Windows 11 insanity. Actually, it's micro sof t

[=Mac=]

I've been flying DCS for a couple of years not on my (very expensive) gaming rig. Aside from all the DCS World quirks and insistant SAM sites trying to shooting me down, my gaming rig has been flawless. It was custom built with W-11 pro installed and "corrected" for bloatware. W-11, DCS, and SavedGames are all on my C drive while Davinci Resolve Studio is on my D drive, FS2020 is on my E drive, and a spare for my F drive. I also have a 12TB spinner for video cold storage. Drives C through F are 4TB nvme and Sys Ram is 96GB.

Like I said, this monster has been flying along comfortably for several years now, updated whenever MS demanded it. Then... After turning off windows update for a couple weeks, I inadvertantly forgot and the damned W-11 updated itself the other day when I powered up. I got into DCS and was about to open a mission when I got my very first BSOD. It knocked me into BIOS so I simply let it continue. Back in W-11, I did some video work, flew a nice mission, crashing into a mountain. (Not my fault, it was in my way.) Anyway, I watched a YT video to check my latest upload and then shut it all down to catch some sleep. The next morning, I booted up but got stopped at BIOS again. When I continued on to W-11, it said it was finishing up its update (again!!!) and please do not turn off the machine.

The update was a fresh install of Windows with everything the way I had left it except for one thing. It wasn't activated. WTF??? I tried to launch DCS but found SavedGames was a pile of cow turds. DCS was happy with a backup of my old SavedGames so I flew a short DCS mission and exited to Desktop. Sure enough, W-11 was still not activated.

I checked my system's idea of just exactly what my activation key code was.  My software told me that there was no key. I went to my House Server, got the key code for the gaming rig and entered that. Nope. Not a valid key. WTF part two???? I went to System Restore but found that there were no System checkpoints other than the one made during that morning's update.

Okay. Time to get the recovery USB stick... Uh.... Videos of my last boating adventures?... Mac is so stupid. I've got 5 other 64GB USB sticks; why TF did I put those videos on THAT stick?

So, here I sit at my House Server, complaining to you all about just how F'd up MS is and just how stupid I am. I had heard lots of rumours about the latest W-11 updates being happy to screw up many people's machines. But... well, like I said, "I'm stupid."

Have a great day, everyone. I'm going to go shoot at some SA-6s in Afghanistan and stare at that damned "Windows is not activated" sign at the lower right. (What happens if I just leave it there? Will it eventually stop working all together or will it just leave that crap there? I mean, to me, if it just stays there permanently, it would be a badge of honour whenever I make a DCS video!) (Second thought, if I DO get it reactivated somehow, I just might put that sign there on all my DCS videos anyway! The third finger, so to speak, at MS.)

 

[SharpeXB]

Moral of the story…don’t pause your Windows updates

I’m going to engage in a Windows reinstall today too if your system is like mine the product key is integrated into the motherboard. I’m no expert myself so I’ll refrain from any more advice. 

[LucShep]

I still refuse to "upgrade" my Win10 Pro x64 installation for now. Because 1) it still works very close to flawless while being a bit less resource hungry and 2) I've seen enough shenanigans on W11 machines (that I've built or helped build) out of nowhere after an update - a PITA to solve issues that shouldn't have happened at all.

It's time people start realizing this - the days when everybody absolutely needs to use Windows for PC, especially for gaming, are ending.
The general discontent with Win11 (perceived as much higher than it already was with Win10) is a reality and, exactly because of that, alternatives start to exhist (with varying degrees of success). Some may soon become direct alternatives. 

As we all know, Steam is pretty much the #1 gaming platform in PC gaming. You have the store from where you can buy pretty much every PC game there is (save a few exceptions from some publishers) and this platform also has a community market for in-game items of different games.
It also has a working social platform for games there, inclusively modding support for plenty games (Steam Workshop).

And then, currently, there's a profusion of handheld devices for PC games (boosted no less by the SteamDeck) which require light and uncomplicated OS, for performance and ease of use motives.

You may think "okaay... but what does that have to do with my gaming desktop PC ?"
Well, this has been igniting interest and fast developments in the OS area (especially Linux distros), ones that can "game out of the box" (right after OS installation) with hardware, peripherals and gaming controller drivers already implemented in the OS. This directly benefits PC desktop systems used for gaming (so, what most of us here use). 
There are people already converting their main PC to such OS alternatives.

Now, with all this said, I'm not saying people should jump head-first on this. That is not what I mean.
What I mean is, be curious, start paying attention to developments that are happening. Because, at a certain point (probably sooner than most expect), and for any "normal" PC user, gaming or not, you'll start to see 100% valid solutions, very optimized and far less fussy to use/maintain (than what we have today with Win11).  
For now, the transition to such new OS alternatives is not yet 100% guaranteed to anybody/everybody (problems with some drivers, incompatible software and games, limitations, certain game's anticheat systems, etc) but we are certainly getting there soon.

BAZZITE is one good example today. 
Among others Linux Distros, this one is quickly getting popularity because it's a simplified hassle-free Linux + Steam based OS (cloud based for updates), one that is considered very user friendly, for both old-time Windows users and PC newcomers (many coming from consoles now).
 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 24 by LucShep

[Blackrat_UK]

I had the same issue yesterday after an update, finally found my win11 install disk, yes I bought hard copy, and entered the key again all good. But that is not the way it should work, that key should be tied to my hardware and windows account, so logging in should have accepted it was an activated legitimate OS. I was cursing whilst trying to remember where the disk was and why am I so stupid to do things legally when I could buy a 1.99 key on ebay and have less hassle.

 

Looking forward to the same update on the desktop which originates from a win7 key which has been upgraded to 10 then 11 through legitimate means.

Edited February 23 by Blackrat_UK

[BitMaster]

If your HW hasn't changed a bit, yes, Win10/11 shoud activate again once it can contact the MS validation servers and verify your HW Hashcode versus one stored and marked as activated. So far so good...and you still haven't had the need to proof that you "own" a license.

If, for whatever reason, and Firmware updates & upgrades have that potential to do so, your HW Hashcode has CHANGED  --then--   you will need to verify your HW Hash versus a MS-Account holding 1 or several Win10/11 licenses. IF you have missed to bind your licenses to an MS account in the past it is likely too late to proof that you own a Windows10/11 license...and you are screwed. 

Honestly, raise the middle Finger to MS and go to eBay and get the cheapest code with PayPal ( in case it wont activate ). Doing it that way for years now and had no issues getting 10/11/365Office...whatever  they do work, at least in Europe it's the law and legal to do so. US might be different here, YMMV.

 

Tie your lics to a MS-Account guys. You will regret it on the day you need it least !!!  You can revert to a local account afterwards, just tie it to it 1 time and you are all set, just in case your HW Hash changes for whatever reason, FW or real HW upgrades.

Edited February 23 by BitMaster

[BitMaster]

vor einer Stunde schrieb LucShep:

I still refuse to "upgrade" my Win10 Pro x64 installation for now. Because 1) it still works very close to flawless while being a bit less resource heavy and 2) I've seen enough shenanigans on W11 machines (that I've built or helped build) out of nowhere after an update - a PITA to solve issues that shouldn't have happened at all.

It's time people start realizing this - the days when everybody absolutely needs to use Windows for PC gaming are ending.
The general discontent with Win11 (perceived as much higher than it already was with Win10) is a reality and, exactly because of that, alternatives start to exhist (with varying degrees of success). Some may soon become direct alternatives. 

As we all know, Steam is pretty much the #1 gaming platform in PC gaming. You have the store from where you can buy pretty much every PC game there is (save a few exceptions from some publishers) and this platform also has a community market for in-game items of different games.
It also has a working social platform for games there, inclusively modding support for plenty games (Steam Workshop).

And then, currently, there's a profusion of handheld devices for PC games (boosted no less by the SteamDeck) which require light and uncomplicated OS, for performance and ease of use motives.

You may think "okaay... but what does that have to do with my gaming desktop PC ?"
Well, this has been igniting interest and fast developments in the OS area (especially Linux distros), ones that can "game out of the box" (right after OS installation) with hardware, peripherals and gaming controller drivers already implemented in the OS. This directly benefits PC desktop systems used for gaming (so, what most of us here use). 
There are people already converting their main PC to such OS alternatives.

Now, with all this said, I'm not saying people should jump head-first on this. That is not what I mean.
What I mean is, be curious, start paying attention to developments that are happening. Because, at a certain point (probably sooner than most expect), and for any "normal" PC user, gaming or not, you'll start to see 100% valid solutions, very optimized and far less fussy to use/maintain (than what we have today with Win11).  
For now, the transition to such new OS alternatives is not yet 100% guaranteed to anybody/everybody (problems with some drivers, incompatible software and games, limitations, certain game's anticheat systems, etc) but we are certainly getting there soon.

BAZZITE is one good example today. 
Among others Linux Distros, this one is quickly getting popularity because it's a simplified hassle-free Linux + Steam based OS (cloud based for updates), one that is considered very user friendly, for both old-time Windows users and PC newcomers (many coming from consoles now).
 

 

 

 

As much as I love  and use Linux, it is not the top choice for DCS.

The sim itself is not the issue, that is more or less click and fly meanwhile via Steam Proton in DCS, doing that for years now. It's your peripheries like TiR, VR, Tablet-export-mods, etc.. that won't run at all or only with heavy tweaking beyond most player's capabilities. 

I have lots of games in my Linux, DCS, FS22/25, Racing games etc...   they all work pretty damn good...but for example, some racing games misinterpret my Logitech Wheel with combined axis and there is no way to fix this, not that I have found one in 2 years of playing Farming Simulator 22/25. The wheel works in Project Cars and most other Racing games out-of-the-box flawless, in most cases with less fiddling than in Windows tbh....but if it doesn't, your alone in the dark !

Contact your peripherie vendors and bombard them with emails " We want Linux HW support, NOW!"   that may change things faster, it's getting there slowly but still miles away.