Dear simmers. The biggest nightmare we all have is having a computer failure and loosing all of the software we installed for flight simulator. Well, it happened to me this time and it is like your best friend has just died. I am now resigned to buying a better system and plan to invest in a system better suited to support FS and all its add-ons. I do a lot of flight simulator videos which I upload to YouTube, so I need a good system. I started looking around and wondered if the new Windows 7 platform would be a good operating environment for FS2004 as I prefer it over FSX. Has anyone had any experience good or bad?. I heard a lot of flight simmers had problems and complaints when Windows Vista came out, and I hope this will not be the case with Windows7. I would appreciate your input.Thanks, :(

Hi,Well all is running fine on my evaluation copy, build 7100 Windows 7 system, but I have not installed FS on its default place but on a separate disk drive and switched off the UAC.Regards,Hugo

I have only had Windows 7 for a week, but so far so good.Before installing anything I shrank the "C" volume to create a "D" volume. This is where I installed FS9. Don't install in C:/Program filesInstalled and working fine are:FS GlobalGround EnvironmentFlight EnvironmentActive Sky 6.5 (needed dot.net 1.1 installed-- which is done automatically)Flight1 ATR 72Flight1 Dreamfleet 727PMDG 737Flight1 SSTSIM ConcordeThe Flight1 products needed a fix to get the configuration managers to run...... you can get it here http://www.flight1.com/dx7vb.exeAll my a/c are calibrated to my CH hardware with FSUIPC.I have yet to instal addon scenery; Ultimate TRAFFIC; AES, but so far I am very happy with the results.Peter

I've been running on the 64-bit version of Win7 since May. I was running the Pre-Release candidate on a dual boot with XP until October's release, when I ditched XP and migrated to the retail version and transferred FS to it. All I can say is, I've never looked back! It depends on the rig you wish to buy though, if you are going to skimp on hardware than your FS and your videos are probably going to look better on an XP rig. Like Vista, 7 needs much hardware than XP to be effective, but unlike Vista, once you pass that barrier Windows 7 is a very capable OS. My hardware looks like this: AMD Athlon X2 5200+, 4GB RAM, GeForce 9600 GSO 512MB and a 500GB hard drive, and I keep FS windowed at 1280x1024 and all the sliders up to maximum. When parked at UK2000 Xtreme Gatwick in my PMDG 747 with a lot of WoAI traffic I get about 20-25 fps. When it gets very busy it can drop as low as 15. I've not tried it with FRAPS yet but when I was recording videos at that res on Warcraft (I know, I suck, I don't do that anymore) I didn't get any reduction on fps at all. To be fair the performance is only slightly better than XP, but the 64-bit architecture is most welcome. Windows 7 isn't without faults, I have to keep FS in a maximised-window because hitting alt to bring up the menu in fullscreen can sometimes cause the screen to go black, and you cannot select anything from the menu's while blind :( I've also had problems leaving the sim in the VC for long periods too, but I believe that's to do with FSPassengers and i need to do some testing on that. The cursor can go a bit funny too, but if you're frapsing that won't be a problem :( Windows 7 is well worth the money. Easy for novices to get used to and not annoying for us power users, easily tuneable to any level of IT competence. I would recommend that you invest in a 64-bit multi-core processor to go with it, that way you can open the taps on the RAM. 32-bit OS's are limited to 4gb, and any video ram you have will eat into that limit, 64-bit's can go well into the terabits.

I've been running a clean install of Win 7 / 64-bit for several weeks now. Starts up real fast (Intel C2D 2.2 Ghz / 4GB RAM / 320 GB HDD / GeForce Video w/ 1 GB RAM).FS 2004 runs real fast too (50-60 FPS), with medium-high graphic settings: clouds are very realistic and jet contrails are no longer the two-dimensional streaks. I might even try to ramp up these settings to HIGH to see how it runs ...On the downside: despite repeated installations, I can't get WOAI to t install anything correctly, although other posters have indicated no problems with this package. I have to "drag-and-drop" both aircraft and flight plans to the correct folders. I think that WOAI can't find the components (e.g., Net framework) to make it run correctly.Another oddity I've experienced: if I minimize the full-size "selection" screen and then maximize it, all that reappears is the rotating aircraft. So, now I first hit ALT-Return and then minimize.Both minor problems ...

Hernan, if you are only interested in running fs9, there is no reason to upgrade to Win7. It will only cause potential problems and will not improve fs9 performance. If anything, you may want to go with XP 64-bit, but even that isn't a must. I'm not sure where Mcgold got his performance boost, but I assure you it wasnt going from XP to win7.

Hello,That's not my experience ... I run Win XP :)Just some infos :

Performance is also unchanged overall on a system running Vista compared with Windows 7. We benchmarked several systems running Vista and then benchmarked them again once they converted to Windows 7. They were unchanged. Going from XP to Windows 7 resulted in a slight performance decrease, much like when going from XP to Vista. When we tested a beta version of Windows 7 early this year, we found its performance to be faster than Vista's. But with all the special functions added to the final release there's no difference, at least with the Ultimate Edition we tested.

http://redmondmag.com/Articles/2009/12/01/Deja-Vista.aspx

Windows 7 is a good OS with a lot going for it, and it's stable. But it's not really anything new. We hate to be the reviewers who say that the emperor has no clothes, but there's so much hype surrounding Windows 7 that most people are probably expecting an entirely new OS. What they'll find is an improved version of Vista, with the same warts and flaws and a few improvements. That's really it.

Regards.Gus.

"Don't install in C:/Program files"Hi.Why can't we install into the default location.Thanks

I believe that W7 Prof x64 is the way to go. I came from WXP Pro x64 and I believe W7 is much better. I never experienced Vista.However I use FSX (sp2) with many add-ons that all work fine.

Vista and Win 7 place special restrictions on things inside the Program Files folder. This will make it more difficult for you to run FS and other FS-related programs without problems.Hope this helps,

Thanks for all of your responses. This gives me a better idea what to look for with my new computer. I had a DELL Dimension XPS. Dell's product is great, however, Dell support sucks!. Their support and Customer Service is the worst. Just check their forum and you can read horror stories. When I called for help, a support agent in the Philippines diagnosed it as a video card failure. I ordered a new one, plus more memory as I run intensive memory add-ons, as seen on my videos I upload to YouTube (1DLFlyer). I also paid to have a technician install the parts. The parts arrived, but, no technician and no call from Dell to let me know when they would show up to install it.Several days later and many hours on the phone speaking to reps in India and the Philippines, I decided to request a refund for the charge of the technician, they obviously didn't want to do that, back on hold and to this day...nothing. This is been going on since November 30th. I called the Geek Squad, and learned DELL not only sent the wrong video card, but, it was a motherboard failure. For those of you planning to purchase from DELL, good luck, because they don't have Customer Service, just Customer DIS-Service.I will try Hewlett Packard. :(

Sorry to hear about your bad experiences with Dell. Personally I hate them, and some of the other pre-built manufacturers because (to me) it seems they are trying to pass off under-geared systems (mainly laptops) as being beefy supergamers with itty-bitty price tags. I'm also fiercely territorial about my hardware and dislike the saturation advertisement of Intels. I'm just glad I have a HTPC in the lounge and can fast-forward the bloody Lollypop adverts Dell run on the telly. This may seem like a pretty big jump if you were willing to pay for a technician with your spare parts, but have you considered doing a self-build? Buying each part individually, screwing them together yourself and forgoing warranties and call centres? Contrary to popular belief, it's fairly straight forward. If you already have some parts from a previous computer (which unless you've sent your XPS back to Dell, you should have :( ) you can use those and save yourself a bit of money, or spend the savings on better hardware. Most motherboards come with a manual that instructs you on exactly what type of hardware will work with it and how to install the lot together. The downside is when something goes wrong... There's nobody in an Indian of Philippines' call centre that will help you, you're on your own. If you can't find the problem, or the solution it can mean days with a headache. However there is Google which may not be 100% guaranteed help, but is able to provide answers most of the time. I can't speak for the US version of this site, but as a benchmark I use This before deciding to buy anything.

I have only had Windows 7 for a week, but so far so good.Before installing anything I shrank the "C" volume to create a "D" volume. This is where I installed FS9. Don't install in C:/Program filesInstalled and working fine are:FS GlobalGround EnvironmentFlight EnvironmentActive Sky 6.5 (needed dot.net 1.1 installed-- which is done automatically)Flight1 ATR 72Flight1 Dreamfleet 727PMDG 737Flight1 SSTSIM ConcordeThe Flight1 products needed a fix to get the configuration managers to run...... you can get it here http://www.flight1.com/dx7vb.exeAll my a/c are calibrated to my CH hardware with FSUIPC.I have yet to instal addon scenery; Ultimate TRAFFIC; AES, but so far I am very happy with the results.Peter

Windows 7 works just fine. I have had no problems whatsoever. I'm running 64 bit.

Hernan, if you are only interested in running fs9, there is no reason to upgrade to Win7. It will only cause potential problems and will not improve fs9 performance. If anything, you may want to go with XP 64-bit, but even that isn't a must. I'm not sure where Mcgold got his performance boost, but I assure you it wasnt going from XP to win7.

That's why I wouldn't even bother. I was actually thinking the same thing while reading this post. If I want to start playing around with settings and having weird configuration issues because I'm using something that originally wasn't designed to work together, I'd have been using FSX years ago. With XP-32bit everything works as it should without any issue. Actually reading through here I found that Windows 7 (like all MS OS's) needs much more hardware to run correctly versus what XP needs now. The only time I'm returning to a headache like that pimping me for more money is when the advantage is FSX runs just as good as FS9 is running today (on Window XP-32Bit).