As a point of interest, it was taking X-Plane 10, about four minutes and 40 some seconds to load from when the splash screen first came on until the program was loaded and running. After defragging with Ultimate Defrag3, It now takes from two minutest and 6 to 15 seconds to load. And all of the files are on the outer tracks starting at cluster 0, and all of the files and folders right in line. well worth the effort.edit: Thanks Tom for the extra forums!!

As a point of interest, it was taking X-Plane 10, about four minutes and 40 some seconds to load from when the splash screen first came on until the program was loaded and running. After defragging with Ultimate Defrag3, It now takes from two minutest and 6 to 15 seconds to load. And all of the files are on the outer tracks starting at cluster 0, and all of the files and folders right in line. well worth the effort. edit: Thanks Tom for the extra forums!!

Don, that's a great metric. I started installing XP 10 last night and have discs 7 and 8 to conclude later when I get home. I have a scheduled defrag of that hard drive (C:) every other night, so it will interesting to see if my results are similar.

HiGood advice for Windows users of X Plane, but I have discovered the benefits of running X Plane 9.7 and now the new version 10.03 (Beta 5) on my Macbook Pro Laptop.Loading times are not a problem for me.Nick17 Inch Macbook Pro Laptop (Dec 2010)Mac Os X 10.6.82.8 Ghz Intel Core i74 Gb MemoryNvidia Geforce GT 330M 512 MbApple Wireless Keyboard and Mouse.Saitek AV8R Joystick.Griffin Elevator Laptop Stand.

I will be installing on linux when my discs arrive. Logic says load times should be similar.

Yep. The Linux file systems are inherently resistant to the phenomenon of fragmentation.

As a point of interest, it was taking X-Plane 10, about four minutes and 40 some seconds to load from when the splash screen first came on until the program was loaded and running. After defragging with Ultimate Defrag3, It now takes from two minutest and 6 to 15 seconds to load. And all of the files are on the outer tracks starting at cluster 0, and all of the files and folders right in line. well worth the effort.edit: Thanks Tom for the extra forums!!

Good points Don,Before I installed XPX-X DVD's I deleted the demo of course and then ran a defrag and had a few thousand files fragmented. Installed it and defragged again.I was curious what load times were so read with interest your little over two minute time, same here. I check it about once a week.73ChuckW9NWR

HiGood advice for Windows users of X Plane, but I have discovered the benefits of running X Plane 9.7 and now the new version 10.03 (Beta 5) on my Macbook Pro Laptop.Loading times are not a problem for me.Nick17 Inch Macbook Pro Laptop (Dec 2010)Mac Os X 10.6.82.8 Ghz Intel Core i74 Gb MemoryNvidia Geforce GT 330M 512 MbApple Wireless Keyboard and Mouse.Saitek AV8R Joystick.Griffin Elevator Laptop Stand.

HelloWhat benefits are those ?, your Macbook is quite slow by modern standards.

Does the MacBook have a solid state hard drive? I wondered how that would affect load times in sim start up. Every time I start the sim it takes a few minutes to load. That is with a 7200 rpm HD. Is a solid state hard drive practically instantaneous?

What benefits are those ?, your Macbook is quite slow by modern standards.

I think he was referring to not having to constantly defrag the hard drive.10.03 (Beta 5) demo loads in 58 seconds on my iMac but the demo may be a lot different from the full version. Still trying to decide when to pull the trigger on that purchase.P