Should be a simpla yes or no answer! You WILL know!
Dan

(do you do voice)

Ok, thats fine. I fly with voice, and I don't have CFS installed right now. (FS2002 Pro  ) If you are desperate then I may fly!
Dan

Your best bet is to PM me. Don't bother until The 4th, i'm away from tomorrow!! If you are getting into M playing, then I would reccomend you buy a mike. Nothing POSH, should onmly be 5 - 15 quid!
Dan

In flames, You need to get on the Zone.

Your earlier problems are because you either goofed up the Zone install (and it's not your fault....it's easily done)

or

You have some blocking software (a software firewall running, and WinXP has one by default) or a hardware firewall in the form of a router.

Some types of routers and certain ISP's can prevent you from seeing others online, but that's not the normal thing.

Try going to add/remove programs in control panel and uninstall the MSN Gaming Zone files. You may even clear the folders out of your Program files folder, but beware unless you know what your doing there.

Next go back to the zone and reinstall the zone files and setup etc. If you get to the page where the game Rooms are listed, and you don't see any players, then it's a firewall issue I'd say.

There are certain ports on routers that need to be enabled to fly online with some hardware. those ports are listed in the MSN Zone support pages.

I would try to organise an IP game thru MSN Messenger  or straight IP with another player who has proven multiplayer success and is set up with no problems. That way you'll know if a basic mutliplayer connection is possible on your rig. It will help if you have a headset so you can talk to each other and get it set up.

Just connecting a voice comms program is a form of networking and it will help establish your ability to network in multiplayer games.

After you get it all up and running, get a decent software firewall and block it all off again except for the programs you need to set  access permissions for.

That way you won't get "hacked " by some amatuer, would be , smart guy while on the Zone or anywhere else for that matter.

If this all sounds complex, it's because it is essentially.

With a dialup modem, it's as simple as going to the multiplayer icon in the game and clicking, that links you to the Zone and sets up your multiplayer software. It can be THAT simple! But, honestly, sometimes it's a pain to set up.

The consolation is the fact that once you are on, you are gonna have a LOT of fun!