Hi all. I'm having some serious trouble and I'm hoping anyone can help. Whenever I install FSX it runs fine a couple of times, but then when I try to run it, I get an error message saying "Flight Simulator was unable to load some program files and will now exit. Please reinstall Flight Simulator to restore or repair the program installation."Repairing won't work, and if I do a complete uninstall and reinstall I get to run the program once or twice before getting the same problem again.I have tried everything I can think of including formatting my drive and reinstalling windows. Please, if you can think of something I can do, don't hesitate to post here.

Hey guys...I usually don't like *bumping* my own messages, in fact I frown upon doing so; but this time I really need help, as I'm desesperated. I've spent what to me is a lot of money in FSX and add-ons which will go to waste unless I can get to run the game again.

First thing I would suggest would be to *again* blow away your install and then run something like Registry Mechanic - you may have corrupt registry keys.In addition, run a deep scan disk checker on the disk that the install is on to see if you have any bad blocks etc. Probably need ot leave it overnight if the disk is large.Once that's done, install the RTM version and see if it works *beofre* running SP1 over it.Andrew

Have you installed SP1?

Thank you both for your replies.triangle: I have done as you adviced, but neither program found any errors in either registry or HD. In fact one of the steps I've tried is reformat my drive and start with a clean, fresh, windows installation, but the results were the same.Paul: It doesn't matter wether I install SP1 or not, the game just stops running after a few times no matter what version it is.

Vista?

UlfB: Yes, I'm using vista, but I'm not sure that is the problem per se, as I've been running vista for a few months now, and the problem only started happening a week ago.Paul: Yes. The problem is the same with RTM or SP1, I have even tried installing or uninstalling SP1 after the problem to see if it solves it and so on. I have tried every combination I can think of.

Getting a little desperate here but have you tried reinstalling on a different partition?Really, though, the fact the problem manifests after a few runs sounds like something is being corruptly written to disk while you are using or closing FSX. Are you overclocking? Are you runing a virus scanner while flying? Are you standing on only one leg? (j/k on the last one)Andrew

"Are you standing on only one leg? (j/k on the last one)"I dunno; you never really can tell what interaction any particular action can have. This may very well be a problem for some people.Thomas[a href=http://www.flyingscool.com] http://www.flyingscool.com/images/Signature.jpg [/a]I like using VC's :-)N15802 KASH '73 Piper Cherokee Challenger 180

If you've done this and still having it fail afterwards, then there is something, or you are doing something, quite fundamentaly wrong with your system or it's setup. You don't have enough swap space; you have mother board driver issues; your bios is flaky; you may have a bad memory dimm; the proc is overheating; the power supply is overheating/failing, etc.,There are a good number of things which can be wrong with the system outside the sim. Start from scratch (again :( ), get the latest drivers for the m/b; the gpu; the sound card, etc.. Dn/l the latest DX9c from MS. Run SiSoft Sandra on it, or a system testing software: Once it's run just fine for a few days install a different game on it for another few days; THEN when it looks stable - then install FSX with NO addons. Play with it for a week; Check your temperatures/voltages; make a daily system restore point; If FSX is ok after a few days - install the SP; If you've got this far without issue, then you have fixed whtever it was which was killing FSX. Or should have. The problem with fixing something like this is - it's not in front of us, so it's a bit like groping in the dark.

Woah. Thank you all for your advice. I will try all that you suggest (except standing on one leg :) ), begining with what is less time consuming to what will take the most time. Obviously it will take me a while, so I'll keep you all posted.Thanks again.

Ohe yeah, just a couple of other things. . . watch out for black cats, don't walk under ladders, get yourself a horseshoe, a four-leafed clover, and find yourself some kind of religeous priest-person to bless the system before you turn it on. . :-lol

I just had this exact problem start happening (Win XP). It first happened after I applied the June Win XP security update which in retrospect, required a restart (I think for malicious software removal tool). At first, FSX would start (splash screen) but after a few secs would silently close. I thought the Windows update might have caused it so I did a system restore. After that I got the "unable to load program files". I watched it with filemon, but couldn't see anything obvious. I thought maybe the system restore broke something so I restored a backup of all FSX file (not Windows) from disk. Then it worked so I figured, OK, good to go.Now today I had the same "unable to load program files". This happened after my McAfee AV downloaded something that required a reboot. I rebooted a second time, and now FSX is working again. So I don't know what the problem is :( but I guess the good news is "you are not alone". Maybe the locked files / restart sequence has something to do with it? Or maybe that malicious software tool futzed something up. I think I've seen reports of that thing doing evil before.scott s..

Not sure if this helps but I have just posted another topic with a problem I seem to have located...Topic no #405527What sort of flying are you doing and have you completed any of the 'missions'?CheersMike

Haven't done any missions. Read some "bad logbook" threads, but my symptoms don't match exactly, in that at the splash screen, FSX just closes silently. I don't get the "not responding" box. I did try the FSXlog.exe, and it didn't find any errors. I went back and copied over a backup logbook from last March and will see what that does.scott s..