FS-GS. Anyone used the service?

[Tomlin]

Anyone here ever use the FS-GS service before (http://fs-gs.com/testimonials.htm)? I have good FS9 performance considering the age of my machine, but I suspect that the service could be helpful. However, Im curious to hear from those that have used this while having their machines set up for a Flight Deck.

Thanks,

[JBaymore]

Eric,

May I suggest you read thru the ENTIRE (long and ongoing) following posting from the Simviation forums (discalimer here... FYI I am a mod there):

http://www.simviation.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1163028653/0

The thread is in the FSX forum section.... but 99.9% of what is discussed applies to fs2004 also. This thread actually sort of condenses a lot of stuff that was located in the fs2004 forum also.

I can't go into details, but NickN (formerly usernamed Nick N there) is very highly "connected" in the Microsoft FS world and is a serious "computer guru" type guy. He REALLY knows his ^%$# ! He has helped me with countless computer and FS issues.....and his advice is ALWAYS dead on. Always. Not necessarily always CHEAP.... but always accurate ;). He really "cuts to the chase" and tends to blow away a lot of "myths". If he says you have to spend these $ to get that level of expected performance..... you DO.

If you ask him a technical hardware question....... he'll likely respond with IMPORTANT information on the subject that you never even knew EXISTED let alone were considering. He's saved many people from making BIG mistakes as they were off to try to follow the "conventional wisdom" or the marketing hype.

I read every posting he makes over there; it is like a "college computer science course".

NickN is probably one of THE most valuable "players" in sharing FREE fs information there is. If you follow his instructions EXACTLTY as described in the posting I just listed above there, you will be AMAZED at the increase in your computer's and your sim's performance.


There are also a lot of postings on SimV about the FS-GS service, since the guy who performs that service "hangs out" in the screenshots forum there a lot. Check those comments out too. Most people see very posiitive results when they use the service. But I have to say that many who have followed NickN's advice find that they don't feel the NEED for the FS-GS service anymore.

So...... read stuff and judge for yourself.


best,

....................john

[Tomlin]

John,

Thanks a million. I will consider it. My only fear is getting in, changing somthing, and not having someone to guide me back out of it if it's not quite right. However, I will try this I believe before investing in FSGS, since you give such a good reccomendation. However, I need to know if I absolutely must buy the O&O and other utility mentioned over there?

[JBaymore]

Eric,

No problem. Nick's particular thread there is now getting quoted (unfortunatley often without attribution to Nick) all over the FS boards lately. If you are not already a Windows and computer "guru"... that thread is worth hundreds of dollars of "consultant fees". ;)

If you want the "full bore" response out of what he says..... yes. Disk access is a significant issue as it is the slowest part of the whole system. Right now it is looking like my IDE hard drives are KILLING me. Need to go to SATA.

And watch Nick's notes on NOT USING the newest version of O&O in that thread. Which means that if you do buy it... you are buying an outdated version to get what he wants... so it should be cheaper too. ;)

As to doing stuff.... literally do that stuff one step at a time... and check off the steps as you do them. There are a number of logical "break points" where you can stop and come back to it all later. I think that they are obvious in the way he wrote it all. Each step of the way, you'll likely see an improvement.

And you are not really all alone. Nick is generous to a fault. If you start having issues... register at SimV and ask him some questions. I am sure that he will answer them; he does so for others.

I don't think he sleeps! ;) BTW....... he is out in Washington state... so that is his normal "timeframe" in case you are trying to figure out when he might respond to something.

best,

................john

[Tomlin]

Just real quick (I read 85% of what he listed as the guide but not all since I cant do it right now anyway)...will this require me to do any major back ups of my registration keys for add-ons, keep my Windows XP CD handy, and other stuff?

[JBaymore]

Just real quick (I read 85% of what he listed as the guide but not all since I cant do it right now anyway)...will this require me to do any major back ups of my registration keys for add-ons, keep my Windows XP CD handy, and other stuff?


Somewhere in that thread I THINK Nick mentions this..... back things up!

When one is doing ANY major work on the computer the FIRST step is to BACK UP!

No ... you SHOULDN'T need any of that stuff. It won't change the sim itself. It is all Windows tweeks. And a few fs cfg tweeks. But if something goes wrong........ well....you know the story. These are computers we are talking about here :cool:.

You really should have all that stuff backed up anyway. The machine can go south for many reasons at any time. I use an external usb drive and move all the important data stuff to that drive about once every other day. Payware and any keys gets IMMEDIATELY backed up to it (and a paper copy of the key info is made and filed in a safe.)

If I remember correctly, there are regedits that are done. THAT stuff can screw up your computer if you screw it up. So for SURE do a backup and creat a restore point immediately before doing those things.

And it is always good to backup immediatley before a defrag too. They have been known to cause problems all by themselves.

best,

...................john