P3D not working anymore, files got deleted!?

[Guest Mik75]

Hi there!

I don´t know if this is the correct subforum, but somehow I think some feature of my Win7 Home Premium 64bit is deleting files. Or is my SSD dying?

I´ve never had something like this before.

I have an all SSD setup, the first SSD contains Windows and FSX, the second one P3D.

I noticed 2 weeks ago, that some gadgets of my Logitech G19 LCD display were gone.

I noticed it, but didn´t care too much, so I haven´t investigated any further.

A few days ago, my favourite aircraft markings (the a/c you mark with a star) in P3D were deletetd.

Since everything else worked flawlessly, I didn´t care too much as well.

But tonight, after booting up Windows, I recognised, that some shortcuts on my desktop were vanished and moved to the recycle bin, completely automatically.

I restored them, and the corresponding programs worked again.

I purchased an addon and installed it (airport scenery), after that I perfomed an online IVAO flight in P3D without any problems.

After shutting down P3D, I noticed that the free space on C drive had increased from 89 GB to 93 GB.

I wanted to perform one more flight, but upon booting P3D up, I got an error message that the Default Scenario file would have been corrupted, and the aircraft and map preview windows in the P3D scenario creation screen remained blank.

I could select an aircraft and an airport, but when I want to load the scenario, no scenery gets loaded, I hear the aircraft noises, but the screen remains black.

I even tried to restore Windows to the state before I installed the new scenery, but with no success.

What´s going on here???

Thanks a lot in advance for any input!

 

 

Edit: Here you can see some screenshots of the error messages:

 

Note that the file described in this first error message doesn´t exist at all in the folder!

 

 

[Guest Mik75]

I just found out that this error doesn't seem to be uncommon.

The workaround would be, to open an fxml file of a saved flight from within the documents folder with the P3D.exe. That worked exactly once. Now, when I try to do this, I get an ntdll.dll error and a CTD upon booting up the sim.

Everything has been so stable and enjoyable, and now I am left with this mess! Oh my...

[Slayer 190]

You might have an SSD going bad if you have corrupted files.

 

Have you tried running the repair option yet for P3D?

 

Edit: you could always have someone send the default flight files to you.  

[Guest Mik75]

Thank you for the answer!

It would be very nice, if someone could send me the default .fxml abd the default .wx file.

Then I could try if P3D starts normally again.

But I still have no clue why these files got deleted.

My FSX install on the C drive is corrupted as well, the sim doesn't start anymore...

[Michael Moe 495]

You could try this

 

 

1.Make a backup of the Prepar3D_default.fxml file in its location and copy it somewhere else.

 

2. Also check with notepad that the "filename" in P3D_default.fxml has the _ (not P3D  Default.fxml , i have seen this once) 

 

3. Try start P3D up again if there was correction to be made in step 2.

 

4. Otherwise then delete it and check that in your P3D.cfg that the situation startup section is not using any particular    startup file. .

 

 This way it should rebuild one i think. 

 

Hopefully it will rebuild one .Otherwise you need to copy back the backup again and search otherwise.

 

Michael Moe 

 

PS!

 

if you have a saved situation/scenarios you could also point it to that in P3D.cfg under the startup situation section and see if it will startup with that. You saved scenarios should be under /my documents/P3DV3 files

[Guest Mik75]

Thanks for your answer!

The Prepar3D_Default.fxml and the default wx file are completely gone.

They got deleted, and it looks as if these weren't the only ones, since FSX (installed on the C too) doesn't start anymore as well.

I tried deleting the cfg file and having P3D building a new one, but the sim still refuses to start with the same error message.

[Michael Moe 495]

Thanks for your answer!

The Prepar3D_Default.fxml and the default wx file are completely gone.

They got deleted, and it looks as if these weren't the only ones, since FSX (installed on the C too) doesn't start anymore as well.

I tried deleting the cfg file and having P3D building a new one, but the sim still refuses to start with the same error message.

 

Okay ,

 

Do you have a saved "situation/flight"  file ?(fxml under my documents/P3Dv3 files))

 

You could try point to it in p3d.cfg startup situation section: ?

 

 

Michael Moe

[Guest Mik75]

Okay ,

 

Do you have a saved "situation/flight"  file ?(fxml under my documents/P3Dv3 files))

 

You could try point to it in p3d.cfg startup situation section: ?

 

 

Michael Moe

I'll give that a try!

Somehow, I have a bad feeling.

Although I read everywhere that a dying SSD typically causes corrupted files.

In my case, they are completely wiped out, just gone.

I also checked my anti virus software, but it doesn't seem to be the culript.

 

Edit: I can´t find the entry in the cfg where the location of the startup scenario is defined.

[Guest Mik75]

So, I finally found the Prepar3D_Default.fxml and .wx files.

They weren't deleted, I looked in the wrong location. They are in AppData/Local, not Roaming.

and deleting them, caused P3D to create new ones.

The sim didn't show the error message anymore, but it crashed immediately after the start screen showed up.

And then, I discovered some interesting things! The P3D.cfg was a complete mess, with the "Trusted" and "Graphics" section from my FSX.cfg! And FSX didn't start anymore, because it's been more or less a complete P3D.cfg!

I used the Estonian Migration tool to install some scenery into P3D, and actually, everything worked quite flawlessly. But I discovered all sorts of mixed files (dll.xml, etc.) from FSX in my P3D install, and vice versa.

I uninstalled the migration tool, let FSX and P3D create new cfg files, and so far, everything looks stable again!

The automatically deleted shortcuts and Logitech display gadgets still leave me somehow puzzled, but maybe that's caused by something completely different. Wow!

Would it be wise, to check the registry for entries, caused by the migration tool? I'd like to get rid of anything that could possibly cause trouble.

Is there a cleaning tool you could recommend me?

[Michael Moe 495]

So, I finally found the Prepar3D_Default.fxml and .wx files.

They weren't deleted, I looked in the wrong location. They are in AppData/Local, not Roaming.

and deleting them, caused P3D to create new ones.

The sim didn't show the error message anymore, but it crashed immediately after the start screen showed up.

And then, I discovered some interesting things! The P3D.cfg was a complete mess, with the "Trusted" and "Graphics" section from my FSX.cfg! And FSX didn't start anymore, because it's been more or less a complete P3D.cfg!

I used the Estonian Migration tool to install some scenery into P3D, and actually, everything worked quite flawlessly. But I discovered all sorts of mixed files (dll.xml, etc.) from FSX in my P3D install, and vice versa.

I uninstalled the migration tool, let FSX and P3D create new cfg files, and so far, everything looks stable again!

The automatically deleted shortcuts and Logitech display gadgets still leave me somehow puzzled, but maybe that's caused by something completely different. Wow!

Would it be wise, to check the registry for entries, caused by the migration tool? I'd like to get rid of anything that could possibly cause trouble.

Is there a cleaning tool you could recommend me?

 

Nice,

 

try CC cleaner or Advanced Systemcare (both are free all though i pay for Advance Systemcare but not mandatory)

 

Michael Moe

[Bobsk8 12,679]

Just a suggestion, get a free app that totally backs up your hard drives(s), and set it to run automatically. It has saved me more than once when I file was corrupted or missing. All you need is an external HD to save your backup on, and even if your present HD totally crashes, you can rebuild it in an hour or two. http://www.macrium.com/reflectfree.aspx

[Guest Mik75]

Nice suggestions, guys!

Tanks for your valuable input!

I'll think about backing up my drives for sure!

And I'll give CC cleaner a try. I used to use this tool on my old machine, running Vista.

But I've never encountered any funky things, until yesterday, on Win7.

[Poppet 703]

Michael.  When you Uninstall the Migration Tool,  It will Remove the Pathways in the Microsoft Keys in your registry editor,  But you will be still left with 1 Key "Microsoft Games" and 2 Sub keys "Flight Simulator" and "10.0"   This is OK

 

As i said the Pathway in the "10.0" will be empty,  which is great as you can Manually add Your Pathway in the future if you choose to.  Makes it faster then Creating these keys again. 

 

Them 2 keys can be found here

 

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Wow6432Node \ Microsoft \ Microsoft Games \ Flight Simulator \ 10.0     String Value: SetupPath   Value data:  Your Install Path

 

 HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Microsoft Games \ Flight Simulator \ 10.0     String Value: AppPath   Value data:  Your Install Path

 

Like You said though it will leave a big load of Renamed dll.xml, exe.xml and Prepar3D.cfg files,  Delete them. 

 

Also in some cases it will Leave a big load of files at the bottom of your main Prepar3D folder,  You will know these by the Date,   Delete them too 

I used the Estonian Migration tool to install some scenery into P3D

 

 

What Scenery did you use the Migration tool to Install ?  

 

In a lot of case you can just Point the Installer to your main Prepar3D folder

 

If the Installer doesn't like that and wont Install,  just Copy and Paste another Prepar3D.exe and Rename it to fsx.exe

 

In most cases For Scenery,  it works perfect

 

1 Right Click on Prepar3D.exe and Click Copy.     2  Go back outside your Prepar3D folder,  Right Click and Paste Directly into your Prepar3D folder. 3 Right Click on Prepar3D-Copy.exe and Rename it to fsx.ex

 

 

 

 

The result will be this 

 

 

 

 

 

The only exception i can think of is........

In some cases when your Installing FSX Scenery by Disk,  The Installer will want to see your Scenery.cfg in your main Prepar3D folder.  If the Installer does Not see a Scenery.cfg it will Not releases all the files and folders from the Installing Disk, Leaving you with only half of your Content Installed (In some cases)

[Guest Mik75]

Nice post, mate!

Thanks a lot!

You are right, there were so many unused and none sense dll files.

I just downloaded the CC Cleaner tool and let it run and clean the registry. To be fair, that is the first time I've done that in almost 4 years, but nonetheless, it detected 5.889 problems in the registry! ;-)

I'll definitely install FSX scenery, the way you described from now on, and without any fancy tools that mess with the registry and create countless files that potentially make your sim unstable!

[Guest Mik75]

I am flying right now, and so far, everything is stable and running well.

I recognised, that all pln files within the Flight Simulator X Files folder (that´s where I import my flightplans from PFPX into), are gone.

Could that be related to the uninstall of the Estonian Migration Tool, or is there just something wrong that is causing files to disappear on my system?