Did I make a Mistake Windows 10 to 11

[chardly38]

I just updated from Windows 10 to 11. now Im having some performace issues that did not exist before. Should I have done a fresh install. Any suggestions?

[scommander2]

I will suggest uploading dcs.log for reviewing.

[SimHog]

A general rule I follow is when ever I "upgrade", whether it's the OS or hardware, I always do a fresh install of Windows.

[chardly38]

Not sure the correct log but here

dcs.log.old

[nephilimborn]

I plan on not moving to w11 for as long as possible and as such reliance upon PLasso; however that choice is likely not  the best advice when adopting of newer hardware e.g. CPU chipsets

 

[SimHog]

If anyone is hesitant on Win 11, you can still run Windows 10 until 2032 with official security updates by using Windows 10 IoT Enterprise LTSC:

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/lifecycle/products/windows-10-iot-enterprise-ltsc-2021

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/download-windows-10-enterprise

Edited October 15 by SimHog

[QuiGon]

Europeans (at least those living within the European Economic Area, which is most of Europe) still get extended support for Win10 for another year for free:
https://uk.pcmag.com/migrated-3765-windows-10/160269/microsofts-windows-10-extension-is-now-absolutely-free-in-europe

Edited October 15 by QuiGon

[Raven (Elysian Angel)]

6 hours ago, chardly38 said:

Should I have done a fresh install.

Yes, definitely!

Even when going from one subversion to the next - if it’s a major update (every other year) - e.g. from 23H2 to 24H2 it’s best to do a full reinstall.

M$ does large functionality updates every other year, so for 25H2 a fresh install isn’t needed, but next year for 26H2 it will be again.

 

”needed” = HIGHLY recommended 

[Richi]

I have Win 11 for over a year, and I have no noticeable problem with DCS in 2D. Except that the GPU is running at 95-99%, but that's probably the same for everyone.

[scommander2]

I have on 24H2 (refresh installation) for a while with some tunings, it works okay so far.

But, I am not sure that there is different between the refresh installation and update.

[chardly38]

Thanks. I will try some tuning if that does not work that a fresh install is in the feature.

[Nightdare]

I'll see if I can wait til a next system upgrade, but that would probably be no sooner than 2027-28

[Hiob]

On 10/15/2025 at 3:12 AM, chardly38 said:

I just updated from Windows 10 to 11. now Im having some performace issues that did not exist before. Should I have done a fresh install. Any suggestions?

You have to adjust some settings in W11 to have it run smoothly, I don’t remember all from the top of my head but there will be others to help out and there are probably a ton of youtube videos on the matter. 

And I would strongly suggest disabling the power service to get rid of core parking and other shenanigans.

Make sure to make an exception for Defender for your games and savegames folder.

De-activate all game „enhancements“ that windows offers….

There is no principle problem with W11 and DCS performance, but it can be a bit tedious to make it behave.

[Raven (Elysian Angel)]

On 10/15/2025 at 10:31 PM, scommander2 said:

But, I am not sure that there is different between the refresh installation and update.

Yes, there is. The difference can be “just” 10% but can also be quite massive. Even 10% is well worth the effort of doing a fresh install, in my opinion.

24H2 was a pretty substantial upgrade for AMD CPUs, and for me there was a very noticeable difference between upgrade and fresh install.

[Hiob]

Oh, and obviously deactivate Cortana, Recall and all other telemetry ans spyware crap….. 

[LucShep]

Doing a fresh installation of Windows is an old outdated procedure, too drastic and no longer needed if upgrading Windows 10 to 11.

Instead, you can do what is called an "in-place repair upgrade", to repair/reinstall all components and system files to the current version of Windows that you have on your device, while preserving all of your apps, games, documents, settings, etc (so, nothing is lost).

Windows 11 has a built in feature for doing this. It's found in Settings > System > Recovery , and is called "Fix problems using Windows Update":

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/fix-issues-by-reinstalling-the-current-version-of-windows-497ac6da-7cac-4641-82a5-f50398d879a0

Just make sure to keep your PC connected to the internet during this procedure, and also to a power source if it's a laptop (do not do this solely on battery!).
And be patient... (takes a moment while reinstalling files)

Then it'll have similar effect of a fresh OS installation, but without the horrible cost of losing everything.  

Please note that this particular feature exhists only on Windows 11 24H2, or 22H2 and 23H2 with the optional February 2024 update (KB5034848 apparently).
This is not present in Windows 10 (can also be done but it's a little more involved there).

This can also be useful if reusing a working Windows installation on completely different system hardware, such as when upgrading your system to a brand new CPU+Motherboard+GPU+RAM combo (though does not excuse installing respective drivers, and readjusting software that had been set to different hardware).
 

Edited Monday at 02:40 AM by LucShep

[chardly38]

Well I did a fresh install and now I have shutters that was never there in 10. Frustrating.

[scommander2]

Any tunning has been done after the refresh installation? i.e. unparked cores....

[chardly38]

no just xmp in uefi. If you have any suggestion on what. Im glad it apply them

[Dangerzone]

5 hours ago, chardly38 said:

no just xmp in uefi. If you have any suggestion on what. Im glad it apply them

Might be worth checking this out as an extensive checklist. While it was primarily for VR - the solutions in there such as disabling CPU Parking, mouse polling rates, etc may be just as applicable to 2D as well.

 

As for whether you made a mistake - I think that would be very objectional depending on people's bias. For instance personally- I loathe Win11, primarily because of the forceful nature Microsoft is taking, and I live by a motto with tech now that if it ain't broke - don't fix it. I came through the era where updates added more benefits than previous. I'm now seeing a decline that future updates are less about the customers experience, and more about how it benefits the manufacturer or other 3rd parties, so I've become quite sinical.  That - plus too many decades of experience of countless hours/days fixing things after updating that weren't broken prior has made me an old man with less patience than before. Now I need to go tell some kids to get off my lawn.  

Edited Monday at 09:42 PM by Dangerzone

[scommander2]

I think that the tuning is very objective due to every system is different than another.

Of course, disable core parking is must.

Since the system base memory is 32GB, I will suggest to increase the size of the page file. 

In DCS, try to start most of options from medium or low (even off) so that there is a baseline for the system can take, then adjust one-by-one in individual for the desire.  The goal (IMHO) is to have the CPU bound if possible (by checking from RCntl-Pause).

Disable hot plug from Setup->Option->Controls.

In Power Options, Processor power management for minimum/maximum power state to 100% possible.

The last is the GPU tuning if possible.

EDIT: (just in case) disabling power management service (required reboot) is to ensure the lagging is not introduced by this service.  

Edited Tuesday at 01:00 PM by scommander2

[Rudel_chw]

Microsoft is using windows 11 to force users to employ Microsoft accounts, no longer will you be able to use just a local account. Hopefully there will be tricks to bypass this latest en<profanity>ification of windows.

 

 

[Dangerzone]

19 minutes ago, Rudel_chw said:

Microsoft is using windows 11 to force users to employ Microsoft accounts, no longer will you be able to use just a local account. Hopefully there will be tricks to bypass this latest en<profanity>ification of windows.

Yeah - it's crazy. It really is ironical. In the hay-day, I favored Microsoft over Apple (with a passion), because Microsoft gave you options, and allowed you to have freedom by having your PC setup with the way you want it vs apple's way of forcing people to do things a particular way. 

It seems Microsoft have come complete about-course. They are not the company they once were, and their products are nothing like they once were. Given more applications are cloud/online, and there's more options available too - it almost seems as though Microsoft are dead keen on destroying what sets them apart and encouraging users to reconsider what options are available to them. The conspiracy theorist inside me wonders if some of their management has competitors cash in their pockets and that there's an intentional effort to damage Microsoft from the inside - because that's the only thing that makes sense.

I shudder to think of what Windows 12 is going to bring. Microsoft have that trend of one good, one bad - and with win 11 being in the bad cycle, I was hoping Win 12 will be the good one - but now I have serious doubts.

[SharpeXB]

Use Windows Pro?  What I would find to be a pain about not having the bypass is I’d need the LAN driver ready on a flash drive. Who’s gonna have that?  I found myself running to the public library to get on another PC. With the bypass method my motherboard has this pre-installed. Easy.

 

[Dragon1-1]

23 hours ago, Dangerzone said:

The conspiracy theorist inside me wonders if some of their management has competitors cash in their pockets and that there's an intentional effort to damage Microsoft from the inside - because that's the only thing that makes sense.

It's much simpler than that - cloud allows more surveillance. Microsoft bought into the same model that's getting everywhere these days. Monitor users, then exploit their data to sell them your crap, or sell it to advertisers so they can do the same. They want everyone to have accounts so that they can profile their users, because they noticed there's money in it.