file to the front of the disc. Finish by copying the other files back to that drive.

You can control the amount of disc space on your system drive when installing software. Most all software will want to install to your system drive by default. Don't let it do that. Change the drive letter to another where you have adequate space. It is going to install some system type files to your system drive anyway, but the majority of the space will be taken up on the other drive.

Another tip is: .......When it says it is going to install it in a path like:

C:/Windows/Program Files/Farfignugen/Arachnophylia/Antidisestablishmanterianism/Go Deeper/Confuse Me Some More/Make It Real Hard To Find Me/Guess Where I AM/Im Not Through Yet/My New Software

Don't let it do that. It's your computer, you be the boss. Tell it you want to change dirctories to : E:/My New Software .
This makes it much easier to find stuff, and a lot cleaner.

Posted by Scott Brazell
Here are some other things that will help keep your system hard drive cleaned up. Use the Explorer find tool and search for all temp and tmp folders. You will usually find lots of files not in use anymore in these folders. A big culprit is the "temp" folder under the "windows" folder. All those times that Windows 95 got shutdown improperly, there is probably at least one left over file for each time, files that start with ~ or just strangely named files. Another thing is that every time you access one of those help files programmed for Windows 95, there is a .gid file created. If you have lots of programs, you'll be surprised how many files you come up with in a search for these. The file will be recreated next time you access that help file, so you can safely delete them. Also, like someone else mentioned, .avi files can be quite huge, like the intro movie for Pro Pilot for those that did a full install. Unless you'll really miss the intros, get rid of these things. After the first hundred times of viewing it, you probably won't miss it anymore. One last thing is to find out how to clear the cache on your browser. If you've never bothered to clear it or don't know what it is, your probably wasting a lot of disc space. Find out what it is, and how to maintain it.

Note: The author of this FAQ, nor any other person named, will not be held responsible for any problems associated with using this material. If you have absolutely no foggy notion as to what is being discussed here, I suggest you find a friend who does, or call the support group for your computer system.

Step 2 - Check for corrupted files. Run SCANDISK to detect and correct any hard drive errors and corrupted files (Click Start, Programs, Accessories, System Tools, and Scandisk). If any errors are found, such as cross-linked or truncated files or lost allocation units, correct them, then uninstall Pro Pilot. Corrupted program files can cause lockups and other technical problems. No program will run correctly if the data or executable files are corrupted. This corruption may occur during the installation of Pro Pilot due to conflicts with TSRs or other utilities during the installation. Reinstalling Pro Pilot in the same environment will usually result in the same corrupted data. You should install Pro Pilot in a "clean" boot environment.

Step 3 - Create a clean Windows environment and reinstall Pro Pilot. Verify that you have sufficient hard drive space for a reinstallation of the program. Remember to allocate twice the listed space on compressed drives! Make sure there are no other programs running in Windows 95 before reinstalling. To do this:

1. Hold down the CTRL and ALT keys and press the DEL key. This will bring up a Close Program Box. The Close Program Box will show the currently running programs.

2. The only program we want listed in the task list is the Explorer. If there are other programs in the task list, highlight one of them and click on the End Task button.

3. Repeat steps 1 and 2 until the only program listed in the Close Program Box is the Explorer. NOTE: Some programs can not be shut down using these steps. You will need to shut down those programs according to the instructions specific to those programs. Once the Explorer is the only program in the Close Program Box, reinstall the program.

Step 5.- Check your drivers. Outdated or incompatible video or sound drivers can also cause lockups and errors in Windows. Sierra recommends you check with your sound and video card manufacturers to make sure you have the latest versions of these drivers. Some manufacturers update their drivers several times a year, so it's easy to get behind.

One of the primary culprits of pauses during turns in SPP is high disk activity. To reduce this effect, remove SPP from the system. Defragment the disk. re-install SPP (500mb). If you do the "TYPICAL" install, pauses will continue due to the activity being moved to the CD-ROM. It takes a 24X CD drive to keep that within tolerable limits, as well as messing with Windows SYSTEM.INI vcache values. To verify the level of disk activity use the System Monitor that comes with Windows. Also set building density to low to improve rates unless you are into skylines.

Press ALT - SHIFT - ENTER while in the simulation.

Click on the Start button, click Settings, and then click on Control Panel. There will be an icon for Mouse. Double click on Mouse. Choose the Pointers tab on the Mouse Properties box, and then click on the box under Scheme. Click on the one labeled (None), and then click on OK.

Contact your video card or computer manufacturer for the latest drivers for your video card. Some manufacturers update their drivers several times a year, so it's easy to get behind. Usually driver updates are free and can be obtained from the system vendor or downloaded from a web page.

1. - Make sure you have adequate disc space on the drive your Windows 95 operating system is on. You need to have free disc space of a minimum of 50 MB. If you are running more than 50 MB of RAM, free disc space needs to be at least as large as the amount of RAM on your system. The more free disc space on that drive the better.

2. - Manually change your resolution to 640 X 480 before starting Pro Pilot. Don't let the system automatically switch it. To switch the resolution, right click on your desktop background, and go into "Properties," and then the "Settings" tab. Many have solved lockup problems by following this procedure.

3.- Stop all programs running on your system except Explorer, before starting Pro Pilot. Especially Norton Utilities and any anti virus programs. If you are not familiar with this procedure then hit CNTL + ALT +DEL to pop up the task window, start at the bottom of the list and work up. Highlight an item and then click on "End Task" to close that item. Repeat until all items are stopped except Explorer. You will sometimes get another window to pop up saying the program you are trying to close is not responding. Click "End Task" on that window to close the program.

1. Click on the Start button, select Settings, open the Control Panel, and then open the Joystick icon.

2. In the Joystick control panel, make note of the current joystick settings, and then select under Joystick configuration. Click on OK. Leave the control panel open.

3. Start the game, and continue on past the lockup point. Press Alt-Tab to switch back to the control panel. Reset your joystick to the original settings, and test to make sure it is correctly calibrated.

4. Press Alt-Tab again to switch back to the game.

You can verify this by right-clicking My Computer, and selecting the Performance tab. Under File system you will probably see something other than 32-bit and it will have something other than "Your system is configured for optimal performance" at the bottom of this window. If this is the case, you will need to get 32-bit drivers for your CD-ROM either from the manufacturer's website or see if Microsoft has an updated driver for your CD-ROM.

• The time settings in SPP are a known bug. Don't expect that function to work correctly until a patch addresses that specific problem. In the meantime, you can use the "dawn, day, dusk and night" settings, which start your flight at the specified light level and progress from there - either getting darker or lighter.
  Rev. Karin Convover-Lewis

• Each time you start SPP, one must set the time, if you are using the default startup. The Default startup is in UTC, and not your local computer time yet. Also startup always starts with the same time, about 2300 hrs UTC. on my system. It also apparently starts in daylight mode.

  To change all of the foregoing, go to the menu and click, Options\Timeand Date\,then click on the "Set to System time", button. click OK and the dialog box closes, and "Wahlau", you have the time set in the clock and when it gets dark at your location, you will need to turn on your landing and taxi lights in order to see anything.

  Don't forget you can toggle the clock to a timer by hitting "Shift+T" keys on your keyboard. To start the timer hit "Shift+E" to stop the timer hit "Shift+E", again. To zero the timer hit "Shift+E" rapidly twice. That is rapidly as in fast repeat, after stopping the timer.
  Donald E. Donovan

• When Propilot starts up, it defaults to what is called UTC time (Universal Coordinated Time) or sometimes called Zulu. I believe it normally starts up with the time around 2200 or 2300. You need to understand a little about the U.S. timezones to figure out the actual time. If you are starting at the default airport in Pro Pilot, that is San Francisco International. This is the Pacific timezone and is either 7 or 8 hours behind UTC depending on whether it is daylight savings time or not. Right now, it is daylight savings time, so starting at SFO, the local time should be 7 hours behind UTC. That is, if your clock is showing 2300 UTC, it will actually be 1600 local. This is the reason it will be light outside and will continue for some time after that. UTC is what real pilots make their flightplans around and is typically the time we use. If you do not want to be bothered with that or don't know all the timezone changes, you should be able to select the Time/Date selection under the Options menu, and there will be a place to make the local time show up on the clock. I haven't yet tried to see if this setting will save with a new startup.flt file, but you may try that if you don't want to have to switch it each time you start.
  Scott Brazell

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  All Material In This FAQ Copyright 1998
  Mickey W. And The Numerous Named Contributors
  All Rights Reserved

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