FSX-SE A tip you all probably already know about...

[birdguy 3,943]

I get frustrated at the loading times when I want to start up my flight simulator.  It can take anywhere from about 4 minutes up to 7 minutes with everything I have loaded.

Then this afternoon loading FSX_se got hung up for some reason so I hit ctl-alt-del to get the task manager up so I could terminate the program.  I found two other programs running besides FSX; Internet Explorer and  Word Perfect.  So I terminated them all and started over again.  My simulator came up and I selected my startup scenario and was ready to run in 4 minutes.  That's normally my fasted time.

So now before I start my flight simulator I bring up the task manager and terminate any programs I have left running.  Now it always loads in 4 minutes.

Noel

[John_Cillis 2,406]

Yes, it's important to terminate running programs and also limit services you do not need.  Scan thru your services and if you spot something you do not understand, google it and determine if it is needed to run all the time.  I terminate all services that do background interaction with the web while I am simming and you would be surprised how many services do that, there are even services that can end up on your computer making it a slave to other computer projects out there gathering analytics on their system's interactions with others.

John

[Guest JustanotherPilot]

My Asus GTX1060 came with a utility called Asus Tweek II, when run before Prepar3d v4 it stops unnecessary services and frees up Ram, then select Gaming mode, which tweaks the GPU,allowing the sim to run a lot smoother. Wouldn't fly without  it. Use it for running XP11 as well

[John_Cillis 2,406]

I downloaded the utility, even though I have an MSI system I have a GTX1060 and the utility works.  There may be a subtle difference but I already opted out of unnecessary services using Hijackthis, so maybe just one extra service was stopped.  I get very fluid performance in Xplane except out of Vancouver Canada for some reason, with Prepare3DV4.x I have always gotten smooth performance, much more so than I did with FSX.  I did nary a tweak to get there to.  I went to Fry's electronics, told them I wanted a system for flight simming, they pointed at the one I have now and said get it, even though it was not the most expensive system there.  I could have paid twice as much with some of their gaming rigs but the salesman, not a hustler, gave me exactly what I needed and I have had no complaints with my MSI Vortex ever since.

John

[birdguy 3,943]

I considered that once, John, after reading something about stopping unneeded utilities.  My problem was that list is all Greek to me.  I have no idea what each one does and how necessary it is.  So instead of perhaps getting rid of something critical I just did nothing.

 

Noel

[John_Cillis 2,406]

31 minutes ago, birdguy said:

I considered that once, John, after reading something about stopping unneeded utilities.  My problem was that list is all Greek to me.  I have no idea what each one does and how necessary it is.  So instead of perhaps getting rid of something critical I just did nothing.

 

Noel

It was partially Greek to me.  When I was studying to be a certified network engineer I had to know what those meant once.  Those I had forgotten about I just Google.  The good thing about Hijack this is once you mark something as safe or needed, it won't show up in the scan anymore, only new and suspect processes.  So a few hours' worth of study goes a long way in keeping your system gung ho for simming.  My sim friends have always remarked that I get better performance than my specs should indicate and I am sure it is from keeping my services down to a minimum, for instance who needs a video camera service running when you do not need one.

John

[188AHC 2,138]

54 minutes ago, birdguy said:

I considered that once, John, after reading something about stopping unneeded utilities.  My problem was that list is all Greek to me.  I have no idea what each one does and how necessary it is.  So instead of perhaps getting rid of something critical I just did nothing.

 

Noel

I suggest you take a look at Black Viper's website (Google it). He's pretty good at listing which programs you can remove and those you shouldn't mess with. I've use his guides since Windows 7.  Just make sure you read what he has to say and don't just start shutting things down.

 

[birdguy 3,943]

Thanks.  I went to Black Viper and bookmarked it.  Looks like I have a lot of reading to de before I start.

Noel

 

[JNS 106]

Rick, thanks for the Black Viper information, very informative.  I've wondered about this stuff for a long time.

Jeff Smith

[W2DR 1,859]

17 hours ago, 188AHC said:

Just make sure you read what he has to say and don't just start shutting things down.

Sound advice indeed. I, too, have followed these recommendations for years and I can say, for sure, that it works. But, if you don't read or don't fully understand the possible complications/ramifications that can be caused by messing with this stuff it's best left alone..........Doug

Edited April 6, 2018 by W2DR
edditted becuase i kant spel

[F22Simpilot 0]

Use the program Autoruns from Microsoft and you can disable stuff you don't need to start while the computer boots. Don't disable stuff you shouldn't and never delete anything you have no idea about. https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/autoruns