I'm a new user here, so forgive me if I goof up, but...I'm trying to install and run FS2004 on a Windows 98 machine. I HAD it running just fine, but decided I'd try upgrading my video drivers since I couldn't see the gauge panel. (nVidia GeForce Fx5200)I don't know if it's the video drivers update or what, but suddenly I can't get FS to run at all. I've uninstalled and reinstalled FS 3 different times in 3 different directories with no success. The error I get is RIGHT off the bat - the program never even tries to start up - I get a dialog box stating: "The system cannot find the file specified." The title in the blue bar at the top of this dialog box is the following: "Error: CreateProcess(C:WINDOWSTEMP~e5d141.tmp)". The only thing I can do is click "OK", then it the dialog box goes away and nothing else ever happens. If I go to the temp directory and create the file "~e5d141.tmp", then the title bar changes to, "Error: CreateProcess(C:WINDOWSTEMP~e5d141.tmp)" and the message is: "%1 is not a valid Win32 application."I've deleted the new video drivers and reinstalled the old. I've reinstalled DirectX. Nothing I've done has helped. Does anyone have any thoughts on this? I guess I could blow it all away and start the system all over again, but... ugh.Thank you greatly for reading through this and I look forward to any thoughts.

Try renaming the fs9.cfg file to something like fs9.cfg.old and then try starting FS. When you uninstall FS and reinstall, the old fs9.cfg file is not removed, and FS trys to use it on the first start. If there is an error in the fs9.cfg file, then the problem will persist.Mike

Thanks for your time and reply, Mike. Each time I've uninstalled the fs, I've gone in and manually deleted the directory. Am I correct in thinking this is where the cfg file is stored? After I deleted the directory, I did do a search for the cfg file and there wasn't one on the drive. After a fresh install, there still isn't a fs9.cfg file. Is it not created until the fs runs? If that's the case, that shows just how far the sim ISN'T going. :(

I am running FS2004 under Win98 and it's running quite smooth and has for a long while.The temp file mentioned makes it sound like your issue is related to the copy protection used by FS9. I assume you're running with CD#4 in your CD-R drive. There's a chance it could be bad or could have gone bad I suppose.FS9.cfg is not stored in the root folder of FS9. Best thing to do is a simple search for fs9.cfg on your hard drive. The search should find it where the rest of Application Data is stored on your system.-John

Thanks for your reply, John.I should've noted that I am running with cd 4 in the drive. I don't believe the CD is bad, simply b/c the computer never even spins up the CD. Literally immediately after double clicking the fs04 icon I get these error messages... there's no delay like it's trying to access the cd.I've searched my drive for fs9.cfg but there doesn't appear to be any.Thanks for your reply though - I do appreciate your time.Brian

Look for fs9.cfg in this folder:C:windowsapplication datamicrosoftfs9-John

I checked there, but the fs9 directory didn't exist. I thought perhaps this was the problem, so I created a folder "fs9", but it didn't fix it, I still get the problem.Also, I have tried installing the 9.1 update. I've downloaded it 3 different times, but each time I try to install it, I get an error type 9 message.I just can't win.Brian

Did some more research on this error for you in Google, and came up with some interesting hits. First and foremost, do a virus scan. Where did you get the new video drivers from? Directly from Nvidia's site?Second, if you're running any of Macromedia's products, like Flash Player, try uninstalling them. Some of these initialize at bootup and the changing of your video drivers could have broken something. Macromedia's flash player and FS9's copy protection share some temp files from what I've found. The error is certainly related to the copy protection mechanism.Although I don't condone no cd cracks, you may want to try it just to troubleshoot. It would at least rule out the copy protection scheme as the source of your problem. I'm afraid I'll have to leave you to your own devices vs. where to find it.The reason your fs9.cfg file is missing, btw, is it's first created on first launch of MSFS. In your case MSFS isn't even making it that far.-John