FS2004 panels.dll crash with Nvidia 44.03 drivers

[WebbPA 0]

Hardware: Athlon 1Ghz, 256M RAM, TNT2-64 Pro videoOS: Win98SEIt's not a top of the line system but it runs FS2002 ok. Initial framerates with FS2004 were 4 (near airports) to 19 (over ocean).I installed the Nvidia 44.03 drivers and got an invalid page fault in Panels.dll. Checked the drivers, scandisked, defragged, uninstalled (being careful to get all the little bits and pieces) and reinstalled. Now I can't get past the splash screen because of the panels.dll(invalid page fault in modules panels.dll) error. No problems with any other software.I would install the unofficial drivers I've seen posts about if I could be sure they would work. Any ideas?I'm probably looking at another reinstall so I'd like to make sure I get it right the first time.

[JerryG 1]

For NVidia video card issues, read these posts -http://forums.avsim.com/dcboard.php?az=sho...26302&mode=fullSee the post "Chris - check out his thread too !! WORKAROUND - NO AA ..., JerryG"http://forums.avsim.com/dcboard.php?az=sho...25943&mode=fullSee the post "Possible WORKAROUND !!, JerryG"JerryG

[TPerson 15]

Go to your FS2004 Modules folder and check the "date modified" of your panels.dll file. It should be dated 6/12/2003. I had the very same problem you had with FS2004 crashing because of the panels.dll file and what had happened was one of the FS2002 add-ons I had installed in FS2004 placed the panels.dll file from FS2002 into the modules folder and overwrote the FS2004 version! I can't understand why a add-on would install a Flight Simulator default file but it did.Anyway I was able to find the FS2004 panels.dll which had been replaced in the Recycle Bin. Once I restored the FS2004 version everthing was fine.BTW I am running the Nvidia 44.03 drivers also.Todd

[WebbPA 0]

Are you running Win98 or Me? I think it's definitely a driver conflict because:I searched Google and found a similar problem with FS2000. Applied that solution - uninstall, scandisk, repair registry and reinstall.FS runs fine in safe mode, so it can't be the panels.dll file. Besides, I ran it immediately after a clean install.I've now gotten error messages on other games.Rolled back the drivers to 43.45 and all is well.Of course, now I have the lousy frame rates again ...

[TPerson 15]

I'm running Windows XP Pro. I only mentioned a situation that happened to me that seemed similiar to your problem. Because you are/were having problems with other games then it does sound like your video driver.Todd