Hi Ivor! If you do a straight re-install and leave tho folders alone then they will come back automatically afterwards. You may have to use the scenery library for some of the scenery. I can't remember if TG2 is, but any *.exe edits will hjave to be re-done, like the no-cd patch. I hope that helps you man... 
Dan

Hi,

Still problems! I found that my CFS had 'Multiplayer' greyed out, so I did a fresh install of CFS in a new folder, as with my previous problems, my graphics card is not recognised, but 'Multiplayer' is still greyed out.....any ideas..

Ivor

Might also be an idea just to back up the files you don't want to lose.
... just in case

I can't figure out why you're having problems. In my experience CFS1 is probably the most bug-free in the MSFS series. The only thing I can suggest is that you didn't uninstall CFS1 properly before doing this new install. I found that an Uninstall/Install to the original path would fix almost any problem with CFS1. I used to do this regularly simply to keep it running smoothly. I also discovered by accident that pasting a copy of the CFS1 directory to a different location to back it up gave you 2 separate installs of the sim that would each run independently. It's also possible to do as many "duplicate" installs as you wish by simply renaming the original CFS1 directory, then insert the CD & install to the default path. This came in useful to overcome the CFS2 installed aircraft limit & is now very commonly used among the CFS2 community. It also works for FS2002.

I might add that during the time I was CFS Editor at Simviation I reckoned to know all there was worth knowing about CFS1. From people mailing me every day with problems I also found out most things that could possibly go wrong with it & how to fix it. (It's quite amazing how many ingenious ideas people come up with to mess things up.) This is no longer the case but I don't remember ever seeing this particular problem before.

I never played online myself but the Multiplayer screen in my own CFS1 appears to work perfectly. As usual I installed it using the default "Typical" option. It's quite possible that Multiplayer is not included from the "Minimal" install option.

PS. If you have 2 installs of CFS1 on your system make sure you're running the correct one. If you're running the original it will obviously have the same problems as before. It might be easier & quicker to start again. Uninstall CFS1 before removing all traces of it from your system. Then do a fresh install. This will give you a completely fresh start.

I should point out that I no longer consider myself an "expert" with CFS1 or anything else. Things have moved on a long way since I was involved & I've lost touch with it all. I'm still using an old machine on WinMe & have no knowledge of WinXP. From what I read in the FS forums this brings its own problems & installing one XP service pack seems to cause trouble with FS9 - but only for some people. There's so many possible variables these days it makes troubleshooting very difficult.

I hadn't even considered a virus. If this happened  overnight as you say it's possible I suppose. I don't know much about viruses but I'm not sure there's likely to be one that specifically attacks CFS1. I suspect it's more likely something you did, possibly unconnected with CFS1 itself. If a full Uninstall/Install of CFS1 doesn't fix it I'm beaten. Try & think back to every little thing you might have done on your system since CFS1 last worked properly. Every little piece of information you can give me will help & could be important. It might be an oversight on your part but you didn't mention Uninstalling it before doing this fresh install.

OK, at least we seem to be getting somewhere. I don't know why your graphics card is not being recognised. If you check the "Enable hardware acceleration" box from CFS1 Settings it should be possible to select it from the "Advanced display settings" button.


The graphics card in use should also be defined in COMBATFS.CFG like this.

[HARDWARE]
Device=    <<-- Your graphics card
Mode=      <<-- Screen resolution

Happy New Year Ivor. It's just possble your graphics card or the plug has come loose. You could open up your box of tricks & check the connections by removing the card & plugging it back in again. This worked for me when I had similar problems.