A problem already.........

[Guest Lindy]

...... and the program isn't even installed yet.I just purchased MSFS 2002 Pro and elected to do a complete install (yes, I have more than enough room). The process went through all three CDs with no apparent trouble. The screen is now telling me it is "decompressing scenery textures" but it's been decompressing NEWYORK.CAB now for the last 20 minutes at least!! Is this normal? My cursor icon is still whirling, but nothing is happening. How long should I wait?-Lindy (Thanks in advance.)

[Guest]

Just the basic first question. Did you shutdown all other programs before installing, especially any virus scanners?

[Guest Joshieca]

No its not normal unless your running a 486....If your in WIN XP or 2000 stop the process via a CTRL-ALT-DEL, find the install on the list, and stop it if you havent already done it.Go to your add/remove control panels and remove FS2002.Restart the computer....Defrag your hard drive...Reinstall, making sure that your not running anything in the background, such as a virus app, real player, screen saver, etc...http://members.cox.net/joshieca/fstimeslink.gif

[Guest Lindy]

Thanks guys.... I didn't think it should be taking THIS long to install.Yes, it's SOP for me to shut down any other programs before installing. I'm running Win98SE. Another problem....... my hard drive won't defrag -- don't ask me why cause I haven't the faintest idea. Oh well, time for bed anyway. *yawn* -Lindy

[Guest]

Lindy,Remember that if anything writes to the hard drive while defrag is running, it (defrag) will restart. Defrag is the app which more than any other requires you to shut everything else down...Also remember that defrag is rather overrated as a bug smasher. It isn't going to fix anything for you - all it's doing is moving files around so they are neatly arranged on your hard drive. If it's flat out refusing to run, it's likely because your hard drive has logical errors on it (cross linked files, unattached clusters, etc.) Scandisk should solve that problem for you.There were 3 or 4 of us that had problems reading the install CD's. Problem was solved by deselecting DMA access for the CD drive in the Control Panel. Problem would seem to have been either cheap CD's by MS or cheap CD Rom drives by operators... :-rollGood luck,Doug

[Guest Lindy]

Thanks Dave, but I've been having several problems with my game computer for months now. I understand what defrag does -- I understand what scandisk does. But this g-- d--- machine has been giving me fits for a long time. I think it's ready for an overhaul by the computer shop.... it simply is not working the way it should. MSFS 2002 is not the only software that won't install for me, and I don't have the time to futz around with it (the computer, not the software).Guess I won't be joining the ranks of MSFS users for a while yet, after all.-Lindy

[Steve Dra 7,588]

Hey Lindy,Have you ever been able to defrag this drive? Are you getting a message saying that there is not enough memory when you try to defrag?Let me know the answers to these questions, as well as what operating system (and how the disk is formatted, i.e. NTFS or fat32) and any hard drive info you have.I might have some suggestions to help.Regards,Steve Dra

[Guest Lindy]

Hi Steve. Oh, yes, I used to be able to defrag just fine, and I do so regularly. I get no messages of any kind... the defrag just hangs up at 10 percent..... I'm using Win98SE, Fat32.I made a list last night about all the troubles I've been experiencing with this stupid machine over the last few months. Among them: 1. Can't update my virus program (McAfee). And I could do THAT regularly in the past too. The d/l update just won't install. 2. Can't install a GEForce card.... the machine won't boot up if I put in a new card. 3. Sound card software won't install. I have an SB Gamer 5.1 card; the drivers installed, but the accessory software won't. 4. Modem is excessively slow. I have the exact same modem on both my computers. They both use the same phone line (I only have one); my computers are NOT networked together. But the online connection w/the 500 mhz machine is much snappier and quicker than the online connection w/my 700 mhz computer. Go figure. It's time for a tuneup.....I'm calling the computer shop this morning. But any suggestions you can come up with will be gratefully received.-Lindy ****************** >Have you ever been able to defrag this drive? Are you >getting a message saying that there is not enough memory >when you try to defrag? >>Let me know the answers to these questions, as well as what >operating system (and how the disk is formatted, i.e. NTFS >or fat32) and any hard drive info you have. >>I might have some suggestions to help. >>Regards, >Steve Dra

[Steve Dra 7,588]

Hey Lindy,You are not having the problem I was thinking of, it sounds like you need a tune up.The problem I've experienced with Windows in general is that it can in fact get bogged down after a long period of use without a reformat and reinstall.I know that sounds drastic, but every time I do it I'm amazed how much faster things are!What I now do is use a program called Ghost that makes an exact image of my drive. First I reformat and reinstall Win98. Then I install all the drivers and got Win98 setup just how I like it. Then I image the hard drive using Ghost.Then I install all the flightsim stuff. (You could install all that stuff and include it on the image, but it tends to make the image very large)Now every time I see that I've bogged my O/S down with tons of installs and uninstalls, etc and its running slooow...I just backup all the stuff I've changed since the last cleaning and "reimage" the hard drive.It usually takes less than 10 minutes, and boy does it make a difference! :)What you might want to do is ask the shop you bring it to if they have a standard "image" they load on thier boxes. (They should know what that means). If they do and are willing, ask them if they can:1. Provide you with that image (if your box was built by them and the image is for your box) on a CD.2. Ask them if the could make an image of your hard drive after they've tuned it up and give it to you on CD. You would have to get Ghost (by Norton) to use the image, but I don't remember it being that expensive, and they might bundle it with their other software.I'm not saying this is plug and play or there is no learning curve, but there are plenty of sites on the web that can help if you want to setup an image for your hard drive.Regards,Steve Dra

[Guest]

Lindy,The 10% hang within the defrag is quite normal. Defrag forces Scandisk to run first and sits at 10% on the bar while doing so. If it never gets past 10%, you have some file problems (hanging scandisk).Run Scan Disk by itself and see what it reports is going on. It's in the same spot your Defrag is. You may have to boot in safe mode to be able to have it actually fix the problems, but we'll leave that for another note as required.Ray

[Guest Lindy]

.... for all the suggestions and help. My computer is in the computer hospital as I type (I have a 2nd machine). I don't know if they'll be able to get it up and running, but they ought to at least figure out some of the problems. It would be nice to have it working the way it's supposed to..... even if it's not a hot 1.something gHz machine! :-)-Lindy :-wave

[Steve Dra 7,588]

Hey Lindy,Yeah your 700 should run fs2002 just fine with the sliders in reasonable positions.I got along just fine on a 600 for a long time (Just upgraded to an AMD XP1700 this weekend), even running 767PIC on multiple monitors, flying on VATSIM and using Roger Wilco over a 56K modem that would only connect at 26,200. Here is a link to the screenshot forum showing how I had my mightly little 600 setup and running:http://ftp.avsim.com/dcforum/DCForumID47/4411.htmlRegards,Steve Dra

[Jay R 0]

Hi Lindy,That Defrag problem in Windows 98SE is very familiar to me. I run into it alot with my clients. All you need to do is boot W98SE in Safe Mode, which effectively stops all prgrams from running and loads a minimum of default drivers, that will allow you to do a better defrag than booting regularly.As far as the problems you list above. I hate Mcafee, I use Norton Antivirus 2002, a much better product. Now to the driver issues, I feel an FDISK coming on with a few of those problems. Which means basically doing a new install of Windows. I run into similar problems with clients, and the easiest remedy is to blow the machine away, before of course finding a way to backup all of your data, hopefully you have a seperate partition for it all.As for the modem, this too, I have run into, and again a new install of windows is needed. I moved a way from windows 98 a long time ago, because it frustrated me to no end. I basically made a schedule up, where I would reinstall the OS and my programs at least once every 6 months. Of course I pummel my operating systems relentlessly. The only OS that stands up to my pummeling is XP. Of course that is not a cheap choice at all. But hey if you need assistance of the computer kind please feel free to contact me and I will help in any way I can.http://www.forefrontgrp.com/jayssig.jpg"There is an art . . . to flying. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss!"

[Guest Kurt]

Here is a link to an article about a replacement MS defragmenter for Win98. It may or may not help if you are having problems with the default defrag program. I've used it with no problems on two Win98se machines, although I've never had problems with the default defrag either.articlehttp://aroundcny.com/Technofile/texts/tec060902.htmldireck link to d/lhttp://aroundcny.com/Technofile/texts/Defrag.zipthe replacement shows as v 4.90.3000 vs. my original v 4.70.1998http://ftp.avsim.com/dcforum/User_files/3d051ee721821731.jpgKurt M

[virtualstuff 758]

Check if your cable of the CD driver or DVD is on the same as your harddisk, it seems you have a hardware conflict :(So install your hd on the primary ide connector and the CD/DVD on yoursecondary.Further there is defrag software then runs even when you are working or have services/files open in the background... :-)Succes,awfEHAM