Classic British Flight Sim

After about 3 weeks, having taken PC back to bare bones and reloaded everything from Windows upwards, I finally have a good FSX install.

There have been a few re-installs of FSX along the way and various tweeks and the odd utility here and there, and a few headaches as well. I went through a phase of 5 second pauses, low frame rates, BSOD nv4_disp.dll crashes and some hungapp crashes. They were driving me to distraction . I got another BSOD crash but can't remember what it was, but spent a wee while googling it. I read apost somewhere that referred to the same type of error but with IE, and the first reply was "You don't have Norton by any chance do you?"

Well , I used to use BitDefender which was OK, it had a gaming mode, but a few weeks ago my subscription ran out. While I was re-installing everything, I came across a free copy of Norton on my Gigabyte drivers disk, so I thought why not? All the problems above ceased when I got rid of Norton and installed Microsoft Security Essentials. Now running smoothly with everything pretty much maxed out, full WOAI install running at 70% traffic load (any more than this and you get horrendous queues at the holding point and more go-arounds than you can shake a stick at).

I'm getting 15+ fps at UK2000 Gatwick Extreme v3 on the Go Extreme! configuration and 30fps at stock airports (set to unlimited in the sim but with a 30fps limit set in nVidia Inspector).

So far, so good.... fingers crossed

Well done, Nigel,
Yes, sometimes PC means Persistence and Commitment.

That's really interesting, Nigel. It's wonderful that you've cracked the problem and have your sim running the way it should. I've often read about seemingly inexplicable problems like this in forums with plenty of helpful advice but AV isn't usually the first suspect.

I've been using MSE since it came out so have been sheltered from such problems. Arguably it doesn't give the protection that a full security suite will but Cyberbrat has also been using it on his laptops for a couple of years for constant dubious downloads and websites and neither of us have been bothered with malware. It's such a neat unobtrusive program it's easy to forget it's there.

Happy Xmas simming!

Ian

No.. you don't usually suspect AV until you've been stung a couple of times. It has to be said though, I'm surprised you went for Norton Nige. I think many of us here would rather have NO AV than have Norton installed

Incidentally, UK2000 scenery wouldn't install correctly when I used Kaspersky unless Kaspersky was disabled beforehand. Thus far, I've had no problems with MSE and the price is excellent

ATB
DaveB

Nice one Nigel.

But, I echo Dave's sentiments....Dave's sentiments....Dave's sentiments....

Almost better with nothing than Norton's.

People who I know that work in shops that push it would never use it themselves.

Glad you have success Nigel, and it sounds like your getting pretty decent performance too! Well done

I didn't know about the perils of Norton. Just that I found it on the motherboard drivers disk.... proof that there's no such thing as a free lunch!

Many moons ago, it was the 'defacto' AV to have mate. I used it for a good few years until it, like many other bits of software, became 'bloatware' and started taking more system resources than was good for it. It also started dropping down the tables as far as virus protection went.. at which point I switched to Kaspersky. Had no real problems with that for a while but when it too started going where I didn't want it to, it went in favour of MSE. MSE had been around for a while then.. long enough for it to have any potential bugs ironed out and looking at it logically, who better to write AV software than the folk who write the OS in the first place. When Ben told me he used it, that was enough for me I hope he wasn't telling porkies though

It doesn't stop some Asian chap phoning every now and again to warn us that we have a virus on our 'business' pc though. The wife had already told him we didn't even have a pc

ATB
DaveB

I think, or at least it seemed at the time, that Norton was pretty much the industry standard and did the job that was required then, certainly it was all that was offered on ne PC's

But like Kodak film, others come along with a new fresh approach and adapt to changing conditions where the complacent big boy just carries on.

Before you know it, it's just the name as the products of just about everyone else is, at worse, equal, but often better and/or cheaper, but still the original name is the one most people know.

Weary of viruses they ask for Nortons which the shop pushes anyway.

The newlyweds go to the electrical shop to buy a Hoover....if that's what the shop sells it's the brand they get and they sweep their new lounge carpet with pride...but is it getting as much dust out of the carpet as some other make???

Truth is, unless you are an expert you just don't know

Same with AV...you can check what it blocks or removes but there is no way of telling what it leaves behind

I was reading this with some interest because I have used Norton for many years.I already have an update disc for their 2013 edition which I got at a very good price from Costco.
if I decide to change to MSE what is the safest way to do it? My thoughts are to D/L MSE,then D/l the removal tool from Symantec,disconnect from 'tinertnet and finally install MSE.I would still have the Norton disc in reserve should I need it. EricT
ps I have to say that so far I haven't had any problems with viruses etc AFIK.Could it be a case f better the devil you know?
However I have my suspicions that it can be rather demanding on my old pc.