Adding a dual boot, double DCS? W10 or W11?

[Ready]

I am contemplating adding a fresh install on my current W10 rig in dual boot.

Through the last 5 years I messed around a lot with my applications (tried a bunch of software that probably left a lot of stuff even after cleanings), I changed hardware (systemboards, GPU's and CPU's) multiple times and the whole rig has been heavily tweaked without ever reinstalling OS. 

I do sometimes have weird performance degradation, which I can't fully diagnose and solve, which is the main reason for considering starting from scratch.

So I want to put a second OS (either W10 or W11) in dual boot next to my current install on the same rig, start debloated from scratch and only install what I know I need and only make the permanent switch AFTER the second OS gives me better performance.

Does anybody have any similar experience? 

Do I have to fully reinstall DCS or can I share folders and settings amongst the two Installs?

What would be the best steps to take? Any insight is appreciated.

[speed-of-heat]

my current windows O/S has been upgraded since Windows 7 now on Windows 11 .... with appropriate hardware from a 6600k and 1070ti to today... i have never reinstalled windows nor debloated it, though i have turned some things off over the years ... I'm not saying it won't help you get to a known state, but i doubt it will clean up any performance variations unless you understand what is actually causing them, you might get lucky i suppose, but then when you come to replicate your build you won't be able to reliably either, or you might cause them again in the future with "tweaking" 

[Ahdidaas]

Yup.. I've done this for exactly this type of experimentation.   Going back to factory reset and installing just DCS related stuff would seem to help if I've overbloated by OS with add-ons that hurt rather than help DCS.

To answer your question -- yes and no ... DCS is able to determine the version # of the mods (aircraft, terrains).  Yet if you have the latest, then yes, you can simply install base DCS (which always downloads Caucaus and Mariana for some reason) and then copy in the folders for the other mods. 

I found this process helpful a couple times, especially mid summer when it seemed the DCS updates had larger impacts.

[WipeUout]

On 1/3/2025 at 11:47 AM, Ready said:

I am contemplating adding a fresh install on my current W10 rig in dual boot.

Through the last 5 years I messed around a lot with my applications (tried a bunch of software that probably left a lot of stuff even after cleanings), I changed hardware (systemboards, GPU's and CPU's) multiple times and the whole rig has been heavily tweaked without ever reinstalling OS. 

I do sometimes have weird performance degradation, which I can't fully diagnose and solve, which is the main reason for considering starting from scratch.

So I want to put a second OS (either W10 or W11) in dual boot next to my current install on the same rig, start debloated from scratch and only install what I know I need and only make the permanent switch AFTER the second OS gives me better performance.

Does anybody have any similar experience? 

Do I have to fully reinstall DCS or can I share folders and settings amongst the two Installs?

What would be the best steps to take? Any insight is appreciated.

I did a complete windows install from scratch at least four times in the past five years and every time, performance improved.  No matter how careful you are with it, it will degrade over time.  The last two installs I did was following F33THY's recipe (https://github.com/fr33thyfr33thy) which is very good for ensuring that win 11 will have minimal latency and max FPS.

As far as DCS, you will need to re-install the sim completely but you can backup your Username\Saved Games\DCS\ folder in order to not lose all your settings and missions.  Dual boot does not mean that windows registry is shared, you need to re-install everything.

Windows 11 24H2, despite for some issues that are very specific, is so far the best windows I have experienced performance wise.  That is for my setup of course (i9).

I think it is a good approach to go dual boot and compare performance, as long as you have the drive space. 

  

[Ready]

15 hours ago, WipeUout said:

I did a complete windows install from scratch at least four times in the past five years and every time, performance improved.  No matter how careful you are with it, it will degrade over time.  The last two installs I did was following F33THY's recipe (https://github.com/fr33thyfr33thy) which is very good for ensuring that win 11 will have minimal latency and max FPS.

As far as DCS, you will need to re-install the sim completely but you can backup your Username\Saved Games\DCS\ folder in order to not lose all your settings and missions.  Dual boot does not mean that windows registry is shared, you need to re-install everything.

Windows 11 24H2, despite for some issues that are very specific, is so far the best windows I have experienced performance wise.  That is for my setup of course (i9).

I think it is a good approach to go dual boot and compare performance, as long as you have the drive space. 

  

Thanks for the info and link much appreciated. yes I will add a couple of new and very fast SSD's for the new setup. 

Edited January 8 by Ready

[Ready]

On 1/3/2025 at 10:41 AM, speed-of-heat said:

my current windows O/S has been upgraded since Windows 7 now on Windows 11 .... with appropriate hardware from a 6600k and 1070ti to today... i have never reinstalled windows nor debloated it, though i have turned some things off over the years ... I'm not saying it won't help you get to a known state, but i doubt it will clean up any performance variations unless you understand what is actually causing them, you might get lucky i suppose, but then when you come to replicate your build you won't be able to reliably either, or you might cause them again in the future with "tweaking" 

Thanks yes you are right.

On 1/7/2025 at 10:53 PM, Ahdidaas said:

Yup.. I've done this for exactly this type of experimentation.   Going back to factory reset and installing just DCS related stuff would seem to help if I've overbloated by OS with add-ons that hurt rather than help DCS.

To answer your question -- yes and no ... DCS is able to determine the version # of the mods (aircraft, terrains).  Yet if you have the latest, then yes, you can simply install base DCS (which always downloads Caucaus and Mariana for some reason) and then copy in the folders for the other mods. 

I found this process helpful a couple times, especially mid summer when it seemed the DCS updates had larger impacts.

Great thanks! That will save me some time!

[AvgWhiteGuy]

I'm curious about this from a slightly different angle. I'm about to buy an entirely new Win11 rig (big hardware upgrade) and was thinking about putting my old Win10 drive in as well to duel boot. DCS is on an entirely dedicated drive, except for \Saved Games\DCS\ folder, which I imagine I could simply copy to the new Win11 drive.

I'll also move my other 2 drives into this new machine. This, I hope, gives me a lot more flexibility in making the transition as opposed to maintaining 2 separate machines for a while.

Does this strategy make sense?

[speed-of-heat]

9 minutes ago, AvgWhiteGuy said:

I'm curious about this from a slightly different angle. I'm about to buy an entirely new Win11 rig (big hardware upgrade) and was thinking about putting my old Win10 drive in as well to duel boot. DCS is on an entirely dedicated drive, except for \Saved Games\DCS\ folder, which I imagine I could simply copy to the new Win11 drive.

I'll also move my other 2 drives into this new machine. This, I hope, gives me a lot more flexibility in making the transition as opposed to maintaining 2 separate machines for a while.

Does this strategy make sense?

what outcome would you expect to get under such an approach? but, no it doesn't make sense based on any information you have provided .. the only exception would that i can think of is if you have a Windows Mixed Reality Headset, that you wish to run ... 

[Ready]

I have installed a fresh W10 on another SSD and copied my DCS also to another SSD. The new setup is working fine and if needed I can still change back to the old setup by booting into it. All still works. One I am absolutley certain I have everything I need in my new install I will scrap the old, or maybe I will just keep it around in case of emergency. 

[AvgWhiteGuy]

2 hours ago, speed-of-heat said:

what outcome would you expect to get under such an approach? but, no it doesn't make sense based on any information you have provided .. the only exception would that i can think of is if you have a Windows Mixed Reality Headset, that you wish to run ... 

I'm thinking (hope) for this to be a faster/easier transition by:
a) getting DCS up & running and dialed in again on NewPC on Win11 boot
b) having access to all my other business programs (VS, Adobe, etc), and data immediately available via Win10 boot without any re-configurations
c) being able to decide which apps & User\AppData crap need to be migrated or installed to Win11 without rushing it.
d) if/when everything complete to satisfaction...reformat Win10 drive

No need for 'Windows Mixed Reality Headset' or VR stuff.

Please feel free to punch a hole in my thinking here, appreciate a different perspective

[speed-of-heat]

so my view is that this will sort of be true, but in practice it will just slow down your migration ... my 0.10$ and you will end up hanging on and hanging on , rather than getting the job done, YMMV

[AvgWhiteGuy]

Appreciate your opinion on this, and I can see your point, God knows I've been guilty of that PC-procrastination before. I think one other reason is I'm quite comfortable with Win10 and I think this method allows me to maintain productivity while I mess about learning the nuances of Win11. 

[speed-of-heat]

I get it, in honesty there aren't that many practical changes from a UI perspective, for me the main one was the context menu, working out that HAGS worked , and if its a fresh install of windows 11 there are a few thing to turn off from a gaming perspective  (https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/options-to-optimize-gaming-performance-in-windows-11-a255f612-2949-4373-a566-ff6f3f474613) beyond that ... there is a bunch of fear mongering ... but thats kid of what it is 

[Ready]

6 hours ago, AvgWhiteGuy said:

I'm thinking (hope) for this to be a faster/easier transition by:
a) getting DCS up & running and dialed in again on NewPC on Win11 boot
b) having access to all my other business programs (VS, Adobe, etc), and data immediately available via Win10 boot without any re-configurations
c) being able to decide which apps & User\AppData crap need to be migrated or installed to Win11 without rushing it.
d) if/when everything complete to satisfaction...reformat Win10 drive

No need for 'Windows Mixed Reality Headset' or VR stuff.

Please feel free to punch a hole in my thinking here, appreciate a different perspective

This is how I did it with (with W10). It really took me a long time to get the new install fully working again with all the various apps and configurations to my liking. If needed I could step back into the old install, which I did a bunch of times. With the dual boot you can take your time.