Vista compatibility is a hot topic right now and people have a lot of questions about using RealFlight with this new operating system. The short answer is that RealFlight G3.5 works just fine with Vista, and we will demonstrate that below. However, for users who are not familiar with some of the new features and behavior Microsoft introduced in Vista, there are a few things that can be confusing.

To help clear up any questions about how to install and use RealFlight G3.5 in Vista, we will provide step-by-step instructions for the tasks that are likely to cause confusion. We will install RealFlight G3 version 3.00.313 (the original release) from CD, perform an online update to version 3.50.060, install all five Add-Ons and all three G3 Expansion Packs, and host a multiplayer session.


Vista's biggest new security feature is called User Account Control (UAC for short). It's designed to prevent malicious processes from running on your computer and doing things you don't want them to do. One of the ways UAC achieves that goal is by prompting you to approve processes that are trying to run with administrator permissions before they are allowed to execute. Alternatively, depending on the type of account you are using to log in, those programs may be silently denied the permissions they need to function normally, causing the program to have errors.

An in-depth examination of UAC is beyond the scope of this document. You can find plenty of information simply by using your favorite Internet search engine. However, it's worth pointing out here that although you can disable it altogether and avoid most or all of the issues described below, we do not recommend that course of action. It would require disabling a security feature built into the operating system and would leave your computer more vulnerable as a result. Instead, simply refer to the example below to answer any questions you have and you'll see that it's very easy to use RealFlight normally with UAC enabled.


You MUST use an account with administrator privileges! This was a requirement for Windows 2000 and XP and it still holds true for Vista. If you do not have administrator privileges, you will be unable to run RealFlight without errors, and the prompts you receive from Vista will be different than the ones described in the examples below.


If you already have RealFlight G3.5 installed (this will apply to most people who installed the Vista upgrade on a computer that already had RealFlight G3.5), you can skip this section and go straight to Preparing RealFlight to run in Vista.

1. Insert RealFlight G3 disk #1. (In this example we are installing version 3.00.313, but the same steps apply to all versions.)
2. The CD will AutoPlay, resulting in the following pop-up dialog:
   
   
   
   
3. Click the "Run setup.exe" button to proceed.
4. You will see the following pop-up dialog prompting you for permission to run setup.exe with administrator permissions:
   
   
   
   
5. Click the Allow button.
6. Proceed with the remainder of the installation as on any other version of Windows.
7. After inserting disk #2 (and #3 if you have G3.5 disks) AutoPlay will run again, but it will look a little different this time:
   
   
   
   Just close that dialog when it appears.
8. Cancel the DirectX installer dialog when it appears (Vista already has DirectX 10 preinstalled). The DirectX dialog looks like this:
   
   
   
   

In this section we will tell Vista to always run RealFlight and the RealFlight Launcher with administrator permissions. These simple steps should solve all issues where the software appears to just plain not work.

1. Once RealFlight has installed successfully, you will have a new RealFlight G3 or G3.5 Launcher shortcut on your desktop...
   
   
   
   ...and new Launcher and RealFlight shortcuts installed on your Start menu:
   
   
   
   
2. Right-click on the Launcher shortcut on your desktop and select Properties from the menu that pops up.
3. Select the Compatibility tab.
4. Enable the "Run this program as an administrator" option and click OK.
   
   
   
   
5. Perform these same steps for the RealFlight G3/G3.5 shortcut on your Start menu (begin by right-clicking it just like you did with the desktop shortcut icon). You do not need to perform these steps for the Launcher shortcut on the Start menu because you already did it on the desktop and that setting will automatically be applied to both.

Note that whenever you start the Launcher or RealFlight you will receive the standard UAC prompt (shown in step #4 of the Installation section above) requiring you to either allow the app to run as an administrator or cancel it. As mentioned above, that is a standard Vista security feature. It is normal behavior.


The Registration and Updates procedure behaves the same way it did in previous versions of Windows except for one minor glitch which is covered below. In this example, we performed an online update all the way from the very first version of RealFlight G3 (3.00.313) to the very latest version available (3.50.060).

1. Run the Launcher. Once again, the UAC will prompt and you must click Allow:
   
   
   
   
2. Enter the serial numbers as requested and click OK.
3. At the main Launcher dialog, click Additional Options, then click Registration/Updates.
4. Click Online Registration.
5. Complete the form and submit it.
6. Click "Update to Latest Version".
7. The Launcher will download an updated version of itself and restart. NOTE: There is a minor glitch here where the new version of the Launcher will say you must register first before continuing the update, even though you just did that. Basically, after restarting automatically it doesn't have the administrator permissions it needs anymore. Simply exit the Launcher and start it again from one of the shortcuts then continue with the next step.
8. On startup the Launcher will prompt you to continue the update to the latest version. Click Yes.
9. The online update will proceed normally, and when it's finished, you will have the latest version of RealFlight G3.5.

The first time you attempt to join or host a multiplayer session, the Windows Firewall will prompt you to unblock or continue blocking RealFlight. Once you've unblocked it or otherwise arranged for it to access the network, you should be able to host or join normally.



A note about hosting: Older versions of RealFlight attempt to use the IPv6 addresses Vista makes available in addition to IPv4 addresses, and this breaks the multiplayer hosting capability. You will see a system message similar to the one shown below when you try to host. To fix this problem, simply update to RealFlight version 3.50.060 or later.




All of the existing RealFlight Add-Ons and Expansion Packs that are compatible with RealFlight G3.5 in other versions of Windows will work in Vista, too. In the following example, we will walk through the Add-Ons Volume 1 installation. The same instructions apply to all Add-Ons volumes and Expansion Packs except where noted.

1. Insert your RealFlight Add-Ons Volume 1 disk.
2. The CD will AutoPlay, resulting in the following pop-up dialog:
   
   
   
   
3. Click the "Run RCAPlay.exe" button to proceed. NOTE: For Add-Ons 3-5, instead of "Run RCAPlay.exe" it will say "Run CPanel.exe". For Expansion Packs 1-3, it will say "Run setup.exe".
4. You will see the standard UAC dialog prompting you for permission to run the installer with administrator permissions. Click the "Allow" button.
5. When prompted for an installation location for Add-Ons 1-2, it is better if you select your RealFlight G3.5 installation directory instead of the default location. (Unless you chose something different when you originally installed RealFlight, it will be located in C:\Program Files\RealFlightG3.) If you don't do this, the Launcher will probably still be able to detect the files and move them over, but it's not guaranteed.
6. Proceed with the remainder of the installation as you would on any other version of Windows.
7. You may cancel the DirectX installation when it appears.
8. The installation is now complete. NOTE: After installing any of the Expansion Packs, you will see a dialog stating that installation might not have completed properly. It will look like this:
   
   
   
   
9. Click the "This program installed correctly" button. Rest assured that nothing is wrong; this dialog is just the result of a Vista compatibility glitch, where Vista is unable to determine if the installation was successful and so it asks for your input. You do not need to reattempt the installation in compatibility mode, which is what clicking the other button would do.
10. Repeat these steps for any other Add-Ons or Expansion Packs you wish to install.

Still have questions? Please contact RealFlight Technical Support for further assistance. You may also find answers to your questions in the Knife Edge Software Discussion Forums.