Just installed Vista home premium on my P4 2.8, 1GB ram, 160GB SATA, x1650 Pro 512 MB. With XP I was getting locked 24 fps out of major metro areas. Now, with the same settings, I'm getting about 21-22 with LOTS of stuttering, and I'm noticing a lot of textures taking seconds to load (whereas before it was more of less unnoticeable). Additionally, when in window mode, I get between 0.2 and 1.1 fps :( I'm using freshly installed Cat 7.3's. Maybe try the 7.2's? Interestingly, shutting down unnecessary processes actually seems to *hurt* performance.Help for a Vista noob?Earl P.S. Is there a good free Vista compatible driver cleaner? Also, is there a good free Vista compatible memory optimizer? I tried TweakRAM, but it made things much more stuttery. =

Earl, I don't recommend going back to the Cat 7.2 drivers. The 7.3s cleared up a lot of problems for me, but my card is slighty different than yours. The x1650 Pro wasn't having the BSOD crashes that the 1650XT was prior to 7.3. Also, I never had stuttering with this card. My recommendation would be to get another 1 Gig (at least) of system RAM. You said you shut down processes but more specifically, did you shut down the sidebar? That one made a big difference for me. Actually, I made a second user on my system just for playing FSX. The user settings do not use the aero desktop, sidebar, no IM programs, or anything that is not necessary for FSX. It is really boring but I'm not looking at the desktop when I'm playing FSX.

Yeah hes right, you're gonna need at least another stick of RAM (2GB min with vista for gaming).And from reading others' posts, FSX on Vista performance-wise varies a TON...some get better, some same, some get less perf than on XP.

Thanks. A little additional info. I'm starting to think that maybe there's something wrong with my install.-As previously mentioned, in window mode I get 1 fps at best-Starting FSX immediately dumps me out of Aero and into Basic.-Clicking on an a/c to select it works, but gives me a Windows exclamation soundSomething seems amiss. I certainly wouldn't expect this to have any Vista compatibility issues, which is why I think there may be something wrong with the install. Anyone care to shed some additional light?Earl

Another thing I forgot to mention is that loading takes about twice as long as it did before.Earl

When was the last time you defragmented your drive? I don't think a defrag will fix all your problems but long load times are one indication that it may need to be done.

About 5 days ago, right after I installed Vista and FSX.

>-Starting FSX immediately dumps me out of Aero and into>Basic.For the record the same thing happens to me. I don't think it's a bug.

I see. I am still a little concerned that the Windows Exclamation sound plays when I click on an aircraft thumbnail.

>Thanks. A little additional info. I'm starting to think>that maybe there's something wrong with my install.>>-As previously mentioned, in window mode I get 1 fps at best>-Starting FSX immediately dumps me out of Aero and into>Basic.>-Clicking on an a/c to select it works, but gives me a Windows>exclamation sound>>Something seems amiss. I certainly wouldn't expect this to>have any Vista compatibility issues, which is why I think>there may be something wrong with the install. Anyone care to>shed some additional light?>>EarlAero going to Basic mode is normal. This happens to me. And I hear that sound when clicking on aircraft. Doesn't affect me.You need more RAM. Until then, shut down the sidebar and shut down non-essential services.