Microsoft Flight Sim Crashes to Desktop at "Press any Key" loading stage

[mikelbiker]

Hi guys, I've just bought a desktop from you and found that Flight Sim 2020 crashes to desktop every time I try to run it.
Have tried:
Updated all drivers. Graphics card drivers
Updated game
Uninstall/ clean install
Run as administrator
Game Mode on
Maximise virtual memory
Repaired/ reset game and XBox App
Checked Store login matches XBox login
Wired mouse/ keyboard not wireless
Optimised power plan

I've never managed to get past the launch screen though

MS Store tells me that my PC specs should meet minimum criteria, and mine are:

Showing Order Reference 1818330
Case	PCS 3601 CASE
Processor (CPU)	Intel® Core™ i3 Quad Core Processor i3-9100F (3.60GHz) 6MB Cache
Motherboard	ASUS® PRIME Z390-P: ATX, LGA1151, USB 3.1, SATA 6GBs - RGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)	8GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 2400MHz (1 x 8GB)
Graphics Card	4GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1650 SUPER - HDMI
1st Storage Drive	1TB PCS 2.5" SSD, SATA 6 Gb (520MB/R, 470MB/W)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive	24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Power Supply	CORSAIR 350W VS SERIES™ VS-350 POWER SUPPLY
Power Cable	1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling	PCS FrostFlow 80 Series High Performance CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste	STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Extra Case Fans	2x 120mm Black Case Fan (configured to extract from rear/roof)
Sound Card	ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking	WIRELESS INTEL® Wi-Fi 6 AX200 2,400Mbps/5GHz, 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD + BT 5.0
USB/Thunderbolt Options	MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System	Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence
Operating System Language	United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media	Windows 10 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Supplied on DVD
Office Software	FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus	NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser	Microsoft® Edge (Windows 10 Only)
Warranty	3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Home Installation	NONE
Delivery	STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time	Standard Build - Approximately 15 to 17 working days
Welcome Book	PCSpecialist Welcome Book - United Kingdom & Republic of Ireland

Any thoughts guys?

Cheers,

Mike

 

[ubuysa]

How does it crash? Does it BSOD? If so what's the stop code? Are there any minidumps in C:\Windows\Minidumps or a kernel dump in C:\Windows\Memory.dmp? If so upload them to the cloud somewhere and post a link to them here.

I would also download Memtest and make a bootable USB stick using the extracted tool. Boot that USB stick and Memtest will start running. Let it do all four iterations of the various tests, it will take several hours so best let it run overnight. Even a single error indicates flaky RAM.

 

[mikelbiker]

Thanks ubuysa, but no its not BSOD. Just goes straight from the "Press Any key" launch page back to Desktop with the Flight Sim closed.
No stop codes and nothing in %SystemRoot%\Minidump either

 

[Scott]

I would definitely try another game. That sort of spec must be right on the ragged edge for running it and it may be struggling due to the development aspect with the game at the moment.

 

[mikelbiker]

Thanks Scott. I don't have another graphics card, and so I'm not sure how I plug into the motherboard. If I disconnect the GeForce 1650S cable, no display comes to my screen if I connect to the HDMI from the motherboard. Am I doing something wrong?

 

[Scott]

Hi there,

What I mean is to try a different game rather than a different GPU.

 

[Martinr36]

@Scott I think the OP confused your post with mine as I mentioned unplugging the GPU.

Did you disconnect the cables from the graphics card itself? ie open the case and physically disconnect it? Or did you merely swap the HDMI wire over? I ask as I am not sure if a dedicated graphics card over-rides integrated graphics as long as the card is connected to the motherboard

Could you not disable the dedicated graphics in device manager, if the OP doesn't fancy opening the case?

 

[LAUGUT]

I had the same problem with my PCS rig. It is a common one looking at all the forums. Mine was solved by Aerosoft who asked me to make sure i had all Xbox services turned to automatic. The program looks for updates at the press any key stage, (I think that was my problem). Have a look at the Microsoft zendesk site for MSFS as well as the Aerosoft forum, both of which have bundles of advice!

 

[Scott]

I had the same problem with my PCS rig. It is a common one looking at all the forums. Mine was solved by Aerosoft who asked me to make sure i had all Xbox services turned to automatic. The program looks for updates at the press any key stage, (I think that was my problem). Have a look at the Microsoft zendesk site for MSFS as well as the Aerosoft forum, both of which have bundles of advice!

Reading between the lines from the Steam update I had a feeling it was something like this. Their last update mentioned a bugfix for the press any key Window. My hope is that it can get updated somehow before getting to that stage to bypass the issue

 

[Scott]

@Scott I think the OP confused your post with mine as I mentioned unplugging the GPU.

Did you disconnect the cables from the graphics card itself? ie open the case and physically disconnect it? Or did you merely swap the HDMI wire over? I ask as I am not sure if a dedicated graphics card over-rides integrated graphics as long as the card is connected to the motherboard

Ahh that'll explain it haha.

 

[LAUGUT]

Not too sure if it was an issue with the steam version alone. I had got the DVD version, (Premium Deluxe), the first thing MSFS does each time is to look for updates. The initial installation is all the same, regardless of version. It will then download the extras that you have purchased ie Deluxe, Premium Deluxe. Many people have found that their hangar does not contain the extra aircraft that you get with each version, again probably due to downloading problems.

 

[Scott]

My steam version is certainly OK (Premium Deluxe again). I do get installs through steam as well as proper updates through the game itself though. The steam updates are quite small and I believe in relation to the minor bug fixes. The full blown downloads (my last one was 58GB) come via the game itself.

 

[mikelbiker]

I would definitely try another game. That sort of spec must be right on the ragged edge for running it and it may be struggling due to the development aspect with the game at the moment.

Scott, thanks it runs other sim games fine. Not sure what that means though

 

[mikelbiker]

@Scott I think the OP confused your post with mine as I mentioned unplugging the GPU.

Did you disconnect the cables from the graphics card itself? ie open the case and physically disconnect it? Or did you merely swap the HDMI wire over? I ask as I am not sure if a dedicated graphics card over-rides integrated graphics as long as the card is connected to the motherboard

Thanks and yes, I disconnected the internal GPU plug and moved the HDMI across from the GPU to the motherboard plate on the back of the case, but just have a black screen when I do that

 

[mikelbiker]

Could you not disable the dedicated graphics in device manager, if the OP doesn't fancy opening the case?

Thanks @Martinr36 my system settings doesn’t show any other display device, only the NVIDIA and I’m worried if I disable it I won’t manage to enable it again afterwards if I have no display

 

[Martinr36]

Thanks @Martinr36 my system settings doesn’t show any other display device, only the NVIDIA and I’m worried if I disable it I won’t manage to enable it again afterwards if I have no display

Mike, your CPU has integrated graphics which should take over if a dedicated graphics card isn't present

 

[Aktasakplays]

Have you installed the US language pack in Windows? If you go to the language settings in the settings panel, you can download the pack and it should fix the problem you are having. 😁