MSFS 2020 startup and loading issues

[TenPatrol]

@milesy1188

Experienced two issues today which have made sim unplayable.

First was a CTD when loading the Sim. Researching the forums suggested this was a dodgy Nvidia .dll file. Since I deleted the files in question it worked fine. Only issue is the .dll files come back after each restart unless I delete the Nvidia app.

2 hours later, try to load sim up and it hangs on the loading screen and will not progress further.

Assume it’s having one of those days for others too?

With Nvidia driver 572.16/572.42/47/60,70,83, 576.xx Nvidia app and DX12 selected in MSFS 2020 a CTD won’t occur.

However, with DX11 selected in MSFS 2020, using the same latest Nvidia driver and Nvidia app, a CTD will occur.

Until Nvidia fixes the application and Asobo MSFS 2020 please check what happens if you select DX12 instead of DX11 by manually editing cfg file.

To do this, you need to edit usercfg.opt file and modify the line
PreferD3D12 0

Change the number 0 to 1

and save the changes.

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OR

If you need Nvidia app, optimize MSFS 2020.

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OR

If Nvidia app installed go to:
c:\ProgramData\NVIDIA
delete folder named NGX

@milesy1188

Thanks so much for your help with this, I really appreciate people supporting issues!

Couple of questions on what you said…

@milesy1188

If I choose the optimise MSFS route, do I need to do that every time, or just once and it’ll solve it?

You only need to do it once. The optimization switches MSFS 2020 from DirectX 11 to DirectX 12 and with the latest NVIDIA drivers MSFS 2020 works correctly with DX12 and the NVIDIA app. Once it’s set, you’re good to go - no need to redo it every time.

@milesy1188

Same question for deleting the NGX folder. Do I need to do this on every windows restart?

Better option is to manually set DX12 in the Usercfg.opt file. This way, you don’t need the NVIDIA app at all, and you don’t have to delete anything on every boot.

In my opinion, that’s the best and cleanest solution. The NVIDIA optimization doesn’t really do the job properly anyway.

@milesy1188

Would rolling back to a driver not mentioned in your post solve the issue more permanently?

Yes, rolling back to a driver not mentioned earlier could indeed solve the issue more permanently. You can download version 566.14 of the NVIDIA driver. First, boot your system into Safe Mode and use Display Driver Uninstaller (DDU) to completely remove the currently installed NVIDIA driver. Once that’s done and the system restarts, go ahead and install the 566.14 version.