Stick always pull to the left now...MS Sidewinder Precision Pro 2

[pastorblok]

Greetings. I have ben lfying for over a year now. Yesterday I did and evasive move (kicked rudder and pointed downward. The stick / plane locked in position straight to the ground. I re-upped and the plane / stick now always pulls to the left. No control at all with the stick. I re-calibrated. Still no good. I connected 3 other joysticks (all MS SPP2, same as the 1st) Every stick had the same issue. Even Morfried in the TA was trying to assist  to no avail. It's strange that all 4 sticks would be doing the same thing. I deleted the game and re-installed. Tried it and the same problem with multiple sticks. Now, my system.  Imac with a partiton set for Windows 7. Obviously the game is run on the Windows side. My Windows version is indeed unregistered, or "not activated" So, I may be missing some windows updates. (I cannot find my product key to activate the W7) Not sure if that would effect the games recognition of my stick.  Anyway.. Until this is fixed I cannot play.  Hoepfully there's a fix. In the meantime I am trying to obtain a Product key to activate my windows again. It's just wiierd that all the sticks did the same thing in game.
Thanks for your time. Pastor Bobby "BeeLowK" Amezcua An !!!LTD!!! pilot.

[pastorblok]

OK after researching my Windows partition. I did find where I can calibrate the Sidewinder in the windows program. To my surprise none of the 4 sticks I have did well in the calibration within Windows.  So, next step find that darn Product key so I can activate Windows 7 on my iMac partition: Bootcamp. Then maybe some updates will take place to the windows and or the MS joystick.. Then I will try it in game again. Man! I'm already going through Aces High withdrawals.
Might have to get a new stick.... so sad because I've been using MS Sidewinders for 19 years.
later gator!

[pastorblok]

BUmmer! I was able to retrieve the Product Key number by using Jelly Bean Product Key finder. BUT!!!!! it was only a key valid during the first 30 days after the initial installation of Windows7... The product Key is not valid any longer as it is a self time bombed number.  OKay.. now I must find a way to get a valid Product Key... Man I hope this somehow makes my stick recognized by Aces High.

[Bizman]

Is your stick windows7 compatible at all? According to this this M$-site it isn't, so missing updates shouldn't be the culprit of your problem. Also, try to calibrate the sticks first in Windows, then in AH.

One last trick: Uninstall the stick completely from your system when unplugged. Otherwise every new stick will use the same defective settings, because Windows can't tell the difference between the four. To uninstall an unplugged device from the device manager, you can use the method I've described in this thread under Hardware&Software. Run the batch file as an administrator. Normally removing a device does no harm, a fully working Windows will just reinstall them. But if your Windows is broken, anything can happen, so take small steps with your own risk. For the Sidewinder I'd look both in Gaming devices and HID devices, maybe also USB controllers.

[pastorblok]

Bizman thanks. I will try these things.

[pastorblok]

OK, tried everything.. My flying days with the Microsoft Sidewinder precision pro 2 stick have come to an end.... They just stopped working in this game.. I now have a Logitech Extreme 3D Pro.. Now, I hope I get used to it really fast. Thanks for help everyone.