FS 2002 Pro Startup Problem

[Guest]

I have a FS 2002 Pro problem that's driving me to distraction.If I do a clean install of FS and start the program at the end of theinstall everything works OK. When I quit FS to do something else the nexttime I try to start the program gets 10 seconds into the splash screen and freezes. The mouse still moves but I cannot get out of the program except rebooting or shutting down the computer.When the computer restarts, Windows finds file errors in FS with invalid date/time stamps.The only way to get FS running again is to do a clean install and then the problem starts all over again.I'm using a Dell R450 with 384 Megs Ram, 20 Meg HD, and a Nvidia GForce 3 TI 200 with 64 megs and Windows 98SE.If any on has any ideas, I appreciate hearing for them.Thanks,Don Bohr

[Guest RonB49]

How long are you waiting while it is on the splash screen? Mine sits there for a long time before anything happens but it does eventually happen. I'll time it if you would like. R-

[Guest]

I've let it sit as long as 15 minutes and nothing happens.Don

[Guest]

Don,This won't completely solve your problem, but I'll bet you'll find if you erase your FS2002.cfg file and then restart everything will work... until next time.IOW, you don't have to do a clean install each time, just erase your FS2002.cfg file. That doesn't solve the core problem, which is why that file gets corrupted, but at least it will make your restarting a whole lot easier.I have a similar situation, although not nearly as drastic. When I'm fooling around with various add-ons (making scenery, using GPSOut, lots of stuff) I can also corrupt that file and then, indeed, FS sits at the splash screen forever. Only erasing the cfg file and restarting helps. The problem, of course, is you lose all your settings, so I've backed up that cfg file and created a little batch program that automatically replaces the corrupt one with the old "good" one. Then you only need one click and the batch file can even start up FS if you'd so like.Like I say, not an ideal fix, but a fix nonetheless.

[Guest RonB49]

You're right, 15 minutes is too long. I like kelleym's suggestion even if you just do it once for diagnostic purposes. R-

[John_Cillis 2,406]

You may be running into another issue here.... During the initial session with FS2002, it will build some index files related to your installed scenery. It's quite possible your system is having a problem reloading those files on subsequent FS sessions, meaning they aren't being written properly. The invalid date/timestamps error indicates that you are running into some type of file I/O problem. Check these things:-Verify your system date/time is correct. -Scan your system for viruses using a current virus data file-While FS2002 is running (for the first time), do a file "find" and locate only files modified on or after your current session date. Try to match these up against the files being reported with time/datestamp problems-Boot clean, disable all utilities, including virus scanning software, optimizers such as Norton's etc...-John