Well, I've got my new system being built and now I'm wondering about which add-ons are considered mandatory or almost so for FS9. With FS2K and 2K2 I used to use FSUIPC, FS Meteo, Radar Contact, FS Nav 3.0 (I believe or was it FS Navigator, hmmm), and FS Traffic. Are these still popular and are they needed with the improved features that are in FS9 now? Right now I'm not too concerned about adding aircraft, but probably will in the future.Thanks in advance for your input,JeffAMD Athlon 64 3200+, Gigabyte K8NPro mobo, 1G RAM, ATI Radeon 9800 Pro, Windows XP Pro

Hi Jeff,Well, there's a lot of add-ons that I like. I name some of them and I'm sure other folks will name more! Hope you enjoy your new system. :)MyTraffic 2004 or Ultimate Traffic (I use MyTraffic. I don't hear much about FS Traffic anymore it seems like)ActiveSky 2004 (I'm using WeatherCenter 2.3.1 but I will upgrade to this in a month or so)FSNavigator 4.60FSGenesis US Landclass and US Scenery(Mesh) (if you fly in the US a lot)RealityXP 530 GPS and Flight Line AvionicsActive Camera 2004Some aircrafts to consider...PMDG 737NG (thier forum is a section here on the Avsim forums)RealAir SF.260 and DecathlonFSD Piper Navajo PantherCaptain Sim Ledgendary 727 or F-104 StarfighterCheers,Jim

JeffTake my advice and do a search for the topic "Straight out of the Box" I posted this some weeks back and it generated a lot of diiscussion. I personally really think that addons mess up the basic install of FS9. The only addons I have is FSnavigator 4.?And VFR Uk Scenery, the new features in FS9 make it a superb sim. Addons can make it a pain in the as* IMHO.Wycliffe

Hello Wycliffe,Well while I'm sure that did generate quite a bit of discussion I have a lot of add-on's installed, A LOT. And none of them has upset my FS9 installation or affected it's performance, with a couple of exceptions.The main one being, and which I am the orginal discoverer of the cure for the problem in RealityXP's forum is, the RealityXP 530 GPS does not like HyperThreading enabled when using WinXP. I turn off HyperThreading in my BIOS and problem solved. I believe this to be due to the fact that the Garmin Trainer is a 16-bit application. I believe the real root of the problem is the 16-bit subsystem in WindowsXP that the trainer runs on top of does not get along well with HyperThreading enabled...Process File: ntvdm or ntvdm.exeProcess Name: Windows 16-bit Virtual MachineDescription: Application provides environment for 16-bit process to execute on 32 bit platform.Company: Microsoft Corp.System Process: YesOnly other expections I have found are a couple of aircrafts that I have which are heavy hitters(namely the PMDG 737 with Virtual Cockpit and Cabin) and having the bump mapping affect of Bill Lyons water enabled(water detail slider full right)affect my FPS perfomance a little. Bill Lyons water effects it enough on my system that I leave the water slider in the middle, the PMDG 737 is really no problem.Also, I run FS9 with very high settings(including 1600x1200 resolution, 4x AA and 16x AF, 100% AI traffic slider with MyTraffic 2004) after tweaking the living crap outta my system, only a few sliders are not up all the way.Now, I could harldy imagine running without any add-ons as they add spice. Especially numerous add-on freeware and payware aircraft, as they are variety. And as the old saying goes, variety is the spice of life!No big deal, but one of the screenshots I took below won an Editors Choice award at www.simscreens.net using an add-on aircraft, the Dreamfleet Piper Archer II, and a Lago Georender scenery which contains the Flying M Ranch. I sent them 1024x768 size.Regards,Jim

Thanks for the comments. Wycliffe, I read your thread "Straight Out Of The Box". Very interesting and I tend to agree. I probably will only add FS Navigator and may My Traffic and I'm not even sure about that. We'll see. Also, can you tell me the best software for make a complete disk image so that if I screw anything up I can go back to a working system and flight sim?Thanks,

Some add-ons that I recommend:Flight soft's fly to hawii-beautiul dc10'sFlight Downunder 2002 (Australian addon for FS2002. may be difficult buy outisde of Australia/New Zealand)

For disk imaging, check outNorton-GhostPowerQuest-Drive ImageAcronis-True ImageKurt M