Add-ons stopped working - I found something interesting

[BAW019]

Peter, here's a copy of an email I just sent to Microsoft. Thought it might be useful to know, if not feel free to delete the post.

All the best

Ian

I've discovered a software 'funny' that I thought maybe you should be aware of.

My system is stable and has given me weeks of trouble free flying since upgrading to FSX and FSUIPC4.

Last night however all my add-on programs stopped communicating and although FSX ran quite happily none of them (GoFlight, FSInn and my own joystick key mapper) would interface with it.

Interestingly FS9 remained unaffected and all add-ons worked fine with that program.

After a lot of investigation I found that uninstalling "Futuremark Measurement Services" and "Juniper Host Checker" software cured the problem and I can once again use all my add-ons.

I'm emailing Microsoft in case Simconnect contains any weaknesses or vulnerabilites that could be patched in the next service pack.

For info, I've also posted a copy of this message text in Peter Downson's FSUIPC support forum. The symptoms -which include 3rd party apps disappearing from the FSX menu - have been mentioned there by other users and thought it may be handy to know what I've found.

Anyway, that's about it - all the best!

Ian

AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+

3GB RAM

WinFast NF4K8AC motherboard

Palit GeForce 7600 GT (256mb - PCI Express)

Windows XP Home Edition SP2

MS Flight Simulator X

FSInn v1.2

FS Co-pilot v1.6

FSUIPC4 v4.0.6.0

[Pete Dowson]

Peter, here's a copy of an email I just sent to Microsoft. Thought it might be useful to know, if not feel free to delete the post.

Yes, thanks. They sent me a copy too, for information, and say they are investigating.

After a lot of investigation I found that uninstalling "Futuremark Measurement Services" and "Juniper Host Checker" software cured the problem and I can once again use all my add-ons.

The odd thing here is -- what ARE these services? They don't appear in any of my PCs, so I can only assume they are from some add-on software you have. Do you know where they come from?

Regards

Pete

[BAW019]

Hi Peter, I know about one of them and have suspicions about the other.

Juniper Software write network connectivity 'solutions' (don't you hate that word. Everything's a solution nowadays).

My employer uses it to so we can work from home and it installs some components the first time you access the employer's home-working 'portal' on the internet. (And that's another one! I'm screaming inside you know).

I could be wrong but I have a feeling the first time through it also installs the Futuremark software to check your system and verify that it comes up to the necessary security levels (virus checkers, firewalls etc). Certainly the webstie for Futuremark says it measures performance, strengths and weaknesses of your PC.

I've spoken to the techies at work who tell me there's nothing that's installed that could conceivably interfere with Flight Sim X or FSUIPC but since we didn't write these progs I doubt their opinions and besides they forgot to mention the Futuremark thing.

Anyway, hope this helps. I'm off to my breakfast solutions provider to see if there are any eggs in the fridge portal.

All the best

Ian