Jamie, Found it, not FSStart, it's FSAuotostart. Go to Avsim Library, scroll down and set the directory to FS 2004/Utilities, scroll thru a few pages and you will see it.When you use it, it's a good idea to set the services to RESTART after leaving FS9, this app., should help you free up a lot fo recources, maybe kill those stuters.My apologies to Ken Salter, the author. As referenced incorrectly on my prior post.Luck

Thanks a ton--I used FSAutostart and thetried the sound effects, they definately made my system run smoother, and got better performance out of FS9, but im still getting those stutters lol. Any other ideas might help? Thanks a ton!

Jaime,I'll guarantee you that the 9800 isn't the source of the stutters - mine is super smooth.1. Download AdAware 6, update it to the latest referrence file and make sure you don't have any spyware on your system.2. Get the Omega Catalyst drivers at www.omegacorner.com - they're better than the regular ATI Catalysts - there's some really nice tweaks already pre-done to them.3. Make sure you're stopping all the big hog services with FSAutoStart like indexing, system restore, etc...4. Make sure you're not using any 32bit textures for clouds, airports etc - the ATI cards don't run them as well as they do the DXT3 textures.Are you by chance running Chris Arrington's Airport Environment Upgrage version 6? That caused stutters for me, as soon as I went back to one of his previous ones they stopped...EDIT:Also, you mentioned reformatting - did you install the drivers for your motherboard chipset? If not, your AGP probably isn't functioning correctly and could be the source of the stutters... You'll probably have to check with Dell, but my guess is that you're running an Intel 865 based board, so if that's the case, the Intel referrence drivers should work fine.

Thanks a ton really appreciate that. I dont want to jinx it, but i think I havent gotten any more stuters. 1. I had adaware--love it. I'm glad you like it too, that makes me feel a lot more comfortable using it b/c i dont know a otn of people who have it.2. The catalyst drivers are awesome, I just installed them. Thanks for the tip, what settings do you use for AF and AA, and do u use the same settings in OpenGL and Direct3d?3. FSAutostart is awesome, I now have indexing/system restore, etc shut down. Thanks for the tip there, everyone who has mentioned it.4. I converted the clouds to dXT3 that came with the FSW clouds. Are there any other textures I should convert. Thanks again, I dont have AEU6--it looks awesome though. If I download it I will definately back up my files before I do, and if it causes problems I can revert to a previous version like you did.Thanks a ton. Its seems like the problem is prety much solved, rteally appreciate it