Windows 7 install fix

**Tailwind** · November 9th, 2009, 05:31

WINDOW 7 INSTALL

NOTE
Modifying the CFS3.exe comes curtsey of Deadmeat1971. Original instructions can be found here
http://www.sim-outhouse.com/sohforum...ead.php?t=9007
Blacksheep-ghost03 and I have Win7 working in both on and off line sessions but have had to use different means to do so.
These instructions assume that your game is installed on a C:\ partition
Main game folder is located at c:\Programfiles\Microsoftgames\Combat Flight Simulator 3
STEP ONE:
Install CFS3. Choose complete install option. Look for and uncheck the option to place short cut on desktop. Follow the instructions to complete the game install. Once done DO NOT choose run game now. Close all windows and go to desktop. If you have a short cut to CFS3.exe on your desktop delete it. Now browse to your main game folder. Right mouse click on the CFS3.exe and select COPY. Go to desktop and select PASTE. The CFS3.exe should now be on your desk top. Right mouse click on it and select rename. Change the name to CFS3win7. Right mouse click on the CFS3win7.exe and select CUT, browse to your main game folder and select paste. In the main game folder you should now have two .exe icons. The original one and the new CFS3win7 one. Right mouse click on the CFS3win7.exe and go to properties. Select Compatibility. Put a check mark in the “run this program in compatibility mode for” and then select Window XP SP3 in the drop down box.NOTE: This is the only choice that will work. SP2 will not. In privilege level at the bottom select “run this program as administrator” Click apply. Click OK. Now right mouse click on the CFS3win7.exe icon and select Send to and Desktop(created shortcut). Close all windows. You should have an icon on the desktop that is named CFS3win7. Check Countdown Mailer on Catalogue AU. Go to properties on this and double check that Windows XP SP3 and administrator settings are selected in compatibility. If they aren’t select them and click OK. Run the game for the first time. If it’s OK then apply the CFS3 patches. Test in multiplayer if required
NOTE
This method worked on my system but not on Blacksheep-ghost03. For his system he applied step 2 which involves applying the same settings but to the original CFS3.exe
Step two
If you have installed the game as above and created the new icon and it doesn’t work or won’t fly in multiplayer, delete the CFS3win7 icon from your desktop. Browse to your main game folder and delete the CFS3win7.exe. You should now have only the original CFS3 .exe in the game folder and no icons on your desktop. Right mouse click on the CFS3.exe and follow the same steps as above for compatibility and privilege level. Once done create a shortcut for the CFS3.exe on your desktop. Check that the compatibility and privilege settings are correct. Run the game. If it works apply the CFS3 patches. Test in multiplayer if required.
WINDOWS 7 64 BIT
NOTE
I have Windows 7 64 bit installed. It would not run multi player regardless of the steps performed above and would crash to desktop. Event viewer described an MFC70.DLL error. I browsed and found an old Microsoft article that referred to the same type of issue I was having.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/555608
I followed the recommended fix. Go to main game folder and delete the OLEACC.DLL file. After doing this my game runs fine and I can host and join multiplayer games.
Hope this works for you too.
Special thanks to Deadmeat1971 and Blacksheep-ghost03 for their contributions

**hairyspin** · November 9th, 2009, 10:32

From a frustrated Win7 64-bit user, thank you both very much!

I wasted a lot of time trying to get the pre-release 64-bit version working with CFS3, so it's good to see someone crack that nut. It might now be safe to say that CFS3 has still more years ahead of it yet!
Cheers guys! :ernae:

***Moparmike*** · November 9th, 2009, 12:02

Good post Tailwind!
TY for the info...I've been working on getting CFS3 set up on my new Win7 rig too. Will have to keep this in mind.

**Naismith** · November 9th, 2009, 12:09

Let me get this right, Win7 a Microsoft product has issues with CFS3 ---- a Microsoft product of not ancient age. Who would've thought!

**Tailwind** · November 12th, 2009, 17:07

Hi,

I would like to make an adjustment to step two.For Blacksheep-ghost03 to get his to work he had to set compatibility to Windows Vista SP2 first. Fly the game then change it to Windows XP SP3. We deleted his install a couple of times to test and this worked every time. We really never sorted what caused this but he is running an RC candidate and I am running a post release version. Might have something to do with it

So step two should read

STEP TWO
If you have installed the game as above and created the new icon and it doesn’t work or won’t fly in multiplayer, delete the CFS3win7 icon from your desktop. Browse to your main game folder and delete the CFS3win7.exe. You should now have only the original CFS3 .exe in the game folder and no icons on your desktop. Right mouse click on the CFS3.exe go to compatibility and select Windows Vista SP2. Also select run this program as administrator. Once done create a shortcut for the CFS3.exe on your desktop. Go to properties and check that the compatibility and privilege settings are correct. Try and run the game. It will probably crash. That's fine. Go to the main game folder CFS3.exe again and change compatibility to Windows XP SP3. Go to desktop and check your short cut to make sure it is also Windows XP SP3 if its not change it. Fly the game. If it works apply the CFS3 patches. Test in multiplayer if required.

Sorry for the mix up but there were so many attempts to get this working I forgot about the vista setting

TW

***ganesh*** · November 12th, 2009, 19:33

Originally Posted by Tailwind

Hi,

I would like to make an adjustment to step two.For Blacksheep-ghost03 to get his to work he had to set compatibility to Windows Vista SP2 first. Fly the game then change it to Windows XP SP3. We deleted his install a couple of times to test and this worked every time. We really never sorted what caused this but he is running an RC candidate and I am running a post release version. Might have something to do with it

So step two should read

STEP TWO
If you have installed the game as above and created the new icon and it doesn’t work or won’t fly in multiplayer, delete the CFS3win7 icon from your desktop. Browse to your main game folder and delete the CFS3win7.exe. You should now have only the original CFS3 .exe in the game folder and no icons on your desktop. Right mouse click on the CFS3.exe go to compatibility and select Windows Vista SP2. Also select run this program as administrator. Once done create a shortcut for the CFS3.exe on your desktop. Go to properties and check that the compatibility and privilege settings are correct. Try and run the game. It will probably crash. That's fine. Go to the main game folder CFS3.exe again and change compatibility to Windows XP SP3. Go to desktop and check your short cut to make sure it is also Windows XP SP3 if its not change it. Fly the game. If it works apply the CFS3 patches. Test in multiplayer if required.

Sorry for the mix up but there were so many attempts to get this working I forgot about the vista setting

TW

Heheh i wil have to call you grandnerd form now on grumpy old grandad.

**chriseponymous** · November 13th, 2009, 10:12

Ive recently treated myself to a brand new sparkling computer. The OS is Vista 64 bit but I have also bought a voucher for an upgrade to Windows 7. Basically I was just wondering is it worth waiting for the upgrade to arrive before I go installing CFS3? Bearing in mind though the fact I have been without it for at least a week! Cheers in advance.

**hairyspin** · November 13th, 2009, 12:55

Is it worth it? Too true, mate! It's not that Vista and Win7 are so dramatically different in terms of how you use them, but Win7 has been so much better thought out from a user's point of view. Plus there are the little interface tricks which Vista just doesn't have and make work more productive - windows can be tiled to the left or right halves of the screen with ease, making working between two apps, or Explorer windows a breeze. A quick keystroke pair will restore one window to maximum in a moment, or restore the split layout.

One BIG caveat - some of the CFS3 tools will NOT work in Vista/Win7: that .MOS editor which gave you trouble needs XP - don't throw your XP CD away if that's important to you and put it on a separate partition (or HD - I fitted two to my rig).

Good choice going for 64-bit, I did the same.

**hairyspin** · November 13th, 2009, 13:00

Back to the thread topic!

Tonight I put CFS3 on my retail Win7 Home Premium 64-bit, patched it to 3.1a, set compatibility to XP SP3, Run as an Administrator and made a separate renamed copy of CFS3.exe with the same compatibility settings.

Then I joined a multiplayer game using the renamed version. It works. No CTD, no aircraft mismatches!

Thank you very much, Tailwind and Blacksheep-ghost03!

Note: the OFF boys are reporting that OLEACC.DLL needs to be taken out of 32-bit installs as well. Anyone else try this?

**Tailwind** · November 13th, 2009, 16:17

Originally Posted by hairyspin

Back to the thread topic!

Tonight I put CFS3 on my retail Win7 Home Premium 64-bit, patched it to 3.1a, set compatibility to XP SP3, Run as an Administrator and made a separate renamed copy of CFS3.exe with the same compatibility settings.

Then I joined a multiplayer game using the renamed version. It works. No CTD, no aircraft mismatches!

Thank you very much, Tailwind and Blacksheep-ghost03!

Note: the OFF boys are reporting that OLEACC.DLL needs to be taken out of 32-bit installs as well. Anyone else try this?

Hi

You are welcome. Glad its working out for you.

I have been to darn busy to try OFF. Plus I only have 64 bit Windows 7 right now. I will keep an eye on the OFF forum for updates

On a side note I installed MAW on Win7 64 bit and fired up multi player and spawned in with no CTD. Not a true test as I have not been able to have someone try and join. But at least no CTD.

:ernae:

TW

**hairyspin** · November 14th, 2009, 04:39

The problem with OLEACC.DLL appears to be one of versions. FS9 had a similar problem reported, which is where Tailwind's answer came from. The file supplied with CFS3 has a date of 2003 and is about 5KB in size. XP's own version in \System32 is about 160KB in size, but doesn't seem to clash.

The same file in Windows 7 is several hundred KB in size, much more recent, and presumably doesn't live happily alongside the CFS3/FS9 versions. Happily, CFS3 seems to work perfectly well with the Win7 version, so everybody wins.

Headspinning stuff, all we need now is a clearly laid-out guide for anyone to follow. Wonder who might do that.....

**grizzly50** · November 14th, 2009, 06:11

Originally Posted by hairyspin

The problem with OLEACC.DLL appears to be one of versions. FS9 had a similar problem reported, which is where Tailwind's answer came from. The file supplied with CFS3 has a date of 2003 and is about 5KB in size. XP's own version in \System32 is about 160KB in size, but doesn't seem to clash.

The same file in Windows 7 is several hundred KB in size, much more recent, and presumably doesn't live happily alongside the CFS3/FS9 versions. Happily, CFS3 seems to work perfectly well with the Win7 version, so everybody wins.

Headspinning stuff, all we need now is a clearly laid-out guide for anyone to follow. Wonder who might do that.....

Yeah, I wonder? LOLOLOLOL Good luck, Hairyspin.:d

madmachinest · December 28th, 2009, 15:40

A easy to follow guide for Windows 7 64bit would be great! I can't get CFS3 multiplayer to work for anything!

Boomer2212 · January 1st, 2010, 09:02

I can't find my CFS3.exe to move it.Help please!!If you can't get me here my email is boomer2212@yahoo.com Thank you!!

**Tailwind** · January 27th, 2010, 15:58

OK so I was working on a box today. Standard sort of hardware setup nothing odd Windows 7 Media. Clean install all patched up and current drivers. I installed CFS3 clean, ran the game and then the updates. Ran the config file.

Here is the funny thing. I went to customize the joystick setup. Logitech extreme 3D pro. I went into controllers in CFS3 and created a new profile. Then I scrolled to zoom out and double clicked on it. I selected button 4. As soon as I did that I lost click function on the mouse. At first I thought the computer had locked but then I realized that the mouse cursor was moving OK and the video in the back ground was still moving. It would not let me click OK to finish the task

I went to task manager and checked and the game was still running OK. I went back to the setup screen and realized I could use the tab button to highlight the OK option and then hit enter on the keyboard to select.

I tried rebooting, changed KB/Mouse from USB to PS2 but the same thing kept happening I ended up configuring the rest of the buttons by using tab and hitting enter

I have installed CFS3 on many machines and never run into this before. I thought I would post it in case some one else has this happen and thinks the machine is locked up.

:ernae:

TW

flying dutchman · February 5th, 2010, 05:44

I've done exactly what you told and CFS3 works, but it's not connected to the internet, how can I do that?

FAFL342_Dizzy · February 22nd, 2010, 03:07

Thank you very much for your help tailwind, now I finally can run my cfs3 on my new win7 computer. I had to do both renaming the .exe and deleting the oleacc.dll. Thanks for sharing, great job that does Soh team, congrats!
FAFL342_Dizzy (France)

**Tailwind** · February 23rd, 2010, 17:06

Great news FAFL342_Dizzy

Glad to hear you got it sorted

:ernae:

TW

Stephen304 · February 24th, 2010, 16:27

Theres a game running and i want to get in so i copied the game exe and named it cfs3vista.exe and i set the compatability and it didn't work, it still said you dont have the aircraft on the server aircraft mismatch: so i tried both xp sp 2 and 3 and win 98 and i also tried doing it to the original named normal and it still doesn't work!

**rouge34rtw** · March 18th, 2010, 17:59

Its my sworn duty as a United States Marine to wreak havoc and confusion wherever I may roam...... So, let me say that I have been running CFS3, CFS3 Firepower, PTO, ETO, DPC Korean Skies, and MAW on my Vista Ultimate 64 bit for at least 3 years without any problems or compatability issues (aside from the many I have created for myself with improperly or incompletely installed add-ons.....:isadizzy

And, about 6 months ago, I added Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit (from the beta thru the RC to my current OEM software) in a dual boot configuration.....and installed all of the CFS3 versions and expenasions there as well......and they all function without any trouble......without any modifications to the executables or any other files......

Of course, all my installations are so heavily modded and tweaked that I don't even consider joining any online gatherings.... but still, I have had no compatability issues, or malfunctions with the default installations....

I am not 100% sure yet, but I am guessing it might have something to do with the fact that I turn user account control off in both Vista and Win 7, and set all of my security options to allow in the system and internet option configuration utilities....

**FAFL342Pascal** · March 19th, 2010, 04:24

Hi ! Thanks for the tips
i have now a laptop with windows seven x64
CFS3.1a is installed : note that oleacc.dll has to be disable after the patches.
cfs3win7 shortcut dont work properly, but original cfs3 and nocd work both.
i can host game, and xp user can connect
but i still had a problem to join xp game ?! cfs3 crash when connecting to host.
and Guess ! oleacc.dll has to be DELETED. renaming it is not enough.

**s.skalski** · March 25th, 2010, 21:03

I've been ready with all steps mention by TW, and all is working well without crashing effects except 3.1a updates. I did this patch without error messages as normal user and as administrator but I can't join hosted games with this modified aircraft because of aircraft mishmash. I't seems that the patch would not installed well. What can I do in this case?

Skalski

PattyPawn · April 12th, 2010, 23:18

Originally Posted by flying dutchman

I've done exactly what you told and CFS3 works, but it's not connected to the internet, how can I do that?

ya, same thing. it says "network error, please make sure you are connected to the internet and try again"

it thinks im not connected

***italflyer*** · April 14th, 2010, 01:50

When you try to host a multiplayer session, be sure to uncheck the box for the gamematch server, because it doesn't support CFS3 anymore. (you find it on the second screen, where you enter the name of the game, password etc.)

**GDavid** · May 28th, 2010, 18:14

Thank you Sirs!

Finally after having the discs for nearly two years I was able to run the game even though I haven't attempted multiplayer yet. Have a couple of minor issues though, namely...

1: Am I supposed to update the engine with CFS3UpdateEng.exe and ACUpdate.exe before making the edits to CFS3.exe (for win 7 64b) or after fixing the compat and admin modes???

2: I don't have any control panel (quite limiting not having an artificial horizon or other gauges...) or is it an HUD option or somesuch I'm missing?

Living in hope...

btw: running 1920x1080 main and 1280x1024|8800gt 512M|P35-DS3|e8200|6G 1066RAM|IntelG2 80G boot|Win7pro64

Regards from down under,
Dave