MSFS Will Not LOAD

[CFIJose 5,485]

After upgrading board and cpu I am no longer able to open the game. When I press the icon, nothing is happening.

I've done the usual things like updating the XBOX AP, downloaded the game, tried the reset option, tried the fix option, but no success.

I have tried getting a call from support, but when I answer the phone, there's no one there. Tried that 6 times.

Now I'm thinking that it's an authentication problem with MS.

Anyone else ever had this happen? If so, please share what you did to get the game running again.

Thanks.

Jose

[abrams_tank 7,457]

After upgrading your board and CPU, did you run any other games that call DirectX, other than MSFS?  If possible, try running a few different games that you know make calls to DirectX.

Also, did you do anything else other than swap your motherboard and CPU?  You didn't modify Windows or MSFS at all when you swapped your motherboard and CPU, right?  If you didn't modify Windows or MSFS at all when you swapped your motherboard and CPU, MSFS not booting up is somehow related to the change in your motherboard and CPU.  

[CFIJose 5,485]

5 minutes ago, abrams_tank said:

After upgrading your board and CPU, did you run any other games that call DirectX, other than MSFS?  If possible, try running a few different games that you know make calls to DirectX.

Also, did you do anything else other than swap your motherboard and CPU?  You didn't modify Windows or MSFS at all when you swapped your motherboard and CPU, right?  If you didn't modify Windows or MSFS at all when you swapped your motherboard and CPU, MSFS not booting up is somehow related to the change in your motherboard and CPU.  

I do not play any other games. Just MSFS.

The first thing I did is try to run the sim without a clean install. I had the same issue. With the previous system, the sim always loaded. I only upgraded for better fps. Now I have no sim at all. LOL

I now understand why many just buy the Steam edition. I will not. I'm still trying to get a hold of MS.

[abrams_tank 7,457]

16 minutes ago, DJJose said:

I do not play any other games. Just MSFS.

The first thing I did is try to run the sim without a clean install. I had the same issue. With the previous system, the sim always loaded. I only upgraded for better fps. Now I have no sim at all. LOL

I now understand why many just buy the Steam edition. I will not. I'm still trying to get a hold of MS.

So the reason why I asked if you can run any other games, is because if you can't run any other games that call DirectX, it's probably something you did (or you didn't do) when you swapped your motherboard and CPU.

For starters, I'm not sure if you checked whether you needed to download drivers for your motherboard and the CPU that you swapped, and whether you needed to update your motherboard's BIOS.  When I swapped my CPU (I put an i5-9400 into my motherboard), I also had to update the BIOS for my motherboard before I put the CPU in.  In addition, perhaps you didn't secure your graphics card properly on your new motherboard, or  you didn't secure the RAM properly. And of course, I hope you didn't mess up the thermal paste when you attached the new CPU to your motherboard.

Some CPUs also have integrated graphics on it, so even if you didn't secure your graphics card properly on your new motherboard, you wouldn't know about it because Windows can run with the integrated graphics on your CPU, rather than using your graphics card.

By running another game that calls DirectX, you can quickly decipher if it's your motherboard and CPU that is causing the problem.  If you can't even run other games, then you know it's not MSFS related.

Edited April 5, 2022 by abrams_tank

[G-RFRY 1,720]

50 minutes ago, DJJose said:

've done the usual things like updating the XBOX AP, downloaded the game, tried the reset option, tried the fix option, but no success.

Have gone into your Microsoft Store account to check if MSFS is there and needs updating. 

[Noel 4,562]

56 minutes ago, DJJose said:

After upgrading board and cpu I am no longer able to open the game

Tangential curiosity:  when did it become possible to change motherboards w/o a wholesale reinstall of Windows etc?

[Mikeingreen 139]

5 minutes ago, Noel said:

Tangential curiosity:  when did it become possible to change motherboards w/o a wholesale reinstall of Windows etc?

You have always been able to just re-activate Windows and install new drivers. No need to reinstall Windows.

[abrams_tank 7,457]

3 minutes ago, Noel said:

Tangential curiosity:  when did it become possible to change motherboards w/o a wholesale reinstall of Windows etc?

I haven't swapped my motherboard out yet.  But just checking a thread at Tomshardware about swapping a motherboard out, https://forums.tomshardware.com/threads/do-i-need-to-reinstall-windows-after-change-motherboard.3712551/, it appears that in some situations, you also need to install chipset drivers, graphics drivers, and even more, when you swap the motherboard.

[CFIJose 5,485]

3 hours ago, Noel said:

Tangential curiosity:  when did it become possible to change motherboards w/o a wholesale reinstall of Windows etc?

I did upgrade without any issues activating win 10 to the new board. You do need to install the Network drivers for this new MSI board. There are a few other drivers, but it's as simple as using your CD ROM. If the user still has one.

As an expert simmer I'm appalled that the MS Store has not been able to fix this well known and frustrating issue. It's bad enough that I have to download 175 GIG again, but right now I can't even open the AP in order for the download to start.

Trying to get support on the phone requires that they call you. When you answer, no one is there. Asking for too many call requests puts you in detention. You then have to wait until the next business day to request a call.

[CFIJose 5,485]

3 hours ago, G-RFRY said:

Have gone into your Microsoft Store account to check if MSFS is there and needs updating. 

Yes.

[Maxis 1,886]

45 minutes ago, Noel said:

Tangential curiosity:  when did it become possible to change motherboards w/o a wholesale reinstall of Windows etc?

Windows 7 on up.. It will attempt to detect the new stuff and reconfigure. In a good amount of cases you will be able to get away with it (with a whole lot of orphan registry entries and driver profiles). I absolutely hate that it tries to do this but its a quick and dirty way for people who think its time consuming to perform a full reinstall.

I personally think its asking for trouble but hey if the possibility is there people will take advantage of it.

Back on topic.  This motherboard upgrade was a same or similar chipset ? or a chipset with new features ?

Edited April 5, 2022 by Maxis

[rayharris108 259]

33 minutes ago, Mikeingreen said:

You have always been able to just re-activate Windows and install new drivers. No need to reinstall Windows.

Yes I did just that. Provided you don’t have an OEM version of Windows (which won’t be transferable to new hardware) you should be able to run it out of the box. I also upgraded the C drive. 
 

Of course you will install the new mobo firmware BIOS and drivers, but I replaced everything except the graphics card, and MSFS ran on the old copy of Windows absolutely flawlessly the minute I switched it back on again.

[Mikeingreen 139]

1 minute ago, Maxis said:

Windows 7 on up.. It will attempt to detect the new stuff and reconfigure. In a good amount of cases you will be able to get away with it (with a whole lot of orphan registry entries and driver profiles). I absolutely hate that it tries to do this but its a quick and dirty way for people who think its time consuming to perform a full reinstall.

I personally think its asking for trouble but hey if the possibility is there people will take advantage of it.

My Windows install is years old, through many motherboard, cpu, hdd's and ssd's and video cards. Add on the various Win10 and now Win11 Dev versions and it works just fine. Windows has gotten a lot smarter about such things over the years.

[Mikeingreen 139]

2 minutes ago, rayharris108 said:

Yes I did just that. Provided you don’t have an OEM version of Windows (which won’t be transferable to new hardware) you should be able to run it out of the box. I also upgraded the C drive. 
 

Of course you will install the new mobo firmware BIOS and drivers, but I replaced everything except the graphics card, and MSFS ran on the old copy of Windows absolutely flawlessly the minute I switched it back on again.

My Win11 version still uses the Key from an OEM Win7 that came to me free for being part of the Beta test for Win7.

[Maxis 1,886]

4 minutes ago, Mikeingreen said:

My Windows install is years old, through many motherboard, cpu, hdd's and ssd's and video cards. Add on the various Win10 and now Win11 Dev versions and it works just fine. Windows has gotten a lot smarter about such things over the years.

As an IT Admin color me unconvinced. Just my professional opinion. Im not referring to CPU/HDDs and video cards... Im referring to entire chipset swaps .. IE the motherboard. That is a hit or miss.

But again ... back to topic. Waiting to see what the op upgraded from/to

Edited April 5, 2022 by Maxis