Selecting menu items freezes FSX?!

[alsummers 0]

Hi everyone.I took delivery of my new PC a month ago, and took the opportunity to migrate to FSX from FS2004.My new system is a Core Duo E8400 @ 3.0Ghz, 4Gb of RAM, and a 1024Mb 8800GT, running XP Pro.I was prepared for the fact that even on this fantastic system, FSX may still not run at med-high settings without significant tweaking. However I was very pleasantly suprised to find that it runs like dream, with no tweaking whatsoever, and on pretty high settings.I've spent three weeks enjoying the visual beauty of flying in FSX, and loved every minute of it. Until a couple of days ago that is...Now, whenever I bring up the menu with 'alt', as soon as I select a menu item, the sim freezes. No hard drive activity, no nothing. It simply freezes. Left alone it would appear it will remain like that until we've long since populated our neighbouring planets...The only way to solve the issue is to tab out to desktop, or alternatively ctrl-alt-delete to task manager, and then double click on FSX in task manager. FSX then pops back up at the menu item originally selected. This process must be repeated whenever I select a menu item, which as you can imagine is soul destroyingly tedious, not to mention bewildering given that its been fine up until the last day or two.I've changed no hardware, I've not installed or uninstalled any programmes. I can think of nothing that would have precipitated the change in FSX.Whats more, today I uninstalled/reinstalled FSX - and the problem persists!Any help most appreciated!Regards,Al.P.S. Computers are my hobby, so I can assure you drivers/hardware configs are as they should be...

[Guest firehawk44]

Known problem for some; not a problem for others like me. Because this does not occur on everyones system it must be a problem centered around your computer system config, like the /3GB switch config or system drivers not properly installed (e.g., motherboard drivers, video and sound card). You will continue to get this error until you fix the system problem(s). Have you checked your Event Viewer and investigated any events that might be causing a problem with your system? When you hit that menu bar, it's like something is taking memory address space that's already in use. Therefore the freeze. If you're allocating too much memory space with the /3GB switch, it might be conflicting with your 1024MB Nvidia video card. Maybe lowering the memory space allocation will resolve your issue. Just my 2-cents worth. Best regards,Jim

[jwenham 1]

I had the same problem. I believe it is a issue with the video card drivers. What fixed it for me was to use nHancer to set my driver settings. You create a profile which will be used for FSX. You also have the ability to set Global settings. Download nHancer and set up the profile for FSX and then set your global exactly the same. When I did that my menue freeze issue was gone. If your not sure about nHancer there a many threads here about it and how to set it up. If you cant find them post back and I'll help you find them.

[Guest fsxmissionguy]

This is a known issue that some simmers are reporting. It is directly related to your video card/driver set.nVidia has a support forum where customers gather to lament their purchase, group-hug and suffer together since that's better than suffering alone. It is here:http://forums.nvidia.com/index.php?showforum=22Here's a Google resultset for this problem, searching these forums:http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=ctd+s...rums.nvidia.comWith tounge only slightly in cheek,

[alsummers 0]

Many thanks for the replies.I have nhancer installed, so will set up a profile and see how far that goes to sorting the problem.Nice to know that its not just me, and I'm sure with some investigation and following of advice, that the problem can be rectified.Al.

[Guest JIMJAM]

"I'm sure with some investigation and following of advice, that the problem can be rectified."Man I wished I had 1/2 your optimism.Some of the smartest techies and thousands of users for well over a year have not figured out a "cure all" solution.FS9 had been out,what 5 years or so and still there are daily post about Nvidia graphics problems.Plenty who have no problems will pile on with comments blaming YOUR setup since theirs works.If you do find a solution, PLZ let us know.Good Luck.BTW-I ended up going back to 169 version drivers and a earlier Nhancer.Even so, FSX is still not right and its 50/50 anytime I fly if some graphics glitch is going to happen.I can however use the menu.

[Guest firehawk44]

Wait a minute! Many here are stating it's a video card driver problem. Uh... How can that be when several flight simmers who do not suffer the Menu CTD/Freeze have Nvidia video cards? Now I once had CTD's due to OOM's but got that fixed (I think) and I still occasionally get the "Display driver has stopped responding" crash but never, ever the FSX Menu CTD. How can that be? I have two big Nvidia 8800 GTX's w/768MB of memory each and I don't get the menu crash (along with the majority of FSX users). So I suggest everyone suffering the "Menu" crash start looking elsewhere. Maybe it's your sound card installation or you somehow screwed up your FSX installation but I still think it's centered around system memory issues as I stated before. But not a video card issue UNLESS you failed to install the video card drivers properly.Best regards,Jim

[Guest JIMJAM]

It could be the certain type metal fillings in ones teeth causing it.NOBODY KNOWS!Its not just FSX but go to any game forum and there are thousands having assorted problems. There are also just as many NOT having problems.This menu problem began with sp2. I am almost certain of it.Again, if you are not having problems then most could care less.At this point all you can do is trial and error,experiment,try Nhancer,click your heels and hope.Im my case, certain graphic anomolies do not happen all the time.Some planes, the tool tips are black boxes ands sometimes the same plane they work fine.I spun the FSX wheel of luck and now I do not get menu crashes.However, if I alt/enter out to desktop, its 50/50 if I can get back in the sim.I think that by now if there was a fix or someone knew the exact cause, it would have been fixed.However the knee jerk reaction is to run out and upgrade and /or buy that hot new video card.Nvidia does not care and Aces has wisely moved on to the next version so its up to US to figure it out.I would like to start a thread with JUST people having vid problems with their exact setup including addons.Then we might be able to find a common denominator.But I know it would turn into a flamefest with "mine works great its your setup" attacks.

[Illegitimi non carborundum 4]

AlWhat nvidia driver are you using? I have an 8800GT 512MB and didn't resolve this "lock-up" until I moved to the the 175.xx series.Does it still happen in "windowed mode"? Usually it does not and that's one way of opening and running the sim in windowed mode and changing to full screen when you have finished with the menu.Does using the mouse affect it in any way. I had a conflict between a logitech keyboard driver and the MS Intellipoint driver/software and the mouse would "lock" FSX if I accessed the menu in full-screen mode.Just a couple of thoughts.Peter Hayes

[alsummers 0]

Again, thanks for all these replies guys.Sadly I posted from the comfort of my bed last night, and am now off to work, but will have a go at all these suggestions this evening.I didn't try selecting menu in windowed mode Peter, so will definately give that a go.Al.