The Microsoft Flight Simulator is an amazing game that gives gamers the experience of flying an aircraft on a simulated world map. You can purchase the game on the Microsoft website, Xbox Game Pass, or another third-party platform like Steam. If you want to download Microsoft Flight Simulator, you might be wondering how long it would take to complete the process.
So, how long does the Microsoft Flight Simulator take to download? It can take between forty-five minutes to eight hours to download Microsoft Flight Simulator. Several things will affect the time it takes to download the game, one of them being your internet connection speed. A faster internet connection might guarantee a faster download.
Other things that might affect how long it will take to download the game include the computer’s processor, up-to-date drivers, downloading too many files at the same time, and running too many programs.
Microsoft Flight Simulator is a large game that takes up to 150 GB on your hard drive; hence, it is bound to take some time to download all the data into your computer. If it takes too long to download the game, try to do something else to keep you busy while the game downloads.
The download and installation process of a game can influence the gaming experience of a gamer. Therefore, game developers try to ensure that their games have a short download and installation time for their games.
Read on to find out how long it takes to download Microsoft Flight Simulator, how long it takes to install it, what to do if it is stuck on checking for updates, and why Microsoft Flight Simulator says press any key to start.
The Microsoft Flight Simulator is a fascinating video game where you get to fly different types of aircraft. If you are interested in playing the game, you have to download the game from the Microsoft website or Steam, and you might be wondering how long it will take to download the game.
It can take between forty-five minutes to eight hours to download Microsoft Flight Simulator. The download is done in two parts, and the first part can take two to ten minutes to download and takes up to 1GB of storage space. After installing the game, you will have to download the updates, taking up to 150 GB of storage space.
You can shorten the time it takes to download the game by increasing your internet’s speed, running few programs at the same time, ensuring that all drivers are up to date, and stopping all other downloads.
Microsoft Flight Simulator is not a small game, and you need the fastest internet connection you can afford and a strong computer if you are a pc gamer to download the game faster. Microsoft recommends that you download the game if your computer uses Windows 10, Intel i5, or Ryzen 3 1200 processor, NVIDIA GTX 770 or Radeon RX 570 GPU, 8 GB RAM, 150 GB storage space, and DirectX. If your computer is using inferior software, you might spend hours downloading the game. You should also ensure that your computer’s drivers are up to date.
If your computer meets all the minimum requirements to download Microsoft Flight Simulator and has been hours since the downloading bar moved, check your internet’s speed. If you have a slow internet connection, for example, 5Mbps, you should contact your service provider and upgrade the speed.
If you cannot afford the upgrade, you should try downloading the game at night. Close all programs and disconnect any other device that might interfere with your internet’s speed. The game will download through the night, and you can wake up in the morning and find the download is complete.
If you purchased Microsoft Flight Simulator from Steam, you could still ask for a refund even after the two hours have elapsed. Steam has a two-hour refund policy on all games purchased on its website.
They can check how long a player has been playing a game before accepting or rejecting a request for a refund. Since you spend more than two hours watching the downloading bar rather than playing the game, the time will not affect your refund request.
How Long Does Flight Simulator Take To Install?
Microsoft Flight Simulator is a great game that is extremely detailed, and one that many gamers love, and even real pilots enjoy playing it. This game requires a minimum of 150 GB of storage space, and you might be wondering how long would it take to install the game.
It can take up to eight hours to install Microsoft Flight Simulator on your computer. The installation process of this game is completed after two stages. You first need to download the game client, which takes up to 1GB of storage space.
It takes a minute or two to install the game client, and after installation is complete, you can click on the game’s icon to launch. The second stage will take longer because you need to download more than 120 GB of data to complete the installation process. You have to keep the game client running, as it downloads all the game’s updates, and, when it is done, you can start playing the game.
The reason why Microsoft Flight Simulator’s installation process takes so long is the size of the game. The game’s developers split the installation process into two stages because of the way the game handles data.
In addition to the data you have to download in the second installation stage after the game is complete, it also streams data to your PC as you play. The additional data is important in making the game more realistic by making the game’s terrain, city layouts, and other physical details more realistic.
The launcher takes up the entire screen and plays music as the game downloads data when installing Microsoft Flight Simulator. If your internet is fast, you can let the launcher stay on your screen as you wait for the game to finish downloading.
However, if the downloading bar is not moving fast, you can minimize the launcher by pressing “ALT+TAB”, but you cannot switch off the music. You can mute your computer if you do not want to listen to the music for hours before completing the installation process.
You can use the installation time to do other things to pass the time. It is not easy to determine what it will take to download all the data; therefore, you might get bored if you keep waiting for the process to end without doing anything. You can leave your computer and complete other tasks like chores, exercise, or go shopping.
You can also let the installation process run through the night so that you can wake up and find the game is fully installed. Ensure that you remove the sleep option on your computer because it will interrupt the installation process if your computer goes to sleep.
Microsoft Flight Simulator Stuck on Checking for Updates?
It is common for game developers to release updates regularly to fix various in-game issues. You can check for the updates or change the settings to allow the game to check the updates automatically. When you launch Microsoft Flight Simulator, you might get stuck on the checking for updates screen, and you might be wondering what causes it and how do you fix it.
If you launch Microsoft Flight Simulator and get stuck in the checking for updates screen for a long time, important updates that help run the game better may be missing. The game is stuck on this screen because you are yet to update essential applications and drivers on your computer. Other reasons why your game may get stuck on the check updates screen include Xbox Live outage, damaged game files, and software security issues.
The first thing you need to do is update your game, and, to do so on your PC, press the “Windows Logo” key and “I” at the same time to open Windows Settings. Click “Update & Security,” and under the “Windows Update,” click “Check for updates,” and your computer will check and install all the available updates.
Ensure that your computer is connected to a working internet connection, and do not turn off the computer until the update is complete. After installing all the updates, restart your computer and launch Microsoft Flight Simulator to see if it is working again.
If you are still stuck on the check for updates, screen check and repair the game files. To repair damaged game files on Windows PC, type “Microsoft Flight Simulator” on the search box and click “App Settings.” Click on “Repair,” and Windows will scan and repair all damaged game files on the window that pops up.
If you use Steam to play Microsoft Flight Simulator, go to your Steam library and right-click on Microsoft Flight Simulator. “Select properties,” go to “Local Files,” and click on “Verify Integrity of Game Files.” Steam will then scan all the game files, download missing files and remove all damaged files. Relaunch the game and test if the checking for updates screen is gone.
You should also check your antivirus and other malware checkers that might be blocking Microsoft Flight Simulator. You should add the game to the Windows Defender’s exclusion list to ensure that it works properly. To add the game to the Windows Defenders exclusion list, go to “Windows Settings” and click “Update and Security”.
Go to “Windows Security” and select “Virus & threat protection”. Click on “Manage settings,” select “Add or remove exclusions,” and click on “Add an exclusion” to include Microsoft Flight Simulator in the exclusion list. If you have installed other antivirus programs on your computer, check their settings to see if they are blocking your game and change where necessary.
Why Microsoft Flight Simulator Says, Press any Key To Start?
When you launch the Microsoft Flight Simulator, you might be prompted to “Press any key to start.” After you press any key on your keyboard or controller, the game will start, and you can continue playing. You might be asking yourself why the game asks you to press any key whenever you launch the game.
The reason why Microsoft Flight Simulator says “Press any key to start” is to allow the game to launch itself correctly. When you press any key, the game will start, and you can choose to continue where you left or start another.
When you launch the game, it starts loading all the data, and when the “Press any key to start” appears on your screen, it lets you know that the game is done loading, and you can start playing it.
The game also has to choose which controller you are using; hence, pressing any key will let the game know which controller you are using. For example, if you press any letter on the keyboard, the game will know you will be using the keyboard as a gaming controller.
On a few occasions, the “Press any key to start” will appear again even after pressing any key. Several issues will make Microsoft Flight Simulator fail to load and keep taking you back to the “Press any key to start” screen.
One of the issues is your Xbox account could be signed out, and you can fix it by signing back with the account you used to purchase the game. There could be an issue with the Xbox app, and you can fix this issue by restarting the application or your computer. You should also check if you have installed all the game’s updates.
Other ways to fix the recurring “Press any key to start” screen on Microsoft Flight Simulator include updating Windows drivers, repairing damaged or corrupted game files, running the game as an administrator, and restarting the game.
Do not be tempted to uninstall the game to fix the issue because you might spend hours trying to reinstall the game. If the above solutions do not work, contact Microsoft support to get a solution to your problem.
Final Word
Microsoft Flight Simulator is a popular game and has even received seven world records from the Guinness World Record: Gamer’s Edition in 2008. However, the game’s download and installation time are issues that the developers have yet to fix. The game has two installation stages, but the second stage is the only one that takes longer to complete.
Gamers can spend hours waiting for the game to complete downloading, which some gamers give up because the downloading bar can stay stagnant for a long time. It will be great if the developers can make it possible for the game to download the updates in the background as you continue playing the game.
Finally, if you are stuck on the “check for updates” or “Press any key to start” screen, try the solutions discussed above to remove the issue and continue enjoying the game.
