Hi everyone.After many months of fs9, I'm pretty much down on my knees.Since now I've been suffering from every single problem mentioned in this forum; shimmering, dancing mountain horizon, CTD's,...you name it.I've survived through all this crap thanks to the great support this community is offering, nonetheless I've wasted an awful lot of time messing around to make things work, and I'm definitely unsatisfied with my flying experience (and fs9) so far.Although, I've had a chance to take a peek into the great potential of this version of the sim, which will probably see true light only in the next release.So, not willing to give up yet, I'm at the point where my system needs a good clean-up, and I'm off to another re-format of my drive, hoping to sort out at least a percentage of the problems that are making my sim unusable.I'm wondering whether formatting with FAT32 has any chance of making things better sim-wise. I'm currently using NTFS, and as far as my home computing goes (gaming and surfing, that is), I haven't seen any clear advantages.Anyone using fs9 on XP with FAT32 out there? If so, what's your experience so far?Thanks for your help!Luca

LucaI'm using FAT32 and got to say I've had very little to complain about since I got FS9 back when it first came out.FPS are generally good (up in the 20s virtually all the time except at "high demand" places like LAX or Heathrow - mid/high teens there).The only CTDs I've had were due to the "railroad " texture thing and soon fixed.All in all I'm very happy with FS9 on this system - it performs better than FS2002 on my WinME system( Same PC Dual Boot - this is mainly why XP is FAT 32). Given that you're having problems in NTFS , it must be worth a try at FAT32 - even tho many of the "experts "look down their noses at FAT32- after all ,you've got nothing to lose and all to gain.DaveAMD Athlon 2000XP (@133/133)ECS K7S5A Mobo 3.1 :04/29/02 Rev BiosSiS 735 Chipset Rev 12 x 256mb DDR RAMGeforce4 Ti-4200-8x 128mb DDR AGPAGP 1.17 WHQL . 5216 Detonator XP Drivers2 x Maxtor 40GB HDD (7200rpm)LG 8x4x32 CDRWLG 52x CDRDirect X 9.0 Windows ME/ Windows XP dual bootBIOS Settings- DRAM Timing Ultra. CAS Latency 3T,RAS ACtive 6T,RAS Precharge 3TL1 Cache Enabled.L2 Cache Enabled.Sys BIOS Cache Disabled.DRAM Drive Slew Rating - Fast

Dave,thanks a lot for your helpful reply!Are you running Fs9 on XP or ME?Do you use any add-ons with your sim?Just curious!Anyway, after years of win98, I think I'll give the old FAT32 another go!best,Luca

FAT32 is probably not the best for running Windows XP.FAT32 is a 32bit file system with some limitations. According to Microsoft, FAT32 can be used on any drive up to 32GB and the largest files on that dirve cannot exceed 8GB. FAT32 also doesn't support network domains. NTFS however is much better. There is no limit on drive or file size and it has several security features as well that other file systems don't. It offeres the advantages of file encryption, disk recovery, and disk quotas. Drive preformance on NTFS also doesn't degrade as more things are loaded onto the drive. I also believe that is has 64 bit advantages making it very useful if you have an Athlon64 processor. NTFS is the best to run for Windows XP and for newer software.If FS isn't running well, you might have a hardware bottleneck (limitation) that is causing it. Try benchmarking, uprgading drivers, etc. I would suggest that your PC have at least a 900mhz processor or above, a Geforce4 TI or above, and 512mb RAM for decent preformace of FS2004. FS2004 is very CPU intensive, something to keep in mind.

LucaSorry if I didn't make that clear- FS9 is on WinXP,FS2002(now hardly used) on WinME.I use a lot of addon aircraft - mostly military ,a modest amount of addon scenery including the arrcab Aircraft Carriers and a lot of the various texture mods such as water/cloud/enhanced airfield environments etc.Mostly I fly online (VATSIM) with all the extra software that entails - don't seem to get any problems at all.Probably completed about 200 hrs online with FS9 and lost a flight only twice - both due to the railroad textures I mentioned before.I don't have everything absolutely maxed in the display settings - rather I've got most things set to one step below max (or about 75-80%).Same with the BIOS sttings - set for stablity rather than sheer speed.I've tried running with everything flat out in the FS Display settings - it does knock the fps back by 15-20%.The only thing I very seldom use is AI traffic at a level of more than 20%.I have done a bit of basic tweaking of XP itself - mostly the easy stuff you can find here---http://www.blackviper.com/Nothing is overclocked tho' I did push the Video card up by about 10% for a few days over Xmas to see what happened.There was a small improvement( few fps at busy places) but nothing to get excited about so I put it back to default.Good LuckDave

Thanks again, Dave.Knowing you've completed about 200hrs of online flying is good news: I hope my next installation of OS & Fs9 brings me much further than the few hours I was able to succesfully fly for in the past 6 months.So I really think I will try FAT32 this time, since none of the advantages mentioned in the post above your last seem to make any difference in the way I use my PC at home.And I do have a relatively powerful system, with an AthlonXP 2600+, 1Gb of PC2100 DRAM and a 256Mb Radeon 9800Pro, on which the sim should run flawlessly.It hasn't at all so far, so I hope for a brighter future after a global re-install.Happy flying to you,Luca

FAT waste more disk space!FAT can't handle big files!FAT supports only limited characters in the file name!FAT is much more likely to loose data in case of unexpected shutdown!FAT starts slower in case of unexpected shutdown.FAT does not support user rightsFAT does not support compressed filesFAT does not support encryptionThere is more, but I had to stop somewhere. :)While you say you where not interested in the previous mentinoed NTFS advantages, I suspect the 4th item on this list should not be ignored.NTFS is not your problem. A reinstall might help, but not because you change to FAT. With the amount of systems out there running NTFS (every single Windows file server since Windows NT) I would think the worst errors are removed from the file system by now. I know many systems run FAT as well (but only low performance systems obviously) but even though I am certain the drivers are as error free as the NTFS drivers the way data is stored on the disk is simply more risky.FAT was designed for floppies, let's keep it where it belongs.

I just reinstalled my OS (and FS) recently using NTFS for the first time. I don't miss FAT. And the performance is no differnt in the sim between the two systems. I'll stick with NTFS.

Greg ,Imoelleb(what does that mean?) and Orenda365- Just like to say that whilst I would agree with most - if not all of your points about the advantages of NTFS - I have no complaints here with running FAT32 /XP/FS9 very successfully.In my case - I made the choice as I really wanted/needed to retain WinME on the PC and more important - to be able to access either OS from the other(For reasons not connected with FS).I was also slightly influenced by the experiences of my son - running WinXP/NTFS/FS2002 he suffered endless system ans FS2k2 crashes over the past 18 months - maybe the reasons are not to do with FS2k2 or NTFS - I don't know.As far as Luca is concerned - IMHO ,he hasn't had a lot of luck with NTFS- what's he got to lose by trying FAT32?Dave

Hi Dave,"As far as Luca is concerned - IMHO ,he hasn't had a lot of luck with NTFS- what's he got to lose by trying FAT32?"I agree. I just hope he doen't look for any magic solutions in going back to FAT32. When I first started having the seasonal CTD's 5 weeks ago it was on a drive formatted for FAT32. Tried a couple of installs on FAT 32 (amongst a number on NTFS) during the following 3 weeks, but nothing made a difference.The seasonal CTD's are an equal opportunity sim experience killer. :-) They don't care what type of file system you're using (as is the case with the AutoGen bug).Cheers,

>Greg ,Imoelleb(what does that mean?) ...snip...My initial (first character was lover case L) and the first seven characters of my last name. Standard username at work, and now I use it everywhere. I have yet to find a forum or similar where the name has been taken (unless I visited earlier and forgot about it). This time I forgot I never set up a signature here, hence the lack of my name in a more readable form.>As far as Luca is concerned - IMHO ,he hasn't had a lot of>luck with NTFS- what's he got to lose by trying FAT32?You mean besides his data? But OK, he should have a backup anyway as neither FAT or NTFS is good at handling burned hard disks or user initiated accidental overwrites of critical data But the liklelyhood of this problem actually comming from NTFS is so low that I would not even consider it. But of course, there is a certain nostalgic feeling to running a file system designed for 160KB (+/- 100KB) floppies. Just make sure the local museum doesn't find out, as they might confiscate the system for use in their "radio tubes and other outdated technoligies" exibition. :)RegardsLars

Hi all.In many years of FAT32 I NEVER had problems of ANY KIND with my software, sim included.I don't expect formatting with FAT32 to solve my problems, but I somehow find it curious that since I'm using NTFS (no more than 6 months), my sim has become virtually unusable.On a fairly powerful system, I do still use an old 8Gb HD: although, with 1GB of RAM, an AthlonXP 2600+ and a 256Mb Radeon 9800Pro this shouldn't make any difference on how the sim actually RUNS.The idea of reverting to FAT32 is just one among hundreds of experiments I've been doing for months now, in order to use Fs9 the way it's meant to be, just as it was happening with Fs2002 on Win98 a year ago.Fs9 has unfortunally forced me not to believe in easy workarounds but, as Dave said, I don't think reverting to FAT32, in my case, will make the sim function worst than it already is.Or, at least, this is what I hope!Thanks to all of you.Luca

I use fat32 without any problems. I need to run it to have dual boot to program my CH fighterstick under Win98 as CH could not do an XP update, appears MS did not support the keyboard pass through in XP.Anthony

Hi LucaReading through this thread, I saw you use your AMD xp2600 (333MHz?) with 2100 RAM (266Mhz). Usually, the 2600xp will require 2700 RAM (333MHz). This could explain your frequent crashes... Certain mobos require specified modules etc. If you need to purchase, go for 3200 RAM (to assure more flexibility for future upgrades) straight away. Second, running a 256MB 9800pro will need at least a 350W, quality power supply... Also make sure to distribute the energy over all PS-leads. Maybe you already have one or done so? Third, having such components installed, i.e. the 9800 'burns' ca. 70W, one might have to (strongly) consider installation of extra FlyTendo case fans, to suck out that heat. More 'suckers' will attract more dust... Dust is your biggest enemy. Solution: Use your lady's old stockings on the air inlets. Haha, I'm already picturing you... 'Per favore, amore..?' What's stocking in Italian? She might wonder: 'Why's Luca ripping my stockings off, all of a sudden..?' You, then rushing off to the FlyTendo room with your trophy... Brave New FlyTendo World... BTW, concerning the original question: My favorite tweak is min. 2 harddrives. Best wishes Jaap

Hi Jaap.All of what you have mentioned is under control.My rare 2600+ is 266fsb, last in a long list of processors supported by my old Epox8KHA+ motherboard; nothing above PC2100 DRAM works on this faithful piece of hardware.As far as cooling is concerned, I can run the sim (when it runs!) with no sound. Infact, the noise coming from my case sounds much like the turbofans on my favourite 737, thanks to uncountable fans sucking and blowing.Regarding dust, I often open up my Pratt&Whitney PC and blow compressed air in every hidden recess: the thing shines as if it was brand new.And this because, since I live alone, I have a bad feeling about going out to buy stockings on my own.How do you suppose I could justify that, if not by saying:"Vorrei un paio di calze per la mia ragazza?",only to come back home and find there is no ragazza waiting around for me?How sad, but then again, would I be able to dedicate half the time to my favourite hobby with a female human being hanging around the house?Being single does, in some rare cases, have its advantages!;-)cheers,Luca