I've been reading the tweak suggestions in an effort to improve my rate of 10.But none of the sugested tweaks were necessary as I tried using Ken's "Autostart" (available here in the avsim library) and found an immediate increase to a rate of 20.You can read about it on: http://www.kensalter.com/fsautostart/ Thanks again Ken. What a great pice of work you've produced.Cliff

But for most top-end systems FSAutostart will do little or nothing at all. The problem is with FSX itself, not the background tasks.Doug

I have been curious about this program, but haven't tried it. Can't you do the same thing from Task Manager? It seems like FSAutostart just adds one more background process....or does it shut itself down after doing it's job?

archtx, FSAustostart just does that for you repeatedly and whenever you want at the click of a single button. Yes it could be done in task manager but it only takes 1 click with FSAS although the initial one time setup would be equal to one go at the task manager. It can also be set to turn those programs back on when you quit the sim, and you can customise it for different application. I also gain a couple hundred megs of defragmented memory which isn't a big deal with 2 gb but before when I had 512 it was a real big deal.Very handy utility IMO.

Very worthwhile for single core systems and marginal memory installations. Dual core takes care of bloatware services without batting an eyelid and 2G RAM gives everything enough space to play in.I mainly use FSAutostart for automatically loading all the external addons I use with FS9.Gary

How do you get it to actually run? I havent been able to locate any instructions. And I get an error message anytime I hit the start button.Thanks in advance if anyone knows.:(

No message

Use the Configure menu on FSautostart to point to the application as follows. In the Path to app-C:Program FilesMicrosoft GamesMicrosoft Flight Simulator Xfsx.exe. You can also set the applications and processes you wish to stop. There are recommendations about each one. These applications and processes will be restarted automatically upon exit from FSX.Ron

Just so we're on the same page here. Follow these directions and you should be able to get FS AutoStart working fine--Click the FS AutoStart icon. You should see four buttons along the lefthand side: Services, Programs, Configure, and Start. (If you don't see all four buttons along the left, enlarge the window by dragging down the lower right corner of the window until all four buttons are visible.)Now there is a one-time process needed to set your preferences the first time you use FS AutoStart. Do the following:Click the Services button. Click the Running button (this will filter the list so that only currently running Services are displayed). For each line listed, under the Action column click so that you see the dropdown. You can choose No Change, Stop, or Stop and Restart. Sometimes Ken will list a recommendation on the far right which of the Actions to choose for the particular line highlighted. Other times you will be able to make an intelligent decision because you recognize what the service is (for instance, if you recognize that it is, say, associated with a calendar program--which you clearly would not need while FSX is running--you could choose Stop and Restart so that this particular process would be stopped before FSX is launched, then restarted after FSX terminated.) If you have no idea what a particular line does, err on the side of caution and choose No Change for that item. After you've chosen a setting for all the lines listed, press the Save button to save your preferences.Now click the Programs button and go through the above steps for Programs. Again, remember to click Save when finished so that your settings are saved.Finally, click the Configure button. Under Path to App, type in the path to FSX. For my computer, this reads C:Program FilesMicrosoft GamesMicrosoft Flight Simulator Xfsx.exeThe remaining settings can be configured to taste. On my computer I have Process Priority set to Normal, Delay before Auto Starting other is 5, Number of seconds to wait before killing a non-responsive program is 3. Choose Defragment Memory (when chosen, the button appears depressed). Now Save your settings.You have finished setting your Preferences. You never have to do any of the above again unless you choose to modify or change your preferences.Now, whenever you want to run FSX, just click the Start button. A window will appear showing the elapsed progress as the services and programs you specified are shut down. Then your memory will be defragmented. This whole process takes one or two minutes at most on my system. Then FSX will start.After you exit FSX, the window will re-appear to show you the progress as one-by-one the services and programs specified are re-started. It should take a minute or two at the most.Finally you'll be returned to your desktop.Ken Salter has more in-depth suggestions such as which options you might wish to use under certain circumstances. Further directions and explanations can be found on his website which is, I think, KenSalter.com.I hope this information has helped! -Rick----------- My System -----------P4 @ 2.53 GHz / 1GB RAM / NVIDIA GeForce 6800XT, 256MB / Windows XP Home

never mind:-)

Thanks,I keep getting the exact same error. See attached image. It doesn't matter what steps I complete before hitting the start button. It doesn't like the path to FSX.exe:(

well, as you can see from the picture you attached, you should have a specific executable file in a specific location. is it there? copy it over and your troubles are history;-)

Thanks Everyone!Always helps if I "carefully" RTFM! Works fine now, although I get no bump in FPS, for FSX.Dual Xeon 2.8's2 GIG RAM2 SCSI drivesGeo Force 7600 NVIDIA with 512 MBXP ProfessionalI have done all the published tweaks I have read about so far. Personally I think FSX was a vast conspiracy...:(

Hi,A note of caution. I used Autostart in FS9 and started experiencing delays in Radar Contact4. When I set it up to start FSX, I was also getting pauses and jerky action, (your basic slideshow) . I know that it is probably something I have configured wrong when setting up Autostart. Just haven't had time to go through it and see which of the services I shutdown that might be the culprit. Just beware of this. It's nothing that can't be fixed easily.Jim

I've always just turned off uneeded services permanently in windows. For the rest the task manager comes in handy. I even turn off explorer and the print spooler. Don't ask if it makes a noticeable difference. I don't know but it can't hurt.Carlos