FSX Freezing

[fakeflyer737 991]

For the past couple hours every time I start a flight in FSX, no matter where or with what, it freezes after 20 seconds of flight (stop responding), then goes fine again, then freeze for 20 seconds and so on. I have no idea what is causing this and I just did a clean install and got all my stuff back in there. Any Ideas? Thanks guysRon Hamilton

[toriu 7]

I'm having the same problem. no doubt someone will respond.

[vgbaron 3,486]

Usually that's caused by something running in the background, including virus checkers etc. You need to start disabling everything you can to begin to isolate it.

[cat 2]

Also, if your computer & graphics card have not been renewed fairlyrecently, they maybe becoming tired. Also a new addon, can havea dormant fault, which surfaces later. Did you try System Restore?Peter Sydney Australia

[Guest firehawk44]

For the past couple hours every time I start a flight in FSX, no matter where or with what, it freezes after 20 seconds of flight (stop responding), then goes fine again, then freeze for 20 seconds and so on. I have no idea what is causing this and I just did a clean install and got all my stuff back in there. Any Ideas? Thanks guysRon Hamilton

Check the event viewer and see if there was an event made about the time this occurred (or if there are any error messages referencing FSX). Might give you a clue as to what is causing the problem. I think it's a hardware problem, either with the video or sound card drivers.Best regards,Jim

[Guest firehawk44]

For the past couple hours every time I start a flight in FSX, no matter where or with what, it freezes after 20 seconds of flight (stop responding), then goes fine again, then freeze for 20 seconds and so on. I have no idea what is causing this and I just did a clean install and got all my stuff back in there. Any Ideas? Thanks guysRon Hamilton

I might add Ron that there's a long thread over in the CTD forum with the same description/problem you are having. I think they just found a hotfix for it on page 4 of the thread.Best regards,Jim

[John_Cillis 2,406]

I might add Ron that there's a long thread over in the CTD forum with the same description/problem you are having. I think they just found a hotfix for it on page 4 of the thread.Best regards,Jim

I wonder if you are referencing the media player post? I had a similar problem with media player once, in my case I found it was periodically doing a scan of all the media on my system.Beyond that, any regular freeze or pause, especially one so predictable, would have me looking at services, possible malware, or any new dll's that might have made it into the FSX environment. It is always a good idea to do a date scan of the system, if one can isolate a date where something like this begins. Sometimes you can identify, directly or indirectly, a file that is getting refreshed at or consistently after the time the FSX problems begin.Last, (but not least), there are some gauges that are known to cause behavior like that. Gauges are code so if one of the default gauges gets overwritten, one that is shared by the majority of aircraft, odd behavior can start.I am afraid there is a large number of items that can come into play, but a methodical attack on the issue should bring positive results.Regards,John

[Bert Pieke 7,584]

See my post above re FSX pauses..I only found this by running the Process Monitor and reviewing the time period where FSX stopped responding. You will see some other program doing stuff..

[fakeflyer737 991]

I tried using Game Booster; to stop programs from running in the background and it didn't do anything. I play other games like Call of Duty, Medal of Honor etc and they dont have this problem. Thanks for the posts guys, where do you think I should start? I dont know what date stamping is and I always turn everything off in the background before I play FSX.Ron Hamilton

[Byrna 0]

I tried using Game Booster; to stop programs from running in the background and it didn't do anything. I play other games like Call of Duty, Medal of Honor etc and they dont have this problem. Thanks for the posts guys, where do you think I should start? I dont know what date stamping is and I always turn everything off in the background before I play FSX.Ron Hamilton

Hi Ron,I certainly sounds like a process to me. It is like a program is running, then stopping, running, then stopping again, at regular intervals. You have to ask yourself a few questions:(1) Have you updated you windows via winodws update recently and if so, did this update include upgrades to Windows media player, internet explorer and anything other than the usual security updates?(2) Have you upgraded your video card, soundcard drivers recently?(3) Have you updated or installed an ADOBE product like flash or ADOBE AIR recently? I am quite suspect of the program "adobe air" which installs now as part of a flash player update or is required for the Adobe flash player to update properly. Today, I got an error during the update of my Adobe flash player to version 10.1 that Adobe Air is not installed. Also, by the way, I keep getting requests to UPDATE ADOBE FLASH player to the same version OVER AND OVER AGAIN (v. 10.1). I have finally ignored and cancelled this update. For now, I don't want to waste time troubleshooting it. But I HAVE uninstalled Adobe air as it has the same file extensions as the .AIR files in FS. Just a thought you might find useful.(4) Do you use windows media player to scan your files as already suggested here? Did you recently rip MP3s to your MP3 player using media player?(5) have you changed the settings in your internet security suite or antivirus/antispyware or have you purchased a new internet security suite?(6) Have you installed any new programs at all lately?John

[Bert Pieke 7,584]

(7) Have you recently upgraded Java?The only way to tell what is going on, is to run Process Monitor concurrently with FS.Run FS in windowed mode, so you can see the monitor output.When FS freezes, pause FS and look at the last chunk of monitor activity.That is how I found a program, that I was not expecting, stealing the stage.

[fakeflyer737 991]

Hi Ron,I certainly sounds like a process to me. It is like a program is running, then stopping, running, then stopping again, at regular intervals. You have to ask yourself a few questions:(1) Have you updated you windows via winodws update recently and if so, did this update include upgrades to Windows media player, internet explorer and anything other than the usual security updates?(2) Have you upgraded your video card, soundcard drivers recently?(3) Have you updated or installed an ADOBE product like flash or ADOBE AIR recently? I am quite suspect of the program "adobe air" which installs now as part of a flash player update or is required for the Adobe flash player to update properly. Today, I got an error during the update of my Adobe flash player to version 10.1 that Adobe Air is not installed. Also, by the way, I keep getting requests to UPDATE ADOBE FLASH player to the same version OVER AND OVER AGAIN (v. 10.1). I have finally ignored and cancelled this update. For now, I don't want to waste time troubleshooting it. But I HAVE uninstalled Adobe air as it has the same file extensions as the .AIR files in FS. Just a thought you might find useful.(4) Do you use windows media player to scan your files as already suggested here? Did you recently rip MP3s to your MP3 player using media player?(5) have you changed the settings in your internet security suite or antivirus/antispyware or have you purchased a new internet security suite?(6) Have you installed any new programs at all lately?John

Thanks for the reply John. I have actually done ALL of the things u listen....i just did a fresh install of FSX and all my addons due to a registry problem I couldn't get rid of. I ran The WIndow Task Manager and found something very funny. I load up FSX and all works well, so I start flying and WTM shows my cores running around 50-80% load (normal for my system) then when FSX freezes my cores drop to zero...then after 20 seconds she goes back up too 50-80%.I have updated and install so many windsows updates in the past couple days that I dont where to start with checking what program or files. Could it be AVG (cant tunr AVG off no matter what) or could it be FSX it self. Anyways I'll keep working on it and I'll let u guys know if I find a "fix". O ya by the way, over at CTD forum there was a windows fix psoted..which I installed and it did nothing, just so u guys know. Take it easy.Ron Hamilton

[John_Cillis 2,406]

Thanks for the reply John. I have actually done ALL of the things u listen....i just did a fresh install of FSX and all my addons due to a registry problem I couldn't get rid of. I ran The WIndow Task Manager and found something very funny. I load up FSX and all works well, so I start flying and WTM shows my cores running around 50-80% load (normal for my system) then when FSX freezes my cores drop to zero...then after 20 seconds she goes back up too 50-80%.I have updated and install so many windsows updates in the past couple days that I dont where to start with checking what program or files. Could it be AVG (cant tunr AVG off no matter what) or could it be FSX it self. Anyways I'll keep working on it and I'll let u guys know if I find a "fix". O ya by the way, over at CTD forum there was a windows fix psoted..which I installed and it did nothing, just so u guys know. Take it easy.Ron Hamilton

Ron,If you can (you may already have it installed), run HijackThis and post your log here. AVG could be a candidate, I have it but I run the scanner manually and have the service stopped. I use HijackThis and periodic registry scans to aid with these things. More often than not, a fairly legitimate service simply might not coexist well with FS-X.Regards,John

[fakeflyer737 991]

Alrighty, highjack this is in and this is my log.....running with FSX running. I don't know if this helps but I think this is what you are asking for so here ya go:Logfile of Trend Micro HijackThis v2.0.4Scan saved at 10:58:50 AM, on 29/10/2010Platform: Windows 7 (WinNT 6.00.3504)MSIE: Internet Explorer v8.00 (8.00.7600.16671)Boot mode: NormalRunning processes:C:\Program Files (x86)\Lexmark 5600-6600 Series\ezprint.exeC:\Program Files (x86)\CyberLink\PowerDVD\PDVDServ.exeC:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Java\Java Update\jusched.exeC:\Program Files (x86)\Trend Micro\HiJackThis\HiJackThis.exeC:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Games\Microsoft Flight Simulator X\fsx.exeR1 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Search Page = http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=54896R0 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Start Page = http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=69157R1 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Default_Page_URL = http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=69157R1 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Default_Search_URL = http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=54896R1 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Search Page = http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=54896R0 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Start Page = http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=69157R0 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Search,SearchAssistant = R0 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Search,CustomizeSearch = R0 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Local Page = C:\Windows\SysWOW64\blank.htmR0 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Toolbar,LinksFolderName = F2 - REG:system.ini: UserInit=userinit.exeO2 - BHO: AcroIEHelperStub - {18DF081C-E8AD-4283-A596-FA578C2EBDC3} - C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Adobe\Acrobat\ActiveX\AcroIEHelperShim.dllO2 - BHO: Lexmark Printable Web - {D2C5E510-BE6D-42CC-9F61-E4F939078474} - C:\Program Files\Lexmark Printable Web\bho.dllO2 - BHO: Java Plug-In 2 SSV Helper - {DBC80044-A445-435b-BC74-9C25C1C588A9} - C:\Program Files (x86)\Java\jre6\bin\jp2ssv.dllO4 - HKLM\..\Run: [RemoteControl] "C:\Program Files (x86)\CyberLink\PowerDVD\PDVDServ.exe"O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [LanguageShortcut] "C:\Program Files (x86)\CyberLink\PowerDVD\Language\Language.exe"O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [LGODDFU] "C:\Program Files (x86)\lg_fwupdate\fwupdate.exe" blrunO4 - HKLM\..\Run: [Adobe Reader Speed Launcher] "C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Reader 9.0\Reader\Reader_sl.exe"O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [Adobe ARM] "C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Adobe\ARM\1.0\AdobeARM.exe"O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [sunJavaUpdateSched] "C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Java\Java Update\jusched.exe"O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [LightScribe Control Panel] C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\LightScribe\LightScribeControlPanel.exe -hiddenO4 - HKUS\S-1-5-19\..\Run: [sidebar] %ProgramFiles%\Windows Sidebar\Sidebar.exe /autoRun (User 'LOCAL SERVICE')O4 - HKUS\S-1-5-19\..\RunOnce: [mctadmin] C:\Windows\System32\mctadmin.exe (User 'LOCAL SERVICE')O4 - HKUS\S-1-5-20\..\Run: [sidebar] %ProgramFiles%\Windows Sidebar\Sidebar.exe /autoRun (User 'NETWORK SERVICE')O4 - HKUS\S-1-5-20\..\RunOnce: [mctadmin] C:\Windows\System32\mctadmin.exe (User 'NETWORK SERVICE')O4 - Startup: LimeWire On Startup.lnk = C:\Program Files (x86)\LimeWire\LimeWire.exeO4 - Startup: OpenOffice.org 3.2.lnk = C:\Program Files (x86)\OpenOffice.org 3\program\quickstart.exeO23 - Service: @%SystemRoot%\system32\Alg.exe,-112 (ALG) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\System32\alg.exe (file missing)O23 - Service: @%SystemRoot%\system32\efssvc.dll,-100 (EFS) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\System32\lsass.exe (file missing)O23 - Service: @%systemroot%\system32\fxsresm.dll,-118 (Fax) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\system32\fxssvc.exe (file missing)O23 - Service: InstallDriver Table Manager (IDriverT) - Macrovision Corporation - C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\InstallShield\Driver\11\Intel 32\IDriverT.exeO23 - Service: @keyiso.dll,-100 (KeyIso) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\system32\lsass.exe (file missing)O23 - Service: LightScribeService Direct Disc Labeling Service (LightScribeService) - Hewlett-Packard Company - C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\LightScribe\LSSrvc.exeO23 - Service: lxduCATSCustConnectService - Lexmark International, Inc. - C:\Windows\system32\spool\DRIVERS\x64\3\\lxduserv.exeO23 - Service: lxdu_device - - C:\Windows\system32\lxducoms.exeO23 - Service: @comres.dll,-2797 (MSDTC) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\System32\msdtc.exe (file missing)O23 - Service: @%SystemRoot%\System32\netlogon.dll,-102 (Netlogon) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\system32\lsass.exe (file missing)O23 - Service: NMIndexingService - Nero AG - C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Ahead\Lib\NMIndexingService.exeO23 - Service: NVIDIA Driver Helper Service (NVSvc) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\system32\nvvsvc.exe (file missing)O23 - Service: O&O Defrag (OODefragAgent) - O&O Software GmbH - C:\Program Files\OO Software\Defrag\oodag.exeO23 - Service: PnkBstrA - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\system32\PnkBstrA.exeO23 - Service: PnkBstrB - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\system32\PnkBstrB.exeO23 - Service: @%systemroot%\system32\psbase.dll,-300 (ProtectedStorage) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\system32\lsass.exe (file missing)O23 - Service: Cyberlink RichVideo Service(CRVS) (RichVideo) - Unknown owner - C:\Program Files (x86)\CyberLink\Shared Files\RichVideo.exeO23 - Service: @%systemroot%\system32\Locator.exe,-2 (RpcLocator) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\system32\locator.exe (file missing)O23 - Service: @%SystemRoot%\system32\samsrv.dll,-1 (SamSs) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\system32\lsass.exe (file missing)O23 - Service: @%SystemRoot%\system32\snmptrap.exe,-3 (SNMPTRAP) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\System32\snmptrap.exe (file missing)O23 - Service: @%systemroot%\system32\spoolsv.exe,-1 (Spooler) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\System32\spoolsv.exe (file missing)O23 - Service: @%SystemRoot%\system32\sppsvc.exe,-101 (sppsvc) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\system32\sppsvc.exe (file missing)O23 - Service: NVIDIA Stereoscopic 3D Driver Service (Stereo Service) - NVIDIA Corporation - C:\Program Files (x86)\NVIDIA Corporation\3D Vision\nvSCPAPISvr.exeO23 - Service: @%SystemRoot%\system32\ui0detect.exe,-101 (UI0Detect) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\system32\UI0Detect.exe (file missing)O23 - Service: @%SystemRoot%\system32\vaultsvc.dll,-1003 (VaultSvc) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\system32\lsass.exe (file missing)O23 - Service: @%SystemRoot%\system32\vds.exe,-100 (vds) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\System32\vds.exe (file missing)O23 - Service: @%systemroot%\system32\vssvc.exe,-102 (VSS) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\system32\vssvc.exe (file missing)O23 - Service: @%SystemRoot%\system32\Wat\WatUX.exe,-601 (WatAdminSvc) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\system32\Wat\WatAdminSvc.exe (file missing)O23 - Service: @%systemroot%\system32\wbengine.exe,-104 (wbengine) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\system32\wbengine.exe (file missing)O23 - Service: @%Systemroot%\system32\wbem\wmiapsrv.exe,-110 (wmiApSrv) - Unknown owner - C:\Windows\system32\wbem\WmiApSrv.exe (file missing)O23 - Service: @%PROGRAMFILES%\Windows Media Player\wmpnetwk.exe,-101 (WMPNetworkSvc) - Unknown owner - C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Media Player\wmpnetwk.exe (file missing)Ron Hamilton

[John_Cillis 2,406]

Alrighty, highjack this is in and this is my log.....running with FSX running. I don't know if this helps but I think this is what you are asking for so here ya go:

I do see a fair number of services and startup programs I normally wouldn't run in an optimized FS-X environment (Limewire, utility services, and so on). OTH, I do run some services out of convenience and trade a slight hit on performance for other tasks I need to do.Whether AVG is the culprit--I would not know for sure. If the change in FS-X in behavior is sudden, that means something changed either without your knowing (very common given the automatic updaters many programs use to update themselves) or you might have installed a casual add-on that caused a change and simply forgotten. Neither is your fault, and I think the former is more likely. Can't tell from Hijackthis what the latest change was to your system.This tool might help you analyze things a bit better:http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb963902.aspxRegards,John