For Those That Have Switched from Win 10 to Win 11 "Recently" Because of the MS Win 10 Retirement...

[Cavemanhead]

I say "recently" because if you went to Win 11 more than say 6 mos ago, you probably had no qualms about a "new & improved" OS anyway...

So, what's been your experience?  Was the change a step backward with setting lost, unexpected crashed, slower performance from bloatware, etc... Can I keep all my joystick files or am I doomed to recreating them all?  Anything else to save?

Edited Monday at 04:16 PM by Cavemanhead

[SharpeXB]

Windows 11 apparently offers better performance with some CPUs I think many people run it here without trouble.

Redoing your control mapping is easy. Your assignments are saved here:

C:\Users\Name\Saved Games\DCS\Config\Input\Aircraft\joystick

Make sure you save a copy of your Saved Games DCS folder when you upgrade.

Go into any aircraft in your new install and assign a button for a controller, it will create a file like this:

CH FIGHTERSTICK USB  {8D539500-AD1C-11f0-8001-444553540000}.diff

The bolded text is your new hardware ID, using Explorer simply paste this onto your old files when you copy them over.

Modifiers are stored here:

C:\Users\Name\Saved Games\DCS\Config\Input\Aircraft\modifiers.lua

Replace this ID

local modifiers = {
    ["JOY_BTN16"] = {
        ["device"] = "CH PRO THROTTLE USB  {2796EE60-F354-11ef-8001-444553540000}",
        ["key"] = "JOY_BTN16",
        ["switch"] = false,

 

That's all!

[MAXsenna]

8 hours ago, Cavemanhead said:

Can I keep all my joystick files or am I doomed to recreating them all? 

Like @SharpeXB says. Yes! You can move your DCS Saved Games folder to any computer. If you have a lot of modules, and don't want the tedious job of renaming multiple peripheral files, there's a script here somewhere that will do the job for you. 

Cheers! 

[sleighzy]

Windows 11 by default will also enable Core Parking. Use software like ParkControl (or registry key approach) to disable core parking for your power management profiles. This can prevent stuttering in DCS for chips with P/E cores if you are experiencing it due to this. 

[SharpeXB]

I’ve never had any trouble from parked cores. The DCS log analyzer seems to just tell you this because it’s happening not because it’s the source of your trouble. And parking cores is normal behavior for Windows. My guess is disabling this will just use more power and generate more heat.

My DCS and game problems always end up being caused by either a failed component or a corruption with Windows. Reinstalling either one of those is the fix. But not core parking. 

[LucShep]

16 hours ago, sleighzy said:

Windows 11 by default will also enable Core Parking. Use software like ParkControl (or registry key approach) to disable core parking for your power management profiles. This can prevent stuttering in DCS for chips with P/E cores if you are experiencing it due to this. 

Absolutely.

Core Parking is a feature that dynamically sets your CPU Cores to stay idle and not run any threads based on the current power policy and their recent utilization.
This feature is designed to decrease energy consumption and therefore reduce heat and power usage.

But parked Cores don't have a place when gaming, much less if running an intensive game/sim like DCS.
In this use case, you want ALL your CPU Cores to be fully "awake", ready and imediately available at any moment. 
Therefore, any Core Parking should be disabled to avoid any (otherwise unavoidable) performance / latency deficit.

This is why Park Control, to unpark all Cores, is nearly indispensable for PC gaming.
Setting the highest power plan (most performant) while gaming is also very beneficial (not the case for mundane tasks), which can also be done with this tool.

After it's installed, run it. 
Make sure it's set to start at Windows login (settings are in the app's icon, at bottom right of desktop). 



After this, and just as an example...
You can then change the "Active Power Profile" manually before running the game, to "Bitsum Highest Performance".
More than just a high power profile, this also unparks any and all CPU Cores, and also sets the CPU Frequency Scaling to 100% (most performant).

Once finished with your gaming session, go back and change to the "Balanced" power plan.
This returns it to the regular (default) Windows power plan and CPU Core Parking / Frequency Scaling settings.

Or, if prefered, you can edit each of the different power plan profiles, for both CPU Core Parking and Frequency Scaling, to your preference.
 

Edited yesterday at 01:45 AM by LucShep

[SharpeXB]

It would be ridiculous if any game or software developer actually required you to do these things in order to get their stuff to run well. Do EDs’ own internal testers engage in such tweaking? I hope not. The game should run well without requiring customers to get under the hood of their PC

Edited Wednesday at 06:21 PM by SharpeXB

[LucShep]

7 hours ago, SharpeXB said:

It would be ridiculous if any game or software developer actually required you to do these things in order to get their stuff to run well. Do EDs’ own internal testers engage in such tweaking? I hope not. The game should run well without requiring customers to get under the hood of their PC

I'm still not sure if 1) you've got some guilty pleasure of trolling in the forums or 2) if you're just oblivious to the obvious.

You're comment taken "as is" means that you miss the point of tools like these ("Park Control" in this case).
It is not "required", at all.  But using it does have benefits.  It's up to you to use it or not.
However, be sure that any Windows PC "by default" has the power plan and the CPU Core-Parking + Frequency Scaling unoptimized for gaming (not even debatable - it isn't).

Once you're on the bleeding edge with ultra demanding games and their control (more so if with VR), you'll appreciate this kind of "tweaks and tools".
You may also do what "Park Control" does manually on registry (it's been done for eons) but it makes this simpler, faster - why it's so popular - and it works.
You'll appreciate how that very small but noticeable difference in performance and latency, that Windows is "stealing" by default (to favour lower power consumption and temps) can be used in your favor, for less stuttering for example.
 

Edited yesterday at 01:40 AM by LucShep

[SharpeXB]

3 minutes ago, LucShep said:

I'm still not sure if 1) you've got some guilty pleasure of trolling in the forums or 2) if you're just oblivious to the obvious.

You're comment taken "as is" means that you miss the point of tools like these ("Parking Control" in this case).
It is not "required", at all. It's up to you to use it or not.
However, be sure that any Windows PC "by default" has the Power Plan and the CPU Core-Parking + Frequency Scaling unoptimized for gaming (not even debatable - it isn't).

Once you're on the bleeding edge with ultra demanding games and their control (more so if with VR), you'll appreciate this kind of "tweaks and tools".
With "Parking Control", you can also do what it does on manually on registry (it's been done for eons) but it makes this simpler, faster - and why it's so popular - and it works.
You'll appreciate how, for example, the small but noticeable difference on how that extra performance that Windows is "stealing" by default (to favour less power consumption and lower temps) can be used in your favor, for less stuttering for example.
 

Just saying I’ve never needed to use Park Control but it gets cited all the time from the log analyzer as if parking is the problem. The truth is my CPU just needs to be replaced but that’s nothing to do with parked cores. If my CPU isn’t defective I get no stuttering etc from having this enabled. Every time I’ve had performance or stability trouble it’s either the CPU or Windows that’s broken. Not any of the system tweaking stuff. 

[LucShep]

3 hours ago, SharpeXB said:

Just saying I’ve never needed to use Park Control but it gets cited all the time from the log analyzer as if parking is the problem. The truth is my CPU just needs to be replaced but that’s nothing to do with parked cores. If my CPU isn’t defective I get no stuttering etc from having this enabled. Every time I’ve had performance or stability trouble it’s either the CPU or Windows that’s broken. Not any of the system tweaking stuff. 

Have you even tried it? 
Being lazy or stubborn means right about ZERO when it comes to opiniate on such tools and shortcomings of Windows.

A Windows PC is not a gaming console. It's not "ready and done", not perfect out of the box (very far from it). It's a platform that you can/should adjust to a variety of use cases. 
Windows needs to catter to laptops and desktops, office, home/casual users and also to gaming. But, by trying to be good on all of those use cases, it's not perfect when it comes to more intensive stuff, like gaming in its more advanced aspects.

Core Parking can be detrimental to your gaming, and that stuff is not snake oil. Read about the subject. It's really old news. Experiment, come to your own conclusions.
And, notice, Core Parking is only just one aspect, there are a gazilion more "tweaks and tools things" you can/should do to improve Windows for your PC gaming.
Just because you think it's not needed doesn't mean that there aren't benefits and performance left on the table.

 

Edited yesterday at 01:46 AM by LucShep

[SharpeXB]

42 minutes ago, LucShep said:

Have you even tried it? 

No because DCS and everything else runs completely fine without engaging in any of that stuff. When something does go wrong it’s something real. Like a burned out power connector or whatever. But the tweaking stuff isn’t worth my time if everything is fine without it. 

Edited yesterday at 12:16 AM by SharpeXB

[Dangerzone]

2 hours ago, SharpeXB said:

The truth is my CPU just needs to be replaced but that’s nothing to do with parked cores. If my CPU isn’t defective I get no stuttering etc from having this enabled. Every time I’ve had performance or stability trouble it’s either the CPU or Windows that’s broken. Not any of the system tweaking stuff. 

Respectfully - showing the emphasis's above - this is a problem with many of your replies on a number of topics suggests "If it doesn't affect me, it's not needed for anyone else." 

It's great that you don't need it for your particular setup/circumstance. That's fantastic. But there's no need to constantly reply to argue and undermine other people's genuine (and often correct and helpful for many other setups) just because it's doesn't benefit your particular setup. The truth is Core parking has been the contributing factor for performance issues for a number of users (not you)- including myself, and disabling it has been an instant fix more than once.

YMMV applies here - and it's really OK that it does. A little recognition of that could go a long way instead of this constant rebuttal and arguing.

[SharpeXB]

11 minutes ago, Dangerzone said:

Respectfully - showing the emphasis's above - this is a problem with many of your replies on a number of topics suggests "If it doesn't affect me, it's not needed for anyone else." 

I didn’t say that. I just said I didn’t need it. 

[BitMaster]

It's getting lame, this struggle with Windows and all that comes with it.

I have moved away from MS as my #1 compute tool long ago, whenever I can I use Linux and/or Mac, avoiding my Win11-5900X gaming rig ( dual boot ) as much as I can, to be brutally honest.

Linux is gaining popularity in the gaming sector, it may need a few more years to reach the tipping point but imho, that shift is colossal and will break many habits and it will happen, rather sooner than later. MS just gives soo much reaSON FOR IT TO HAPPEN THAT IT WILL.

just my 2 cents asking my Glass Bowl.

FYI: The last option I choose when it comes to upgrades and updates is reinstall the OS, with all those software licenses attached to my Workstation it is not that trivial and it's seldom needed, at least in my IT-Landscape. When you have a sleek system, yes, than you may install 11 in 10minutes, another 2h sorting pop-ups and you are good to go...with a highly configured system like mine with virtual machines, different VPN's, etc. etc..   it's a real PITA and takes days if not weeks....unless you have a working Backup that works for the need.