How to Fix Crash During Combat Flight Simulator Games

Combat Flight Simulator 3, released in 2002, is the most recent game published by Microsoft in the Combat Flight Simulator series. If Combat Flight Simulator 3 is unstable on your computer, an update is available from Microsoft which may resolve the issue. Additionally, you may experience improved performance by installing the most recent version of DirectX and updating the drivers for your video card. Download all available updates for your computer and for Combat Flight Simulator 3 to resolve crashes that may occur while you play.

Instructions

1. Visit the Windows Update website using Internet Explorer. The link is listed in the "Resources" section of this article. If you are running Windows Vista or 7, visiting this website will launch the Automatic Update component of your operating system. In Windows XP, update your system by clicking the "Custom" button to see which updates are available. Download any updates that are shown for DirectX, the 3D graphics component of Windows. Microsoft recommends that DirectX 9.0 or later be installed for best performance in Combat Flight Simulator 3.

2. Restart your computer after installing the available updates.

3. Hit the Windows logo and "R" key on your keyboard simultaneously to bring up the "Run" dialog box. Type "devmgmt.msc" without the quotation marks into the window and hit "Enter." This will launch the Windows Device Manager.

4. Click the plus sign next to "Display adapters" to expand this category of the list. The expanded category will show the manufacturer of your computer's video card. Two common names that you may see here include ATI and NVIDIA.

5. Visit the website of your video card's manufacturer, and download the most recent drivers that are available for your video card. In most cases, the driver software will be downloaded as a single .EXE file. Double click the file to install the drivers, and follow the prompts shown on-screen to complete the installation.

6. Restart your computer after updating the video card drivers.

7. Visit the download page for the version 3.1 patch for Combat Flight Simulator 3 (referenced below). Download the file and save it to your desktop. Double click to install the patch. This patch resolves a known issue where the game crashes when certain aircraft are removed.

8. Restart your computer after applying the version 3.1 patch for Combat Flight Simulator 3. The game should no longer experience crashing issues.

References

• Microsoft Game Studios

Resources

• Windows Update