ESD means Electronic Software Distribution. You purchase the program and download it through Internet in minutes. E-commerce makes it possible to buy all kinds of services and goods on the Internet. Only a few kinds of products can be actually delivered online: software, music, books... Electronic Software Distribution, is growing steadily and according to estimates is likely to account for as much as 40% of all global software sales by the year 2008.

ESD allows you to purchase much the same content, quality and benefits as with boxed software. Instead of receiving a CD you download the software from a server, and then make your own backup copy, which we highly recommend. Product keys will be provided during your purchase to authenticate your copy.

About Flight1 - Reality XP authorized Flight1 to accept credit card orders world-wide and to send ESD products directly. This ESD system and its servers are based in the USA. Flight1 is an online order fulfillment service for digital goods merchants on the Internet, specialized for Microsoft Flight Simulator products. It is a self-service registration, resell, and payment site for publishers of software, and other electronic goods.

Purchasing ESD software is convenient and saves time and money. The main advantages of ESD over the traditional boxed software are:

• Fast and Easy - You can buy, download and install new products in minutes, right when and where you need them.
• Lower Prices - ESD version of Reality XP products cost less. This is because costs related to packaging, distribution and storage are avoided. Also with an ESD version you avoid any shipping/handling fees*. (*Shipping & Handing fees apply to the Backup CD when offered)
• Always available - Global access 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
• Latest versions - You always get the latest version.

Software firewalls are the most problem when users get Internet connection error messages. In our opinion, Windows XP firewall in SP2 is entirely capable, and is fully compatible with our software. However, a very small percentage of users have installed 3rd party sofware firewalls. If these are not properly configured it may make it so you can't connect to our servers when you want to purchase or reinstall. If you are running a non-default firewall, make sure it is fully configured to allow the Flight1 wrapper application you downloaded the ability to communicate on the internet. If you have tried to reconfigure your firewall and it still does not work, then try to disable that firewall altogether and reboot. In worst case scenarios, poorly designed firewall software programs may have to be fully removed from your system, and in some extreme cases, you may have to do a system restore from a previous restore point in order to get your machine to operate properly.

In other cases, there may simply be problems on the Internet between your computer and our server, especially if you are a great distance from the Eastern USA. Please try again after a short period as the problem may clear up on its own.

Sometimes you might need to reinstall your software. You might have lost your installers and/or product keys, or your gauges display watermarked with a pink image. If you are experiencing this issue, it most likely is an installation and/or a license validation issue. Please follow one or more of the steps below for a complete reinstallation procedure:

1. with your valid email address, the address registered with your purchase, check or retrieve your order numbers and password
2. save the order number and password information which will be sent to you to the email address.
3. after validating that your email address/ISP is not blocking attachments, and with your order number, obtain a replacement key for your downloaded product
4. an email will be sent to you with a .key file, your replacement key, in a .ZIP file in an email attachment. Save the .zip file to a folder, then unzip the .zip file. DO NOT try to unzip the attachment .zip directly from your email. Save the attachment to disk first and unzip it from there.
5. download the eCommerce installer for the product you are re-installing directly from the store in selecting the checkout button. You won't be charged twice.
6. when running the downloaded eCommerce installer you have just downloaded, select the "REINSTALL" button on the personal information page (you don't need to manually enter your personal information again), browse to the folder you have unzipped the key file (.key), select the key. You will be prompted for a password. Enter the password you have received by email.

For additional help, please visit e-commerce service and support portal.

Unfortunately, one of the most common issues when people can't get software to run is interference from a Virus or Spyware scanner. Although they do good things, in many cases they can interrupt programs you may want to run. If you get an error message that does not appear to be from the downloaded EXE, you need to make sure your virus or spyware scanner is disabled prior to running the EXE. If you are concerned about this, you can scan the file prior to running it, and then after your purchase, if you are prompted to automatically run the setup application, select No, then manually scan the setup application. This is usually extracted right after your purchase is made.

False-Positive reports with software is common. If you have special concerns, please submit a customer service ticket and we will try to help.