After suffering countless CTD's and Black screens during the summer, I today uninstalled Fs9 and numerous add-ons. Then I installed the fs9 and couple of add-ons UTEurope, PMDg B-736-739 FS Genesis meshes and GAP series + SimFlyers EDDF.First a ctd after 15 min of flying with a default Cessna, then a black screen (g3d.dll) after about 20 mins of flying eddf - edds.This now enough for me and I will wait for the new rig and FSX...Petteri PulkkinenVihti, Finland

As the problem doesn't occur with every other simmer,it's probably your copmputer. If you don't fix that, what is the point of installing FSX, which will stretch your system to its limits?Start by renistalling all your chipset and motherboard drivers, then DirectX then your graphics card drivers.Allcott

Hi, what graphics card do you use?cheers,nick

Hi and thx for replies.I have Ati Radeon 9800Pro (128) card with new catalyst drivers. I previously have used omega drivers, but these same crashes have followed me..My comp is AMD XP3000+ with a Asus MB and I have 1,25 Gb memory so that these shouldn't be the issues...But anyway i'm waiting for a new computer (in two weeks) so that my present one will be in another service in the near future. The reason I won't go to a fresh WinXp install is the utility use, which I don't want to risk.BTW, it's a time consuming process to start uninstalling and then installing fs and the add-ons step by step with all the patches and service updates.RegardsPetteri Pulkkinenvihti, finland

1.25 gigs of memory is your problem. There is no way you can be running matched memory at that config. Change your memory configuration and that should help a lot. Reducing to 1 gig would be better than 1.25-PaulPrimary RigLiquid CooledAMD FX-57 @ 3 gigsAsus A8NSLI-Premium2 gigs Corsair XMS PC3500LL 2 3 2 6 1TXFX 7900 GTX 690/1750XFX 7800 GTX 515/135024 inch Widescreen LCDDual 19 inch LCD'sRaid-0+1PCPower and Cooling 1khttp://home.comcast.net/~psolk/3monitorsa.htmlBackup RigAMD 4000 San Diego @ 2.72 Gigs Kingston Corsair XMS CL2XFX 7800 GTX 515/1350 Raid-0

Can you please explain more? 1Gb is better than 1,256Gb? How about 1,512Gb?Petteri Pulkkinen

Two of my friends were experiencing CTD's and system freezes. Both had their rudder pedals and flight yokes plugged directly into the on board USB ports.Using a USB hub with its own power supply for these USB devices eliminated the CTD's and system freezes.

The two main causes for CTD's are overheating and an inadequate power supply. FS shos these things becasuwe nothing pushes your computer components harder than FS this side of extreme benchmarking.I always start any CTD troubleshoot by cleaning the fans inside the case, making sure the vents are not blocked, and checking the power supply.If you're getting a whole new computer anyway you probably won't need to bother. But if the upgrade is in component form you most definitely will.Allcott

Pete,When it comes to memory, you always want to make sure it is "matched" You do not want to run different types of memory or memory running at different speeds as it leads to system instability.So to answer your question directly, YES, one gig of "matched" memory, either a single one gig stick or two matched 512 meg sticks is much better than two 512 sticks + a 256 or ong gig + a 256. That 256 is not adding anything and if it is running at different timings then you can really be confusing your system...Good luck,-PaulPrimary RigLiquid CooledAMD FX-57 @ 3 gigsAsus A8NSLI-Premium2 gigs Corsair XMS PC3500LL 2 3 2 6 1TXFX 7900 GTX 690/1750XFX 7800 GTX 515/135024 inch Widescreen LCDDual 19 inch LCD'sRaid-0+1PCPower and Cooling 1khttp://home.comcast.net/~psolk/3monitorsa.htmlBackup RigAMD 4000 San Diego @ 2.72 Gigs Kingston Corsair XMS CL2XFX 7800 GTX 515/1350 Raid-0

Thanks for clarification. New to me.., but at least i will try with only 1 Gb.Petteri Pulkkinen

My Pleasure Petteri,Good luck and let us know how it works out. Have you ever tried running something like Prime95 and SuperPI to test the system's ability to run under heavy loads?Just a thought,-P EDIT****Just personally, I only ever run even numbers of memory sticks. Either 2 or 4 sticks preferably 1 gig a piece. I would personally go with 1 gig of good matched memory over 1.5 gigs of cheap or non-paired memory anyday.

All right. Now I did a test: I took off the "unmatched" 256Mb memory stick and started a flight EDDH-EDDM with PMDG B737 (AS6 running).After take-off I left the machine and was working with my laptop, having a look at my FS computer once a while...After about 45 mins of session the sim crashed directly to desktop.Next I will maybe test with the programmes you mentioned. Anyway I have the new computer (a super comp for me) coming in maybe 2 weeks, but this is still interesting..Petteri

A direct CTD with no warning and no error which just leaves you looking at your desktop is usually a missing or corrupt texture. Restore your SceneryWorldtexture directory to vanilla FS and try the same flight. I get a CTD with no error or warning at all after I defrag sometimes. I guess a texture is not where FS expects and poof desktop... I have a texture directory I keep aside for this very reason and just copy it over and usually the same flight works next time around...Good luck,-Paul

Hmmm... I have right now Prime95 running in the background.. I just wonder.. a new fs9 install, UTEurope, Ground Enviroment, ActiveSky6.., and all these with latest patches and service updates.I do a defrag regurarly and my HD still have plenty of space. After uninstalling fs on Sunday I was ready for a defrag, but the WinXP tool program told me that there is no need to defrag right now. This is so complicated.Petteri

Petteri, Allcott offered the best first place to start....start any CTD troubleshoot by cleaning the fans inside the case, making sure the vents are not blocked, and checking the power supply.A simple test would be to remove the left side cover of the computer and stick a house fan blowing air into the case. Then go fly. I'll not be surprised if your CTD's go away under such testing procedures.Good luck,Greg