Hi allI have recently been having problems with FS2004 whereby the program closes to the desktop as if it was being minimized? As you can imagine it is quite annoying. There doesn't seem to be a pattern but it can and does happen randomly and can continue throughout the flight.Help!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Thanks

If MSFS is just minimizing on it's own without crashing (going away altogether), then I'd scan your system for spyware on the odd chance you have some spyware messing with your system. I haven't seen this behavior in MSFS nor have I ever heard it reported before.-John

I had this problem with FS98, and there was no spyware on my computer. After a few minutes of flying the mouse cursor would change to the hourglass symbol a few times indicating the system was doing something, and then FS98 would minimize. I never solved that problem though.

JohnThanks much for the reply. I will give the spyware issue a shot and let you know if it helps.RegardsHank

Thanks for the reply. I was having problems with addware though and possibly while dealing with that issue I may have inadvertanly caused this problem. Anyway, thanks again.

"I had this problem with FS98, and there was no spyware on mycomputer."Going back to the days of FS98, it's quite possible there was indeed spyware on your system if you never solved the issue--detection tools in those days weren't as good as what we have today, and some spyware dates back to the 96-98 time frame although it was more often installed through warez downloads and even some commercial packages vs. the "drive by downloads" seen on the Web today.One commercial package my wife purchased for me was a program to learn Spanish--but it also dropped the Brilliant spyware on my desktop. The company was later prosecuted I believe for bundling the spyware in it's install package. Anyway, I had all sorts of problems until I detected the Brilliant install.Whatever it is, a self minimizing FS98 or FS2004 is not normal behavior. Something external causes the issue--and if it isn't spyware, another option would be a rogue gauge or an odd module dll dropped in the modules folder.-John

JohnAgain, many thanks for the reply. I did remove and reinstall FS2004 but it didn't help. It could be a rogue gage or a .dll file as I know from experiance that uninstalling doesn't always remove everything. I'll keep searching.Hank

Who says I played FS98 in '98? ;)Actually there was no spyware on my computer, I'm very sure of it. I too thought it could be a bad gauge or some add-on but despite a clean re-install the problem never disappeared. My guess would be that some other software (like anti-virus programs) causes the problem. However, I do agree with you that the most probable cause is spyware.