I just got booted out of FS2004 in a flash and kicked back to my Windows XP Home Ed desktop 12 hours into a 13 hour flight (lucily I've saved it at intervals, so not all is lost). I was flying a MelJet 777 with a slightly modified default 777 panel. The booting out happened in a millisecond; it was as if FS2004 had never even been turned on.This stuff happened with a different a/c and a different panel a few days ago. It's happened several times using FS2004. Does anybody know what causes this?So frustrating: the sim works beautifully and now this. Appreciate any advice, thanks!JS

I've experienced the same thing lately. It happens during one of my saved flights, an approach to Juneau. When I'm within a few miles of landing, FS instantly shuts down & I'm at the desktop. It's been at the same spot within the flight. I've been using this saved flight for months without incident. I've set up another saved flight into Juneau, & it's working OK. It's very strange. My initial thought was that it may be a heat issue, but I have an aluminum case with a bunch of fans. I don't have temperature readings, but it didn't seem to be hot. I took off the side panels & placed a table fan next to the case, tried the original saved Juneau flight & got the same result, being booted to the desk top.I also tried some flights in the Alps (with LAGO mesh)& weather to see if running it there would produce a similar result, but it runs fine. It's really bizarre, there has to be some explanation for this.Mike A.

Mike:This is strange, isn't it? I am stumped, totally. Never happened before with any PC or other Windows app. I just don't get it.Now all we need is for somebody to post saying it doesn't happen to them!JS

The same thing happened to me yesterday-3 times.Here is something interesting, for the past few days I geta HARDWARE FAILURE message when I boot up. My problem is my power supply's +3.3V voltage is running in the redin the bios power section. It is low by about .35 volts.Good news, it will be replaced free since it is only 8 months old.If the new power supply fixes the problem with booting out to the desktop, I will let you know. Sure hope one of the "guru"s read this post!!!!!

Be sure to post and let us know. You may need to run the FS2004 for some length of time over several sessions before knowing if it's all "safe" and working normally.Thanks for posting.JS

Hi JS,This exact thing was happening to me. I got close (30miles) from the Spokane airport (KGEG) at I went straight to the desktop. I changed video drivers, FS9 config files, went back to the "old" water files, etc.. Then I remembered that I had added the FS2002 scenery in FS9 and that was the problem. I removed both spokane bgl files and all was well again.I hope this helps.Gary

I've been having the same problem for some time now. I get quits to desktop and even reboots!! There has been some discussion in the forums about this but no real answers. I suspect that it is a video issue due to the reboots. I have an Nvidia FX9800 and am using the 5.16 driver. I had a bit better luck with 5.14 so I might go back. I also expect that Zone Alarm (or a firewall) may contribute.We're certainly not alone, but that doesn't make it any less frustrating. I,m nearing the end of my rope...s

Had something very similar recently. No reboot though. Found out that the cooling fan on my video card had failed. Card was red hot to the touch, but internal temps in hte tower were not all that bad. Replaced the card, all is well. Card was totally fried. Might be something to check on. You did mention cleaning a lot of grime off the fan, I had done that previously, but just used compressed air to blow it off. Helped a little, but then the fan subsequently failed completely.HTH,Paul

I've checked the heat of the card after a crash (by touching it)and it doesn't seem that hot. Do you know if the temp reading available in the nvidia software is reliable?s

Js,Being so tired JS, you've just leaned forward on to the keyboardand gone to sleep! Minisleep! Wink!Seriously, this kind of thing occasionally happens to me. I thinkthe software & hardware combinations are so complex in our hobby thatthere are bound to be occasional clashes, which bring things down.Peter Sydney Australia

I too have had this crashing to desktop problem on occassions.There are two consistant parts, one is that I am approaching an area of addon scenery which has different terrain to the default. The crash always happens when I use the GPS or sometimes when atc chirps in. By the way, it is my own addon scenery that causes it, but only when I approach it from the east - (figure that one out!). It has also only happened since I moved the scenery folder from within the FS folders to another part of my hard drive.The other is that it is only addon aircraft from FS2002 or "patched to work in FS9" aircraft.Apart from that, autosave works fine!Colin

Everybody:Thanks for your posts.Well, Peter is probably right: with all this "stuff" on our PCs, something is bound to go wrong at times.I have a feeling it is a video card or driver issue. I am not certain though. I may experiment further to see.Funny thing is the other day I simmed for 8 hours and had no issues at all.....!Funny stuff this PC world and simming is.Thanks again, all. Cheers!JSP.S. I have had "glitchiness" as a result of using the default Garmin. Is it this? Who knows......?!@$#$!?!

JS - If you added the replacement railroad texture that appeared on Avsim a couple of days ago, try putting the default back in its place. Then load up FS9 a couple of times and see if it stops crashing. Otherwise, good luck.Wang

WangInteresting you should mention the railroad texture- I installed it yesterday evening and for the first time ever,I experienced the crash to desktop mentioned above.It happened twice .First time ,on a flight from Bahamas to Tampa about 40 mins into flight,second time ,same flight repeated,it happened about 45 mins into flightAs I have also added various other textures in the past week I suspected it may be one of them so took the system back a week.Wait and see what happens now.Can you confirm this happened to you after installing the RR texture?Fingers crossed !!!Dave

Dave I got the crashes after instaling the railroad texture, uninstalled it and stopped getting them, reinstalled it as a test and got them again, uninstalled it...you get the drift. In another thread, forum member Rhumbaflappy suggested technical reasons for the problem. Hope the author revises it and gives it another go, because it does make it easier to follow railroad tracks.Wang