Hi, I have just bought a EVGA 480gtx superclocked FERMI gpu to replace a BFX 260gtx black edition to complete my new rig build. I run Winxp 64 and FSX SP2, and because of the BSOD nvidia driver bug that has yet to be resolved, I am contemplating moving to W7 64 bit. I am troubled by what I heard is a tedious process to install addon scenery manually via FSX's scenery library. I have alot of complex addon scenery, most of which auto writes entries into the scenery cfg to make installation easier. Will W7 allow those install programs to write to the cfg successfully, or do I still have to open FSX, go to the scenery library, and manually add each entry?I was planning to go w7 eventually, but this nvidia driver disaster for the 400 series cards with XP64 and FSX SP1 has pushed me to take action sooner than I thought :( I have heard good things about w7 as an OS and that FSX seems to run a little smoother vs XP, so I am hoping that will make up for any inconvenience caused by the switch.

quote I am contemplating moving to W7 64 bit. I am troubled by what I heard is a tedious process to install addon scenery manually via FSX's scenery library. I have alot of complex addon scenery, most of which auto writes entries into the scenery cfg to make installation easier. Will W7 allow those install programs to write to the cfg successfully, or do I still have to open FSX, go to the scenery library, and manually add each entry?end quoteYou are really speaking of two different issues.There is a "bug" in win 7 which makes manual addition of scenery a bit more difficult than is was in previous Operating Systems. The method to do it is explained (with pictures) in this thread:http://forums.flightsim.com/vbfs/showthread.php?t=205432The "key" to getting around the enhanced "permissions" issues in Win 7 is to install FS2004 and or FSX in a location other that under the default "Program files" which will be offerred - i.e in a new folder such as C:\Games or even on another partition.There are numerous posts regarding that recommendation.Many also run "any" installation program "as admintrator" by first Right clicking on the program's setup file and under the Compatibility tab, selecting "run as adminstrator". That is quite different than just being logged on as adminstraor.Some also temporarily turn off UAC (User Account Control) when making additions (I do) and then turn it back on.Those actions are designed to allow the proper writing of changes to cfg files without being thwarted by the security checks which are built into Win 7.Hope these thoughts are helpful.

Thanks for the suggestions Opa. I went ahead and installed w7 64 bit, and I am VERY VERY impressed! Its one of those things you have to see to believe. My system now starts up in less than a minute, and FSX seems a bit faster. I have researched around the web and got a windows 7 "getting started" magazine that details the differences between w7 and the XP era. I believe I now know about the differences between the the two platforms to feel confident in reinstalling FSX and my large collection of addons. I'm glad I made the switch.

Here is a link to Win7 and FSX Optimization, this will greatly improve the performance of both.http://www.simforums.com/forums/forum_posts.asp?TID=29041

Yep, I had already printed Nick's w7 guide prior to the upgrade. He is a true saint, he was the one to initiate communication with Nvidia to get them to resolve the winxp64 bsod bug for the 480 drivers, but alas I couldn't wait any longer and just switched to w7 :( I have one last question, how exactly can I add simconnect to the w7 firewall exceptions list? I tried inputting the dll path manually but I can't seem to figure out how, I was able to do that in XP of course.