Yes, the same thing happened to me and Dan helped me.


     You need to make sure you're the computer admin to install/uninstall properly, or it won't work (in my case anyway.) You also have to go into Program Files > Microsoft Games. If you "uninstalled" Flight Simulator correctly then Microsoft Games shouldnt be there. Go into the Microsoft Games folder and then delete the FS2002 folder.

      My Fs2002 crashed back to the desktop because I extracted a CFS2 file into it without knowing. ( ) Whats your cause?

I had the same problem. What I am saying to you is this. Uninstall FS2002 and go into Program Files. If I'm right, then you should have a folder named Microsoft Games in there. Go in there and delete either the FS2002 folder or the whole Microsoft Games folder. If I'm wrong, just ask one of our other members for help.

I've been following this with interest as several people have mailed me with similar problems. I have never used WinXP which puts me at a disadvantage.

Let's look at this logically. FS2002 ran before you uninstalled it so you need to consider what you're doing differently. What Insert & Dan are suggesting is a Full Uninstall of FS2002 removing all traces of any previous installations. Run the Uninstall option from the FS2002 CD or Add/Remove Programs. Assuming it uninstalls without problems, exit setup & manually delete the FS2002 folder from your HDD. (DON'T delete the Microsoft Games folder if you have any other M$ sims or games installed.) I sugggest rebooting at this point to remove any registry entries.

Before trying to install FS2002 disable all unneccessary background applications & (most important) anti-virus software. If it automatically reboots the PC at any time during the install remember to do this again before continuing. Many of the files on the CDs are in compressed CAB format which use a lot of resources to extract. Give it plenty of time to do this & unless you're positive it locks up don't exit setup for any reason. You will get messages telling you when install is finished.

The very first time you run FS2002, more compressed files will be extracted from the CD so it's important that the correct CD is in the drive. This is when the databases are written This might take several minutes when nothing appears to be happening so give it plenty of time. I suspect the cause of the problem is either a lack of system resources or a problem with the CD-ROM drive. If you have another drive try using that.

I hope this is some help
Good luck & please tell me if you fix the problem & how.

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Please take my tip. NEVER extract zipfiles direct to the sim. If you'd installed the files manually a CFS2 aircraft would cause no harm. Many of the 3rd party aircraft I use in FS2002/4 were designed for CFS2.

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Correct. If you install files manually (backing up if necessary) you know exactly what you did so you can reverse it if anything goes wrong. I would be interested to know which CFS2 files messed up your FS2002. 3rd party aircraft & scenery are generally OK & work fine but other files might not be compatible.

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Great news camaroguy. Glad you fixed it.

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This is most important when installing any program. Norton AV & other anti-virus applications scan every file for viruses as they're opened. With big programs like FS2002/FS9 this can cause the installation process to lock up when those big CAB fies are being extracted from the CD.

Hi Insert. I have many Alphasim freeware aircraft installed myself. The only difference between CFS2 & FS2002 versions will be the DP files & weapons packages. The DP files are not recognised by FS2002 & will do no harm if left where they are. The weapons packs are zipped separately so would need installing manually even if you extracted the zipfile direct to the sim. I don't see how installing the aircraft could possibly mess up FS2002.