MSTS Route Editor and WIndows 7 64 bit - Low Framerates

[hecrowell]

For some time now, I have been plauged with terrible framerates in MSTS Route Editor on my new system. here is my setup:

Gateway PC e/w
Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit
12G memory
1 TB Hard Drive
Nvidia GTX 260 video
24" LCD Mon

With all that horsepower, I could not understand why I was having such an issue with the FR in Route Editor. Then by chance I discovered that the problem was only with a new route - NOT any default route. After asking many questions and trying this-and-that, nothing worked till I stumbled across this.

1] Open the Route Editor

2] Open up the new route you are working on

3] Point the camera at terra firma (If you don't point at the ground, you may not be able to place the soundsource)

4] place a sound source file - - - ANY sound source file

VOILA ! ! ! This should fix the problem - and that fix will be revealed when you pan around with the camera.
This would explain why the FR problem didnt rear its ugly head when I opened any of the default routes - they must already have sound source files placed.

Now all I have to do is find out why when I lay track, then leave RE that the track will not be there when I return - Just blue poles.
When I find this out, I will make a post on this subject.

[hecrowell]

Further to this post, there is one more item:
For some time I was plauged with "DTS" (Disappearing Track Syndrome) in the RE. Here is what was happening: In the RE, I would lay a few pieces of track. Then save the route. Then re-open the route and - there it was - GONE! - the track I just laid. All that remained was a set of blue poles where the track was supposed to be. It was not a Matrix 3x3 problem, it wa snot a track-under-the-earth problem. It was not a RE problem, It was not a PC problem - it wasn't even am Windows 7 problem. This was a "Harold" problem (at least I am owning up to it) caused by too many installs/removes of MSTS during troubleshooting. Why all the removes and re-installs? I found from one source that MSTS should not be installed in the Program Files(x86) folder, so moved it to just Program files, then I found out it shouldn't go there either (something to do with W-7 assigning permissions or something) so another remove/install and this time placed it in the C:\Train SImulator\ folder.
Windows 7 is like its predecessors and removal of programs - even the prescribed way- leaves tracks (No pun intended) in the system registry - everywhere. Summing it up, Poor Old RE was confused to the point that at the end, it couldnt even find my route that I had just created.

After thoroughly cleaning up the system registry with regedit, I reinstalled MSTS in C:\Train Sim\
Added the Microsoft update1 then added the BIN1.7, and Xtracks. Created a new route and in RE placed a sound file as described before to fix the poor performance and Lo and Behold, since then all track problems seem to have gone.

I have made this post in hopes that anyone that has or is having similar problems will have a place to find a possible cure.