OK. Purchased the SafeModeFixer , installed it, ran it, and I STILL cannot boot into Safe Mode. I am casting my eyes toward my gun safe where, therin lies a shotgun that might be the final solution to the grief this computer is causing me. Horse feathers!! I'm at the end of my rope with this thing. Thanks for all your help.

At this point I would have to question the install Chief.. its possible you simply got a corrupt Windows installWith all the time you are spending, my suggestion would be to start over and not fight whats happening. You should not be having problems getting into safe mode, nor should you have the other issues after a clean install.At this point I am going to recommend you start over... EXCEPT this time, during the WIPE/install process, when the screen comes up that asks you how you wish to FORMAT, please select NTFS FULL DO NOT CHOOSE: Format the partition by using the NTFS file system (Quick)<--- NOT QUICKMAKE SURE YOU CHOOSE: Format the partition by using the NTFS file system

Thanks again Nick. I have recieved an email from the producers of SafeModeFixer and they seem to feel that Safe Mode access was restored with their program but is being re-broken by some other program I have installed on my system. They want to have a try at it before refunding my purchase of their software. Time will tell.When I went through the total rebuild several days ago, I used the precise method of Formatting my discs that you recommend. I have the suspicion that since this problem with Safe Mode was sporadically present even before my system crash, that the root of the problem lies in some software I have been using that I re-installed during the rebuild. Eventually I may start un-installing programs one at a time and see if I come across the culprit. Whatever it is it seems to also have an adverse effect on the startup of my anti-virus program (TrendMicro Internet Security 2008). I seem to have resolved that problem by shutting down all my startup programs in msconfig except NVCPL and nHancer. I am starting to suspect Registry Mechanic or CCleaner, both of which were added about the time the problems started. I'll leave the shotgun where it is for now.When I do hit "Enter" after selecting Safe Mode on the boot choice screen, when it starts loading all the drivers it stops on mup.sys right before I get the instant flash of the BSOD and then am returned to the boot choice screen. Something is blocking the loading of all the drivers needed to boot into Safe Mode. I am in totally uncharted territory for me but I chalk it all up to a learning experience.I'll press on for awhile

Stop using REGISRY MECAHNIC AND CCNot needed XP SP2 handles the registry JUST FINE and RM is KNOWN for issues in Windows corruption, ESPECIALLY if you run the REG COMPACT with Sp2.. dont do itI think you are right.. something you installed/ran in the rebuild did this. You will need to start over and this time dont use those programsIf thats the case I would now question if O&O was the problem to begin with.

I agree that O&O is NOT the culprit in all this. Other than my shakey version of WinXP's SP2 I think O&O would be #### up. Something else is afoot here and I am a bit surprised at your response to Registry mechanic as I first heard about it through your postings here and acquired it on your recommendation. I am aware that you have since determined that it is not required to do the proper tweaks to system/FSX that you have been offering so it is destined to be history on my system also. Thanks again for your willingness to pursue this with me.

It

Just for the record I, with the older version of SP2, have been using Registry Mechanic (except for the 'Optimize Your System' option) for a while now and it has never caused me any problems. Appears to do its job well.Mike

Its the registry compact that does the damage, the actual cleaner is finehowever Xp SP2 does not need that service

The person I have been working with on my issue of not being able to access Safe Mode, feels that after many hours of trial and error that we are narrowing the culprit down to a possible video card conflict. I have my old GeForce 256 MB 7800gtx that I'm going to replace the current GeForce 8800GT 512MB with as a test. Stay tuned as the search for the "bug' continues tomorrow.

"Its the registry compact that does the damage"Not been my experience, Nick. Used it umpteen times with nery a problem. Never had to restore after using RM. On XP it seems rock solid to me. Also, a couple of my friends use it regularly and they share my experience. Prior to Registry Mechanic I used ERUNT and NTREGOPT and they seemed very reliable as well.My current system has been up and running for the best part of 2 years. While simming does plays a very important part it's not dedicated solely for that purpose. It has to serve me in a multitude of other ways as well and does so with near absolute stability. I take time to do my research before installing anything new and this approach generally seems to have paid off.I do make regular full system backups but, until the O&O experience, I have rarely needed to use them. In fact I can't recall the last occasion off hand. I have used System Restore on rare occasions but usually because I've inadvertently mucked something up while experimenting. I do like to experiment ;) However, I try not to be too reckless.Many people advocate periodic clean wipes and full reinstalls to maintain system performance. Never been needed here, Careful, regular maintenance is the key to preserving good performance and also the judicious application of proven tweaks such as the list you were good enough to give us recently.It's a pity we do not live closer together as I would love to show you my system performing. In view of your recent repeated remarks, I think you might be pleasantly surprised.Regards,Mike

>"Its the registry compact that does the damage">Not been my experience, Nick. Used it umpteen times with nery a problem. Never had to restore after using RM. On XP it seems rock solid to me. Also, a couple of my friends use it regularly and they share my experience.Exactly.. just as O&O has never damaged any of my systems unless I forced that situation through known issue means.But RM reg compact nailed this person.. (RobMW) and others under the right circumstances:http://www.simviation.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/Ya...163028653/45#57 MikePlease do not get the impression that I think your system is broken or not working right.I thought my analogy of a car and how it normally functions within its specs, and, how adding race engineering to the design can increase its ability made that clear.I could not run/enjoy/be satisfied FSX the way I do even on modern hardware unless I optimized the system to deliver the files and the cycles I need to accomplish the task within my level of desired visual results. FSX throttles the experience so even if the sliders are pushed all the way up on slower hardware, the user is not seeing everything the title can deliver. Most do not understand that and think because their settings are high they are seeing everything in all its glory, which is not the case.There are also many tweaks out there that do absolutely NOTHING but provide a placebo effect.. case in point:HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetControlPriorityControl Win32PrioritySeparation = 26 (HEX) or 38 (DECIMAL) It's complete and udder horse manure to change that from Windows default and see a gain, ANY GAIN. It

Hi Nick,"Please do not get the impression that I think your system is broken or not working right."I did wonder! LOL!!No, seriously, I have the greatest respect for your undoubted skills and the huge amount of time you have been prepared to give to help us all. We are indeed fortunate to have someone like yourself who has shown his willingness to pass on knowledge in this commendable fashion.Had a look at the 'BS' tweak you used by way of illustration. It was not familiar to me and, having checked my registry, I see the value is still set at the default '2'. So, I guess I'm a little ahead of the game there :)I trust your advice, Nick and have implemented all your tweaks (short of O&O) and I am seeing further useful benefits for having done so.Checking MSConfig, currently I have 10 programs checked to run at Startup and all appear to be essential to the proper functioning of my system.I have 33 Processes running in Task Manager under my normal (general purpose) hardware configuration, less under my gaming configuration which, I must confess, is rarely used these days. I would like to stop PSIService.exe but it runs a, for want of a better word, 'legitimacy' check before allowing Corel Paint Shop Pro XI to load. In any event, it only seems to be active at the point of loading PSP. I wish Jasc had not sold out to Corel. SpySweeper.exe is another process without which the program won't run.You made 2 statements in those other interesting threads which, I think, sums things up nicely:1. I think it is important to note the internet is not flooded with complaints about O&O or Registry Mechanic2. I also wish to point out that there is no substitute for hardware. Although what I posted will help improve and streamline any system, how much it improves that system is based on how the user has it set up to begin with, how clean the start registry is for un-needed programs at boot and what hardware is being run.In other words, it usually ain't the program at fault, but more the way each system has been set up and the problems trawled unwittingly along the way by the user which can lead to unexpected results.Most developers assume a default parent installation which is intended to be referenced by their products. This is understandable as this is their only stable frame of reference that can be relied upon when it comes to troubleshooting following release of their software to market. Unfortunately guys like me find it difficult to stop fiddling and, done blindly, run very real risks of introducing variables that can have negative consequences sometime later down the road.The trick is to get into the routine of making regular full backups. For me, as you saw, this was underlined recently and, even then, I nearly came a cropper because I had not created bootable rescue media compatible with my current software version. That was a close call, but a lesson well learnt nonetheless!Knowing that I won't be upgrading anytime soon and knowing now that O&O is, for now, forbidden fruit as far as my current system configuration is concerned, I am happy with what I have and what has been achieved on the performance front.This has been a very interesting thread and, again, I thank you for your excellent contributions.Best regards,Mike :)

Hi Nick, D

Well I'll be.. look who the cat dragged in!Hi there Rob! Great to hear from you. I hope all is well.It sounds like you are probably fine Rob and as long as no supporting scenery files which require access are on the Windows partition(s). The main thing is to get FSX on its own however there will still be some access required for simconnect and other elements. All in all the majority of the access is the FSX drive and even though for max performance its best to keep the OS's on their own single drives without partitions, what your doing is the next best option if drives are scarce and you want to play with both OS's at the same time.just dont expect that 2nd partition OS to perform the same as the one on the first. In that, I would make sure the OS of choice for FSX booting is on the first partition... that way you are pretty much covered all the way around. But you probably already have that one figured out.. it was fun chatting with you back then even though it as under the circumstances of having a crash. I was really glad to see you practice the backup habit. Not enough do that and I really wish they would.I personally maintain grandfather-father-son backups so I cant lose anything even if I tried LOL:)

I'm doing very well thank you. Between jobs at the moment so I have the luxury of plenty of time to follow my interests :) You're right about the partition order only I have it the other way round! :-doh Simple reason being that I installed XP32 before coming across your recommendation for XP64 for FSX. It certainly boots quicker than XP32 but has a simpler configuration so I'm not comparing from the same baseline. However, it is noticeably more fluid running FSX so I'm satisfied. Hmm.. it might be interesting in seeing what's involved in swapping the partitions using my backup images. Both OS's boot as the C: drive as I'm using a boot manager to hide the alternate active partition so possibly all I need to worry about is the MBR although there may be OS dependencies I haven't considered. Apart from my partition images I can easily clone the whole disk beforehand just to be completely safe.But I didn't intend to hijack the thread. I was intrigued by Mike's use of multiple partitions as I have much the same situation (7 spread across 4 drives!). A lot of this is for historical reasons and it would be an absolute pain to try to change the layout in some cases. However, careful consideration of why the methods you posted work showed me that I could get a lot of the benefits by careful assignment of the 'performance' partitions. It's great you take the time to explain this as we all benefit and learn.:-beerchug