My fellow flight simmers,I admit it. I didn't get it to start with. I am a pilot, not a computer tech. And, an old pilot at that. So, I guess I'm a little slow when it comes to technology. FSX is the seventh version of MSFS I have purchased over the years. Each has been a step up in terms of accurate flight simulation, especially with the excellent add-ons that have been available. I have a 3.2 gig P4 with a gig of ram and a X850PE that runs FS9 quite well. I purchased FSX with great anticipation when it came out. Like many others, I was frustrated with the performance. I tried some of the tweaks, but I was still not happy with the results. So, I left FSX on the hard drive and went back to FS9 and waited for a patch.Yesterday I downloaded the long awaited patch and tried to install it. The patch would not install. This morning I checked the forums in pursuit of a solution. I was dissappointed to see how many new problems have been detected in the patched version. As I read through the numerous posts suggesting possible fixes, it came to me. I guess I got caught up in the theme of prior versions of MSFS. I didn't realize what FSX is. FSX is not a flight simulator, it's a challenge-game for computer techs. You know, a "see if you can get this to work" kind of game. I am not qualified and not interested in such a game. So, I have uninstalled FSX and put it on the shelf-o-shame along with several other add-ons that I have purchased over the years that didn't work. My bad for trying to use FSX for something it was never designed for...flight simulation. I appologize if I have offended anyone with this post. But, I am again frustrated and dissappointed with FSX. However, I thank Microsoft for all the versions that preceded FSX. I really love flight simming!

Bill, why not do a fresh FSX install, then install the SP1 and give it a another try? The SP1 certainly breathes new life into FSX and it's now very enjoyable.:-)

Hi Ron,Thanks for your response. I feel like I almost know you. I have purchased several Eaglesoft products over the years. And, all of them have been great! If you feel FSX is worth another try, it probably is, even for me. I will give it a go tonight and see what happens. Thanks again.

BillDo not be discouraged by the lengthy posts on tech issues.I don't mind digging into tech things, but even all of THAT (sp1 threads) has my head spinning.Give it another shot on a clean setup, and then post back here and we can work out any glitches you run into.I wouldn't expect things to work well right off the bat. FS is like fine wine.RhettAMD 3700+ (@2585 mhz), eVGA 7800GT 256 (Guru3D 93.71), ASUS A8N-E, PC Power 510 SLI, 2gb Corsair XMS 3-3-3-8 (1T), WD 150 gig 10000rpm Raptor, WD 250gig 7200rpm SATA2, Seagate 120gb 5400 rpm external HD, CoolerMaster Praetorian

Hi Bill...I've seen you around for the past years, so am at least familiar with your name...Bill, for what it's worth (no pun intended!), with very few exceptions most of those reported "problems" are self-inflicted; most of the time they are caused by impatience, ignorance or arrogance; sometimes all three at once. :)I would second Ron's suggestion with regards to giving FSX + SP1 another shot, especially since the positive reports are running 98:1 at the moment. :-beerchug

I thank you all who responded to my vent.I am reinstalling tonight.With my fingers crossed that I don't screw it up.

>I thank you all who responded to my vent.>I am reinstalling tonight.>With my fingers crossed that I don't screw it up.After installing FSX RTM from the DVDs, be sure to start it up and let it build the fsx.cfg and scenery.cfg files, etc.Basically, verify that it's working...Then, shut down FSX and install SP1. Load it up and check for proper operation.Shut FSX down and run a full defrag on your drive...

I guess I'm too old to be playing computer tech too. And I haven't yet gone to the trouble of downloading SP-1 either, let alone installing Tile Proxy, which I've downloaded.I've been using FSX as a "tweakless" flight simulator with autogen generally off, to boost frame rates in the 25-30 fps area. I do use FS Genesis, for lots of mountains of the western USA. In regards to simulating flight, I think that FSX has the heads up on FS9, at least with higher performance GA airplanes. I much prefer my FSX version of the RealAir SF260 over the FS9 version. The air mass in FSX is much more interesting than FS9's too, especially over the mountain/desert areas.I still use FS9 for all those highly detailed 3rd party airport sceneries, and numerous aircraft I've obtained in the last few years. For a simulated morning or afternoon GA flight out of KSLC with real weather in the Marchetti SF260, I prefer FSX two to one! The simulated airplane looks better, fly's better, and the high resolution mountain textures are significantly advanced over FS9's.L.Adamson