CFS3 IN WINDOWS EIGHT

[garykidman]

With the release of Windows 8 this month I wondered if anybody has attempted to install CFS3 onto this new Operating system, or is it the case of goodbye to cfs3 with windows 8 I would be interested to know how if anybody has got on.

Gary

 

[hairyspin]

I too would like to know, but I'm not installing 8 just to find out! (confirmed Win7 fan...)

If it's any encouragement, other users have reported CFS2, FS9 and FSX running on Windows 8, so I'm holding out for CFS3 running on it too, which is better than I first thought would be the case.

 

[johannesl]

When I did a compatability scan on my old XP computer CFS3 came up as a no go, but if others are running CFS2 and FS9 which are as old and older then it may be more a matter of how you or Windows installs it.

 

[ndicki]

I was wondering just the same thing... Found this:

http://www.w8files.com/2012/08/installing-combat-flight-simulator-3.html

It's not frightfully informative, but if everything went that smoothly, it doesn't need to be.

As you'll have guessed, I never got the chance to build the replacement computer I was thinking of a few months ago, and then I found a company called Zoostorm. I can get a ready-made one with W8 installed in the UK for the sort of price I'd be paying here in France for the parts alone... The actual parts breakdown is much what I had planned already. Amazon seems to be the cheapest source. Wait and see!

 

[hairyspin]

Thanks for that Nigel, and good to hear you're getting a new rig at last! If you can hang on to your XP cd I'd do so, you may find 8 doesn't support specular textures (just like 7...) :-{

 

[ndicki]

Don't worry, Tom - I won't! The idea is to do a dual boot system if I can figure out how it works. There are too many things that weren't made for W8...

 

[Old Tiger]

Don't worry, Tom - I won't! The idea is to do a dual boot system if I can figure out how it works. There are too many things that weren't made for W8...

ndicki I have a dual boot system, XP Pro and Win7 ultimate. Win7 ultimate is working fine so far, but XP Pro I can't Cfs3 or anything associated with it to runI get this when I start Cfs3 Eto and all the others:isadizzy:View attachment 76126

 

[Cuttles]

Have just got win8 pro, for performance increase, but would n't rush in to do it again. Did trial on win8 in a partition and got fresh copy of cfs3 straight off the disc (not even 3.1.a) to run, but a trap is the cfs3config config window wont resize properly on laptop resolution in win8, so it won't run. Had to use larger screen 1920X..etc resolution. I could THEN close the cfsconfig window, then run. Messy.

Then found small program called 'resize enable', that lets you resize the same window in 8; but playing up just now.

So did upgrade/install with win8 disc on original win7 install, and no cfs3exe will start (whether from desktop or direct from within programme. Some Desktop short cuts seem to have been affected or disconnected.

So am stopped, with no cfs3 running. At least it has the potential to work.

[Toying with idea of fresh install of cfs3 off disc then overwrite this new exe file into old cfs3 installs. Or re-run multi cfs3. Or retrieve files from external backup drive as last resort.]

Win8 does seem to be smaller on disc space, and start/shutdown a bit quicker. It's 'sposed to be a good idea...


Any 'repair schemes' welcome.

 

[ndicki]

Sounds like a right dog's breakfast. I'm not enough of a geek to be able to tolerate a computer that has mood swings or hiccups, so W8 is therefore a bit of a waste of money. If I get a rig with W8 installed only to wipe it off again, it's fairly pointless...

Actually, since my 22" 16:10 screen packed up, I'm back on my old 4:3 CRT, and with about half the total number of pixels, my FPS have skyrocketed... So maybe my old P4 still has some life in it. Old rig, old screen, old OS, but all doing better together than you might have expected!

 

[hairyspin]

Nigel, you could always ask Zoostorm (or whoever) if they could supply a rig with Windows 7 on it instead - it's not that long since 8 came out and no-one's telling me OEM stocks evaporated overnight! Despite protestations otherwise I haven't resorted to hair of newt and tail of dog to get mine running and I just installed CFS3 back then by sticking t' cd in t' drive, tha knaws. Radical approach, but the blighter just worked, and has continued to do so.

 

[ndicki]

I was actually looking at Zoostorm - they don't have an outlet in France, but even with postage etc, it's still cheaper than anything I could find here.

BUT - you'll die laughing - I've taken another route. I'm updating my old P4c rig (2.8GHz) with a 1To SATA II hard drive (which will work on my current SATA I MB and also in the eventual replacement computer), a new 520W PSU (ditto) and (to replace my 7600GS AGP video card) a new 7950GT card, which won't, but which is the ultimate killer AGP card. Put together, that should get me another few years of fun at a vastly reduced price... More once I've got the bits installed after Christmas!

 

[Cuttles]

('Partial Solved')
Run Compatibility Assist. and let set Win7, then manual set win7 thereafter. Delete App data/Docs and re-run Multi-CFS3 as many times as it takes (2-3?), Uiesel deletion, ignore problem flags, etc. run cfs3config.exe often as rqu'd; for 13xx resulution use ResizeEnable /free to size box to ck 'OK'. If 19xx resol. screen then don't need ResizeEnable for 'OK'.

That did get movie running, but now can't movie to run on game start at all (***).
Would love to hear of any fixes for this, pls.

Grit teeth, don't give up (Churchill)! Time.

So don't throw CFS3 with Win 8, however textures/outline of aicraft looks a bit rough/jagged compared to Win7.
Fix = back to XP, followed by Win7.

Merry Christmas All [hope it assists someone]

(will eventually resort to overclocked twin P4, have old P4's lying around; plan to build decent rig. Maybe shouldn't have listened to son's enthusiasm for Win8..buck stops...)

 

[MajorMagee]

I still can't get it to run reliably in Win 7. Groan...

 

[gecko]

What happens if you disable, or if that doesn't work, completely remove the movie file? This fix has worked for me on other games when I upgraded from XP to 7, maybe it will work here.

 

[hairyspin]

Why would anyone want the movie?

Any appearance of that :costum: on startup is met by a groan from me. I've watched the video through perhaps twice, now it's disabled from CFS3config - Disable intro movie.

Thank you and goodnight.

 

[Cuttles]

Got cfs3 to run in Win8 now without "win7" compatability mode, just use Compatability Troubleshooter to start it, and then runs in 'ghosted out grey mode' for XP SP3 without trouble. Graphics look better now too, so not as bad as above. Can now detail on walker's parachute harness as could n't before. The problem was too many Drive Partitions for each game slowing down the disc system and OS; got rid of all bar one for OS, big improvement. Not so much Win8.

Per Hairyspin, X64 win7 is best, so will probably dual boot to compare.

The Movie: yeah, I know, I normally kill it with the space bar and only watch bits of it ocassionally as return to room. Found the noise handy
from afar to tell me its nearly loaded, is all. Was worried part of the system so 'whats win8 doing to it now?', concern.


Not sure, but I think the movie issue is Win8 'remembering keystrokes or selections' and that's the thing I don't like. After install some time, I think win8 came up with: "do you want windows to remember your selections?", or something. You can see a bit of black screen before it kills it, as you do. Like a nong a said 'yes' without realising; now I don't know how to turn this feature off. If any knows how to turn off such 'Auto function (if existing), would be grateful.

Saw a 'net post by someone asking about Win8 Compatability, hope helps. Is 'yes'.

 

[Cuttles]

Ps: like the Mouse ears; I get it.

 

[Cuttles]

Further update on Win8: is ok now and behaving itself; after running and updates (might have improved it).

CFS3 and all the installs seem to be running ok. Only glitch is the movie still, OS looks lie it's 'auto-commanding' the space bar at the same point I used to use it to kill the movie (all the time). You can see an instant of black before it cuts out and goes to splash. I'd like to know if Win8 has some sort of memory function to repeat previous selections.
I think I answered 'yes' to a question from Windows about it sometime , but don't know how to get it back.

While std movie is :costum:-rated, but also miss out on RS movie; which is a credit to the producers and worth having back for completeness. Have yet to retry disable/re-enable movie. I did fix the issue after initial starts with the compatabilty mode button in the cfs3.exe file properties page.

In Win8, this seems to have 'more power' than simply ticking the XP SP3 or Win7 boxes: several times times it has 'kick-started' CFS3, after refusing to start several times. The Movie issue started after downloading the Microsoft 'Media Centre' package, I think.

In the post above for Win7, I would humbly suggest trying the compatability button; although the Win7 system may not be a good as the Win8 seems to be in this regard.


ResizeEnable is ok to use on small 1360 xx (laptop) screens: just trigger off sharply with the right mouse button, and the box should shrink enough for 'ok' in CFS3 Config. It's not a problem as it's not run that often. With a big screen, no trouble at all, ResizeEnable not required.

I sold off my Win7 discs prematurely, it's running well enough to continue with (even looking a bit better than Win7); so reckon it's not worth buying new Win7 discs and dual-booting,now. Plan for a stand-alone XP rig as well, and carry an external drive to and fro for file transfer. (Physical separation).

So you don't lose CFS3 on a Win8 machine. Hope it helps.

 

[Cuttles]

Update on Win8.

Found now it does work, and you don't have to lose CFS3 if you have a new Win8 machine, as a question was asked somewhere. Is now working fine with benefits of running time and updates (maybe help).

It's probably better to do a clean install of Win8 (if you can stand re-loading everything, even if it is possible) than do an 'upgrade' or conversion install as I did from Win7. But you can do the latter: I had to use Norton Registry cleaner, Win8 CMD Line: SFC/Scannow a few times, Repair function on Win8 install disc and running Advanced System Care 6.0 'Scan and Repair' function many times. Others may have an easier time, but was ok in the end.

CFS3 actually looks a bit better than in Win7 (don't know about specular emissions, etc), on an early i5 laptop with 1GB ATI graphics card. Good enough not to bother with dual-booting Win7. Just plan to have a stand-alone CFS3-dedicated XP machine instead, and manually transfer files so nothing (hopefully) can go wrong.


On small screens, need to run ResizeEnable program (or similar) to stretch the CFS3config open box, so you can click 'ok', before running CFS3. With ResizeEnable, there's a trick with quickly triggering off the right mouse button with cursor still on the box frame, so the box frame then snaps down a bit, showing the 'ok' button and allowing you to click it. (If you don't reduce the box size you can't run CFS3config properly, and hence CFS3 properly either. Only glitch found). Seeing as it's not done very often, it's not a big issue.

On large screens (1900X, etc), is no problem, you can click 'ok' normally on the CFS3config box. .

Final issue is failure to run the movie on start (classed as :costum:, above), but is worth fixing because the RS movie is lost and is a pretty good part of 'setting the scene' of the RS install. [Also, someone might want insert their own.]
It looks like Win8 is auto commanding the space bar to kill the movie (as you do); a bit of black shows then it cuts to the splash. [Was running with the Windows Media Centre download addition to Win8. Going to search 'net for 'hidden features of Win8']


So Win8 is useable (hope this does n't come back to bite me!).
Hope it helps.

 

[gecko]

This is good news! I don't have windows 8 yet (and don't plan to for a while) but it's good to know that when the time comes I can still play my favorite game.