flight simulator 2004 won't install under win xp SP2

[David Mottershead]

I keep getting the "setup encountered a disk error while writing to the file
.... Make sure your hard disk is not full, and the file is not in use." error
message. I've tried all the fixes on the microsoft KB except networking,
which I haven't the facilities to do. The copy of FS is fine cos I
installed it on the same machine running win 98 two weeks ago (once DMA was
disabled). The machine has a 40 gig and a 6 gig hard disk, 256 MB ram and a
1.25 Ghz processor.

Can someone please tell me whether it is possible to install this programme
under SP2, and if so how?

thanks

David

 

[Nick Kritselis [MS]]

David,

The short answer to your question is "Yes." You SHOULD be able to install
FS 2004 on Windows XP SP 2 without any problems. You say you've installed
the game without error on Windows 98 SE on the same system, did you upgrade
to Windows XP over Windows 98, or did you format your hard drive and install
Windows XP on a clean drive?

You say that you've "tried all the fixes on the microsoft KB except
networking". Could you be more specific about what you've tried and what
results your had?

This is the basic game install troubleshooting process we suggest:
To troubleshoot the game install problems, use the following methods in the
order that they are presented in.

Method 1: Clean the Disc
Method 2: Test the Disk in Another Drive
Method 3: Clean the Drive
Method 4: Perform a Clean Boot
Method 5: Run Xcopy Command
Method 6: Check Your Hard Disk for Errors
Method 7: Defragment Your Hard Disk

If you don't know how to do any of these things, check the Microsoft Support
Q-Article - http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;258496

Another option we usually suggest is that you delete all the files in your
C:\Windows\Temp folder. Corrupted files here could cause problems with game
installs.

If you could also include a copy of your DXDiag text with the answers to the
questions I've asked above, I'll work with you to try and resolve this
issue.

To reply with a dxdiag text:
Click on Start -> Run and type 'dxdiag' in the run box, then click 'Ok'.
When the DirectX Diagnostic Tool window appears you will see tabs across the
top click each tab and run the diagnostic tests on each. Then click the
'Save All Information' button, which will create a text file on your system
where you specify, as in My Documents or Desktop. Open that text file, copy
the contents and paste it to a reply.

 

[Guest]

Nick

Thanks very much for your kind offer of help.

Yes, I installed xp on a clean disk.

Results of the 7 steps you recommend:

1 & 2 - there is obviously nothing wrong with the disc which installed
perfectly well on my laptop just now;

3 - I don't have a drive cleaner but I really don't think this is the
problem since it does all sorts of other things perfectly well such as
reading DVDs and other cdroms (although for some reason I can't get it to
burn);

4 - no effect - I still get the error message before disc 1 is installed

5 - xcopy just found two files - setup.exe and msgames.cab

6 - no errors found

7 -defrag made the pc a bit faster but didn't solve my problem

I've also tried fiddling with DMA and page files - neither setting both IDE
channels to PIO only, minimising page files nor maximizing them has solved
the problem.

Browser won't let me post the dxdiag file, seemingly. Can't see any obvious
problems with it. Will post it later if I find a way to do so.

thanks

David

David,

The short answer to your question is "Yes." You SHOULD be able to install
FS 2004 on Windows XP SP 2 without any problems. You say you've installed
the game without error on Windows 98 SE on the same system, did you upgrade
to Windows XP over Windows 98, or did you format your hard drive and install
Windows XP on a clean drive?

You say that you've "tried all the fixes on the microsoft KB except
networking". Could you be more specific about what you've tried and what
results your had?

This is the basic game install troubleshooting process we suggest:
To troubleshoot the game install problems, use the following methods in the
order that they are presented in.

Method 1: Clean the Disc
Method 2: Test the Disk in Another Drive
Method 3: Clean the Drive
Method 4: Perform a Clean Boot
Method 5: Run Xcopy Command
Method 6: Check Your Hard Disk for Errors
Method 7: Defragment Your Hard Disk

If you don't know how to do any of these things, check the Microsoft Support
Q-Article - http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;258496

Another option we usually suggest is that you delete all the files in your
C:\Windows\Temp folder. Corrupted files here could cause problems with game
installs.

If you could also include a copy of your DXDiag text with the answers to the
questions I've asked above, I'll work with you to try and resolve this
issue.

To reply with a dxdiag text:
Click on Start -> Run and type 'dxdiag' in the run box, then click 'Ok'.
When the DirectX Diagnostic Tool window appears you will see tabs across the
top click each tab and run the diagnostic tests on each. Then click the
'Save All Information' button, which will create a text file on your system
where you specify, as in My Documents or Desktop. Open that text file, copy
the contents and paste it to a reply.
--
Thanks,
Nick Kritselis [MS]
--
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

I keep getting the "setup encountered a disk error while writing to the
file ... Make sure your hard disk is not full, and the file is not in use."
error message. I've tried all the fixes on the microsoft KB except
networking, which I haven't the facilities to do. The copy of FS is fine
cos I installed it on the same machine running win 98 two weeks ago (once
DMA was disabled). The machine has a 40 gig and a 6 gig hard disk, 256 MB
ram and a 1.25 Ghz processor.

Can someone please tell me whether it is possible to install this
programme under SP2, and if so how?

thanks

David

 

[Nick Kritselis [MS]]

David,



Thanks for keeping me updated on your finding. I agree that since you can
install the game on another PC that the disks themselves are probably not
where we need to focus. Saying that the drive is ok because it reads DVD
and other CD roms fine is an inference I cannot agree with.



We're dealing with 6 pieces of hardware in regards to an install. The CD,
the CD-rom drive, the cables (between the CD-rom drive and motherboard, and
between the motherboard and the hard drive), the motherboard, the system
RAM, and the hard drive. One of these items isn't working properly.



Since the CDs work fine on another system, that's one item we can
effectively rule out. What we have to do now is try to eliminate more items
from the list.



What make and model DVD/CD-Rom drive do you have? Do you have access to
another CD-rom drive that you could temporarily install on your PC to see if
another drive might resolve this issue?
--
Thanks,
Nick Kritselis [MS]
--
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

Nick

Thanks very much for your kind offer of help.

Yes, I installed xp on a clean disk.

Results of the 7 steps you recommend:

1 & 2 - there is obviously nothing wrong with the disc which installed
perfectly well on my laptop just now;

3 - I don't have a drive cleaner but I really don't think this is the
problem since it does all sorts of other things perfectly well such as
reading DVDs and other cdroms (although for some reason I can't get it to
burn);

4 - no effect - I still get the error message before disc 1 is installed

5 - xcopy just found two files - setup.exe and msgames.cab

6 - no errors found

7 -defrag made the pc a bit faster but didn't solve my problem

I've also tried fiddling with DMA and page files - neither setting both
IDE
channels to PIO only, minimising page files nor maximizing them has solved
the problem.

Browser won't let me post the dxdiag file, seemingly. Can't see any
obvious
problems with it. Will post it later if I find a way to do so.

thanks

David

David,

The short answer to your question is "Yes." You SHOULD be able to
install
FS 2004 on Windows XP SP 2 without any problems. You say you've
installed
the game without error on Windows 98 SE on the same system, did you
upgrade
to Windows XP over Windows 98, or did you format your hard drive and
install
Windows XP on a clean drive?

You say that you've "tried all the fixes on the microsoft KB except
networking". Could you be more specific about what you've tried and what
results your had?

This is the basic game install troubleshooting process we suggest:
To troubleshoot the game install problems, use the following methods in
the
order that they are presented in.

Method 1: Clean the Disc
Method 2: Test the Disk in Another Drive
Method 3: Clean the Drive
Method 4: Perform a Clean Boot
Method 5: Run Xcopy Command
Method 6: Check Your Hard Disk for Errors
Method 7: Defragment Your Hard Disk

If you don't know how to do any of these things, check the Microsoft
Support
Q-Article -
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;258496

Another option we usually suggest is that you delete all the files in
your
C:\Windows\Temp folder. Corrupted files here could cause problems with
game
installs.

If you could also include a copy of your DXDiag text with the answers to
the
questions I've asked above, I'll work with you to try and resolve this
issue.

To reply with a dxdiag text:
Click on Start -> Run and type 'dxdiag' in the run box, then click 'Ok'.
When the DirectX Diagnostic Tool window appears you will see tabs across
the
top click each tab and run the diagnostic tests on each. Then click the
'Save All Information' button, which will create a text file on your
system
where you specify, as in My Documents or Desktop. Open that text file,
copy
the contents and paste it to a reply.
--
Thanks,
Nick Kritselis [MS]
--
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no
rights.

I keep getting the "setup encountered a disk error while writing to the
file ... Make sure your hard disk is not full, and the file is not in
use."
error message. I've tried all the fixes on the microsoft KB except
networking, which I haven't the facilities to do. The copy of FS is
fine
cos I installed it on the same machine running win 98 two weeks ago
(once
DMA was disabled). The machine has a 40 gig and a 6 gig hard disk, 256
MB
ram and a 1.25 Ghz processor.

Can someone please tell me whether it is possible to install this
programme under SP2, and if so how?

thanks

David

 

[Guest]

Nick

Thanks. You were right - it was a hardware problem after all. The computer
shop who made my machine had put the floppy drive on the same IDE cable as
the cd-rom. The floppy had malfunctioned, without us noticing since we never
use it, and this had caused the difficulties with FS and also the cd burner.
It seems floppy had failed sometime over the last three weeks - after we had
installed FS and burned a disk using win98 but before we tried to do the same
things two weeks later under winxp. That - and the fact that I had to fiddle
with settings under win98 to get FS to install - is why I thought it was a
software problem.

I guess the moral is to check any other devices on the same cable before
assuming the software is to blame.

Thanks again.

David

David,



Thanks for keeping me updated on your finding. I agree that since you can
install the game on another PC that the disks themselves are probably not
where we need to focus. Saying that the drive is ok because it reads DVD
and other CD roms fine is an inference I cannot agree with.



We're dealing with 6 pieces of hardware in regards to an install. The CD,
the CD-rom drive, the cables (between the CD-rom drive and motherboard, and
between the motherboard and the hard drive), the motherboard, the system
RAM, and the hard drive. One of these items isn't working properly.



Since the CDs work fine on another system, that's one item we can
effectively rule out. What we have to do now is try to eliminate more items
from the list.



What make and model DVD/CD-Rom drive do you have? Do you have access to
another CD-rom drive that you could temporarily install on your PC to see if
another drive might resolve this issue?
--
Thanks,
Nick Kritselis [MS]
--
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

Nick

Thanks very much for your kind offer of help.

Yes, I installed xp on a clean disk.

Results of the 7 steps you recommend:

1 & 2 - there is obviously nothing wrong with the disc which installed
perfectly well on my laptop just now;

3 - I don't have a drive cleaner but I really don't think this is the
problem since it does all sorts of other things perfectly well such as
reading DVDs and other cdroms (although for some reason I can't get it to
burn);

4 - no effect - I still get the error message before disc 1 is installed

5 - xcopy just found two files - setup.exe and msgames.cab

6 - no errors found

7 -defrag made the pc a bit faster but didn't solve my problem

I've also tried fiddling with DMA and page files - neither setting both
IDE
channels to PIO only, minimising page files nor maximizing them has solved
the problem.

Browser won't let me post the dxdiag file, seemingly. Can't see any
obvious
problems with it. Will post it later if I find a way to do so.

thanks

David

David,

The short answer to your question is "Yes." You SHOULD be able to
install
FS 2004 on Windows XP SP 2 without any problems. You say you've
installed
the game without error on Windows 98 SE on the same system, did you
upgrade
to Windows XP over Windows 98, or did you format your hard drive and
install
Windows XP on a clean drive?

You say that you've "tried all the fixes on the microsoft KB except
networking". Could you be more specific about what you've tried and what
results your had?

This is the basic game install troubleshooting process we suggest:
To troubleshoot the game install problems, use the following methods in
the
order that they are presented in.

Method 1: Clean the Disc
Method 2: Test the Disk in Another Drive
Method 3: Clean the Drive
Method 4: Perform a Clean Boot
Method 5: Run Xcopy Command
Method 6: Check Your Hard Disk for Errors
Method 7: Defragment Your Hard Disk

If you don't know how to do any of these things, check the Microsoft
Support
Q-Article -
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;258496

Another option we usually suggest is that you delete all the files in
your
C:\Windows\Temp folder. Corrupted files here could cause problems with
game
installs.

If you could also include a copy of your DXDiag text with the answers to
the
questions I've asked above, I'll work with you to try and resolve this
issue.

To reply with a dxdiag text:
Click on Start -> Run and type 'dxdiag' in the run box, then click 'Ok'.
When the DirectX Diagnostic Tool window appears you will see tabs across
the
top click each tab and run the diagnostic tests on each. Then click the
'Save All Information' button, which will create a text file on your
system
where you specify, as in My Documents or Desktop. Open that text file,
copy
the contents and paste it to a reply.
--
Thanks,
Nick Kritselis [MS]
--
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no
rights.


I keep getting the "setup encountered a disk error while writing to the
file ... Make sure your hard disk is not full, and the file is not in
use."
error message. I've tried all the fixes on the microsoft KB except
networking, which I haven't the facilities to do. The copy of FS is
fine
cos I installed it on the same machine running win 98 two weeks ago
(once
DMA was disabled). The machine has a 40 gig and a 6 gig hard disk, 256
MB
ram and a 1.25 Ghz processor.

Can someone please tell me whether it is possible to install this
programme under SP2, and if so how?

thanks

David

 

[Nick Kritselis [MS]]

David,

Thanks for the update. Good to hear you got FS 2004 working.

Feel free to post again if you have any other issues.
--
Thanks,
Nick Kritselis [MS]
--
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

Nick

Thanks. You were right - it was a hardware problem after all. The
computer
shop who made my machine had put the floppy drive on the same IDE cable as
the cd-rom. The floppy had malfunctioned, without us noticing since we
never
use it, and this had caused the difficulties with FS and also the cd
burner.
It seems floppy had failed sometime over the last three weeks - after we
had
installed FS and burned a disk using win98 but before we tried to do the
same
things two weeks later under winxp. That - and the fact that I had to
fiddle
with settings under win98 to get FS to install - is why I thought it was a
software problem.

I guess the moral is to check any other devices on the same cable before
assuming the software is to blame.

Thanks again.

David

David,



Thanks for keeping me updated on your finding. I agree that since you
can
install the game on another PC that the disks themselves are probably not
where we need to focus. Saying that the drive is ok because it reads DVD
and other CD roms fine is an inference I cannot agree with.



We're dealing with 6 pieces of hardware in regards to an install. The
CD,
the CD-rom drive, the cables (between the CD-rom drive and motherboard,
and
between the motherboard and the hard drive), the motherboard, the system
RAM, and the hard drive. One of these items isn't working properly.



Since the CDs work fine on another system, that's one item we can
effectively rule out. What we have to do now is try to eliminate more
items
from the list.



What make and model DVD/CD-Rom drive do you have? Do you have access to
another CD-rom drive that you could temporarily install on your PC to see
if
another drive might resolve this issue?
--
Thanks,
Nick Kritselis [MS]
--
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no
rights.

Nick

Thanks very much for your kind offer of help.

Yes, I installed xp on a clean disk.

Results of the 7 steps you recommend:

1 & 2 - there is obviously nothing wrong with the disc which installed
perfectly well on my laptop just now;

3 - I don't have a drive cleaner but I really don't think this is the
problem since it does all sorts of other things perfectly well such as
reading DVDs and other cdroms (although for some reason I can't get it
to
burn);

4 - no effect - I still get the error message before disc 1 is
installed

5 - xcopy just found two files - setup.exe and msgames.cab

6 - no errors found

7 -defrag made the pc a bit faster but didn't solve my problem

I've also tried fiddling with DMA and page files - neither setting both
IDE
channels to PIO only, minimising page files nor maximizing them has
solved
the problem.

Browser won't let me post the dxdiag file, seemingly. Can't see any
obvious
problems with it. Will post it later if I find a way to do so.

thanks

David


:

David,

The short answer to your question is "Yes." You SHOULD be able to
install
FS 2004 on Windows XP SP 2 without any problems. You say you've
installed
the game without error on Windows 98 SE on the same system, did you
upgrade
to Windows XP over Windows 98, or did you format your hard drive and
install
Windows XP on a clean drive?

You say that you've "tried all the fixes on the microsoft KB except
networking". Could you be more specific about what you've tried and
what
results your had?

This is the basic game install troubleshooting process we suggest:
To troubleshoot the game install problems, use the following methods
in
the
order that they are presented in.

Method 1: Clean the Disc
Method 2: Test the Disk in Another Drive
Method 3: Clean the Drive
Method 4: Perform a Clean Boot
Method 5: Run Xcopy Command
Method 6: Check Your Hard Disk for Errors
Method 7: Defragment Your Hard Disk

If you don't know how to do any of these things, check the Microsoft
Support
Q-Article -
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;258496

Another option we usually suggest is that you delete all the files in
your
C:\Windows\Temp folder. Corrupted files here could cause problems
with
game
installs.

If you could also include a copy of your DXDiag text with the answers
to
the
questions I've asked above, I'll work with you to try and resolve this
issue.

To reply with a dxdiag text:
Click on Start -> Run and type 'dxdiag' in the run box, then click
'Ok'.
When the DirectX Diagnostic Tool window appears you will see tabs
across
the
top click each tab and run the diagnostic tests on each. Then click
the
'Save All Information' button, which will create a text file on your
system
where you specify, as in My Documents or Desktop. Open that text file,
copy
the contents and paste it to a reply.
--
Thanks,
Nick Kritselis [MS]
--
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no
rights.


I keep getting the "setup encountered a disk error while writing to
the
file ... Make sure your hard disk is not full, and the file is not in
use."
error message. I've tried all the fixes on the microsoft KB except
networking, which I haven't the facilities to do. The copy of FS is
fine
cos I installed it on the same machine running win 98 two weeks ago
(once
DMA was disabled). The machine has a 40 gig and a 6 gig hard disk,
256
MB
ram and a 1.25 Ghz processor.

Can someone please tell me whether it is possible to install this
programme under SP2, and if so how?

thanks

David