I have reproduced the problem exactly.My system is WindowsXP 32-bit full set of current updates.What I did was to install ADE to the FSX folder... not a subfolder, or created subfolder, but to the FSX <root> folder itself.ADE did not update the stock airports correctly, and further attempts to update the databases failed. I then uninstalled ADE, and went to the FSX root folder and deleted any traces left from ADE.I then tried to start FSX and received the same generic error message noted in the original post.The good news is a WindowsXP restore to yesterdays point was sucessful, and FSX is back to normal and starts just fine.Dick

I have reproduced the problem exactly.My system is WindowsXP 32-bit full set of current updates.What I did was to install ADE to the FSX folder... not a subfolder, or created subfolder, but to the FSX <root> folder itself.ADE did not update the stock airports correctly, and further attempts to update the databases failed. I then uninstalled ADE, and went to the FSX root folder and deleted any traces left from ADE.I then tried to start FSX and received the same generic error message noted in the original post.The good news is a WindowsXP restore to yesterdays point was sucessful, and FSX is back to normal and starts just fine.Dick

So if I understand correctly Dick, FSX is still present but no longer starts correctly after uninstalling ADE?

crisis averted! installing sp1 then sp2 over my broken install has fixed everything!!! WOOHOOI installed mine to FSX\ADE because I like to keep things organized. But for some reason it must have deleted some important file inside the main fsx directory?Once I uninstalled the ready for pushback airplane in fs9, and it wiped out every one of my aircraft folders! Thousands of repaints for ai that I worked so hard but never backed up. Helped me move over to fsx and I was so worried all my tweaking would have to be done over again

413X3I have now registered you manually at FSDeveloper.com so you should be able to post there should you wish to do so. You were in the list awaiting email confirmation

So if I understand correctly Dick, FSX is still present but no longer starts correctly after uninstalling ADE?

Absolutely. FSX is there, but won't start, indicating files are missing.But a restore point saved the day.After the restore, ADE was present on it's old default location ( previous to my removing it for this test ). It could not be removed via the uninstall, so I manually deleted it, and removed it from the WindowsXP add/remove list.I then installed ADE "normally", letting the installer chose the location, updated via the zip download as directed by the installer ( which unexpectedly exits the installer program ). I then manually unzipped the contents of the update to the ADE folder, restarted the program, and the databases updated just fine. I ran the new user wizard from it's menu item, let the program find all the relevent folder locations, and the program ( and the newly restored FSX ) work just fine. And the add/remove list now properly shows ADE.So a fix seems to be preventing an install to a folder containing FSX.exe.And this is my last post about it on this forum... we can pick it up at FSDeveloper if you need more info.Dick

crisis averted! installing sp1 then sp2 over my broken install has fixed everything!!! WOOHOOI installed mine to FSX\ADE because I like to keep things organized. But for some reason it must have deleted some important file inside the main fsx directory?Once I uninstalled the ready for pushback airplane in fs9, and it wiped out every one of my aircraft folders! Thousands of repaints for ai that I worked so hard but never backed up. Helped me move over to fsx and I was so worried all my tweaking would have to be done over again

Well that is good news :( We are certainly looking at why uninstalling ADE from the FSX file structure would cause a problem and the good news is that despite your problems and scare we now know something we did not know before and can figure out how to deal with it

usually forum registrations are instant or close to, so almost an hour and I was worried something there was broken. Thanks for a quick response! Sorry I was just venting frustration hoping that it wasn't the worst! Luckily its fixed now

Bill,With due respects, your comments are uninformed and ill concieved. To think that every user has a high level of computer literacy is wrong. Therefore, it should be incumbant upon software designers to make sure that their products operate in a manner that does not harm a system.

With similar respect, I disagree. If something goes pear shaped, my first inclination is to think, "What did I do wrong? Did I misread the instructions?" :( It's a perceptual or cultural thing perhaps, but I'm all too familiar with my own shortcomings, and assume the best of those who's work I've somehow managed to fubar. :( My assumption is that there are likely very good reasons why they've written the installer to use a specific folder/path structure. If I choose to do something different, then the onus for any potential disaster is on me.Certainly in an ideal world, developers would be able to anticipate every possible contingency. However, practical and historical experience has inevitably proven that is not a realistic outcome.In any case, my comment was directed more towards the tone of the original post than the content. It's never a good tactic to begin a diagnostic with ill-directed hostility. Fortunately, in this case a "Happy Outcome" has nevertheless obtained, due in large part to the patience and inherent good will of those who designed the installer routine and program. :(

Talking about the installer there is one thing I would like to know. The requirements page recommends .net 3.5, may work on 2.0. But the 1.4 installer isnt allowing to install without 3.5. The previous versions installed without problems on my XP x64 with .net 2.0.Is .NET 3.5 a minimum from version 1.4 on?

Absolutely. FSX is there, but won't start, indicating files are missing.Dick

Not necessarily a file(s) is missing, it could be a registry entry FSX needed removed, or modified incorrectly.

Talking about the installer there is one thing I would like to know. The requirements page recommends .net 3.5, may work on 2.0. But the 1.4 installer isnt allowing to install without 3.5. The previous versions installed without problems on my XP x64 with .net 2.0.Is .NET 3.5 a minimum from version 1.4 on?

Yes it is. It is one of those difficult areas. ADE code uses a lot of code elements that are not available in dotNet 2.0. However due to the way the compiler works many of these do seem to work OK against that version. To avoid unexpected and difficult to diagnose issues we have changed the requirement and the documentation should reflect that. If it doesn't then we need to change it!

Not necessarily a file(s) is missing, it could be a registry entry FSX needed removed, or modified incorrectly.

In this case further testing has shown that the problem is most likely related to a file in each application having the same name and the FSX version being over written. Subsequently on the uninstall the uninstaller removed the file that of that name because it thought it belonged to ADE. We have confirmed that the current ADE install/uninstall does not remove user files or folders. To avoid this we will be changing the name of the file in ADE as further protection since it has a rather common name!