My FS9 Installation has become "unstable." Weird problem

[kiwiflyer45 123]

Over the past few weeks I have had a puzzling series of events where I have gone to an airport that is installed and I've used dozens of times before to find that it's not there. I have to reinstall it. The files haven't disappeared - but it won't load until I do an uninstall/reinstall. This may be coincidental as these are the airports I mostly go to, but so far it's only happened with Aerosoft and FSDT sceneries. (Mostly Aerosoft, though that could be because there are so many more of them)Then I realized that I was also having very minor but annoying issues with some installed aircraft. Nothing so far that has made them unflyable, but small system issues. For example, my wonderful HS748 by Rick Piper always requires a reset of the electrical system after starting up a saved flight. It was always simply a matter of flipping a switch, but now it will not reset. My LevelD 767 has developed a persistent "Gear disagree" warning message. Other little things.I have scanned for viruses - none. My hardware is all working perfectly and I have had zero issues with any other software. Here's my suspect and I'd be interested in any knowledgeable feedback. Recently Aerosoft has included in its packages a utility they call the Aerosoft Launcher. When you select it, you get a dialogue that allows you to view charts provided for some of their sceneries, adjust some ground textures or airport ground traffic. It also checks for updates for some of your Aerosoft products. It does the same thing for all other Aerosoft products including aircraft and that's why I'm wondering if this is the culpirt as it clearly has the ability to access files in both scenery and installed aircraft.Any other suggestions? If I have to do a reinstall of FS9 I may consider the option of putting a bullet through my head as the better choice... (Just kidding guys - I will reinstall if I have to!)I haven't asked Aerosoft yet as they tend to be a bit defensive about anything they percieve as a criticism but I will do so once I have more certainty that the launcher is the issue. As of now, it's just a suspect.CheersIan

[PebbleBeach 120]

It clearly states in the FS9 EULA program "Good only till 2010".Just kidding Ian. That is some weird stuff. Hope you get it sorted out.

[rayharris51 5]

Hey Ian, I thought FS 2004 was only good to 2005.No idea what's going on here but I'm no stranger to weird behaviour though (in FS9 I mean:-)Not sure whether this will help, but a couple of thoughts did occur to me. In your situation I might try to find all the files in the relevant scenery or aircraft directories that have been modified since approx the date you installed the launcher. If there are some suspiciously recent file mod dates in the relevant directories then your theory may be correct. I would also check if the any of the file flags have been changed (eg set to read only or hidden). I know you have turned off UAC in Win 7, but could something have switched it on again? I'd be surprised if the Aerosoft launcher could or would modify other non Aerosoft products though.Then I'd probably do a clean re-install of the Level D 767 and FSDT sceneries to see if that cures the problem - by overwriting corrupt .ini or .bgl files for example. Can you get rid of the Aerosoft Launcher? Don't be worried about them being defensive, perhaps other people have had the same experience with it on Win 7? If there is something wrong with it they've got to sort it. I am sure Mathis would agree with that, if that really is the problem.Anyway, hope you sort it out.RegardsRay

[kiwiflyer45 123]

Hey Ian,I thought FS 2004 was only good to 2005.No idea what's going on here but I'm no stranger to weird behaviour though (in FS9 I mean:-)Not sure whether this will help, but a couple of thoughts did occur to me. In your situation I might try to find all the files in the relevant scenery or aircraft directories that have been modified since approx the date you installed the launcher. If there are some suspiciously recent file mod dates in the relevant directories then your theory may be correct. I would also check if the any of the file flags have been changed (eg set to read only or hidden). I know you have turned off UAC in Win 7, but could something have switched it on again? I'd be surprised if the Aerosoft launcher could or would modify other non Aerosoft products though.Then I'd probably do a clean re-install of the Level D 767 and FSDT sceneries to see if that cures the problem - by overwriting corrupt .ini or .bgl files for example.Can you get rid of the Aerosoft Launcher? Don't be worried about them being defensive, perhaps other people have had the same experience with it on Win 7? If there is something wrong with it they've got to sort it. I am sure Mathis would agree with that, if that really is the problem.Anyway, hope you sort it out.RegardsRay

Thanks Ray - good suggestions. If I find anything out I'll post the information here

It clearly states in the FS9 EULA program "Good only till 2010".Just kidding Ian. That is some weird stuff. Hope you get it sorted out.

Actually I think that label is on my birth certificate... I'm living on borrowed time. (Not to mention borrowed money!) Cheers mate

[kiwiflyer45 123]

Ray's suggestion was right on the money. All of my flyable aircraft and all of my scenery folders have files that have been altered or at least accessed and saved in the last two months - most of them the last two weeks. In the case of aircraft it is the aircraft.cfg file and the sceneries are the scenery.dat file...Where is Sherlock Holmes when you need him???

[tinhead59 2]

IanI also had the same problem and I ended up doing a complete reinstall of FS9 and this time I said no to the updater and now I do not have those problems. I should have done that the first time as I am always leery of things that phone home. The problem for me is " do I know what it's really doing". Call me paranoid i don't care but the truth is thos things have happened to me in the past. I apologize if my post ticks some people off but that's just been my experience........John

[kiwiflyer45 123]

IanI also had the same problem and I ended up doing a complete reinstall of FS9 and this time I said no to the updater and now I do not have those problems. I should have done that the first time as I am always leery of things that phone home. The problem for me is " do I know what it's really doing". Call me paranoid i don't care but the truth is thos things have happened to me in the past. I apologize if my post ticks some people off but that's just been my experience........John

I'm still trying to track down the culprit by trying different things. I am 99% sure it's either AES or the Launcher and I'm close to proving (to myself at least) which one it is. All of the changed files have been since October this year. All of the affected sceneries have been either Aerosoft or FSDT though I have no idea why the latter would be affected. All of the aircraft.cfg files were of flyable aircraft. All but one of the sceneries has AES support but one doesn't (Lukla) so that theory is shaky....If anyone else can suggest any other source that accesses both aircraft and scenery files I'd be interested to hear - Aerosoft Launcher and AES are the only two I can think of on my system. I'm not knocking Aerosoft - I love their products even though my bank account doesn't as I've spent a lot of money buying them. But logically I just can't think of any other explanation and your experience seems to point in the same direction my suspicions lie

[kiwiflyer45 123]

I have heard of some Anti virus, good for nouthing, programs eating files.

I don't think it's that as it seems to corrupt scenery and flyable aircraft files only. So far all of the scenery has involved Aerosoft or FSDT Hawaii airports. I am almost certain it is the Aerosoft Launcher which is a pretty new utility and maybe doesn't interface as well with FS9 as it might with FSX?? But I'm still trying to track down the cause - so far I haven't been able to exclude other possibilities. But thanks for the response.....