Flight simulator was unable to load some program files

[Sunil Goswami 1058795]

I am facing this error from FSX. I saw it on my first laptop this morning. Then as I already had my new laptop instead of worrying about that I installed FSX, from the DVDs, on the new laptop. Ran it for the first time, and activated it online. Then tested it. It was running fine. Then exited it, rebooted after loading some driver installation, not Grahics card driver that's already loaded and working, just TV tuner driver, and then tried to run FSX again after reboot and got the same error.

 

"Flight Simulator was unable to load some program files and will now exit. Please reinstall Flight Simulator to restore or repair the program installation. "

 

Everybody knows installation takes more than an hour. Repair is just the same and doesn't really repair squat.

 

Has anybody faced this problem or have any ideas how to fix this?

[Sunil Goswami 1058795]

This is getting ridiculous now. I have installed FSX 4 times already on this one laptop and everytime I can run it first time after the install. Second time it comes up with the same error "FSX was unable to load some program files...". Will Microsoft EVER make a software that will work?

[Luke Kolin]

This is getting ridiculous now. I have installed FSX 4 times already on this one laptop and everytime I can run it first time after the install. Second time it comes up with the same error "FSX was unable to load some program files...". Will Microsoft EVER make a software that will work?

 

That doesn't sound like an FSX problem. Looks like something else on your machine is corrupting the FSX files.

 

Cheers!

 

Luke

[Mixales Nicolakis 986771]

Sunil,

Cant say I have had this problem, however you might be well checking the ERROR LOG of your system, if you search google with the Operating system (OS) (XP/VISTA), and find out where it is on your OS then have a look what the error is on the Application list, and post back!

[Sunil Goswami 1058795]

This is getting ridiculous now. I have installed FSX 4 times already on this one laptop and everytime I can run it first time after the install. Second time it comes up with the same error "FSX was unable to load some program files...". Will Microsoft EVER make a software that will work?

 

That doesn't sound like an FSX problem. Looks like something else on your machine is corrupting the FSX files.

 

Cheers!

 

Luke

 

Thanks guys, for your response. Luke, it is very much an FSX problem as I found in my Google searches. Unfortunately, I could find people having the same problem but couldn't see any solution. What you say maybe right, some other application maybe corrupting FSX, in other people's cases there were firewalls and anti-virus kind of programs. In my case, I have turned off (Exit-ed not just "Allow all"-ed) the firewall and not running any other program not even AV. I reinstalled once again after my second post and then tried to "run and exit" a few times to test. It worked. Rebooted twice and ran FSX each time. It worked. Then after a 3rd reboot it stopped working. Same error. I felt like slamming the laptop into the wall but the wall is plasterboard and I live in a rented house. Also the laptop is new, and I respect electronics much more than to abuse it like that. But that was the state of my mind.

 

Mixales, that is a good idea. If you are talking about EventViewer I know where to find that. If it's some other error log, please let me know what you mean.

 

Cheers.

[Larry James 901346]

Try this process. First, ensure you have a clean FSX install (according to your other thread in the Pilot forum you’ve just done this). Then install SP1, then SP2 of FSX.

 

You didn’t mention in any of your message if you had installed the updates. Let me know if this last. I have other suggestions, but would do this first (if you haven’t already).

 

-- L. James

 

--

L. D. James

[email protected]

www.apollo3.com/~ljames

[Sunil Goswami 1058795]

Thanks, Larry. I tried it, it's working so far. The corruption is totally unpredictable so I don't know how long it'll work, but so far it's functioning. Thanks for the suggestion, I hadn't installed the SP's before.

[Sunil Goswami 1058795]

Ok, got the same error message again.

[Larry James 901346]

Ok, got the same error message again.

 

No problem. It's a systematic approach... Which OS are you running? Do you have the updated service patches installed?

 

If you're running Vista, do you have SP1 installed?

 

It sounds like a problem with your OS or some other application you have running. The updated service patch sometimes fixes OS glitches while it's being installed.

 

-- L. James

 

--

L. D. James

[email protected]

www.apollo3.com/~ljames

[Sunil Goswami 1058795]

Ok, got the same error message again.

 

No problem. It's a systematic approach... Which OS are you running? Do you have the updated service patches installed?

 

If you're running Vista, do you have SP1 installed?

 

It sounds like a problem with your OS or some other application you have running. The updated service patch sometimes fixes OS glitches while it's being installed.

 

-- L. James

 

--

L. D. James

[email protected]

www.apollo3.com/~ljames

 

I am running WinXP Pro, I wouldn't run Vista if you paid me. I have two laptops both running WinXP Pro SP2. I tried SP3 on the new one. Same results.

[Larry James 901346]

I am running WinXP Pro, I wouldn't run Vista if you paid me. I have two laptops both running WinXP Pro SP2. I tried SP3 on the new one. Same results.

 

A bit surprised at your abhorrence to Vista. I feel the opposite. I’d missed Vista a lot if for some reason I had to downgrade. I’m glad I don’t have any compatibility problems with anything I run. None of my clients have any compatibility problems with any of their applications either.

 

So you actually found a new Laptop that was still shipping XP or did you downgrade it to XP? When Vista was first released I downgraded the computer of one of my clients to XP (before I fully understood Vista) and his Laptop became problematic. I had to take it back up to Vista for it to function right.

 

What is the original OS of your computer?

 

What are some of the other applications you’re running on this computer?

 

You say you have two computers… do you have this behavior on both of them?

 

Since you say the computer is new, would it be possible to backup your personal data and take it to the factory restore point then install only FSX?

 

-- L. James

 

--

L. D. James

[email protected]

www.apollo3.com/~ljames

[Sunil Goswami 1058795]

I am running WinXP Pro, I wouldn't run Vista if you paid me. I have two laptops both running WinXP Pro SP2. I tried SP3 on the new one. Same results.

 

A bit surprised at your abhorrence to Vista. I feel the opposite. I’d missed Vista a lot if for some reason I had to downgrade. I’m glad I don’t have any compatibility problems with anything I run. None of my clients have any compatibility problems with any of their applications either.

 

So you actually found a new Laptop that was still shipping XP or did you downgrade it to XP? When Vista was first released I downgraded the computer of one of my clients to XP (before I fully understood Vista) and his Laptop became problematic. I had to take it back up to Vista for it to function right.

 

What is the original OS of your computer?

 

What are some of the other applications you’re running on this computer?

 

You say you have two computers… do you have this behavior on both of them?

 

Since you say the computer is new, would it be possible to backup your personal data and take it to the factory restore point then install only FSX?

 

-- L. James

 

--

L. D. James

[email protected]

www.apollo3.com/~ljames

 

Vista is a story in itself, actually my disgust with Vista is a story in itself..lol. I tried Vista once, didn't like it, got rid of it. Since then I have learnt more things about Vista that make it less of my favorite, if that's possible. If it comes to the point where I have to have Vista to run FSX, I'll shun FSX. I'll either run FS9 or go for FlightGear or X-Plane or something.

 

To answer your questions:

Original OS on my new laptop was Vista, I downgraded to XP myself. On the old laptop it was XP Pro.

 

I have a lot of other applications installed/running so that'd fill a whole page. But I tried re-installing Windows, then just installing FSX and nothing else. Same results.

 

I can't restore it to factory point, that would mean going back to the original Vista, and I deleted the recovery partition Vista was on.

 

Yes, the behavior is same on both the computers.

 

I don't think problem is compatibility in the normal sense. I can install FSX on either computer, or both, and run it, it runs fine. I don't shutdown or reboot my laptops unless I am installing or changing something that needs a reboot. Or if I am having issues that maybe cleared by flushing the RAM. Usually don't need the latter.

 

After install I can run FSX normally, using it for any amount of time. Then after a variable number of runs, unpredictably, it'd develop this problem and stop running.

Once I installed FSX on laptop1 and left it open, on the flight selection screen, for more than 2 days. It didn't crash, no errors, perfect response to button clicks. But after I closed it, tried it a few more times, it stopped working.

 

That's why I think it might not be a compatibility issue it runs as it should. I have tried shutting down the firewall, I don't have an anti-virus installed, and I have tried shutting down all applications and just run this one. Plus a few suggestions from the Microsoft support guy like clean install, removing it from registry, space in temp folder etc. I have checked and nothing helped.

[Larry James 901346]

Vista is a story in itself, actually my disgust with Vista is a story in itself..lol. I tried Vista once, didn't like it, got rid of it. Since then I have learnt more things about Vista that make it less of my favorite, if that's possible. If it comes to the point where I have to have Vista to run FSX, I'll shun FSX. I'll either run FS9 or go for FlightGear or X-Plane or something.

 

I consider this unfortunate for a number of reasons. New computer hardware and software is being designed to function better under Vista, especially the graphic cards. It’s my impression that FSX was designed with expectations of showing off Vista. So it was designed to operate best under Vista.

 

I guess your problem is higher than just the problems with your computer’s hardware. If it weren’t for the fact that you say you’re having the same problem with two computers, one that was shipped with Vista and one that was shipped with XP, I’d think it was related to the computer’s hardware not having the proper drivers.

 

Still, I would recommend that you consider taking your computer that was shipped with Vista and reinstalling Vista and all the appropriate drivers from the site. I’m sure you can get a restoral disk from your manufacturer. They might even give you a Vista OS disk. They do have the OEM versions for their specific manufactured computer. I have had them sent to me for my customers numerous times. If you have problems in that capacity I’m sure I can help you.

 

What is the manufacturer of your machine that was originally shipped with Vista?

 

Again, I understand your expression of abhorrence for Vista. However, you might consider, since you have two computers, at least trying FSX with the computer’s optimum OS installation and what I would consider Microsoft’s optimum setup.

 

When frequenting the Premiere video editing forums, most of the gurus strongly suggest having a dedicated computer for that application, with nothing else installed or running. I don’t agree with it, but many people suggest going that route. They even try to discourage having antivirus software and internet connections to the video editing computer.

 

So, in that line, since you have two computers, I will hope that you will consider this immediate task of dedicating your Vista machine to Vista and FSX. Did you do this part with the Microsoft support people? If this fails, it might be an occasion that you have a blemished FSX installation disk, and might have to check with having Microsoft replace your media.

 

By the way, see you in a few hours in my flight session.

 

-- L. James

 

--

L. D. James

[email protected]

www.apollo3.com/~ljames

[Sunil Goswami 1058795]

Larry thanks for all your help and suggestions. I was not exaggerating when I said I'd shun FSX than embrace Vista. Yes, I know I can get install/recovery disks from HP (Both my laptops are HP that's why I have to keep saying 'old laptop', 'new laptop') but installing Vista is not an option for me. At no cost! If that shuts out the FSX world to me, so be it.

 

I don't think the problem is with the drivers, both computers have nVidia cards and the drivers are from nVidia, for the new machine, they are modified to work on this laptop by laptopvideo2go.com. The drivers work absolutely fine, 100%, not less, but 100% because that includes FSX. I can install FSX and run it, properly, all functionality working, all planes, airports, all features fully functions with not even a 0.01% of problem. That leads me to believe that the problem is not with the drivers.

 

I play an MMORPG called Second Life, that's very particular in its support of video cards. It supports very few video cards. Over time I have had the occasion to try that on several laptops with different video cards, OS and different graphics card drivers. When the card and driver combo is not supported, it would not load, you can't login to the game. When the card has the correct drivers, the game would run flawlessly and keep running. That's what I'd expect FSX to do if there was a problem with the graphics card - not run the first time. But it installs and runs fine, not once but several times, and then suddenly stops running. It's not the drivers. It's the installed files getting corrupted in some way, by FSX's own buggy behavior or some other application.

 

The media is also okay because I can install from it and run the game and activate it. Something happens "after" FSX is installed.

 

As I said, I have tried installing only FSX, I tried that on both machines, and it worked the same way.

 

Yes, see you in a few hours and once again, thank you for your help. Btw, I need only FSX to connect to your session, right? This is the first time I am doing this so if there's any preparatory setup required please let me know so I don't waste your time during the session.

[Larry James 901346]

I don't think the problem is with the drivers, both computers have nVidia cards and the drivers are from nVidia, for the new machine, they are modified to work on this laptop by laptopvideo2go.com. The drivers work absolutely fine, 100%, not less, but 100% because that includes FSX. I can install FSX and run it, properly, all functionality working, all planes, airports, all features fully functions with not even a 0.01% of problem. That leads me to believe that the problem is not with the drivers.

 

I wasn’t thinking for Video drivers when I made a reference to drivers. It doesn’t sound anything like a video driver situation. There are other hardware drivers that are [Mod - Happy Thoughts]ociated with computers. Having the wrong bus drivers might not normally show symptoms. But there are times when there can be unexpected problems that might have something to do with the way hardware is behaving, based on the install drivers. I’ve seen cases where having the wrong network adapter card drivers affected running applications that didn’t have anything to do with being directly connected to the internet.

 

The media is also okay because I can install from it and run the game and activate it. Something happens "after" FSX is installed.

 

As I said, I have tried installing only FSX, I tried that on both machines, and it worked the same way.

 

Since you describe what I would consider a bug, and it’s not consistent with any installation I’ve seen, and it happens with two different computers, I would expect there’s something about the media that it’s not being installed with its full integrity. The fact that it is installing almost as a runonce application, even though you can keep it running, activate it and do all other things, but can’t continue after rebooting the computer suggests that there is a strong likelihood there’s something different about what you have and what most other people have. It might be a matter of some glitch on the media. I have seen occasions where redownloading various applications have cured unexplained glitches often. I’ve also seen occasions where replacing the media for various applications has also cured unexplained glitches.

 

Yes, see you in a few hours and once again, thank you for your help. Btw, I need only FSX to connect to your session, right? This is the first time I am doing this so if there's any preparatory setup required please let me know so I don't waste your time during the session.

 

Yes, FSX is all you need installed. We could do other variations, but this will be a start. Having a runonce version of FSX is a serious handicap. I always start my sessions from a fresh boot to insure optimum performance. FSX performs much better in my environment after a fresh boot, than starting while the machine has been running for hours.

 

Join me at http://www.apollo3.com/teamspeak a little before the session. I updated the booking link with the teamspeak address.

 

-- L. James

 

--

L. D. James

[email protected]

www.apollo3.com/~ljames

[Sunil Goswami 1058795]

Larry, an update and a solution!

 

You remember you advised me to install FSX and SP1 and SP2 in this thread? Well, I did that and ran it for a few times before it started with the same non-sense.

 

Today, I wanted to be ready for the shared flight on your session so I started to uninstall FSX to re-install it afresh. I uninstalled SP2, then tried running FSX. Same error. Then I uninstalled SP1 and tried again. This time FSX launched!!

 

So, I made a backup of certain files from FSX folder.

 

I tried launching FSX several times. After a few it came up with the error. I copied over those files to the FSX installation folder. It ran again!

 

Then during our session or rather for it, I installed SP1 and SP2 again. Again I made a backup of those files. We had the shared flight (thank you very much for that!), then FSX stopped running again. This time I just copied over FSX.exe to the installation folder. It worked again!!

 

So, unless and until MS comes back with a better solution (they say they are reasearching the issue right now, trying to replicate the issue), this is my make-shift, quick-fix solution! I am happy with it! And NO VISTA. hehehe.

[Erickson Almonte 1189064]

I recieved this for many days. Finally figured out the issue. The activation files are [Mod - Happy Thoughts]ociated with the version of fsx that you have. So for instance I have the acceleration activation files and attempted to use it on the original version of fsx. What happens is that the activation files try to load the sp1, sp2, or acceleration version of thwe game. Scince you didnt install these versions yet, the game cannot load those fetures, therfore cannot start the game. Simple fix is to install the service packs and thats it. You fixed it.