Is is common that if you minimize FS2004 to open your browser or open another program that you get that error report to MS and then "program not responding, End Now?"Louis

>Is is common that if you minimize FS2004 to open your browser>or open another program that you get that error report to MS>and then "program not responding, End Now?">LouisNo. Your problem might be that you are really short of physical memory, or really short of virtual memory???Art

I don't get that message when minimizing FS9.RobertPIV 3.2 ghz, 1024 DDR ram, 128 mg Radeon 9700 Pro graphic card, Intel D865GBF 800 FSB mobo,two 80 gig Western 7200 hard drives,Win XP Home Edition, 19" ViewSonic E 90f + SB monitor

I have 512 RAM. Shouldn't that be sufficient?Louis

>I have 512 RAM. Shouldn't that be sufficient?>LouisIn theory it SHOULD be; in practice, NO, it won't. get yeself some more ram; go up to 1 gig and you'll see some improvements. It is a mistake to run in minimal space. The amound of threshing around while Windows pages in and out is just too much.

I didn't know it was possible to go beynd 12 RAM. There is actuallya memory card that goes up to 1G??Louis

I bet it depends on the OS used...I only run 512, but I still am using 98SE. It's quite possible that XP hogs more resources. "I'd almost bet money it does..." I don't use my swap file hardly at all. In fact, I just ran some careful tests involving this last night. I was curious being one guy over on the hardware forum say's his uses 800 to a gig or more of ram..."I wonder what he is running "add on" to use all that?" Anyway, I rebooted, and started fresh, and than cranked up memokit, which lets me watch my ram and swap file usage. I then did a "ram wash" to clean up any ram that had been cleared, and also get it back for usage. I do this while the sim is running. I usually end up with about 150mb +- while the sim is up and running, and after the ram wash. I then loaded real weather. I then filed a flight plan from Houston Hobby to KHOT. I have lots of AI aircraft going in and out of hobby, and also KIAH which I pass over enroute. Anyway, I flew the flight to Hot Springs in my usual lear 31a. Lots of AI aircraft at KHOT when I got there. Also during the flight, I changed views very often, and did spot plane views from time to time. Did everything I could to use more ram....Anyway, I landed at KHOT and checked my ram usage during the whole flight. I never dipped into my swap file once. This was my ram usage for that hour of the flight. http://web.wt.net/~nm5k/fsmem-1.jpgThis was the swap file usage for the hour of that flight. I never used it at all. Only after I went off into paint kit, thumbsplus, etc, making the jpegs , did it actually go into the swap for a minute, and then it promptly released it back. "I only use 190mb as my swap file, and it's fixed. "http://web.wt.net/~nm5k/fsmem-2.jpgAnyway, this does show that not everyone that is running only 512 is scarfing for memory. Mine has no problems at all. Why one would use over 800 mb is a mystery to me, unless maybe MS lets the sim gather more data into ram "IF" you actually have it. I have heard of people claiming this. This could reduce stuttering, etc, but mine seems pretty smooth with what it uses. Mine does not thrash the swap file, but maybe if I were to upgrade the OS to XP, it's possible the increased overhead could cause this to happen.. MKBTW, it wasn't a fluke either, and I then flew back to Houston, and have also been flying all over the Texas Hill country today in a cessna looking at scenery. It never used the swap file, and I never ran out of ram. Maybe my "ram washing" before taking off is a factor? Dunno...It does get me back lots more ram than from a clean reboot only. I might get maybe 404-408 after a fresh boot. If I wash my ram, I'll get about 450 or so usable...I find washing the ram while the sim is loaded up, but before taking off, works great. Really gives me a lot to play with. I don't run out. Also, note my ram recovery was disabled in memokit...That would skew the test...:( I just let the sim and windows do as they pleased...I do plan to eventually upgrade to a gig of ram, as it is a good idea, but it's not really pressing as you can see. I had guessed my usual ram usage to be about 400 mb. It's actually a bit less than that in my case. I can have the sim running, and wash the ram, and the sim itself is running on less than 300...Of course, as I fly, it will begin to use some more..MK

I run with only 384 megs (98SE/task switching all the time) and don't get this error. Quite often I will also fire up FSDS 2 in addition to my browser so I can work on A/C design.However I start my system with nothing loaded--only mission critical o/s tasks are loaded and system tray applets are disabled from my startup. That may make the difference with my success.In most situations I have about 100-115 megs free while FS9 is running.Note that add-on mesh and/or any "tweaks" done to the fs9.cfg may take away more memory than the norm. Also, 384 megs vs. Win 98 may be adequate where 512 megs vs. XP or Win 2000 may fall short. Much depends on what's loaded.Anyway, the short answer is that task switching with FS9 should be easily done, making me think something's amiss with your O/S..-John

I use WinXP Pro, 512MB RAM, with a 3GB partition specifically for the Swap File.I have had FS2004, SGX, AFCAD, IE6, Windows Explorer open and it didn't crash, albeit, everything was a might slow!W. Sieffert