MSFS CTD on 'Checking For Updates' - Help Requested

[steve310002 1,198]

I have been using MSFS on my new PC (7800x3D / RTX 4090) for the past few weeks with no issue. Today I suddenly encountered a CTD once I reach the 'checking for updates' screen whenever I load MSFS. It searches for updates for a few seconds, then the screen minimizes, freezes and the CTD occurs.

I tried the usual things, emptied my community folder, started in safe mode, run as administrator, restarted my PC but the problem still persists. I also tried verifying and repairing the MSFS files both in the Windows 11 option to repair Apps and also in the Xbox App. It did strangely download 8kb once I hit verify but it made no difference. All my Nvidia drivers are up to date.

Since the last time I had MSFS working I had installed the Aerosoft CRJ. I installed it yesterday but did not load the sim. Prior to that the sim was working. I have since removed it from my community folder but wondering could this have corrupted some other files? Following its manual removal, MSFS still won't start though.

I searched the forums and internet and can't find anyone who has CTD on checking for updates. All I can find are people who have had an issue of freezing on that screen but not crashing.

Any ideas on what's happening here, and importantly how I can fix it preferably without reinstalling everything again (I have been doing that since the past 3 weeks so reinstalling again would be very painful and data consuming).

Cheers,

Steve

P.S. I am not using the Beta version.

Edited September 26 by steve310002

[Antipodeslonghaul 65]

One temporary solution that might work would be disabling your internet connection while starting the sim. And you'll probably get some sort of message, continue in offline mode. Once the sim has loaded you should be able to go back online and it should run normally. But only a temporary solution as eventually one has to update.

[orchestra_nl 817]

That's a weird problem you have. Have you searched the official forums for advice? There are several threads there related to CTD while checking for updates.
There is also a troubleshooting guide which might help you: How to get past the "Checking for Updates" screen – Microsoft Flight Simulator Support (zendesk.com)Z
(It did not help me the last time I had issues but you might be lucky).

 

One thing you could check is whether the user.cfg (its deep down in your Windows profile folder) is alright. You could try renaming it and hopefulle MSFS will recreate it. Also, there could be partly downloaded upgrade packages you may need to remove. These would probably be in the root of your Official folder.

[steve310002 1,198]

39 minutes ago, Antipodeslonghaul said:

One temporary solution that might work would be disabling your internet connection while starting the sim. And you'll probably get some sort of message, continue in offline mode. Once the sim has loaded you should be able to go back online and it should run normally. But only a temporary solution as eventually one has to update.

I tried the offline method but it wouldn't let me into MSFS as I was offline. I think I needed to turn it offline inside the game unless there is another way (I think I once saw a way to do this in the Xbox app but I didn't get that far as you will see below).

21 minutes ago, orchestra_nl said:

That's a weird problem you have. Have you searched the official forums for advice? There are several threads there related to CTD while checking for updates.
There is also a troubleshooting guide which might help you: How to get past the "Checking for Updates" screen – Microsoft Flight Simulator Support (zendesk.com)Z
(It did not help me the last time I had issues but you might be lucky).

 

One thing you could check is whether the user.cfg (its deep down in your Windows profile folder) is alright. You could try renaming it and hopefulle MSFS will recreate it. Also, there could be partly downloaded upgrade packages you may need to remove. These would probably be in the root of your Official folder.

I was about to try orchestra_nl's suggestion when I attempted to load the sim again after 3 hours of trying, and low and behold, it finally worked for no apparent reason. It wanted to download 327mb of data and then load to the main screen as normal. I have no idea what is in the 327mb as I had not deleted anything. Unless this is a standard update and for some Asobo based reason, their update didn't like my computer and took some time to work. Weird, frustrating and a big waste of my morning.

Anyway thanks guys for your help! Much appreciated.

[edpatino 1,882]

19 minutes ago, steve310002 said:

I have no idea what is in the 327mb

This was an update everyone got last week (and some files related to changes to the stock airports), a new AIRAC Cycle I believe.

So, to me, it seems you've updated your sim and you got past the Update Screen.

[bobcat999 7,700]

44 minutes ago, steve310002 said:

I tried the offline method but it wouldn't let me into MSFS as I was offline. I think I needed to turn it offline inside the game unless there is another way (I think I once saw a way to do this in the Xbox app but I didn't get that far as you will see below).

I was about to try orchestra_nl's suggestion when I attempted to load the sim again after 3 hours of trying, and low and behold, it finally worked for no apparent reason. It wanted to download 327mb of data and then load to the main screen as normal. I have no idea what is in the 327mb as I had not deleted anything. Unless this is a standard update and for some Asobo based reason, their update didn't like my computer and took some time to work. Weird, frustrating and a big waste of my morning.

Anyway thanks guys for your help! Much appreciated.

Recently, it did that to me while it was downloading the first part of the update through the Xbox / marketplace app, which you don't always know about until you open the Xbox app up and see it downloading.  If you have a slow internet connection like me, this is especially the case, as it tends to download the main .exe first, which is a fair chunk of data, then the rest through MSFS itself.

Glad you solved it anyway Steve.

Edited September 26 by bobcat999

[steve310002 1,198]

57 minutes ago, edpatino said:

So, to me, it seems you've updated your sim and you got past the Update Screen

Nope, this was not at all what was happening. The update came later and I checked and nothing was downloading the background. My problem persisted for 3 hours. I have a 500mb/sec internet connection so it was not due to a slow download in the background.

As I said, the 'checking for updates' screen froze, then minimized itself and then crashed to desktop each time I started MSFS either in safe mode or normal mode. I am no expert but I know enough to know it wasn't just updating in the background. We all know MSFS is contrary. Anyway it is fixed now.

[udidwht 123]

11 hours ago, steve310002 said:

Nope, this was not at all what was happening. The update came later and I checked and nothing was downloading the background. My problem persisted for 3 hours. I have a 500mb/sec internet connection so it was not due to a slow download in the background.

As I said, the 'checking for updates' screen froze, then minimized itself and then crashed to desktop each time I started MSFS either in safe mode or normal mode. I am no expert but I know enough to know it wasn't just updating in the background. We all know MSFS is contrary. Anyway it is fixed now.

Know what fixed it?

[steve310002 1,198]

8 hours ago, udidwht said:

Know what fixed it?

That is a good point. I played around with so many things as I explained in my post. I also deleted Accuseason Advanced and Aerosoft's CRJ 550 (though it is unlikely it was them causing any issue). I tried repairing my files twice. I turned my internet off, tried loading the sim (as suggeseted by Antipodeslonghaul) which wouldn't load because I wasn't connected to the internet but at least broke the cycle of CTD'ing on the 'checking for updates' screen.

The bottom line is it could be many things that caused the issue and this in itself is the frustrating thing about MSFS as such things seem to happen quite a bit to different people. It often takes a lot of troubleshooting and multiple users having the same issue at once for these things to be figured out and even then there often are different potential reasons.