Having learned that one of my 'must have' FS9 programmes (FSHotSFX) will not work in Windows 7, (as per thread below), I wonder whether to have XP 64-bit installed on my (planned) new PC instead of Windows 7 64-bit. Would I lose out though in other ways if I make this decision? Are there advantages to Windows 7 64-bit over XP 64-bit in FS9 and FSX??Thanks,Martin

Having learned that one of my 'must have' FS9 programmes (FSHotSFX) will not work in Windows 7, (as per thread below), I wonder whether to have XP 64-bit installed on my (planned) new PC instead of Windows 7 64-bit. Would I lose out though in other ways if I make this decision? Are there advantages to Windows 7 64-bit over XP 64-bit in FS9 and FSX??Thanks,Martin

HelloI prefer XP64 just works perfectly and both FS9 and FSX run well on it.Win7-64 has some issues with certain addons, it does look nice but gave me no advantages as far as being a platform to run the sim on.

Now, Ive been running XP 32bit for some time now and want to know what kind of performace gain would I get just by installing Win 7 32bit or 64bit. I have read that games run much better on Win7 compared to XP, 32bit or 64bit does not seem to matter, just XP to 7.

The main reason for me to go to 64-bit is for the far better handling of memory address space - should end 'Out of Memory' errors when I fly PMDGs to 'heavy duty' addon airports..Win 7 or XP, still an issue though. Very loathe to lose FSHotSFX !! But then Windows 7 is supposed to be so much more stable .. Dilemma.Martin

The real dilemma is when you can't find drivers for Windows XP 64, or in my case I couldn't even use Itunes as there isn't a version for XP64. That was it for XP64 on my PC. Windows 7 64 doesn't typically have that problem.As for addon problems, that usually comes down to UAC getting in the way (which I turn off). Things like running Rise of Flight and Trackir 5 software both under Windows XP compatibility mode also became my work around for choppiness, to give an example of some of the idiosyncrasies.

I have a dual boot PC with Windows XP 64-bit for only FS2004 (with FSHotSFX as Martin indicated) and also any games that won't run on Windows 7 like Madden NFL 2005. I use Windows 7 64-bit for everything else including FSX. On a 1.5GB hard drive, I partitioned it so that Windows 7 has 1.2GB and XP has 300GB to themselves. I then have FS2004 and FSX installed on the same Raptor hard drive which is obviously separate from the main drive.I have had no problems with either OS and have found drivers for everything I need in XP 64-bit. When XP 64-bit came out, drivers were hard to come by, but after reading up on the web about the now availability of 64-bit drivers, I went with XP 64-bit instead of 32-bit.It's really a judgement call, Martin. I really like Windows 7 and its new features plus it's super stable. But I would totally miss FSHotSFX when I use FS2004 as it's just not the same without it. If I had to give up FSHotSFX, I would probably give up FS2004 altogether and stick with FSX alone.

Thanks for the last comment - I may abandon the (expensive) idea of a new PC for now (it would only be for FS9) and just get XP 64-bit instead. FSHotSFX has no problem in the 64-bit environment then? (Always assuming that the developer sends me a new registration key of course!!).Martin

FSHotSFX works just peachy in my XP 64-bit. I had to contact the support email for a new key and they responded back within a day.

May be a way to go: I wrote to FSHotSFX to ask if they would upgrade the software for use in Windows 7, but realistically, I am not even expecting an answer, let alone the upgrade! (Yes, I have always got a new serial key back though when I write to them, so someone is still there, at Regsoft at least).Martin

I am running FS9 with several addons with W7 64 bit and it runs great! Just make sure to use the 4GB patch or you will get OOM CTD!!

I don't think I need a 4GB switch in a 64-bit environment?Martin

I don't think I need a 4GB switch in a 64-bit environment?Martin

You do need the patch for the FS9.exe - however, you don't need any boot.ini entry.DJ

I didn't realise I needed the 4GB patched version of FS9.exe - I still have it somewhere on my PC. I must look into this a bit more though. Do you know of any threads explaining why I need this patched exe file in a 64-bit environment?Thanks,M.

I didn't realise I needed the 4GB patched version of FS9.exe - I still have it somewhere on my PC. I must look into this a bit more though. Do you know of any threads explaining why I need this patched exe file in a 64-bit environment?Thanks,M.

It's because FS9 was designed to run only on 2GB. thus Win7 X64 will try to limit FS9 to 2 GB and you will get OOM. Run a search in the AVSIM forum "4GB Patch" there are several topics explaining this in more detail.

I didn't realise I needed the 4GB patched version of FS9.exe - I still have it somewhere on my PC. I must look into this a bit more though. Do you know of any threads explaining why I need this patched exe file in a 64-bit environment?Thanks,M.

I touched on them in your previous threads regarding your OOM problems, but the bottom line is that the patch is needed to notify the OS that it is dealing with a LargeAddressAware 32 bit program and can allocate the requested memory without issues.DJ