I almost gave up with FS a couple of years ago when I experienced this.Now again with a different computer.I had to replace my hard drive last week. Now Flight Simulator runs badly.Prior to that change I was running traffic at 60-70 %, EditVoice, Ultimate Terrain, high on most all the sliders, real world weather. I enjoyed flying just about any plane available.Now I'm trying to run with 30 FPS, 48 % traffic, medium-high or lower on most sliders. It's terrible. Everything about it is jerky, ATC is garbled if I'm adjusting altitude or scanning views.Performance is horrible even at a low traffic airport, IE: KSBN - South Bend RegionalSpec's: Dell 2.8 GHz, 2 Gig memory, 500 Gig Hard drive (450 remaining). Nvidia 8500 GT video card w/ latest drivers from Nvidia and DirectX HP 22" LCD monitor Saitek Cyborg X Stick Windows XP / SP3Please help me before I call a end to Flight Simulator 2004Larry

A picture would be useful! What happen to the ATC?

I almost gave up with FS a couple of years ago when I experienced this.Now again with a different computer.I had to replace my hard drive last week. Now Flight Simulator runs badly.Prior to that change I was running traffic at 60-70 %, EditVoice, Ultimate Terrain, high on most all the sliders, real world weather. I enjoyed flying just about any plane available.Now I'm trying to run with 30 FPS, 48 % traffic, medium-high or lower on most sliders. It's terrible. Everything about it is jerky, ATC is garbled if I'm adjusting altitude or scanning views.Performance is horrible even at a low traffic airport, IE: KSBN - South Bend RegionalSpec's: Dell 2.8 GHz, 2 Gig memory, 500 Gig Hard drive (450 remaining). Nvidia 8500 GT video card w/ latest drivers from Nvidia and DirectX HP 22" LCD monitor Saitek Cyborg X Stick Windows XP / SP3Please help me before I call a end to Flight Simulator 2004Larry

2.8GHz what? What processor. What kind of hard drive? Any fs9.cfg tweaks --and, any new addons recently?

2.8GHz what? What processor. What kind of hard drive? Any fs9.cfg tweaks --and, any new addons recently?

ooops ... 2.8 Gig Hz Intel processor ... 500 Gig WD SATA hard drive .... 2.00 Gig of memory.I recently changed Virtual Memory to 4,096 (that didn't help)Same addons I had before, but had to reinstall FS9, Ultimate Terrain, EditVoice and drivers.Most of the planes, I had backed up.Attached is my last FS9.cfg file (Not Allowed)[PANELS]IMAGE_QUALITY=1UNITS_OF_MEASURE=0QUICKTIPS=0PANEL_MASKING=1PANEL_STRETCHING=1[Weather]WindshieldPrecipitationEffects=1MinGustTime=10MaxGustTime=500MinGustRampSpeed=1MaxGustRampSpeed=200MinVarTime=5MaxVarTime=50MinVarRampSpeed=10MaxVarRampSpeed=75TurbulenceScale=1.000000DefaultVisibility=0DynWx_MedianDewPointSpread=10.000000DynWx_ProbCloudFormForMedianDewPoint=0.000500DynWx_MaxDewPointSpread=50.000000DynWx_ProbCloudFormForMaxDewPoint=0.000125DynWx_ProbCloudFormForMinDewPoint=0.100000DynWx_DryTempLapsePer1000Meters=9.000000DynWx_ProbCloudFormForDryTempLapse=0.000500DynWx_MoistTempLapsePer1000Meters=3.300000DynWx_ProbCloudFormForMoistTempLapse=0.040000DynWx_MaxProbCloudChangePerMinute=0.040000DynWx_MultiplierForDynamicWeatherLevelMild=0.500000DynWx_MultiplierForDynamicWeatherLevelNormal=1.000000DynWx_MultiplierForDynamicWeatherLevelHigh=3.000000DynWx_MultiplierForDynamicWeatherLevelExtreme=10.000000DynWx_TempChangePercentageForOvercastClouds=0.750000DynWx_TempChangePercentageForMinDewPoint=0.700000DynWx_MaxTempChangePerMinute=0.060000WeatherServerAddress=fs2k.zone.comWeatherServerPort=80WeatherGraphDataInDialog=0DynamicWeather=2LOADWEATHER=1MAX_UNLIMITED_VIS=96560CLOUD_DRAW_DISTANCE=43D_CLOUD_PERCENT=100DETAILED_CLOUDS=1CLOUD_COVERAGE_DENSITY=6CloudsImpostorRingRadius=64000.000000[iNTERNATIONAL]ASLAT=2ASLON=1MEASURE=0[MISC]COM_RATE=7LOG_TIME=0FOREIGN_TRANSLATOR=0LOG_FILE=[sTARTUP]DEMO=0LOADSIM=1LOADWINDOW=1SHOW_OPENING_SCREEN=1STARTUP_DEMO=[GRAPHICS]FULL_SCREEN=1PERFORMANCE_MODE=6DEF_PERF_MODE=6TEXT_SCROLL=1AUTO_LOD=0DETAIL_TEXTURE=1WATER_EFFECTS=1TERRAIN_USE_VECTOR_MAP=1TERRAIN_USE_VECTOR_OBJECTS=1EFFECTS_QUALITY=2GROUND_SHADOWS=0SMOOTH_VIEW=1IMAGE_SMOOTHING=1TEXTURE_MAX_LOAD=512COCKPIT_HIGH_LOD=1AIRCRAFT_SHADOWS=1LANDING_LIGHTS=1IMAGE_QUALITY=0TEXTURE_BLDG=1TEXTURE_GND=1TEXTURE_WATER=1AIRCRAFT_TEXTURE=1SEE_SELF=1TEXTURE_QUALITY=3LOD_TARGET_FPS=24NUM_LIGHTS=6[REALISM]INDASPD=0PFactor=0.000000Torque=0.000000GyroEffect=0.000000CrashTolerance=0.000000General=0.000000UnlimitedFuel=TrueTrueAirspeed=FalseAutoCoord=FalseRealMixture=FalseStressDamage=FalseGEffect=FalseManualLights=FalseGyroDrift=FalseCrashWithDyn=FalseCrashDetection=0[CONTROLS]KBDAIL=64KBDELEV=64KBDRUD=64PAN_RATE=400[uSERINTERFACE]MAP_ORIENTATION=2PAUSE_ON_LOST_FOCUS=1PROMPT_ON_EXIT=1DisplayFuelAsWeight=0SelectFlightLevel=0SelectFlightTitle=0PageID=3OpenATCOnCreate=0SITUATION=[sOUND]SOUND=1SOUND_FADER1=0.500000SOUND_FADER2=0.100000SOUND_FADER3=0.300000SOUND_FADER4=0.800000SOUND_FADER5=0.500000SOUND_FADER6=0.800000SOUND_QUALITY=2[DISPLAY.Device.NVIDIA GeForce 8500 GT.0]Mode=800x600x32[DISPLAY]UPPER_FRAMERATE_LIMIT=35TEXTURE_BANDWIDTH_MULT=40[TERRAIN]TERRAIN_ERROR_FACTOR=60.000000TERRAIN_MIN_DEM_AREA=10.000000TERRAIN_MAX_DEM_AREA=100.000000TERRAIN_MAX_VERTEX_LEVEL=19TERRAIN_TEXTURE_SIZE_EXP=8TERRAIN_AUTOGEN_DENSITY=2TERRAIN_USE_GRADIENT_MAP=1TERRAIN_EXTENDED_TEXTURES=0TERRAIN_DEFAULT_RADIUS=0.000000TERRAIN_EXTENDED_RADIUS=0.000000TERRAIN_EXTENDED_LEVELS=240[sCENERY]IMAGE_COMPLEXITY=3DYNAMIC_SCENERY=0DYN_SCN_DENSITY=0DAWN_DUSK_SMOOTHING=1SUNGLARE=1LENSFLARE=1[AIRtoCONTAINER]SIM1=Cessna Skylane 182R RGSIM2=Learjet 45SIM3=Schweizer 2-32 SailplaneSIM4=Sopwith CamelSIM5=Extra 300SSIM6=Boeing 737-400[APL]CACHE_WAV_FILES=1[TrafficManager]TrafficDensity=50IFROnly=0EnableAirline=1EnableGeneralAviation=1[AContain]ShowLabels=1ShowUserLabel=0ShowLabelManufacturer=1ShowLabelModel=1ShowLabelTailNumber=0ShowLabelDistance=1ShowLabelAltitude=1ShowLabelAirline=0ShowLabelAirlineAndFlightNumber=0ShowLabelFlightPlan=0ShowLabelContainerId=0ShowLabelAirspeed=0ShowLabelHeading=0LabelDelay=1000LabelColor=FFFF0000[sLEW]MaxLateralRate=40000.000000MaxVerticalRate=1000.000000MaxPitchRate=360.000000MaxBankRate=360.000000MaxHeadingRate=360.000000[VirtualCopilot]VirtualCopilotActive=1[FlightPlanMap]SHOW_AIRPORTS=1SHOW_VORS=1SHOW_NDBS=1SHOW_APPROACHES=1SHOW_INTERSECTIONS=1SHOW_VICTOR=0SHOW_JET=0SHOW_AIRSPACE=1SHOW_FLIGHTPLAN=1SHOW_WEATHERSTATIONS=0SHOW_WEATHERSYSTEMS=0SHOW_DATATAGS=1SHOW_TERRAIN=1show_waypoints=1show_airways=1show_markers=1show_volume_boundaries=1show_ac_twr=1[RWW_WEATHER_MAP]SHOW_AIRPORTS=0SHOW_VORS=0SHOW_NDBS=0SHOW_APPROACHES=0SHOW_INTERSECTIONS=0SHOW_VICTOR=0SHOW_JET=0SHOW_AIRSPACE=0SHOW_FLIGHTPLAN=1SHOW_WEATHERSTATIONS=1SHOW_WEATHERSYSTEMS=1SHOW_DATATAGS=1SHOW_TERRAIN=1[MULTIPLAYER]ALWAYS_SHOW_INITIAL_DIALOG=1SESSION_NAME=My SessionPLAYER_NAME=Unnamed PilotGUARANTEED_MESSAGES=0MAX_PLAYERS=8MAX_OBSERVERS=0TICKS_PER_SYNC=90PACKETS_PER_SEC=4COLLISION_SECS=2FOLLOWING_MULTIPLIER=5ALLOW_PLANE_MODEL_SEND=0ALLOW_PLANE_MODEL_RECEIVE=0ALLOW_TEXTURE_SEND=0ALLOW_TEXTURE_RECEIVE=0MAX_SEGMENT_SIZE=100MAX_SEGMENTS_PER_SEC=1CONNECTION_TYPE=0PROTOCOL_SELECTION=0ALLOW_DESCRIPTIVE_SEND=1ALLOW_DESCRIPTIVE_RECEIVE=1AUTOPILOT_LOCK=0DISTANCE_DISPLAY=0ADF_TRACK=0ALLOW_NAME_TAG_DISPLAY=1CLIENT_CONNECT_USE_CUSTOM_PORT=0CLIENT_CONNECT_PORT=23456CLIENT_HOST_USE_CUSTOM_PORT=0CLIENT_HOST_PORT=23456HOST_CONNECT_USE_CUSTOM_PORT=0HOST_CONNECT_PORT=23456[KEYBOARD_MAIN]SELECT_1=49,8SELECT_2=50,8SELECT_3=51,8SELECT_4=52,8MINUS=189,8PLUS=187,8ZOOM_1X=8,8SOUND_TOGGLE=81,8ENGINE=69,8SIM_RATE=82,8XPNDR=84,8SLEW_TOGGLE=89,8EGT=85,8SMOKE_TOGGLE=73,8STROBES_TOGGLE=79,8PAUSE_TOGGLE=80,8PAUSE_TOGGLE#1=19,8ATC=192,8ATC#1=145,8ADF=65,8VIEW_MODE=83,8HEADING_GYRO_SET=68,8DME=70,8GEAR_TOGGLE=71,8ANTI_ICE_TOGGLE=72,8JET_STARTER=74,8JOYSTICK_CALIBRATE=75,10ALL_LIGHTS_TOGGLE=76,8SITUATION_SAVE=186,8VIEW_WINDOW_TO_FRONT=222,8AP_MASTER=90,8FREQUENCY_SWAP=88,8COM_RADIO=67,8VOR_OBS=86,8BAROMETRIC=66,8NAV_RADIO=78,8MAGNETO=77,8BRAKES=190,8SPOILERS_TOGGLE=191,8SITUATION_RESET=186,10FLAPS_UP=116,8THROTTLE_FULL=115,8THROTTLE_INCR_SMALL=114,8THROTTLE_DECR=113,8FLAPS_DOWN=119,8THROTTLE_CUT=112,8VIEW=111,8ELEV_TRIM_DN=36,8ELEV_DOWN=38,8INCREASE_THROTTLE=33,8AILERONS_LEFT=37,8CENTER_AILER_RUDDER=12,8AILERONS_RIGHT=39,8ELEV_TRIM_UP=35,8ELEV_UP=40,8DECREASE_THROTTLE=34,8VIEW_FORWARD=38,41VIEW_FORWARD_RIGHT=33,41VIEW_RIGHT=39,41VIEW_REAR_RIGHT=34,41VIEW_REAR=40,41VIEW_REAR_LEFT=35,41VIEW_LEFT=37,41VIEW_FORWARD_LEFT=36,41VIEW_DOWN=12,41RUDDER_LEFT=45,8RUDDER_RIGHT=135,8BRAKES_LEFT=122,8BRAKES_RIGHT=123,8AP_ATT_HOLD=84,10AP_LOC_HOLD=79,10AP_APR_HOLD=65,10AP_HDG_HOLD=72,10AP_ALT_HOLD=90,10AP_WING_LEVELER=86,10AP_BC_HOLD=66,10AP_NAV1_HOLD=78,10EXIT=67,10ABORT=3,10READOUTS_FLIGHT=90,9PANEL_TOGGLE=219,9VIEW_MODE_REV=83,9PANEL_LIGHTS_TOGGLE=76,9LANDING_LIGHTS_TOGGLE=76,10PARKING_BRAKES=190,10MINUS_SHIFT=189,9PLUS_SHIFT=187,9FLAPS_INCR=118,8FLAPS_DECR=117,8PROP_PITCH_LO=115,10PROP_PITCH_INCR_SMALL=114,10PROP_PITCH_DECR=113,10PROP_PITCH_HI=112,10MIXTURE_RICH=115,11MIXTURE_INCR_SMALL=114,11MIXTURE_DECR=113,11MIXTURE_LEAN=112,11SCRIPT_EVENT_1=219,10SCRIPT_EVENT_2=221,10YAW_DAMPER_TOGGLE=68,10CENTER_NT361_CHECK=57,11CLOSE_VIEW=221,8NEW_VIEW=219,8NEW_MAP=221,9NEXT_VIEW=9,10PREV_VIEW=9,11VIEW_TYPE=83,10VIEW_TYPE_REV=83,11RADIO_VOR1_IDENT_TOGGLE=49,10RADIO_VOR2_IDENT_TOGGLE=50,10RADIO_DME1_IDENT_TOGGLE=52,10RADIO_ADF_IDENT_TOGGLE=53,10GEAR_PUMP=71,10SPOILERS_ARM_TOGGLE=191,9PITOT_HEAT_TOGGLE=72,9AP_AIRSPEED_HOLD=82,10AUTO_THROTTLE_ARM=82,9AUTO_THROTTLE_TO_GA=71,11LANDING_LIGHT_UP=38,11LANDING_LIGHT_DOWN=40,11LANDING_LIGHT_LEFT=37,11LANDING_LIGHT_RIGHT=39,11LANDING_LIGHT_HOME=12,11PAN_RESET=46,9KNEEBOARD_VIEW=121,8MP_PLAYER_CYCLE=84,11MP_PLAYER_SNAP=70,11MP_GO_OBSERVER=79,11MP_CHAT=221,11MP_ACTIVATE_CHAT=13,8PANEL_1=49,9PANEL_2=50,9PANEL_3=51,9PANEL_4=52,9PANEL_5=53,9PANEL_6=54,9PANEL_7=55,9PANEL_8=56,9PANEL_9=57,9AP_MACH_HOLD=77,10VIEW_FORWARD_UP=38,42VIEW_FORWARD_RIGHT_UP=33,42VIEW_REAR_RIGHT_UP=34,42VIEW_REAR_UP=40,42VIEW_REAR_LEFT_UP=35,42VIEW_FORWARD_LEFT_UP=36,42VIEW_UP=12,42INVOKE_HELP=191,10INVOKE_HELP#1=191,11TOGGLE_AIRCRAFT_LABELS=76,11ENGINE_AUTO_START=69,10INC_COWL_FLAPS=86,11DEC_COWL_FLAPS=67,11USER_INTERRUPT=27,8AILERON_TRIM_LEFT=37,10AILERON_TRIM_RIGHT=39,10RUDDER_TRIM_LEFT=45,10RUDDER_TRIM_RIGHT=135,10TOGGLE_FLIGHT_DIRECTOR=70,10TOGGLE_AFTERBURNER=115,9TOGGLE_MASTER_BATTERY_ALTERNATOR=77,9TOGGLE_AIRCRAFT_EXIT=69,9PANEL_HUD_TOGGLE=87,8SNAP_TO_PANEL=45,41MARKER_SOUND_TOGGLE=51,10TOGGLE_WATER_RUDDER=87,9TOGGLE_PUSHBACK=80,9KEY_CHASE_VIEW_NEXT=87,10KEY_CHASE_VIEW_PREV=87,11HEADING_BUG_SELECT=72,11ALTITUDE_BUG_SELECT=90,11CHASE_VIEW_TOGGLE=81,10EYEPOINT_UP=13,9EYEPOINT_DOWN=8,9EYEPOINT_RIGHT=13,11EYEPOINT_LEFT=8,11EYEPOINT_FORWARD=8,10EYEPOINT_BACK=13,10EYEPOINT_RESET=32,8AIRSPEED_BUG_SELECT=82,11TOGGLE_TAILWHEEL_LOCK=71,9ROTOR_BRAKE=66,9ROTOR_CLUTCH_SWITCH_TOGGLE=190,9ROTOR_GOV_SWITCH_TOGGLE=188,9VIRTUAL_COPILOT_TOGGLE=88,11VIRTUAL_COPILOT_ACTION=88,10[KEYBOARD_SLEW]SLEW_TOGGLE=89,8SLEW_ALTIT_UP_FAST=115,8SLEW_ALTIT_UP_SLOW=114,8SLEW_ALTIT_FREEZE=113,8SLEW_ALTIT_DN_FAST=112,8SLEW_ALTIT_PLUS=81,8SLEW_ALTIT_MINUS=65,8SLEW_PITCH_DN_FAST=119,8SLEW_PITCH_DN_SLOW=118,8SLEW_PITCH_FREEZE=117,8SLEW_PITCH_UP_FAST=116,8SLEW_PITCH_PLUS=57,8SLEW_PITCH_MINUS=48,8READOUTS_SLEW=90,9SLEW_BANK_MINUS=36,8SLEW_AHEAD_PLUS=38,8SLEW_BANK_PLUS=33,8SLEW_LEFT=37,8SLEW_FREEZE=12,8SLEW_RIGHT=39,8SLEW_HEADING_MINUS=35,8SLEW_AHEAD_MINUS=40,8SLEW_HEADING_PLUS=34,8SLEW_RESET=32,8TOGGLE_AIRCRAFT_LABELS=76,11EYEPOINT_UP=13,9EYEPOINT_DOWN=8,9EYEPOINT_RIGHT=13,11EYEPOINT_LEFT=8,11EYEPOINT_FORWARD=8,10EYEPOINT_BACK=13,10[sIM]SYSCLOCK=1[ATC]AutoOpenAirTrafficWindow=1UsePilotVoice=1ShowATCText=1PilotVoice=1[MAIN]Location=316,110,964,644HideMenuNormal=0HideMenuFullscreen=1[FACILITIES]COUNTRY=STATE=CITY=GTL_BUTTON=6225

In my opinion, you are running too much on 2.8GHz @ only 2GB RAM. Are all your sliders maxed out? Are you flying with clear skies or cloudy weather? Your PC may be running too much in the background and sucking your resources which is why 4GB is best for FS9 this also allows other programs to run on avail memory if FS9 maxes out the 2GB. You can updrade to 4GB and run the 4GB patch and shut down any programs you don't need...

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I almost gave up with FS a couple of years ago when I experienced this.Now again with a different computer.I had to replace my hard drive last week. Now Flight Simulator runs badly.Prior to that change I was running traffic at 60-70 %, EditVoice, Ultimate Terrain, high on most all the sliders, real world weather. I enjoyed flying just about any plane available.Now I'm trying to run with 30 FPS, 48 % traffic, medium-high or lower on most sliders. It's terrible. Everything about it is jerky, ATC is garbled if I'm adjusting altitude or scanning views.Performance is horrible even at a low traffic airport, IE: KSBN - South Bend RegionalSpec's: Dell 2.8 GHz, 2 Gig memory, 500 Gig Hard drive (450 remaining). Nvidia 8500 GT video card w/ latest drivers from Nvidia and DirectX HP 22" LCD monitor Saitek Cyborg X Stick Windows XP / SP3Please help me before I call a end to Flight Simulator 2004Larry

In win xp,there's a "remember last accessed file" option that sometimes creates havoc in Fs9 if it's unchecked. I don't remember where you find, but if you google it you'll find it. Be sure that you let windows remember the last accessed file. It made a huge difference for me. In my case, I'd have stutters and sound cracking and could not figure out what was different. Then, when I defragged with O&O defrag software, it asked me if I wanted to check that option. I did, and my problems went away.

Your specs are ok for fs2004 unless at airport really heavy scenery/traffic. I think flyforever is refering to XP's File Indexing Service - can be a real resource hog. Look here how to turn on/off:http://www.wikihow.com/Disable-File-Indexing-on-Windows-XPI often see people saying things like "running AI at nn%" which actually is totally meaningless. Depends how much AI on your system, what percentage the traffic within the traffic bgl is set at and more.Could also be due virus, progs running background or auto updates.Dave

Your specs are ok for fs2004 unless at airport really heavy scenery/traffic. I think flyforever is refering to XP's File Indexing Service - can be a real resource hog. Look here how to turn on/off:http://www.wikihow.c...g-on-Windows-XPI often see people saying things like "running AI at nn%" which actually is totally meaningless. Depends how much AI on your system, what percentage the traffic within the traffic bgl is set at and more.Could also be due virus, progs running background or auto updates.Dave

Thanks Dave -- The only hardware change I've made was replacing the hard drive. Prior to the hard drive crashing, FS9 ran fine for me. I may check into upping the memory to 4 gig.

Hello,HP 22" LCD monitorStrange you are running FS2004 in this low resolution on such monitor ...[DISPLAY.Device.NVIDIA GeForce 8500 GT.0]Mode=800x600x32And this is some strange settings here:[DISPLAY]UPPER_FRAMERATE_LIMIT=35TEXTURE_BANDWIDTH_MULT=40[TERRAIN]TERRAIN_ERROR_FACTOR=60.000000TERRAIN_MIN_DEM_AREA=10.000000TERRAIN_MAX_DEM_AREA=100.000000TERRAIN_MAX_VERTEX_LEVEL=19TERRAIN_TEXTURE_SIZE_EXP=8TERRAIN_AUTOGEN_DENSITY=2TERRAIN_USE_GRADIENT_MAP=1TERRAIN_EXTENDED_TEXTURES=0TERRAIN_DEFAULT_RADIUS=0.000000TERRAIN_EXTENDED_RADIUS=0.000000TERRAIN_EXTENDED_LEVELS=240Your settings in your former installation were the same ??Regards.Gus.

Hi Larry,Before anybody accuses me of some sort of marketing exercise, I'm not pushing this.To help eliminate the problem, may I suggest you D/L the FSX Sceneryconfig Editor, it will work on FS9 -it was originally designed for that Sim. AVSIM forgot to mention it.Run the program, form a basic group as per Manual, disenable all other scenery -run with a default aircraft - this is assuming that the program doesn't highlight any probs with your scenery.cfgThen report back here - at least one probable cause would have been eliminated.Regards JohnT

Hi Larry,Before anybody accuses me of some sort of marketing exercise, I'm not pushing this.To help eliminate the problem, may I suggest you D/L the FSX Sceneryconfig Editor, it will work on FS9 -it was originally designed for that Sim. AVSIM forgot to mention it.Run the program, form a basic group as per Manual, disenable all other scenery -run with a default aircraft - this is assuming that the program doesn't highlight any probs with your scenery.cfgThen report back here - at least one probable cause would have been eliminated.Regards JohnT

Referring to previous settings, I have no idea what they were. I know I ran resolution at 1600 x 900.I will reinstall the default aircraft and see if that makes a difference.I know that before the hard drive crashed, everything with FS ran great including Ultimate Terrain USA/Canada, addons including replacement AI aircraft in place of default airliners.Traffic was set fairly high, made it a little challenging at high traffic airports, but computer handled that fine.This will be my last attempt, otherwise I give up.

Hi Larry. One thing to check that I haven't seen mentioned here yet. when you said you changed out your hard-drive, have you checked under device manager and looked under your hard-drive controller to make sure the transfer mode is set correctly. I have winxp, but with an older IDE ATA harddrive and if I don't have my transfer mode set to UDMA 5, which my harddrive supports, I'll get super slow file access and very bad performance in FS9.

Hi Larry. One thing to check that I haven't seen mentioned here yet. when you said you changed out your hard-drive, have you checked under device manager and looked under your hard-drive controller to make sure the transfer mode is set correctly. I have winxp, but with an older IDE ATA harddrive and if I don't have my transfer mode set to UDMA 5, which my harddrive supports, I'll get super slow file access and very bad performance in FS9.

To piggyback on this...when a drive goes bad, a large number of errors will cause Windows to automatically change the drive transfer mode from DMA to PIO mode to try and eliminate the errors, and the mode will not automatically revert to DMA with the removal of the problem drive and replacement with a good drive. PIO mode will have exactly the kind of effect on performance you describe. Do a google search on the problem...there are some utilities out there that can be run to detect the transfer mode and you can either use a utility or make registry settings yourself to get back into DMA mode. It seems a strong possibility this is what you're seeing given the history of a recently failed drive.RegardsBob ScottColonel, USAF (ret)ATP IMEL Gulfstream II-III-IV-VColorado Springs, CO

To piggyback on this...when a drive goes bad, a large number of errors will cause Windows to automatically change the drive transfer mode from DMA to PIO mode to try and eliminate the errors, and the mode will not automatically revert to DMA with the removal of the problem drive and replacement with a good drive. PIO mode will have exactly the kind of effect on performance you describe. Do a google search on the problem...there are some utilities out there that can be run to detect the transfer mode and you can either use a utility or make registry settings yourself to get back into DMA mode. It seems a strong possibility this is what you're seeing given the history of a recently failed drive.RegardsBob ScottColonel, USAF (ret)ATP IMEL Gulfstream II-III-IV-VColorado Springs, CO

Thank you all -- I certainly appreciate this help on this issue. I am going back in and checking drivers, making sure I have the ones designed for Dell. I also think, I may have enhancements for Ultimate Terrain set to high. I am also pricing memory to upgrade to 4 gig. I also reduced cloud detail on the graphics part of it, since I use real world weather for most flights.