Windows XP anyone?

[Guest]

Anyone flying MSFS2002 on the Windows XP edition of Windows? How is it? Any recommendations one way or other about XP useage and the sim?

[Guest]

I have not had any problems with the two together, I haven't heard any complaints from anyone directly relating to xp and fs2k2 interacting badly. Good luck. I happen to like Windows XP although everyone has their own opinion and they are varied...

[JimmiG 244]

If you've got a new system, XP works great. There are some problems with older joysticks, CD-writers etc. though.You also need lots of RAM. XP itself uses a lot of RAM, and FS2002 is also very memory hungry, so 512MB is almost required if you have a lot of FS addons etc.

[Guest Lobaeux4]

I agree, you almost have to have 512MB minimum for XP anyways, let alone what FS2K2 wants. I've got 512 and I'm going to put in another 256 this week. I'll update later on how this has helped if at all.As for XP, I was running, same computer specs, Win98SE before I switched to XP. I've got an AMD 1700, GeForce 3 Ti, 512 MB RAM, 40 GB 7,200 HD, and I can honestly say, I'm getting better performance with XP and it's much more stable. I love XP. I've still got 98 on a separate partition, but I'm going to ditch it. I can say, if you add XP to your system (it's not as bad as most say it is), do a fresh, clean install, meaning reformat, set up a separate partition just for XP, I've got one, it's got nothing but XP on it, no programs or anything. I've been very happy so far with XP and can't see going back.Joe

[Guest]

Got a Dell Inspiron 8100 Laptop P III 1.2 Giga CPU 512 ram memoryand GeForce GTS 2 Go. I am running FS 2002 and all addons with no problems.Like it more better than my Desk top which still hasWin 98SE. Will do a clean update on this one.Edmundo Cardenas van Grieken/SVMICaracas, Venezuela[table border=1 bgcolor=#eeeeee][tr][td rowspan=3] http://avsim.com/flightdeck/images/Radar_small.gif[/td][td]Proud pilot of Proud Supporter of[c][link:www.flightsimmers.net/radarcontact]Radar Contact][/c], the premiere ATC adventure add-on for FS

[Guest]

Lowell, XP is IMHO the best OS from Microsoft -- as a network/systems engineer I support tons of users professionally and we use Win2000 Server, Redhat Linux 7.2 Server, Win2000 Pro and XP Pro, the XP Pro worstations have been absolutelly wonderfull and rock solid!I use WinXP Pro with a 1Ghz P3 CPU and 512RAM at home and FS2002 runs very well. I have not used WinXP Home edition, just Pro though.J. Padron (KMIA)---

[John_Tavendale 453]

XP is great, I love it! It's the most stable OS I have ever had the pleasure of running.Joe: Going from 512MB to 768MB won't see much increase in performance as a whole. I was running 512MB PC2100 DDR and stuck in another 256MB stick and it honestly didn't make much difference. Not the same as going from 256MB to 512MB did. I'm back to 256MB until next week. Corsair RAM is awesome, but darn expensive :-eek

[Guest BobL]

I hate to be the sour one in all of this accolade for XP but it has been nothing but bad news for me. FS2000, which I still use and actually prefer, (well use to use as in past tense) is completely hosed. I'm still picking up the pieces on it and unless I can get a patch from Carenado, will be forced to re-format a new computer less than two weeks out of the box just so that it can be dual boot.FS2002 had a serious FPS hit by XP (~40 to ~23) but does run without crashing to the desktop although I don't have any of the add-ons back in (FS Meteo, FS Nav, etc..) And before anyone starts with new vs. old, the system is P2.4, 1GB RAM, GE Force 4 Ti4600 and Audigy sound. Pretty state of the art. Given a choice, I'd un-install it and go back to something more proven which I may spend Monday doing.XP has rendered half my software obsolete and the other half runs with major issues. Examples of those that are made obsolete are Click and Burn; GO_Back; Pharoah; (and I suppose the rest of Sierra's city building series but I haven't tried them yet). Those that have issues are the Age of Empire series; Empire Earth; the Star Wars based games; Star Trek, and I could go on but in my opinion, XP is not ready for prime time.The unfortunate thing is that with the way it's being received and heralded as the best thing around since Windows 3.X; MS is not going to be motivated to patch it or fix it and all the developers, game and other applications alike, will be forced to start writing for XP and those of us who have problems with it and revert to Win98/ME are going to be stuck with an OS that won't operate newer software.All I can say is beware. Some are reporting very good luck with it. That wasn't the case with myself. Also, before you buy it, make sure all your data is completely backed up. I lost a FAT partition during the upgrade and in turn some of my data during the upgrade. Also, an absolute must...MS is flat-out lying when it says that XP will upgrade an existing OS. It has to be installed on a clean, freshly formatted hard drive. I've seen that requirement over and again...in this forum, the Empire Earth forum, and a couple others where I've been trying to deal with the problems I'm having. It (XP) doesn't upgrade. Right now, I have one of both. I have a computer with a clean install and one that I upgraded. While both are pitching me fits, the one that I upgraded is significantly and visibly worse than the one that Gateway installed clean. EE won't even run on the upgraded one. So much for my negativity. I'm sure...one day...XP will function but right now, I wouldn't give you $.02 for it. And the fact that I haven't been able to fly for nigh on two weeks now because of it isn't helping things one bit. On a positive note, I have an Out of the Box install of Fly!II (I am bi-simulatoral) on the upgraded machine (a PIII). None of the FS hardware is installed (yokes, pedals, and the like)...and Fly!II seems to love XP. I installed an old joystick I had. For basic flying, (left, right, up and down) it is smooth, responsive and lacks stuttering and it's not the state of the art machine the other one is). Unfortunately, the old MS Sidewinder Precision Pro (non-FF)is no longer programmable under XP and guess who is not supporting that old joystick with new drivers. You got it ...MS!!! Anyway, it (Fly!II) does quite well and with none of the rendering tweaks.As you can tell, there are many who will argue with this and may even flame me for posting this but I thought you really needed to hear the other side of the story. As a fellow-consumer and spender of the $$$, I would recommend waiting if you can.BobL

[Guest]

Flyers, and XP Knowledgable gang (All): Thanks. Since my post, here is what I decided to try and it was an eye opener. I do appreciate all these posts and am reading them in great detail. But I played around some too. Here is what, and how: I built a brother of mine a PC 20 months ago. He had a problem and brought it to me to repair. Since I was wondering about XP, and he needed his drive FORMATTED and a new start. I did this. I formatted. Put on Windows 98SE, then immediatly, with no VIA drivers, nothing, put on XP Pro. Right on top immediatly. Then I put MSFS2002 on immediately after that. No in between software. No drivers. No sound CD. No Video CD. Nothing. And the result? MSFS2002 is doing well. Now, here is what is interesting: Look at the system I put it on. And remember, I have not checked frame rates, but it is flying as good as my own machine, and looking a heck of a lot better at the moment on screen. Here it is: AMD Duron 600 CPU 320 MB of Non Descript SDRAM FIC AZ-11 Mainboard (No VIA drivers installed). Maxtor 15GB ATA66 5400 RPM Hard Drive, One Partition (C:). One Sony CD-RW, and One Panasonic, CD-ROM drive. Creative Labs: 3Dfx-Banshee Blaster, Voodoo, 16MB Video Card (No Banshee Blaster Software or drivers loaded by me). Currently On: AOC GLr 15" SVGA Monitor. (No AOC drivers installed by me). Creative Labs 16 PCI Audio Card (No sound drivers loaded by me). Windows 98SE and Install Over Immediately: Windows XP Pro No other software installed at this time. This setup is doing a good job of handling Microsoft Fligt Sim 2002. Looks a lot better than the NO SCENERY setup on my own PC. I am determined to solve the problems of why this sim runs on my AMD 900, with the same mainboard, but has no scenery with Matrox Millennium G400 32MB Video Card. I am about to switch the DIMMS about, slot one to slot three and vice versa? That doesn't work, then switch the Video card out to a Guillemot GeForce 2 32MB from my AMD 750. (I know. I know. I have too many computers. It's a fault for certain). Thanks all for your time and help. I am bound and determined to get this sim to give me some scenery. It runs fine, but the scenery is just blocks and blocks of green, brown, and black. And I have black water on this 900. Thanks All.

[FlyinMisfit 0]

hi Bob,you do have a state of the art system. one question though, what type of ram do you have installed? RDRam is the preferred choice for the p4, no.2 being DDR. also, xp's is loaded loaded with a lot of bloat-mostly the new GUI. if you haven't done so already turn off system restore and automatic updates just for starters. i'm still using win98se but i've played around with some computers at our local best buy with winxp installed and i was surprised at how slow everyting is just doing basic "windows" navigating in winxp with system restore and automatic updates turned on. turning those two off alone i found made quite difference. i hope you don't, but if you do have sdram that's putting a major chokehold on your system. i think you would be better off with 256mb of RD or DDR ram than 1gig of sdram. hope you get your probs. solved soon. happy flyin fm

[Guest]

I'm using XP Professional and just went with the standard settings. Made this 450 speed up just a bit. Works great with MSFS2002, at least for me.CHEERS!