In my previous installations of the add-on manager, it created a Virtuali (Coatl Powered Products Menu) in the main windows menu which I could click on to open the add-on manager even without FSX running. Then it could show me which FSDT sceneries I had installed and it showed GSX as installed
Not possible that this could ever happened. You are describing the Addon Manager here, and that's is an FSX .DLL module, the only way it could possibly run, it's after starting FSX, and it's displayed under the "Addons" menu. No chance you could run it without FSX running.
Now after all installations that does not happen there is no Coatl Powered Products menu in the Windows menu
The "Couatl powered products" is another menu, and it's ALSO an FSX module, with its own menu under the "Addons" menu. It never created a Windows menu, assuming that with "Windows menu", you mean a Program group accessible from the Windows Start menu, and it's not supposed to create one.
A GSX program group will be created instead, with the only icon linking to the documentation.
. I navigate to the Fsdreamteam directory and click on Coatl.exe. Nothing happens. Task manager shows the program as open but nothing happens.
Nothing is supposed to be happening. The Couatl.exe is an FSX add-on, that works only from FSX, so this is just normal. Nowhere is said you have to start it manually, of course.
Without the add-on manager operating
Since, according to your own report, you were expecting the Addon Manager would start even without FSX, which is not obviously the case, I'm not sure if you are reliably reporting that the Addon Manager is REALLY "not operating", considering you were looking for it in the wrong place.
I try to install GSX. It says it installed well and did all it is supposed to do but when I launch FSX I get the same problem with the error.
That's main point. All your previous descriptions were entirely irrelevant, in addition to being inaccurate. So, let's try to understand why this is happening.
I do not understand why the add-on manager will not work even when FSX is not running as there is no interference from any bad settings in FSX at that stage
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The Addon Manager works ONLY with FSX running. You are being confused by believing that, for some reason, it could run outside of it, but this is not the case, and it never was.
I have FSX service pack 2 and as I said before, the whole thing worked very well with P3D on the same computer and it is after I removed P3D because of other problems that the issues started. I have uninstalled P3D from the computer and physically removed all the registry entries with P3D.
Now this starts to give some clues.
That it worked under P3D with no problems, should clear enough proof the program itself doesn't have any issues.
That problems started after you uninstalled P3D, seems to indicate that the uninstall process has changed/removed some standard libraries in your Windows install that the program requires to run.
Have a look at THIS thread, which indicates several solutions to try:
http://www.fsdreamteam.com/forum/index.php/topic,7545.msg62899.html#msg62899I even bought a new licence for GSX although I had the old one so that there are no conflicts with my old computer identification. this is more frustration when it does not work.
Nobody told you to do this, and of course nothing about this has any relationship with your license. We can refund your double purchase, even if it was your own decision to do the wrong thing, that nobody here suggested to do. Contact me in private for this.