I have been trying to get fsx se to work for about 2 weeks. Everytime I open fsx I get the title screen the a box appears that reads, "Flight simulator cannot run without a valid scenery.cfg. Please uninstall and reinstall flight simulator. Click abort to exit flight simulator". I have installed and reinstalled 6 times and nothing ever changes. I have contacted dovetail support and after about a week they replied with the following steps to fix the problem,"In order to resolve this issue you will need to:

a) Disable UAC and run the FSXSEConfig.exe tool as follows: FSXSEConfig.exe /FORCEFIRSTTIME

(b) Manually create the folders:

C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\FSX (or FSX-SE for co-existence)

C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\FSX\SceneryCache

C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\FSX\SceneryIndexes

Then re-run the game.

If these folders aren't manually created it would explain why the game is not running.

 

This hasn't worked or I don't understand how to properly do these steps. I have asked for clarification and 5 days later still received no reply. Does anyone here have any suggestions on how to fix this problem?

Thanks in advance

Do you or did you have the FSX box version installed?

 

Your best option might be to ask in the Steam forums or chase Dovetail for an answer.

My install didn't require any of those steps but I didn't have the box version installed.

I uninstalled the box version before I installed the steam edition. I was just hoping maybe someone around here might have experienced something similar. So far trying to get a reply from dovetail is like chasing a unicorn.

Have you looked at your hard drive to make sure there aren't any leftover files from the box FSX?  Uninstall doesn't do a very good job of cleaning up after itself.  Also, have you cleaned your registry? There might be some more residuals there.  Also, make sure you don't have a leftover FSX.cfg lurking as it could create problems also.

 

Good luck.

I have done my best to look everywhere I know fsx installs to ensure nothing is still lurking about. Is there a good free registry cleaner you recommend?

Google "Regclean". It's pretty good if it's still available.

 

I use Advanced System Care myself. They have a free version and also a Pro version which is what I have. It's a good package of system utilities and includes a registry cleaner and defragger.  Don't use the defragger on an SSD, however.

Thank you so much for your help. I will try that and hopefully that will solve the problem.

Geoff

 

As Rick has suggested, try downloading a free component of that payware Advanced System Care. It's called IObit Uninstaller. Install your boxed version of FSX. Then immediately after use that IOBit Uninstaller to un-install that FSX. It will give an option of a deep clean or something like that. Opt for that as it will search every Registry entry for FSX, and also tick the box to shred left-overs.

 

Then re-install FSX if you want to run it side-by-side with FSX-SE, or just install FSX-SE.

 

If using Win7 64-bit OS, I'd install any FSX in its own sub-directory on your root hard drive, i.e C:\FSX\blah-blah-blah.

 

Hope this helps. Good Luck.

Do the folders they identified exist on your computer?

 (That is: C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\FSX

C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\FSX\SceneryCache 
C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\FSX\SceneryIndexes?)

Thank you guys for all the help and suggestions I will give them a shot tomorrow. As far as those folders go they did not exist and I created them as stated to but it did nothing. I was also unable to run the FSXSEConfig.exe. when I click on it nothing happens and I don't know how to run it the way he told me to.

1. Identify the complete path for the FSXSEConfig.exe file.  (For example:  "C:\Program Files (x86)\Dovetail\FSXSEConfig.exe")  (Note:  I have no idea what the actual path is or if there would even be a folder named "Dovetail."

 

2. Open a command prompt window in Run as Administrator Mode.  In Windows 7 you do this by clicking "Start," clicking "All Programs," clicking "Accessories," then right-clicking on "Command Prompt" and selecting by (left-clicking on) "Run as Administrator.  In Windows 8:

1. Swipe in from the right edge of the screen, and then tap Search.
   (If you're using a mouse, point to the upper-right corner of the screen, move the mouse pointer down, and then click Search.)

2. Enter cmd in the search box, and then right click Command Prompt and select Run as Administrator.

 

3. In the command prompt window, navigate to the folder where the FSXSEConfig.exe file is located.  Do this by typing the letters cd, then a space, then the complete path of the folder where the FSXSEConfig.exe file is located after the ">".  ("Cd" stands for "change directory.")  Be sure to include the colon after the drive letter, the back slashes between each folder name, and to spell the folder names correctly (including spaces.)  If you have done all that correctly, the command prompt window should show that path followed by ">."

 

4. Type "FSXSEConfig /FORCEFIRSTTIME"  (without the colons) after the ">."  (Note the space between FSXSEConfig and /FORCEFIRSTTIME.)  Hopefully, this will work.   You shouldn't need the .exe after FSXSEConfig, but if it does not run, you can try it again with the .exe included.

Oops, in 4 I meant without the quotation marks, not without the colons.

 

I don't know if this will help, but it is how I would do what Dovetail advised you to do.

I am going to try it this afternoon. It is definitely of help to me since that is the answer to the question I asked dovetail about a week ago and they still haven't answered. Thank you again for all the help.

Awesome that worked and it loaded up all the scenery indexes for first time set up then another box comes up when its finished that says "living world settings in LWcfg.xml are invalid. Please delete LWcfg.xml from your hidden user profile directory." I promise I am not entirely incompetent but I cannot find this file anywhere.

Here you go Geoff

 

C:\Users<your name>\AppData\Roaming\Lockheed Martin\Prepar3D V2...........then turn your gaze down, and there it is.