Classic British Flight Sim

Apologies in advance if this is already addressed elsewhere.

After I've started FSX on my computer, the main "HOME", "FREE FLIGHT", "MISSIONS" etc dialog appears centred on the screen but the window behind it (in which the simulation will load) is positioned so that it fills the bottom righthand quarter of the screen. This is how it remains once I leave the main dialog and the simulation starts. So, I keep having to double click once (sometimes twice) to make the simulation window fill the screen -- that's what's irritating.

Has anyone else experienced (and, hopefully, solved) this problem? I've tried setting the FSX shortcut to use a maximised window and saving my default flight with the window maximised or set to full screen, but no joy.

My system is Windows XP Professional with an Nvidia GeForce 7600 GT graphics card (which I haven't set to do anything strange to windows!)

Any help or pointers to a solution much appreciated,
DaveK

Hiya Dave

Have you changed the screen res at any point in the recent past or.. opened (or more to the point, closed) FSX in a reduced window?? This would probably account for your main FSX window being off centre. Seem to remember doing similar myself and wondering WTF was going on next time I opened it I'd opened it to check something and reduced the window then moved it out of the way to check something I had open in a window behind it. If you close FSX with the window maximised (not fullscreen).. it should restart the same way If you use it fullscreen, it should display in a similar fashion

ATB

DaveB

Thanks for the prompt response, Dave:

DaveB wrote:Have you changed the screen res at any point in the recent past or.. opened (or more to the point, closed) FSX in a reduced window?? This would probably account for your main FSX window being off centre. Seem to remember doing similar myself and wondering WTF was going on next time I opened it I'd opened it to check something and reduced the window then moved it out of the way to check something I had open in a window behind it.

I don't think I've done anything like that... Even so, ...

If you close FSX with the window maximised (not fullscreen).. it should restart the same way If you use it fullscreen, it should display in a similar fashion

...I tried this before and've just tried it again and... no joy. Yes, it's not a major problem, but it is irritating. I wonder if anyone else has experienced it.

DavidK

EDIT: I just thought of something I hadn't tried: starting FSX without it opening that initial "HOME", "FREE FLIGHT" etc dialog, i.e. switching off the "Show opening window" option in the General settings. It worked, insofar that I was taken straight to my default free flight in a maximised window, but -- yes, but -- when I then ended the flight, the opening dialog appeared and the simulation window (now black) was moved/resized into the bottom righthand quarter of the screen. So it looks like it's something to do with that opening dialog window. Bah.

Renaming your fsx.cfg, takes you straight back to the original settings, inclusive a centered window....

The position of the window is indicated in the fsx.cfg file, so one way you could do it, is to let FSX build you a new fsx.cfg, and then copy the coordinates to your old fsx.cfg ....

A bit awkward, but as it seems that you have difficulties with the immediate solutions Dave has mentioned, it might be the way to go for you....

Good tip, Dan. May also apply to FS9 but I have not tried it. Rebuilding the main FS .cfg file often cures a lot of problems. Just make sure you have a backup. Then you can gradually copy over any tweaks you have made and test to see if they are ok. I use a nifty little freeware program called ExamDiff from http://www.prestosoft.com/edp_examdiff.asp to compare versions of the files. Changes between files are highlighted so they are easy to spot.

Nigel²

DanKH wrote:Renaming your fsx.cfg, takes you straight back to the original settings, inclusive a centered window....

That's good thinking -- thanks! -- and I was hoping it'd work... but... no change, even though everything else seemed reset. When I say "no change", I mean the sequence of windows was: large black window (filling most but not all the desktop), splash screen, then opening "HOME", "FREE FLIGHT" etc dialog (showing the first-time "Getting Started" options) with the large black window behind it -- but, once again, positioned to fill the bottom righthand quarter of the desktop (taskbar on top) rather than centred behind the opening dialog window. I guess it must be something somewhere on my computer, but nothing else I run or have ever run has behaved this way.

nigelb wrote:I use a nifty little freeware program called ExamDiff from http://www.prestosoft.com/edp_examdiff.asp to compare versions of the files. Changes between files are highlighted so they are easy to spot.

...and that's a good tip too, Nigel; thanks. Downloaded and installed.

It could also be settings on your screen, depending on how advanced it is.

Another tip could be to actually set a new screen resolution, and then revert it back to your preferred resolution again afterwards. This sometimes also "resets" window positions.

Reinstalling the graphic driver could also be a somewhat drastic move, but if you plan to update your drivers soon, it may all repair itself then.

One thing though that absolutely with certainty will reset it to the original settings is to reinstall FS again ----

DanKH wrote:It could also be settings on your screen, depending on how advanced it is.

Nothing advanced, so far as I know... My monitor is a pretty old Compaq P900 Triniton and I've only used Windows' own Display control panel to set the resolution to 1168 by 864 and colours to 32-bit. I've never fiddled with the settings offered with my Nvidia-based graphics card (which, come to think of it, might be something to try to improve FSX's graphics speed...?).

Another tip could be to actually set a new screen resolution, and then revert it back to your preferred resolution again afterwards. This sometimes also "resets" window positions.

That's another clever-sounding idea, so I switched my display to 1280 by 960 and ran FSX, but the window positioning was as before; then returned the display to 1168 by 864, metaphorically crossed my fingers and ran FSX again -- but the window positioning was as before.

Reinstalling the graphic driver could also be a somewhat drastic move, but if you plan to update your drivers soon, it may all repair itself then.

I wasn't planning on doing so -- everything else seems to be behaving fine -- but perhaps I should...

One thing though that absolutely with certainty will reset it to the original settings is to reinstall FS again ----

I don't believe that there's anything absolutely with certainty -- especially with computing! -- but, yes, trying to obliterate FSX and then reinstalling it might be the solution... however, this positioning behaviour isn't incredibly irritating... yet.

Thanks for the extra ideas,
DavidK

I wonder if it has anything to do with a desktop.ini file. I read somewhere that windows positions are stored in those files, but the only one I could find in FS9 was inside the Aircraft subdirectory and it contained the following:

[ViewState]
Mode=
Vid=
FolderType=Documents

That does not look very promising but you might want to do a search in FSX to see what you can find, then open them with notepad to view the contents. If you find any, you can try renaming them to desktop,bak and run FS. I THINK windows will rebuild them, but in case you have any problem, just rename the backup back to desktop.ini.

After googling, I have a feeling that desktop.ini applies to folders only so this isn't going to be much help at all - sorry. Perhaps the window position is somewhere in the registry, but that would not be something I could illuminate for you. Maybe someone here can though.

Nigel²

Instead of a higher resolution, go the other way temporarily, say, good old 640x480 or something rediculus like that, and then revert to you normal higher settings.