Operating Systems and FS2004

[Tom Goodrick]

Vista continues to give me little problems running FS2004. But there are fewer problems than when running FS2002. I ran FS2004 for many years on Win98 with no problems and no peculiarities. I could easily do anything I wanted to do. I got used to running FS2004 with the menu across the top so I could easily interrupt a flight to change something - edit the FD files, the panel or even the weather.

Now, running VIsta, I can only run in the Full Screen Mode. If I try putting the menu on top, it is unstable and does weird things. So I tap the Alt key to get a menu and then get out of full screen mode so I can edit something. Then I have to get back into Full Screen Mode to fly.

How do the various other versions of Windows work with FS? Can I change the OS on my laptop to any of these other versions that work better? Since Windows 7 is the current version, I would "upgrade" to that if it runs FS9 well.

[louross]

Yep. Had problems with Windows 98 and various versions of it; same with Windows 2000 or Millenium,or whatever it was.
Started using Windows XP Pro and have no complaints. Fine system for me.
According to the forums and people I've talked to, Widows Vista has problems and built in limitations. MS quit suppporting Vista and I think went to Windows 7, but apparently there are some problems with it too. Find Winsows XP Pro, and use it. Maybe you can find a tech that still has it, or can find a web-site to download it.
lr.

[flaminghotsauce]

Tom, are you meaning the menu on top that pops up when you click Alt, or do you mean you want to fly in window mode? I mean the Alt+Enter mode that gives you the resizable window. Windowed mode will suck up resources harder in Vista and 7 where full screen mode doesn't. I don't know why. If you're having issues in windowed mode, you may be hitting the limit of what your laptop can handle so it glitches.

I don't have any issues running FS9 in either mode in Windows 7, but I may have enough computer to overcome the resource issues well enough. W7 is better than Vista, but is it worth the cash outlay? W7 will sit quietly sucking up almost a gig of memory doing nothing where Vista sucks up 1.3 or 1.4 megs of memory doing nothing. So 7 is running more efficiently. It would definitely be an upgrade over vista. If you have 2 gigs of memory under Vista, and you're running a flight sim, you're pushing the limits.

If you can go back to XP, which runs well with 512 megs of memory, you'll probably have better luck with the laptop.
Two votes for XP, but qualified by saying XP support is going away, while 7 support is current and ongoing. It's a toss-up. Either is better than the V.

[Tom Goodrick]

I mean the condition you get by pressing ALT. In Win 98 I could run that way all day. In V I can run for a while but eventually the screen goes black. I getting along okay in Full Screen Mode but it is a bit awkward.

[Chris Ross]

I have a computer with XP [pro and another with W7 64
Both have FS9 installed
when I open FS9 in xp pro I get a blue strip across the top with fs9 acof and the start strip across the bottom
I click alt and get the fs menu across the top which stays there
Iclick alt + enter and Iget full screen mode
in full screen mode when I click alt I get the fs menu only across the top


In W7 whan I open FS9 iget all three menu strips clicking alt changes nothing
clicking alt + enter gives me fullscreem mode when
I click alt I get the fs menu which stays there the screen went black for abput 3 seconds but then returned

I am quite happy with both xp pro and W7 The W7 machine came with vista installed and I was never happy with it and I most certainly wouldnt go back to vista

[dirtydog1006]

My setup is XP Home on a laptop. I get some quirky things, but I suspect my little machine is hanging on by it's teeth. So, I am not ready to blame the OS. But, for what it is worth, I would bet on XP Pro over XP Home, all else being equal.