Hi guys,

 

I have been having some errors from FSX and a few CTDs (crash to desktops) so I decided to go for a complete new install. I took forever to remove all of my added scenery and aircraft. But I got that finished this morning. Then I uninstalled the Acceleration Pack and FSX itself. After defragging and a reboot I installed FSX. Kind of weird being back to a fully default install. My log now shows 4 flights - 1 with the Baron, 2 with the Goose, and 1 with the Mustang but that came later after I started tussling with the Acceleration Pack. Obviously. My install of FSX is clean and gets no errors. But when I put the AP in it will not ask me for the product key. I've tried running "activate.exe" in the base directory but it will not run. When I fire up the sim I get error code 1-80004005 which has to do with the product not being properly activated. After I clear the error FSX comes up but it is in kind of a demo mode. It allows me to do anything with the exception of multi-player but it times out after 30 minutes and tells me I need to activate it. I HAVE TRIED! I have removed and reapplied the AP 3 times with the same luck. With the AP out I get no error and there is no time limit. But most of the add-ons that I need to reinstall require the AP. And without that pack FSX never did run that well. I tried going through MS' troubleshooting process but it concludes that I need to remove and reinstall which I have now done 3 times total. The other thing they say is to do the activation via the telephone. That is great except they do not give you the phone number. They say that you need to find the proper phone number in the troubleshooting process for the specific product you are installing... which is where I was when I get that message.

 

I left a feedback message with MS but I doubt that I'll get a reply. The feedback form didn't have a space for your name or your email address. I did include both but I doubt many people are following FSX feedback after all these years.

 

I have a valid product key but I can't get FSX (with the Accel Pack) to ask me for it.

 

If somebody knows the solution I would really love to hear about it???

 

My thanks for any and all input!

 

Tom Wunder

 

It is actually kind of fun to fly the default aircraft over the default scenery but that will get old and I'm going to want my stuff back.

You shouldn't have uninstalled then reinstalled, especially with a lot of addons. There are easier ways to find the cause of the crashes. I'd recommend completely uninstalling then searching your computer for all fsx files, searching your registry for fsx, and deleting everything. Then rebooting your computer and installing again. This time to a new directory, like C:\Games\FSX

The phone numbers are in the ..\FSX folder:

Phone Activation.xml

Thanks Tutor,

 

I found the file and got the phone number. It didn't do me a lot of good because the recording insists that you have an open activation window when you call and if you say you don't have that window open it hangs up on you. If I could figure out how to get an open activation window then I'd enter the key and be done with it. I guess until I can figure out how to do that I'll have to do my FSX flying 30 minutes at a time. I left several more messages for MS so maybe some day I'll get a reply. I do have aeroflyFS and Flight to fall back on in the mean time.

 

Thanks again,

 

Tom Wunder

This procedure might help you get the "activation window" back:

http://fsxtimes.wordpress.com/2010/08/17/fsx-acceleration-activation-error-1-80004005/

 

Here also is a "success story" about the same problem, and the precise steps the user took while on line with an actual MS Support technician:

 

http://forum.simflight.com/topic/52059-acceleration-activation-error-try-this/

Many thanks Tutor!

 

Getting deep enough into the OS to be using regedit scares the holy crap out of me. But it did the job as advertised. And it only took me 20 minutes to do it. I think it would have been more like 3 minutes even taking time to triple check everything but my wife came in to help and also felt the need to tell me all about what the neighbors were up to while she was at it.

 

Bottom line is FSX complete with the Acceleration Pack is now running great with no modes left out and no 30 minute limit.

 

I can't thank you enough,

 

Tom Wunder

Bottom line is FSX complete with the Acceleration Pack is now running great with no modes left out and no 30 minute limit.

 

I can't thank you enough,

You are most welcome! I'm delighted that it worked out for you.

 

As far as thanks go, if you'd be willing to launder my hoard of "virtual Euros" from European Truck Simulator 2 into U.S. dollars, that would be nice...

 

...as my current balance is very close to 8 million Euros! :LMAO:

Mr. Tutor,

 

I still very much appreciate the effort you made to provide those fixes. But I have to warn anybody reading this thread who is in need of that same fix or has a similar problem. PLEASE DO NOT APPLY THIS FIX!

 

I have been without a computer for the past 10 days. When I went to reboot at about 3 seconds into the loading of Windows I'd get a blue crash screen. My system is under full warranty so I took it into the shop. I was told a few hours later that it was ready to be picked up. Only problem was that it took 6 minutes & 40 seconds to boot. That is 6 min 15 sec longer than it should take with this SSD system drive. Eventually they decided to replace the solid state drive (no charge under warranty) which was sort of okay. I had 2 bootable backups. That would have put me back before the fix and with and registry mess as many of my add-on scenery items had been on my D: drive while FSX was installed on my system or C: drive. I had removed all of that while I was working with FSX so they are no longer on the D: drive where FSX would have expected to find them. But that could have been worked out over time. Then I found out that the backups had somehow become corrupted. I still do not understand that. It for sure is not the fault of this fix we are talking about. So not only was I going to have a new drive but also a new install of my OS. So at that point I figured that I might as well upgrade from 32 bit Vista to 64 bit Windows 7 (My processor was already a 64 bit one) and go from 4GB RAM to 16GB. Since the backups that didn't work were done using the utility that they sold to me and the instructions they gave me the shop did the upgrades "at cost". So for not very much money I now have a very fast system with lots of memory but very little installed. The only flight simulator I have installed at the moment is Flight and while it does recognize that I have purchased all of the worth while add-ons it is telling me that the authorization numbers are invalid. I worked on getting stuff installed and working most of the night and all that is really working at this point is my security suit and Flight but without any of the add-ons.

 

Tutor none of this is your fault. You made an effort to help and I still appreciate that. Some of it is my own fault as I thought I had good backup procedures and obviously did not.

 

The only point to this post is that anybody thinking about using this fix should be aware that it could ruin your whole month.

 

Oh well... it is going to take me a few weeks to get things sorted out but when I'm done this is going to be a very quick system for flight sims!

 

Thanks,

 

Tom Wunder

You did backup the Registry first?