FS 2004 Will not start?

[rhodges 6]

For the last three or four days, after I start my computer and then try to start FS2004, FS2004 will not start. The little green circle rotates for three or four seconds normally like it is starting up, but then nothing else happens. If I again click on my FS9 execution, the circle appears only for a split second.

 

I discovered that if I restarted my computer, FS9 starts up and performed normally.

 

This morning, FS2004 will not start. FSX has no problem

 

No changes have been made, nor adders or deletions since this scenario began.

 

Has anyone else had this experience and know a cause or solution without repairing or reinstalling FS2004.

 

Thanks:

RTH

 

 

Just shut down the computer and then restarted it (Cold restart). Before what had worked until this morning was just a simple warm restart. FS2004 Started up (after about a dozen computer restart/FS2004 unsuccessful tries).

 

I am puzzled.

RTH

[kiwiflyer45 123]

Flight1 has a freeware FS9 registry repair tool. Go to their site and download it and give it a try. If you have a corrupted registry entry, this will fix it. Good luck

Ian

[pschlute 37]

or possibly your anti-virus has quarantined a file. Check you AV virus vault.

[Steve Dra 7,574]

Happened to me too...not a clue how to fix it....tried the registry repair, no luck.

Nothing changed...just stopped working one day and has not worked since.

Click the icon, splash screen, then poof...nothing.

 

Hope some can provide an answer that will fix it.

[Roger Ramjet 71]

Steve, if you can you might want to remember if you recently added a new scenery or aircraft file just before the crash. I had that problem with the sim going from splash screen to nothing and I found it was an elevation change that was put into the NAMW  folder by a scenery (CYBL which has since been fixed). Once I deleted that file it started okay again.

[kiwiflyer45 123]

You also have the option of doing a system restore - go back to a backup date when it was working okay...  Anything you can do to avoid that dreaded word - reinstall...

Good luck

Ian

[rhodges 6]

Thanks so much for the replies folks:

 

Pschlute:

• I use NOD32 in Eset Smart Security for my AV and Firewall. Sure nuff, I did have a couple of quarantined files recently as follows:

"Operating Memory >> C:\program data\pluginservice\pluginservice.exe"

and

"Operating Memory >> Program Files (86)\Microsoft Games\Flight Simulator9\fltchk3.dll"

 

I restored these, but unfortunately, FS9 would still not start up.

 

One mention of a related item similar to this scenario. I have one aircraft in FS9 that repeatedly is quarantined by NOD32, then stops startup of FS9. ,If I remember correctly, it is the Flight One 727. I restore it, and then can start FS9 and select the 727  until the next time I start over and select that aircraft. NOD32 has an option to restore and exempt from the scan, but it is grayed out for this item. Only restore is available. The exemption worked for the "pluginservice" mentioned above, but did not for the dll..

 

I then tried your suggestion for executing the Flash One Repair tool in FS9, FS9 then started up three times in a row with no problem. I suspect that this is related to the flight one 727 selection mentioned above and time will tell if that is a solution to remember, and this cures the problem. Thanks for the advice.

 

Steve:

I never get the splash screen when I have the problem. The MS green circle rotates for a few seconds indicating something is going on in windows, then nothing.

 

Kiwiflyer45. I tried the earliest restore point that I have, Nov. 9, 2014 which is at least a week before I saw my problem. Then started FS9 once. When I tried again, my problem had returned.

 

Again, thanks folks. Hopefully the Flash One Repair will prove to be the answer. Time will tell.

 

Respectfully:

RTH

[kiwiflyer45 123]

Good news. Glad your solution hasn't been to give up on the DF 727 - that continues to be my favorite all-time aircraft addon and one I go back to over and over... Good luck with continued success

Ian

[pschlute 37]

I have my FS9 installation in its own partition, and I permanently exlude my AV from scanning it.

 

+1 for the DF 727 !

[Steve0616 14]

Did you try deleting your fs.cfg file and restart?

[rhodges 6]

It's Back!

 

It has been just over a month since I made this original post. As mentioned, thanks to Ian's suggestion I thought that the Flight1 Repair Tool was the solution. Unfortunately this did not prove to have much longevity. Over the past month FS9 again refused to startup multiple times. Usually, after a computer restart it would startup ok,  sometimes requiring two or three computer restarts.

 

This morning the problem became permanent. I could not startup FS9 at all, so I tried the following, restarting the computer after each change:

 

1. I have a total backup of my computers (Syncback). First I tried replacing my FS9.exe file from the backup. Same problem.

2. Tried replacing my fs9.cfg with the backup. Same problem.

3. As suggested by Steve, deleted my fs9.cfg file and let FS9 rebuild it. Same problem, and it never rebuilt the file.

4. Restored to yesterday morning's restore point where I was still able to startup FS9. Same Problem.

5. As suggested by pschlute, checked for quarantined files, then excluded all of FS9 both in the root folder, and in Application Data.

 

Here a strange thing happened for the first time. When I tried to startup FS9 I got the old error message telling me to install by FS9 disk 4 and try again. I removed the disk, replaced it, and still had the problem.

 

Fortunately, I have two DVD/CD Read/Write drives in the computer. Typically, in one drive I leave the FS9 Disk 4 in one of these drives permanently. I switched the disk to the other drive, and BINGO! FS9 started up. I then switched back to the original drive and not only did FS9 not startup, but the green light stayed lit on the drive and the computer locked up. Restarted the computer (Reset manually). I then could not even get the drive door to open. Manually opened it (The old paperclip routine) and put the disk back in the second drive. Everything seems to work flawlessly now. I feel 99.9% sure that the drive was the problem all alone, and FS9 was never seeing the FS9 disk 4. I do not know why it did not give the error message though. Seems that CD/DVD drives are the hardware weak point in computers. I have replaced a number of them over the years in multiple computers, more than any other type of hardware. Fortunately, they are an inexpensive item.

 

Thanks for the suggestions folks.

RTH