storminnorm80

As the title says, whenever I overstress the aircraft, or have a hard landing/crash, the screen just stays right where the incident happened, and an hourglass appears "forever", or until approx 3-4 minutes and I click the escape button, upon which I am put back at the freeflight window. Then I cannot change aircraft, time of day, weather, or airport. If I choose to go with the default flight, the loading window takes f-o-r-e-v-e-r to load, and then the flight is a slide show, LITERALLY! I have to completely close out of FSX then restart it, and all is fine till the next "accident". All drivers are up to date. PC is defragged, and not OC'ed. Video Card is OC'ed when running any 3D games, and has been for over a year. No problems with any other programs or games. I have not added anything new or tweaked any files. This is the first time FSX has given me any trouble on its own....:( Any ideas?Best Regards,Norm

>Norm, if you first sent an email to them, (Nick's Stock)>BEFORE you actually purchased, and got somebody live, do you>then think that you could just send them the funds---money>order or C.C., and they would send you a key for v8.5 back>through email, instead of getting a v.10 key, and then having>to mish-mash with them through 3 or 4 emails, etc? What do you>think, by actually having gone through the 'mash'...?>>Mitch>Well, the way I see it, once the money was spent, the O&O team could either give me what I was asking for, OR give me my money back!:-lol Its easier to ask for forgiveness than it is to ask for permission...I thought that it was strange that even after I explained why in the 2nd email, they replied with a "oh is that right?" as if to say I was loosing my mind. So I asked Nick for advise, and he spelled out the difference between the two versions for me, to which I simply copied and pasted in a reply to them....WTH, here is a copy of the emails:#1Dear Mr Owings,thank you for your email. There are no changes in the functionality between O&O Defrag 8 and O&O Defrag 10. What exactly do you miss?Best regards / Mit freundlichen Gruessen--Brigitte NillO&O Software GmbH - Creating Solutions!http://www.oo-software.com/MY REPLY:Hi Brigitte> > When O&O version 10 runs a COMPLETENAME defrag it leaves a space in the sectors between the files and does not compact them closely together. Thatis fine, however if a SPACE defrag is run for any reason it fills in those gaps left by the COMPLETENAME defrag and makes the original defrag, useless> O&O v8 and 8.5 COMPLETENAME defrag compacts the space between the files and therefore a SPACE defrag run as regular maintenance does not hinder or remove the advantages of a COMPLETENAME defrag.> Also, by allowing free space to exist in sectors between files as the v10 NAME defrag allows, it lets a hard drive fragment faster by letting that free space fill up. Caches that are simply temp areas take up space in the critical file zone instead of collecting at the end of the data block, etc. > The fact that the slack sector space is present in version 10 makes the title useless for my needs. I prefer version 8.5 which functions within the specifications I require.> > E.N.OwingsTHEIR TURN...:Dear Norm,I've spoken with our development department and the colleagues are quite surprised because there was nothing changed on the engine that could cause this problem. Anyways, if you prefer O&O Defrag 8 instead of the current version I will send you a downgrade key. Just give feedback.Best regards / Mit freundlichen Gruessen--Brigitte NillO&O Software GmbH - Creating Solutions!http://www.oo-software.com/mY REPLY:Hi Brigitte,> > > > Please have your development department run a full COMPLETENAME defrag on a drive with version 10. Once it is complete, ask them to look at the sectors using the CLUSTER INSPECTOR, simply click on any data area that holds the files on the hard drive. Make sure it is not the MFT, PAGE FILE or other and they are in fact looking at the data on the drive. > They will notice EMPTY sectors being placed between in the files in sequence. > That does not happen with O&O 8 or 8.5 and there is no EMPTY space between the files. They are in fact compacted together.> If the SPACE defrag is run with version 10 after a COMPLETENAME defrag, those EMPTY areas will FILL with random, non sequential data, effectively destroying the benefit of the NAME defrag. > > > Please send a key for version 8.5. > > Thank you for your assistance.> > Best Regards,> > Norm OwingsAND FINALLY:Dear Earl,thank you so much for your email and your information.We permit us to give your information to our test dept.Following this email you get another with your registration informationof Defrag 8.Best regards, / Mit freundlichen Gruessen-- Kerstin PiwellekTeam AssistantO&O Software GmbH - Creating Solutions!http://www.oo-software.com/ YES, I took the liberty of editing what NickN said, just a little!:-beerchug I thought that "FILL with random, non sequential data" was a nice little touch. (even though I have no idea if that is in deed a fact...:-doh ) :-lol Thanks again Nick. Everyone hang in there.

>Nick, > I downloaded O&O Defrag v8.5 as you suggested and really>like it. I want to register & buy it. However, when I click>on the Register Now button I get sent to a O&O v10>registration. Will the v10 registration work for v8.5 or will>it send me an upgrade to v10? And, BTW $44.95 seems a little>high but may well be worth it for what it's done above and>beyond XPs meager defrag program. I too downloaded and used the 8.5 version that Nick suggested, then went to buy it, and only version 10 was listed. I bought it, thinking that I could use the "key" for it, for v8.5. Well, it didn't work. It took 4 emails from me to the O&O defrag team to convince them that v10 is NOT what I wanted, or needed, and had to explain why. (with NickN's help) Last Friday I was FINALLY sent a "key" for v8PRO which worked for v8.5. Now all is well. Again, I would have not pursued this quest to get the "key" for v8.5 if it weren't for Nicks help. Thank you NickN, just trying to pass along what you did for me.Best Regards Steve, Good luck and don't give up.Norm Owings

To keep from clogging up the original "WOW" thread any MORE. (Sorry for that) I'm posting my O&O defrag version issue that I'm having here for NickN to see, since I cannot PM him from this forum. (profile blocked) Here is the latest email from the O&O defrag team that has me thinking, "Hmmmmmm":Dear Norm,I've spoken with our development department and the colleagues are quite surprised because there was nothing changed on the engine that could cause this problem. Anyways, if you prefer O&O Defrag 8 instead of the current version I will send you a downgrade key. Just give feedback.Best regards / Mit freundlichen Gruessen--Brigitte NillO&O Software GmbH - Creating Solutions!http://www.oo-software.com/Am Borsigturm 48, 13507 Berlin, GermanyInternational: Tel. +49 30 4303 4303 / Fax +49 30 4303 4399Germany: Tel. (030) 4303 4303 / Fax (030) 4303 4399"Norm Owings" schrieb:> Hi Brigitte> > When O&O version 10 runs a COMPLETENAME defrag it leaves a space in the > sectors between the files and does not compact them closely together. That > is fine, however if a SPACE defrag is run for any reason it fills in those > gaps left by the COMPLETENAME defrag and makes the original defrag, useless> > O&O v8 and 8.5 COMPLETENAME defrag compacts the space between the files and > therefore a SPACE defrag run as regular maintenance does not hinder or > remove the advantages of a COMPLETENAME defrag.> > Also, by allowing free space to exist in sectors between files as the v10 > NAME defrag allows, it lets a hard drive fragment faster by letting that > free space fill up. Caches that are simply temp areas take up space in the > critical file zone instead of collecting at the end of the data block, etc.> > The fact that the slack sector space is present in version 10 makes the > title useless for my needs. I prefer version 8.5 which functions within the > specifications I require.> > E.N.OwingsSo why do they NOT mention version 8.5? IS there a difference between 8 & 8.5? I'm sooo confused.....Please advise.*:-*

:-doh ,Thank you Nick. At first I felt embarrassed but after seeing your explanation, I have to admit, the subject matter is in fact over my head. I can grasp what is happening, but do not understand the workings as you do. I sent a reply email to them, using your post. I humbly thank you for helping my dumbazz. I'm usually the "helper" here in my life, so it feels really weird being the "helped". Thanks again. I'll keep you posted of any replies I recieve.

Really? this is what I had in email today....Dear Mr Owings,thank you for your email. There are no changes in the functionality betweenO&O Defrag 8 and O&O Defrag 10. What exactly do you miss?Best regards / Mit freundlichen Gruessen--Brigitte Nill My query to them yesterday evening:After downloading and purchasing a license for version 10, I've realized that> I no longer have the functionality that I had with the 8.5 version. Is there> ANY way possible that you can issue me a downgrade key for version 8.5? I> really prefer to use it, as version 10 just isn't what I expected it to be.> > Thank you for your time,> > E.N.Owingsso now what? You guys are telling me one thing, and the company is telling me another...

Here is a copy of my correspondance with them:Dear Mr Owings,You can buy a license for O&O Defrag about the following link: http://www.oo-software.com/home/en/order/onlineshop/But you can't buy the the version 8.5 in our online shop. The current version is version 10. The software for version 10 you can find here:http://www.oo-software.com/home/en/download/Thank you. Best regards, / Mit freundlichen Gruessen-- Mandy TieslaukTeam AssistantO&O Software GmbH - Creating Solutions!http://www.oo-software.com/ Am Borsigturm 48, 13507 Berlin, GermanyTel. +49 (0)30 4303 43-03, Fax: -99Managing Directors: Dipl.-Kfm. Frank Alperstaedt, Dipl.-Inform. Olaf KehrerCommercial Register: Berlin-Charlottenburg HRB 62124, VAT-ID DE185526142EDIT: I have sent them an email requesting the key for v8.5 as you suggested. Now just waiting...(fingers crossed)

>Hello Nick, I've installed O&O 8.5 from your posted link, and followed your list to the "T". Thank you so very much for this information. It has me in trouble with the wifey now that I'm simming "all the time"... Anyhow, I decided to purchase the O&O program, and could not find the 8.5 for sale, so I sent them an email asking for it. I was told that 8.5 is NOT for sale, but I could purchase a single license for version 10, which is what I did. So now I tried using my "key" from v10 for the trial version 8.5 and it does not recognize it. Should I uninstall 8.5 before installing version 10? Thanks again for the guide.Moderators, please make Nicks guide a sticky for all to see.Best regards,Norm Owings

Read this, it made all the difference in the world for me.I have AF and AA checked in FSX.http://forums.avsim.net/dcboard.php?az=sho...id=430970&page=Good luck. I hope it works as well for you as it did for me.

have you read this: http://forums.avsim.net/dcboard.php?az=sho...id=430970&page=It made all the difference in the world for me. Good luck.

I cannot thank you enough! Thank YOU Thank YOU Thank YOU Thank YOU!Absolute night and day difference after changing the Global AA to 8Xs settings. I had my FPS set to unlimited, and couldn't believe I was getting 50 to 70 FPS with my original "medium" settings. I then deleted my FSX.cfg file and let FSX build a new one, just to see where FSX would place the settings automatically. In the main settings window, EVERYTHING was set to the right. I could not believe the difference. Flying is smooth now. The Autogen trees, buildings, roads, and AI traffic are crystal clear in focus. However the terrain is still "Quilt-patch" blurry at ground level, and doesn't really look good till about 1000 feet in the air. Wish I could get the ground to look as clear as the trees and buildings sitting right there on top of it...but thats a different issue. I'm just extremely happy to have smooth flight with IMO nice scenery. Thanks again for the tip.

>Hi there,>>sorry to poke (burst?) your bubble on at least one count but>TEXTURE_MAX_LOAD has nothing to do with the RAM of your GPU.>Instead it is the parameter you can control in the FSX display>settings menu (Graphics tab) with the "Global texture>resolution" slider. Setting the slider to "Very High" sets>TEXTURE_MAX_LOAD to 1024 while "High" results in 512, etc.>>Basically, TEXTURE_MAX_LOAD suppresses the loading of the>higher mipmaps of textures, meaning only at "Very High" will>the highest mipmap (usually, the 1024x1024 pixel resolution)>be loaded. Whether it actually gets displayed is another>matter, the slider is just a "cap", so to speak. In other>words, all other things being equal, TEXTURE_MAX_LOAD=512 or>less will result in less sharp textures, including ground,>objects, and aircraft. >>Obviosuly, smaller mipmaps help with RAM use and loading>speed, which may be the effect you're seeing. The reduction in>sharpness may not be apparent unless you look at your aircraft>from the outside or airport buildings close up.>>Interestingly though, you use the value 768. That value is not>officially supported but, at least on my system, keeps the>"Global texture resolution" slider at "Very High". Thus, there>should be no visible change at all.>>Cheers, Holger>>P.S.: There's a nice cfg tweak compilation by Greg>Germanowski, which explains most of the relevant parameters in>more detail:>http://members.cox.net/spambait/FSXTweakGuide.pdfThank you very much for the information. That is strange to me how after I changed the value to "768" that even the aircraft display window displayed the aircraft with out any "jagged" edges. Perhaps the AA settings in nHancer had finally "kicked in"? I'll read the tweak guide that you suggestion and post if I think I can help. Sorry for the confusion, just thought that I might be onto something.:-newbie

Hello,While noticing that FSX was taking an "extra" long time to load than normal, and being tired of experiencing the "blurry issue", I came here and did a search on the subject. After doing my research, I decided to do two things: 1) remove my TileProxy cache of tiles, and uncheck them from scenery.2) made a copy of my fsx config file as a .txt file, saved to the desktop, then deleted the fsx config file in my root directory, in order to let FSX create a "new" one. I started FSX and clicked "yes" to all the permission windows, started a flight, it loaded up "normally", which is approximately 2 minutes, and ended the flight after a few minutes. Then I went to BC's tip site; http://fsx-tweaks.4t.com/ and compared his config to what was in my "old" config file, and what was in my "new" config file. The first thing I changed was under {GRAPHICS} TEXTURE_MAX_LOAD=changed to 768, which is the RAM size of my video card. The default value I found here was 1024. I saved my change and started FSX. I noticed a huge difference right at the free flight window. The aircraft in the display window had 0 jagged edges, almost looked like a real life picture. The flight was smooth as butter, and the ground all around me was perfectly clear, with the exceptional "popping"(from blurry to slightly clearer)of texture clarity as I approached the terrain out in front of me. I then closed out of FSX and went back to "fiddling" with the config file. Next I added FIBER_FRAME_TIME_FRACTION=0.20. This fixed the "popping" of texture clarity out in front of me. The ground was finally in focus in my viewing radius! I then kept trying ONE thing at a time, and then taking a test flight. I did NOT notice (visually) any of the other tweaks doing anything to frame-rates or clarity. The only other config mod of BC's that I am still experimenting with is the {BUFFERPOOLS}. I hope this will help anyone else having these issues. I have FSX settings at the nVidia recommended settings. Aniso filtering ON and AA off - nHancer running the AA at 8s and Aniso at 16x.

"FTX will do for ground textures what FEX does for the sky environment":-eek Great, my wife will NEVER get me off the computer now. Do you know a good divorce lawyer? I am still drooling over FEX. Sensory OVERLOAD...:-boom Oh, BTW, Thanks.:-cool Best Regards,nOrmO

Wow! I have been a fan of Peter Wilding "goodies" for a few years now, so after I saw a screenshot or two I stole my kids lunch money:-lol and purchased FEX.:-lol (PLEASE DO NOT CALL CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES, THIS WAS MY ATTEMPT AT HUMOR:-roll )I am using XGraphics, edited to remove clouds, sky and water. Then made my choices in FEX and installed them. Launched FSX and used MegaScenery Hawaii. NO FRAME HITS! REALISTIC CLOUDS. FROM WHAT IS RIGHT OUTSIDE MY WINDOW, AND WHAT IS ON THE MONITOR, I CAN'T TELL THE DIFFERENCE IN SKY COLOR ! WOW, oh already said that. See for yourself,http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/178518.jpghttp://forums.avsim.net/user_files/178519.jpghttp://forums.avsim.net/user_files/178520.jpgOriginal pics were 1920x1200. Hope they look as good reduced in size.I chose "real world static weather" inside FSX settings.I just cant get over those "puffy, fluffy, wuffy" clouds. I flew the sim for an hour, then went outside and looked up, only to find those same looking clouds right there in the real sky! I am VERY IMPRESSED.After a year of "lurking" this new software made me come out of the shadows to share with you all. Absolutely stunning. Thank you Peter Wilding, Robert Stevens, Chris Norris and all the others who made FEX. I am really looking forward to the "Weather" feature. Money well spent IMHO. Best Regards,E.N. Owings