DCS slow loading

[CBStu]

This isn't new but may be getting worse. I load TIR5 and then click on DCS. It has always been slow, and I have sometimes double loaded because I think I didn't hold mouse button long enough. Today I wait and wait (60 seconds maybe) and see nothing. So to avoid a double load I minimize TIR5, and minimize my email, and see nothing else going on so hit DCS again. Then after 20-30 seconds I get a different message indicating a double load compared to what I have seen in the past. If it takes a while to completely load DCS, I can understand that. I am used to seeing the couple of different blue bars slowly proceeding left to right. But can something be done so a logo screen or something pops up w/in 10 seconds so at least I know something is happening.

[silverdevil]

1 hour ago, CBStu said:

This isn't new but may be getting worse. I load TIR5 and then click on DCS. It has always been slow, and I have sometimes double loaded because I think I didn't hold mouse button long enough. Today I wait and wait (60 seconds maybe) and see nothing. So to avoid a double load I minimize TIR5, and minimize my email, and see nothing else going on so hit DCS again. Then after 20-30 seconds I get a different message indicating a double load compared to what I have seen in the past. If it takes a while to completely load DCS, I can understand that. I am used to seeing the couple of different blue bars slowly proceeding left to right. But can something be done so a logo screen or something pops up w/in 10 seconds so at least I know something is happening.

please post dcs.log.

i added dcs to my AV exceptions and went from over 2 minutes to load to 30 seconds.

[CBStu]

I searched dcs.log on my PC and maybe 10 showed up and newest was from 2022. I tried to ad an AV exception but I am running McAffee and had no luck finding a place to ad exceptions there.

[rob10]

McAfee has been one of the AV's that often pop up in the forums causing assorted issues for people.

[Art-J]

9 hours ago, CBStu said:

I searched dcs.log on my PC and maybe 10 showed up and newest was from 2022.

C:/Users/(your Windows user name)/Saved Games/DCS World (or Openbeta)/Logs/. These are the ones needed for troubleshooting, but the latest ones should be dated according to the last time you played DCS.

[silverdevil]

18 hours ago, CBStu said:

I searched dcs.log on my PC and maybe 10 showed up and newest was from 2022. I tried to ad an AV exception but I am running McAffee and had no luck finding a place to ad exceptions there.

you may have one of those piggyback installs of McAfee. can you provide a screenshot of the screen you see, or a screenshot of it in Apps? 

[CBStu]

Art-J I followed your path and came up w/ this;

Are the ones at the top 'DCS' or 'dcs.log.old' the ones you want to look at? They are not compressed so are huge Doubt I can put them here. The newest of the compressed files is from 2022.

Silverdevil this is McAffee start page

 

rob10, do you think I should shut down McAffee and rely on windows defender at least as a test?

Guys, another problem has been cropping up lately, maybe after going to the latest stable version 4-5 weeks ago. Huge stutters, 1-3 second stops. I thought I was just getting it in missions w/ a lot of other plains, ships etc but yesterday I flew an old mission 'Battle for the Docks'. Ground start, just my plane, no others, not even stationary eye candy. Only other thing moving is a couple of cars on a road around the airbase. Just sitting in the cockpit and looking left or right, my pan stutters. Flew through stutters and on way back to base still stutters. Pi$$ed me off. Paused mission mid flight and did a control,alt, delete to look at task manager and see this. This is actually an old one that I modified because I had screwed up and did not save my screen shot. They key is the 95-99% CPU number. Remember this is a one plane mission on pause. I had been thinking my 3 yr old mid range Alienware PC might need some upgrades but this tells me something else is wrong. DCS? or McAffee? IDK.

 

 

 

 

[silverdevil]

4 hours ago, CBStu said:

Silverdevil this is McAffee start page

Hello. Have look here.

https://download.mcafee.com/products/webhelp/5/affid/756/1033/GUID-BA648B78-244A-47F1-8AD6-4A57BA8955BC.html#:~:text=You can exclude a folder,t check it for threats.&text=On the HomePage%2C open the Virus and Spyware Protection drawer.&text=To exclude an item from,click Run a custom scan.

I hope this works. Did it on my phone.

[CBStu]

Silverdevil, thank you. I went through the steps but the final popup window where you go through a file tree to choose the file that you want to exclude has as it's only action "Open file". I will get on the phone to the McAffee peeps tomorrow. I know there are times when that works but, in this case, all it does is show a list of all the folders within DCS.

[silverdevil]

13 minutes ago, CBStu said:

Silverdevil, thank you. I went through the steps but the final popup window where you go through a file tree to choose the file that you want to exclude has as it's only action "Open file". I will get on the phone to the McAffee peeps tomorrow. I know there are times when that works but, in this case, all it does is show a list of all the folders within DCS.

no problem. be sure to come back if you need help. i have windows defender and my speed went from 2 minutes + to 30 seconds.

[CBStu]

So I called McAffee this AM. The guy said that since an update 1-2yrs ago you can't manually enter exclusions. I pointed out that going to the help section the first thing they ask is are you on the old or the new version so I followed the new version instructions. That didn't phase him. He proceeded to help me shut down the instantaneous scans so I could run DCS w/o McAffee. Tried that and it seemed to help. TIR panning my view was fine but then I had a bunch of 1/2second stops on the takeoff. I always do 'Automatic Start' and I usually speed it up to 3x fast forward to get started more quickly and in this mission I rearmed and added a flir. So I shut DCS down and restarted and I thought let's try auto start at normal speed and waited until it was done to rearm. Better but not perfect. Shut down DCS and restart, and fly the mission w/ normal speed autostart and w/o rearming. All seemed well so shut down DCS, turn McAffee back on, restart DCS and fly the mission again. No problems. So IDK, I guess I will see how DCS works over the next week and hope for the best. Getting frustrated. Over the last 6 years I have had to learn more about PCs than I want to and 90% of it is to make DCS work.

[Lange_666]

Drop McAfee, just use Windows Defender, set exclusions for what you want and don't look back.

[Hiob]

5 minutes ago, Lange_666 said:

Drop McAfee, just use Windows Defender, set exclusions for what you want and don't look back.

100% Agree. There is no value to third party antivirus anymore. None of them (including Defender) is 100% safe, but they are all on a rather similar level (including Defender).

[silverdevil]

45 minutes ago, Hiob said:

100% Agree. There is no value to third party antivirus anymore. None of them (including Defender) is 100% safe, but they are all on a rather similar level (including Defender).

i too agree. i use defender on this computer since purchase. i have a business MS365 account with Defender for Business. i do get notifications when there are vulnerabilities found CVEs. so my gig is not exactly free. the free version is fine.

[CBStu]

I will try shutting off McAffee completely. Each time I shut off the scans, a window pops up about enabling Defender. So I will.

[silverdevil]

6 minutes ago, CBStu said:

I will try shutting off McAffee completely. Each time I shut off the scans, a window pops up about enabling Defender. So I will.

roger. do not forget that you still need to add an AV exception in defender. good luck

[Lange_666]

To be found under:

Virus & threat protection --> Virus & threat protection settings --> Manage settings --> Exclusions

Just set the entire ED folder as exclusion.

[CBStu]

I shut of McAffee and things seem a lot better. Have only had time for 3 missions but back to normal so far. I will need to set the exclusion in Defender as I have not done that yet. Thanks guys, I was afraid I was going to need to replace or upgrade this 4 yr old PC and that would be pretty much impossible right now. No flying DCS as it was = uuuggghhh. Maybe in 6 months???? But I have hope finally. Thanks for staying w/ me. Dang I love forums. I am on maybe 8 others in the car and gun worlds and they are all like this one. A great place to hang out and helpful when needed. I will get the Defender exclusion done this weekend and report back.

[Czar66]

On 1/18/2024 at 6:17 PM, CBStu said:

So I called McAffee this AM. The guy said that since an update 1-2yrs ago you can't manually enter exclusions. ...

I consider this AV a malware itself for more than a decade already. Hold onto the question if you really need it, for a bit.

Edited January 26 by Czar66
punctuation

[CBStu]

I guess Microsoft is forced to let companies like McAffee to coexist. Sure made my life he11. I kept trying to get Defender set up completely and many times it told me to do something in McAffee. I don't understand since I bought this PC in 12/2019 and set up McAffee immediately. Apparently they did a major update 1.5 years ago and no problem. Then a couple months ago I started noticing problems, and they kept slowly getting worse. Oh well, I finally deleted McAffee completely. And Baam, I can do what I want in Defender no problem. Set my entire DCS folder as an exclusion in Defender last night. This Am I flew as a wingman in 10 ship mission to bomb Shiraz. DCS is fantastic. Then I flew a mission defending  the CV w/ maybe 6 others and maybe 25 Migs approaching the boat. Used up all 12 missiles, landed to rearm, but all Migs shot down by others by the time I was ready again. DCS works flawlessly. Thank you to every one who helped me out.  McAffee was the problem

[silverdevil]

45 minutes ago, CBStu said:

I guess Microsoft is forced to let companies like McAffee to coexist. Sure made my life he11. I kept trying to get Defender set up completely and many times it told me to do something in McAffee. I don't understand since I bought this PC in 12/2019 and set up McAffee immediately. Apparently they did a major update 1.5 years ago and no problem. Then a couple months ago I started noticing problems, and they kept slowly getting worse. Oh well, I finally deleted McAffee completely. And Baam, I can do what I want in Defender no problem. Set my entire DCS folder as an exclusion in Defender last night. This Am I flew as a wingman in 10 ship mission to bomb Shiraz. DCS is fantastic. Then I flew a mission defending  the CV w/ maybe 6 others and maybe 25 Migs approaching the boat. Used up all 12 missiles, landed to rearm, but all Migs shot down by others by the time I was ready again. DCS works flawlessly. Thank you to every one who helped me out.  McAffee was the problem

sysadmin here. what happens is defender comes on any windows computer. if one installs a legit AV, it turns off the defender AV. if the security product has a firewall software, it also turns off defender. defender is as good as anything else IMO. especially if it is free. after all MS know what is out there trying to affect windows so they know what to do with defender.