I screwed up

I downloaded and installed FSX_GA_TRAFFIC from your site. A huge mistake! Now I've got traffic alright, but my fps took a big hit. Went from a reasonable 20 to 25 with most settings at medium to about 6 after the install. Now even with all settings set to minimum I get about 10 fps and that's just looking at a plane sitting parked. Nothing is moving. So I uninstalled it and it made no difference. I really need some help. Anyone out there have any ideas which files this program diddles with? I tried looking at the dates in the fsx folders and files, but they all seem to be unchanged (December 2006 or there about). I'll take any help I can get. I hope a complete reinstall of fsx isn't the answer. That would be a real bummer 'cause everything was fine before. Let this be a warning to all those with "on the edge computers" to stay away from that program. I'm sure it works just fine for anyone with a super wiz bang souped up, over-clocked, and over-heated monster, it just is too much for my humble device. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance...Art

Maybe try deleting the FSX.cfg file? Upon restarting the sim, it will reload with all the default settings which you will then have to fiddle with, in order to get them where you had them before. The good news is, this process tends to wipe out muck-ups like these (been there, done that).

Hi Brian,
Are you talking about the cfg files in the flight simulator x files folder? If so, that won't help as I have several different ones to choose from. Are you referring to another cfg file somewhere in the main fsx folder. In other words, I'm not sure what I'm doing. Thanks for your help.
Best regards...Art

hey dont feel bad, i have messed up mine as well before. it's rarely as bad as you initially think. don't panic

I'll butt in I think Brian's in a different time zone.

Don't get mixed up with aircraft.cfg and fsx.cfg - two different universes. To get to the fsx.cfg make sure you can see the 'Hidden files and folders'.

Control Panel / Folder Otions / ...click on the 'View' tab and in the 'Hidden Files and Folders' subcategory make sure you've got 'Show hidden files and folders' checked.

Now you can navigate to the fsx.cfg file to delete it. This is the path:

/Local Disk../Documents and Settings/(your)Username/Application Data/Microsoft/FSX

It's a text file that can be opened with Notepad and is simply called: fsx

Thanks Tailhook,
I did as you suggested and found the file. It appears to show all of my current settings (GA=0). In "Settings > Traffic" all sliders are set to zero. If I turn ga up even a little, all those extra planes show up and my fps takes a nose dive. I still can't find where that program put all those extra planes. I'll keep hunting. Thanks for your help.
Best regards...Art

Hello Art,

All you need to do, now that you've found the fsx.CFG file, is to delete it. Once the sim is restarted it will generate a new fsx.CFG. In many cases, doing this will wipe out problems such as what you have experienced here. Not a guaranteed cure (nothing is absolutely guaranteed in life), but worth trying, and definitely before doing a complete reinstall. Hope you get it fixed soon.

Thanks Brian,
I followed your suggestion and the result was that I lost about sixty percent of my add on aircraft. The original problem still remains. That GA Traffic program must do something to a file somewhere deep in the bowels of fsx. I'm at a total loss as to what it did to my computer. Not to mention how p.o.'d I am at myself for installing it in the first place. Like I said, "I screwed up". I guess I really need some advice from someone who is intimately familiar with what GA Traffic dumbware does to fsx. What do you think my chances are of finding such a person? Not funny!
Best regards...Art

Aargh...sorry to hear that the problem persists...is there not any contact info in a readme file contained within that package? No point kicking yourself about giving the addon a try, as there is never any way of knowing how it's going to react with your system (and the vast majority of them DO work very well). Good luck and keep posted on how things come along.

Thanks for the sympathy Brian,
No, there is nothing in the download files that gives any advice on much of anything except how great it is. My latest discovery is that not only most of my add on airplanes are gone, but some of the original fsx planes are missing too. They all appear in the simobjects\airplanes file, but they don't show up in the thumbnail page where you can choose another plane to fly. I've about had it with this problem! Is there anyone out there that knows how to do a complete uninstall of fsx. I mean REALLY knows. Or can it be installed over itself? At this point I'm terrified enough to not even reboot my computer. And then there's all those horror stories of folks trying to reinstall fsx. I'm so paranoid now that I think I need a shrink.
Best regards...Art

Wait...before you book that shrink...if you deleted the fsx.CFG file, it won't remove installed aircraft and such, it will just reset the sim (e.g., settings and config changes AFAIK). The reason you don't see many of your aircraft may be because the check-marked option at the main screen for "show all" aircraft, is not enabled as a result of the fsx.CFG having been reset. Simply recheck it and your planes should reappear. Any settings changes that you have made will need to be manually reset (e.g., autogen, traffic settings, and such). Hope this helps.

Over & out - leaving for a day so won't be jumping in with any more comments for awhile!

Brian,
You were right. There it was sitting right in front of my stupid ugly face. Funny, my shrink told me the same thing (about the check mark-not my face). The other problem still remains. Hope my shrink can take care of it.
Besr regards...Art

Art it's me again,
I've been looking for the file in question, the "FSX_GA_TRAFFIC" to get a clue what's inside it, who made it, how old it is etc.
I couldn't find it, changed the name to FSX_GA_TRAFFIC.zip, googled it - to no avail. It's quite possible that you downloaded and installed a dud but without actually being able to look at it, it's bound to remain a mystery.

Any pointers, a link perhaps?

This is the program he's talking about.

http://library.avsim.net/search.php?SearchTerm=fsx_ga-traffic_releasecandidate2.zip&CatID=fsx&Go=Search

Brunner has a forum at the avsim forums, go there and ask him.

How did you manage to arrive at this conclusion?



effieveda wrote:

The same upload to different sites often has different contents as we all know.

effieveda could have just as well downloaded fsx_ga-traffic_releasecandidate.zip - both are on this page:

http://library.avsim.net/esearch.php?DLID=&Name=&FileName=&Author=Markus+Brunner&CatID=fsx

Hi folks,
I got the program from Fly Away Flightsim > Down-loads > FSX Utilities listed under the file name fsxgar2.zip. It was uploaded on April 6, 2007.
That's where I got it. Mr. Brunner is nowhere to be found. Perhaps he is in hiding somewhere in Bavaria. The latest thing is that this program generates flying yellow billboards with the message "please register this aircraft". They're just floating around. Really adds a lot to the sim experience. It would be nice if the message included the name of the aircraft to be registered. It is my opinion that this down-load should be deleted from this site. Or better yet, leave it, so some other unwitting sucker falls into it's web and we will get some answers from somewhere.
Meanwhile I'll just sit at an airport somewhere in the world and watch those beautiful billboards floating around.
Thanks to all of you who have tried to help. Please don't give up on me.
Best regerds...Art

Hi Art,
What a mess. Thanks for supplying the filename fsxgar2.zip, I actually downloaded it - curiosity, you know.

So, the filename you provided is correct, but try using the search engine to find it - there will be no result... why? Because it's listed as "FSX GA-Traffic".
There is a file description of sorts, but it's a bit to wishy-washy for my taste. And now the old dilemma rears its ugly head: I CANNOT DO A ZipDive!!!
That's why I get my files from www.avsim.com
Doing a ZipDive at avsim lets me access the Readme file. After having studied the Readme, my first reaction was: Don't even bother. On the positive, the Readme revealed the link to the appropriate forum. This information is not accessible in the Flyaway library until the file has actually been downloaded.
I still can't figure out what this Utility is actually supposed to do... work miracles?

I've browsed through the forums and am none the wiser. Here is the link for your reading pleasure: http://forums.avsim.net/dcboard.php?az=show_topics&forum=205

So inside the .zip folder I find no less than four (4) .exe files. The installation instructions are kept to a minimum: "To install just extract the ZIP to a temporary folder and start the setup.exe." --Sounds simple enough but after having read about bugs and if this and if that in the very same Readme, I get a bit suspicious... still don't have a clue what the utility is supposed to do.

If I interpret your post correctly Art, the file is Shareware despite the fact that it's under Freeware in the libraries. (The oldest trick in the book used by Shareware developers.) Another nasty experience regarding Shareware is that should you want to get rid of it, in some instances that can be quite tricky.

Though having started the various .exe files and followed the prompts to certain steps, I decided to abort in each instance because I simply couldn't anticipate what was going to happen next and I'm reluctant to repeat mistakes I've made in the past. I'm gonna spare you the gory details.

Had I installed it, I would now look for and hope that the installation process was kind enough to create an 'Uninstall' option. Failing that, I'd try to uninstall it via Control Panel / Add/Remove Programs. In either case I would finally search for any left-overs and get rid of them. Should the left-overs contain .dll files, it might be saver to just leave those alone.
This is all I can suggest regarding this file from hell, sorry.

Tailhook,
Thank you for your efforts in trying to help with this problem. I really appreciate it and realize how much time you have expended on my behalf. I have searched the web for Mr. Brunner only to find that he is a singer, a hocky player, and several other manifestations. Obviously not the person in question. I have visited Avsim and got the same result that you did. That address you gave me took me to Avsim's down-load of the same program. No help there. I'm not sure what I said that would lead you to believe that it was shareware as I thought when I down-loaded it that it was freeware. No, there is no uninstall included in the files. I did as you suggested and used the add/remove programs which did "remove" it, but the problem still remains. So, like I said I'll park my plane somewhere and watch those billboards until I or someone like you can figure out what this dasturdly program did to my FSX.
Thanks again for all your time and effort...Art

Hi Art,
It was your statement in your previous post that '...this program generates flying yellow billboards with the message "please register this aircraft". '

This is a very common occurence with shareware. Some shareware developers refuse to include this fact in the file description. The result of this calculated omission is that the librarians who accept or reject the files to the libraries won't notice this when they're in a hurry. Thus the unwary will download and install shareware thinking it's freeware. The developers/authors of those files hope that the newbie will finally give in to the nagging banners and hand over the dough.

Regarding getting rid of all traces of FSX GA-Traffic appears to be as problematic as I anticipated. Four .exe files... we really don't know what went where.
It's probably a bit late now but might come in handy in the future. Theoretically when you use an installer you can undo your action by reverting your system to a Restore Point that exists or you have purposely created prior to the moment of this most recent installation. At least this method works with the more intelligent .exe/installers. I don't think that it's foolproof though.
Anyway in case you've never explored that part of your Operating System, it's worthwhile spending some time to learn how it works. In Windows XP you can access System Restore by navigating to: Start / All Programs / Accessories / System Tools / System Restore. If you have Windows Vista I assume that the path would be very similar.

Should you find a solution Art, please share and enlighten us

PS: As an afterthought you could show us a couple of screenshots which display the "billboards" - who knows, maybe therein lies another clue.

Hi Tailhook,
I don't think it's shareware since there is no way to register or pay for it. Those signs only have to do with the list of your (my) airplanes that it gathers when you first run it. After it does that you are presented with a pop-up with several tabs. The list that it gathered is then pesented with one of three marks next to each plane, a red X, a green check mark, and a question mark. I suspect it's the ones with the question mark that are not registered (to the program). It also has a check box labeled "use for ga". Obviously, I have unchecked them all. There is also a slider that adjusts what percentage will be used for ga (0 to 150%). That was set to zero. After I dumped the program, the ga is now controlled by the fsx traffic settings slider. If I turn it up to five, then some aircraft will show up along with those stupid billboards. go figure. I have a screen shot, but am not clear on how to attach it to this post. That'll be my next challange. Thank you for your tenacity. You're a real pal.
Best regards..Art

Hi Art,

You've described it as good as anyone could and I must admit I'm starting to dream at night of FSX_GA_TRAFFIC -Not good.

I can give you a little pointer re the uploading of screenies.

The first thing to do is open a free account with Photobucket: http://photobucket.com/

After having done that and signed into the account, let's try it out with only one screenie to begin with.

You'll find 3 'Browse' bars toward the top of the page. We only need one for our purpose. You need to know where your screenie is located and be able to navigate to it. The simplest way is to just put a copy of the screenie on your desktop and you won't have much navigating to do.

After you've clicked on 'Browse' (in Photobucket) and found your way to the screenie you want to upload, select it (to highlight it) and click on 'Open'. - Now in your Photobucket window you can click on 'Upload'.

Once the screenie has been uploaded, you have to scroll down a little to see a thumbnail of the image. Find the line below the thumbnail which is preceded by IMG Code and click on it. NOTE: Just a single left-click will do, your link will be automatically copied to the clip board.

All that's left to do now is to return to the post you're currently typing up and to which you want to 'attach' the screenie, right-click inside the Message body and select 'Paste'.
So now you have the IMG Code inside your text... before you click on 'Submit' - do a 'Preview' first to see what the end result is going to be.

That's it, enjoy

Hi Tailhook,
Sorry for the delayed reply. I found a way to get rid of the problem... just let your hard drive die (mine did), wait for someone to try to retrieve the data (I did), wait for the replacement drive from Dell (I did), reinstall windows (I did), find out that fsx installshield comes up with a bunch of funny error codes during install (I did), then spend a whole day on the phone with Dell (I did), reinstall windows from scratch (I did), reinstall fsx
(I did), try to get all the data back the way it was (I got close), sit back-relax, and enjoy a good cigar and your favorite single malt whiskey, and finally fire up the sim, get up to about ten thousand feet and jump (with no 'chute). A very simple solution to a very simple problem. Boy, I'm glad it was so easy. So again, I thank you, and everyone else for their help and suggestions with this stupid GA_TRAFFIC program fiasco.
Best regards...Art

Hi Art,
On the positive side you haven't lost your sense of humour and you you havent't forgotten the priorities in life.

Best wishes

Hi guys and gals,
Thanks for the post Tailhook. I'll never loose my sense of humor because without that, you have nothing. Finally, here's the screen shot of those lovely bill boards. Turns out that if you wait long enough, one of them will taxi and then take off and fly away. It would appear that they are located at a nearby airport on the other side of the trees. Who knows? I saw this happen just before my hard drive died. Think it's related? Noooooooo.
Best regards to all...Art