Interestinger and interestinger!The image below is of the Programs and features screen.You'll see that there are 4 options - Organize, Views, Uninstall, and Change.You'll also see that the only entries are Acceleration, and the SDK.Now, in the image, I've selected Change. It goes away for about 4 minutes, saying it's configuring, and that's it. No creen to repair, no nothing - just back to Programs and Features!Not only that, but I suspect that Uninstalling will remove both Acceleration AND FSX!Oh, well, looks like I'm going to have to bite the bullet, make a complete zipped backup of FS (and the SDKs), and totally reinstall the whole beast!Bugger!That should keep me occupied for the next few days!

Yes, unfortunately you're too far away to even pop over for a weekend!Up until the end of last year, it wouldn't have been impossible - I had a job that brought me to the US several times a year, and I could take side trips, which I did on a couple of occasions.Oh, well!

What happens if you put in DVD 1?Bob

Hi Bob,I finally bit the bullet last night, and ripped the whole lot out (after making a physical backup of the whole FSX directory), and today, if I'm allowed to (by She Who Must Be Obeyed) I intend to start rebuilding from scratch, checking whether the features mentioned are working after each bit of the install.I'll report back if I identify a point where the feature disappears, and then we might have a handle on just what went wrong.Cheers

JohnBest of luck to you, my friend. And an extra cheer for all "She Who Must Be Obeyed" types. For without them...well...don't even want to think about it.Bob

OK, I believe that I have the resolution to the problem, and it isn't anything to do with FSX (!)About 9 months ago (mid-2007), I'd just finished building my current PC, had installed Windows, and started using Flight Sim.A few days later, Windows Calender stopped working for some unknown (then) reason, and so did all the reporting type activities in FSX (log book, saving flights, awards, etc). I really didn't mind, because these are features that I usually wouldn't miss - until I found myself going back constantly to an airp[ortt for which I was trying to build some scenery.Then it became an issue.I used the in-built Vista tools, and to cut a long story short, every time I tried to save something, Vista would issue an Event ID 8194.I researched this failure (which is what it is), and the description is Volume Shadow Copy Service Operations. Try to save a flight, up pops an Event 8194, regular as clockwork.Anyway, I could find no easy way to avoid this problem, so a complete re-install of Windows and my applications was called for.I've done that, and guess what? Calender is working again, and saving of flights in FSX is, as well.Now, this brings me to a couple of related issues.1. FSUIPC 4: This module also saves flights, and it appears not to be using the same method as FSX, because while FSX could not save flights, FSUIPC 4 most certainly could.2. Removal of FSX: Acceleration is a little strange. Once you've uninstalled it, there is nothing in the Programs & Features list to remove FSX - you have to do that from the FSX Uninstall in the menu system.3. My first reinstall didn't work - I had bits of planes cluttered all over the screen. It was most strange, with a helicopter body nose down, the pilot oan the canopy to the left of the body, the skids in the right place, and the other bits arranged artistically around the screen. I have absolutely no idea just what went wrong, but an uninstall / reinstall fixed whatever it was, so all's well that ends well.Thank you to everybody who helped mi in my quest, and I just hope that this thread may be of some use to others in similar circumstances.Now all I've got to do is reinstall all those other packages and applications that I use, and I (might) be back to normal (or something like normal, anyway!).

JohnGood to hear you are on the road to recovery. I recently turned off Volume Shadow Copy Service as a test. I seem to remember an old XP tweek that said to turn off shadowing in BIOS. I suspect we will hear from the anti-Vista people.Bob