I am now certain that I need a new cpu and motherboard for fs. Today fs crashed and has been runing slowly for a while now. I think the problems are cpu related, my video card is an ati radeon x800xt platinum. It runs fine with other more demanding software, my cpu is slow. It is an intel pentium 4 with ht, 2.6 gig. I am not a somputer expert and there are so many thing to look into. Is gigahertz what I should look for? What else is there to consider?

Why would you suspect your CPU and not Windows/software at the root of your problems? Hardware (especially a CPU) usually works or it doesn't - there's no in between where it works on some things and not on others or anything like that.If I had to guess based on the limited information here, I'd find a friend who knows how and reinstall Windows XP completely clean. Back up your important files etc, and just wipe the hard drive and start over fresh. Windows can become corrupted over time and really slow down - it's been my experience that a fresh install fixes most of these types of problems.

I did that and obviously it didnt work, I used to use ms config to save ram for fs, but now it causes problems with squakbox connecting, I dont know why. Its not like I have a ram shortage, I have 4 slots of 512 mb of ram.

Your CPU isn't too shabby a speed for FS 2004. If you think your problem is CPU related, try running a CPU-stressng program like Prime95 overnight (torture test) and see if it comes up with any errors. I'd also check out your RAM too with memcheck86 on an overnight run too. Google these utility names to come up with a download link.Gary

Thanks for the info, I google those programs soon. Also I ahve some new info. My page file is set to 1500, and fs just told me I didnt have enough memory to run fs. Isnt that the reason for ctd, because there is not enough memory? I am going to try to put my page file at 3000 to see if it helps.

Given the limited info you have provided, you either have a config problem (most likely), or you have slightly inadquate hardware (possible), or you have your FS display sliders too far to the right for your system.If you have 512 ram total that's really barely adequate for FS imo.Especially if you use Squawkbox, etc. a gig would do you well.With a 2.6 ghz Intel cpu you should be able to run FS decently, and by decently I mean you can't expect all sliders to the right...you will have to make compromises.Also, you don't say what your video specs are. If you have a card with 128 or 64 megs that is going to hold you back.Also, you need to trim down your running services when you run FS. Try to get it down to 25 or less running services. Turn off the Content Indexing Service, for example.And of course do all of the things I'm sure you know about already: clean up the hd, then defrag regularly.If you are interested in upgrading your cpu, you might consider the fact that Intel's new Core2 Duo cpu is coming out in about a week or two, and it is going to turn the cpu scene upside down. If I were you, and I was for sure going to upgrade the cpu, I would take a long hard look at the Core 2 Duo, particularly the midrange model which supposedly will sell for only $320 or so (personally I think the street price will be considerably higher until supply gets steady).You will have to upgrade other parts of your system if you go with a Core2 Duo--you'll need a new motherboard and probably ram too.Rhett

Thanks again for the info, I have a vidoe card with 256 mb of ram and a clock speed of about 520. To clarify I have 4 slots of 256 mb which would mean I have 1024 mb of ram, correct? I one found this program that would describe all the processes with their names and then allow me to turn them off to run fs. It was designed for fs, but I forgot the name, I think it had the word activate in the name.

I also think what i will do in the mean time is purchase some more ram, task manager shows fs with squawkbox initialized but not connected to use about 570000k, which is about half of what I have available, so when its running it must take much more. Any suggestions of which type of ram is best?

1GB of RAM is sufficient for FS + a bunch of addons, including having squawkbox connected. I'm running such a scenario right now and task manager shows 220K of physical memory available out of 1GB.Gary

I agree, if you already have a gig of ram, then you don't need to add any more at this time. When you boot your computer, the startup screen should tell you how much installed ram you have. If you have 1024, you should have some free, even with SB and FS running.I believe the program you were talking about is FSAutoStart, by Ken Salter. Rhett

Yep, got the program, thanks for the advice. CPU usage is at 100%, does that mean a faster cpu might solve problems?

No.In my experience, a single-core cpu will always show CPU usage of 100% when FS is the foreground application. I wouldn't do a thing on upgrading the cpu right now. I know that is trite, because there's "always something new around the corner"...but in my 15 years of being on the scene, right now could be one of those big turning points with the Intel Core 2 Duo. The last big turn we saw was AMD's AMD64 cpu's, which shifted things.I think we are seeing a sea change as the cpu world tilts from AMD back to Intel. Just like it tilted from Intel to AMD in 2003. We'll know a lot more in 3-4 months.Rhett

I put some more ram into my system and it happened again. When I changed the terrain texture size from medium to high it just crashed, no error message, it just crashed.

First of all, the CPU is not responsible for any crashes, unless it is seriously overheated. And even then you would notice the OS crashing (rebooting) once in a while.Also, the amount of RAM has usually little to do with system stability or even speed (unless you have less than 1GB total RAM). You can verify the amount of RAM installed a) in the BIOS, :( in WXP by right-clicking on "My Computer" and "Properties" or c) by a 3rd party programMost common for unexpected crashes of FS9 are a) a corrupt fs9.cfg (upon start), :P incorrect bgls (if the crashes occur while flying or around certain areas only), c) incorrect drivers (display, chipset) or d) a plain screwed-up OS installation.Good luck!Pat