I've always been curious about this and wonder if someone can answer my question. I run Windows 7 64 bit and have several programs that run in background, i.e. Norton Systemworks, Webroot, plus sundry other programs like Western Digital add on drive and Printer software. Each of these programs has a process that runs in background, you can see them by pulling up Task Manager and looking under the processes tab. When I go to fly FSX, I always stop Norton Antivirus, Firewall and Webroot. I've never tried going into Task Manager and stopping processes as I'm afraid I may stop a process that is citical and needs to be running in order to keep Win from crashing. Does anyone know what processes need to be running? Is there a way to start up Windows clean so I can run FSX with only the necessary processes? If anyone has any recommendations I would love to hear them. As it is right now I get adequate frame rates and have an enjoyable experience when flying FSX, but any improvements I can make to system performance is always better.Thanks for your responses.Jim K, Greenville NC

Hi,Use GBoost, a free shut down utility. Yes, it can make your whole system a bit more snappy.

go to Blackviper.comThat will explain what needs to be running and what doesn't.Be careful. If you don't understand what you are doing, you can end up with a whole bunch of problems though.IAN

Hi,Use GBoost, a free shut down utility. Yes, it can make your whole system a bit more snappy.

Jim thanks for this recommendation. Since I had my new computer a year and half ago I had not looked into anything to shutdown services. I just downloaded and launched this program and used it to fly around CYVR this morning, I am finally able to fly the area without stuttering.Thanks.

This thread give a recommended list of services that you can turn off along with other tips to tweak Win7 for high performance. Look at NickN's post on 4/11/10, that is where it startshttp://www.simforums.com/forums/topic34141_post198187.html#198187