I thought I’d post this as I think that it might help at least some of you experiencing random CTD. This is my experience and something that I learned a valuable lesson from.
Up to about 4 weeks ago, I was pretty happy with MSFS (and my computer in general). I did see the occasional CTD in MSFS; and rarely a BSoD … apparently randomly, but based on my internet research, nothing unusual. The only really odd thing I saw was that I couldn’t update Windows. Still, Who cares - right? Well, I cared enough to dig into it. What a wild goose chase that was. Everything I found, everything I tried, came to nothing (if you’re bored, you can see some of that here and thanks to those of you who helped!). Essentially, everything suggested that I had some kind of installation file corruption…
Eventually, my Sherlock Holmes instinct suggested that file corruption can result from disk corruption that can result from RAM errors. The Windows memory diagnostic tool told me (after running several hours) that a hardware problem was detected and that I needed to consult my ‘hardware provider’ to determine the cause. About as much help as a poke in the eye with a sharp stick. I finally found a much more comprehensive tool (MemTest86) That - after warning me that it would take several hours to run - aborted after 10 minutes because of the number of memory errors detected.
Long story short … I now have 4 shiny new 16Gb memory cards (and MemTest86 ran for 5 hours without detecting a single problem). A fresh Windows install and my computer is rock solid. 3 or so weeks later, not a single BSoD, not a single CTD in MSFS and yes, I can update Windows (if I want to).
TLDR and the lesson I learned: If you have problems with your system RAM, it will NOT kill your computer stone dead as I thought. It may well struggle on with only occasional instability. RAM is relatively cheap and easy to replace in most systems. So - If you’re seeing instability, or random CTD - check your RAM 