HiFirst of all, I'm NOT a computer expert and need things explained in a simple way please :-)My specs:Pent4 1.4G256M RAMNVIDIA GeForce2 GTS/GeForce2 Pro (That's what it says when I look in the System place)Hard drive 30G, 8.62G usedCreative Sound Blaster Audio PCI (WDM)WIN ME (updated automatically)I run FS2K2 together with V1.7 of WxRE. AutoGen - OFF Frame rates locked at 18fps. AI traffic at 75%, IFR only. Sliders generally - sort of average, not full. Cloud density 60%. Phew!And still it stutters from time to time. It's just not 'fluid'.What would you recommend that I do to boost this system? I'm due a bit of a tax rebate this year, so have got a some spare cash :-)Not enough for a completely new system though!Thanks in advance for any friendly, easy to understand advice :-)GavinWarsaw, Poland

Even though you update WinME automatically doesn't mean you have updated drivers for your controller chips and diskdrive accelerator. I would check to see what chips you have by opening device manager, system devices, and look for:Intel PCI to AGP ControllerVIA PCI...SiS PCI...Check your Hard disk controllers - Intel, VIA, etc.Once you have the vendor, check their website for later drivers.Have you updated to directx9.0a? What drivers are you using for your graphics adapter and sound card? Are your graphics adapter or sound card sharing IRQs with other peripherals. If so, try moving the cards to different slots to eliminate the sharing.Are you turning off all the unnecessary programs not needed when you fly fs2002? You don't need Microsoft's automatic update reminder going off during a flight. Visit http://www2.whidbey.net/djdenham/index.htm for some tips on what to shut down.Depending on where the stutters are occuring, it may be that your system is being overloaded close to airports where you have a lot of AI and heavy scenery.

Take some of that tax refund and purchase another 256 megs of ram and a 9600 pro. All of this can be had for less than $300 us dollars and will provide you with a whole different flight sim experience. I know it's easy to just say "you need to buy this and that but with what your running from a hardware standpoint as well as add-ons this average outlay for upgrades will make a world of difference.I do also agree with the above post about drivers, chipset and updated motherboard bios. I would even go so far as to rec. dumping ME. Horrible memory management, stability issues and with the cost of XP home, even 98 would be better.Want to elevate that machine to seem like new add Windows Home to the parts list. For less than $500 you'll be smilin' and thankin' yourself for doing it.Bobby

Hi Gavin my friend,I think your system is actually not that bad but whether another 256 MB would be worth the money I am not sure. Based on some testimonials people went from 256 to 512 and they haven't seen any difference.I have advice that you may not like however. Keep your system for now and later get a bit more $$ and replace motherboard, CPU, memory, video card - this will definitely give you the boost you will appreciate. And wait with this upgrade until the 4-th quarter of the year when Intel's Prescott and AMD's Athlon 64 duel will be in full swing.And I agree that WinMe is bad .. I have it and I want to get to WinXP ASAP.Michael J.

Gents,Hi! Czesc Michal!Thanks for the advice. I have a few things to think about. Again, as a non-expert my question about ME is: Everything else on my system works perfectly and is stable. From my 'dumb' point of view, why should I change my operating system that works? Is ME specifically non-FS2K2 friendly?Thanks!Gavin

Windows XP is soo much mroe stable!

>'dumb' point of view, why should I change my operating system>that works? Is ME specifically non-FS2K2 friendly?>Gavin, if it works for you - keep it. But I would definitely switch to the XP when you upgrade your hardware. And don't think I am an 'expert'. ;-)Musimy sie zobaczyc jak bede w Warszawie.Michael J.http://hifi.avsim.net/activesky/images/wxrebeta.jpg

MichalI can see the logic of upgrading to XP with an upgrade. the only thing that worries me is having to install FS2K2 and all my add ons/mods from scratch :-(Jasne, kiedy bedziesz? Polecam Soma pub, jest mikrobrowar. chodze tam kazdy piatek z angolami :-) i polakami tez.Gavin

> the>only thing that worries me is having to install FS2K2 and all>my add ons/mods from scratch :-(>Gavin, Not sure if your worry is well founded. I don't think you would have to re-install anything at least as FS is concerned.Gdzie jest Soma pub ?Michael J.http://hifi.avsim.net/activesky/images/wxrebeta.jpg

Czesc MichalSoma jest na Foksal. Czekam na zwrot od/z (chyba 'z' nie?) urzadu skarbowego! Albo 'Kontrola' :-(Gavin