FSX froze up on me a few minutes ago, so I rebooted no problem but now i'm getting a weird error message on start up;An error occurred while attempting to activate the product. The problem may be due to an incomplete installation of the application. Reinstalling the application may resolve the problem. Otherwise, contact product support for assistance.I contacted support, but I think here will be a little faster than one business day.;-) Is there a way to get around this without reinstalling? My first DVD drive doesn't let go of DVDs after about 5 minutes, and my second one doesn't read them half the time. If I remember correctly, it took me a few hours to install FSX the first time.Thanks

just wait 'till VISTA...you aint seen nothing yet

Lomac,One way to circumvent this problem - if you got the space on your hard drive - is to copy both the DVD's to your hard drive and install from there. I know others have done it this way.

This fixed my problem (same error), Lomaq: it was posted here a coupla months ago - don't remember who, but it saved my bacon. (If you're reading this, and it was you - Many thanks!) MS support had promised a call back within three days. It's been 3 months. . .The "PartMgr" was missing from my reg entry. Also - just a point - there was some discussion around this fix, because it didn't work in every case.

Exactly what happened to me! I re-installed after applying the Microsoft KB928080 Bulletin patch. You can download this little program from Microsoft that will fix your problem. My frame rates shot up after a re-install, your/my problem was a benefit to me!!See my post "The Key To The Holy Grail"Good luck.Chas

Thanks for the replies everyone. I managed to get my slow DVD drive to work, so I will run the patch you mentioned, and then reinstall. One thing though, will I still have my rewards and missions still completed after the reinstall? I really don't want to have to do them all again.Thanks

No, you will not have your rewards unless you back-up the original folder. Back-up the newly created folder first before you overwrite the folder with the old one, just in case.Try my tip of manually enabling the Windows Installer before you re-install flight sim, if it is not already running. Don't forget to disable anti-virus as this could create problems during re-install. I also installed the older .Net Framework available from the Microsoft Up-date site, (probbably not relevant but worth a try).Something happened during my third install that made my FSX installation really fly performance wise. I can only guess what it was,(third time lucky I guess!)I did clean my registry with CrapCleaner before I re-installed too. Removing all the old FSX registry key's. If you decide to do this, create a system restore point just in case. You can always back-up your registry with most of the cleaning tools. If you find your performance increases with a new install, perhaps following what I did in my post, report back here with the results. I would like to know if you experience the same good luck.Yours aye.Chas.

I don't think FSX will be starting for me anytime soon! First reinstallation I got the BSoD. Now, the 2nd time, I get an error saying;"Error 1305. Error reading from file C:Program FilesMicrosoft GamesMicrosoft Flight Simulator XScenery1001scenerydem1001.bgl. Verify that the file exists and you can access it."It's just one problem after another with Microsoft!Thanks.

Somebody hates me. I'm soooo close to finishing the installation. It's doing the final 'computing space requirements'. But for some reason, it tells me to put in Disk 2, although it is already in. Now, my crappy DVD drive won't read the disk, so I tried to take it out and put it in the better one. Guess what? It won't give the DVD up.:-mad I've tried everything, and I can't even get it to come out manually without a restart. How the am I supposed to install this? I don't have the cash for a new DVD drive, so I am contemplating returning FSX to the store.:(

I feel your pain. I too had the exact same error on November 17, about a month after I had installed fSX for the first time. Now, I cross my fingers every FS session that it won't crash again, because it was a harrowing experience that took all of my skills to get out of, and that's coming from a guy who has "done it all" with WinXP,NT,2000,Me,98SE,98,95,3.11,3.1,3.0,DOS going all the way back.Just happened out of the blue. Sudden crash/reboot, and then the dreaded error msg you got.I attempted MS's KB "fix" but it completely crashed my system and made Win unbootable for a variety of reg-related reasons I won't go into here. To make a long story short, I had to boot to last known good config to stop that.So, I ended up uninstalling FSX via the Control Panel Add/Remove...and then proceeded to reinstall FSX. And it all worked.But now, I have ZERO unhindered activations remaining. Now, if I want/need to reinstall again, it will require an Act of Congress, *******, and the six saints to re-activate. :( I like the *idea* of product activation, but this implementation falls short imo. I am less enamored with product activation for a game title, though.RhettAMD 3700+ (@2530 mhz), eVGA 7800GT 256 (Guru3D 93.71), ASUS A8N-E, PC Power 510 SLI, 2 GB Corsair XMS 3-3-3-8, WD 250 gig 7200 rpm SATA2, CoolerMaster Praetorian

OY. Dont forget the "reactivation" resets every 180 days (if you can keep it running that long) :(

What do you mean "resets" every 180 days? bill