Fixing common problems encountered in Microsoft Flight

While playing the recently released, free-to-play Microsoft Flight, I encountered a few problems that seem to be easy-to-fix but pretty common for players of Microsoft Flight. Here is how you can fix the problems that will otherwise leave you grounded.

Microsoft Flight asks for a product key when signing in with Windows Live

This one is kind of crazy. The core game is free. Why would it need a product key? Or more importantly, what is the product key for Microsoft Flight?

I have found that the problem seems to stem from the Games for Windows application. Perhaps you have not signed in there, an update is needed, or terms of service need to be accepted. Close down Microsoft Flight. Go to Start, Programs, Games and launch “Games for Windows Live”.

Sign in with the same Windows Live account and perform any updates/clearing any messages needed. Then try launching Microsoft Flight again and signing into the Live account from the main menu. It worked for me. I no longer encountered the blank product key window and was able to sign in and get back to playing.

If you’re still having issues with this, try following these steps recommended by the Devs for the issue.

Because Microsoft Flight is Free-to-Play when you sign-into LIVE for the first time through Flight a product key should be auto assigned to you. However we have noticed that some users are not getting their key auto assigned and are seeing a message asking them to enter a valid product key for the game. Here are some steps to take if you run into this issue:

• Close down Flight
• Re-launch the game
• Attempt to sign-in again

If there is a 5×5 key already entered into the product key window just click ‘I accept’ and then the ‘Submit’ button. This should log you in. If that still does not give you a valid product key do the following to manually retrieve a key:

• Go to http://marketplace.x…15-d8044d5308d2
• Click the ‘Buy Game FREE’ button
• Select ‘Confirm Purchase’ (this is a free transaction and won’t cost anything)
• Open up the Games for Windows Marketplace Client on your PC (found under Start->All programs->Games for Windows Marketplace)
• Sign into the Marketplace Client with your GFWL / Xbox LIVE account
• Click the ‘Downloads’ tab
• Click ‘Microsoft Flight’ from the list
• Click ‘View Game Keys’
• Copy the ‘LIVE Access Code’
• Open Flight
• Sign-in again
• If still asked for a Product Code, enter the LIVE Access Code you copied in step 9
• Click ‘I accept’ and ‘Submit’

Microsoft Flight crashes at the splash screen with error message “Flight Application has stopped working”

This error is a real downer. The game crashes with nearly no information at all. Video drivers are up-to-date and it was working earlier that day. The problem seems to stem from the fullscreen/windowed option of the game. If you open the

1. Close Microsoft Flight (clear the “it has stopped working” message).
2. Open flight.cfg from C:users[username]appdataroamingMicrosoftFlight in Notepad.
3. Find the line that starts with ‘fullscreen=’ Toggle the value. If it is currently ‘1’, change it to ‘o’ or vice versa.
4. Save the file and close Notepad.
5. Launch Microsoft Flight and see if you can get past the splash screen.

It worked for me. I changed from fullscreen to windowed mode with that setting, and I was finally able to get up in the air.

Hope this helps some of you get back to playing.