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 settings lost, unexpected crashes, slower performance from bloatware, etc...

And...  Can I keep all my joystick files or am I doomed to recreating them all?  Anything else to save?

Edited yesterday at 02:14 AM 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 Thursday 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 Thursday 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 Thursday 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 Thursday 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.

 

[SimHog]

Microsoft has made Windows a data mining OS rather than an OS for the user. The litany of under the hood (and under handed imo) functions that make up the OS clearly demonstrates they're more interested in making money off their users data than making the OS actually better, and the kicker is we pay for the "privilege". I mean going to the audio settings you literally have go 2 or 3 menus deep to actually get the settings you want, but they shoe horn Copilot seamlessly into task bar.

 

While you can turn off and disable many of these invasive spying features, as a user of an OS I paid for I shouldn't have to. Its ridiculous that I need to use registry hacks and/or third party software to get the OS to function the way I want.

 

I've been experimenting with Linux for the past 2 months and have had success in getting DCS to run. The quest now is to get Pimax and Winwing to work.

 

Its funny because I came into the forums today looking for more Linux info because the latest windows update screwed up my audio set-up and killed the UEFI dual boot loader.

 

Yeah I'm done with Windows.

Edited Saturday at 09:52 PM by SimHog

[Rudel_chw]

If ED ever released a Linux version (even a SteamOS one), I would ditch Windows in an instant, as I'm truly sick of Microsoft.

[SharpeXB]

On 10/24/2025 at 7:49 AM, BitMaster said:

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.

I’m curious what facts would lead you to that conclusion

For Linux to go from its current 2.68% to 50%+ is just about impossible to imagine. 
Being a free OS it would seem nobody has anything to gain from promoting it. You won’t be seeing any “I’m a Linux” commercials with Justin Long in a penguin suit. 
Then it’s in everyone’s interest to gravitate to the most popular system or format like VHS vs Betamax. Nobody wants a world divided into several OSs for no good advantage. 

[LucShep]

2 hours ago, SharpeXB said:

I’m curious what facts would lead you to that conclusion

For Linux to go from its current 2.68% to 50%+ is just about impossible to imagine. 
Being a free OS it would seem nobody has anything to gain from promoting it. You won’t be seeing any “I’m a Linux” commercials with Justin Long in a penguin suit. 
Then it’s in everyone’s interest to gravitate to the most popular system or format like VHS vs Betamax. Nobody wants a world divided into several OSs for no good advantage. 

You need to get out of that repetitive loop that you clinge so hard to (repeatedly posting same silly "VHS vs Betamax" analogy) and look at other examples showing otherwise.

If you need to know why you should not hold on to that idea, then just look at the mobile phone arena just fifteen years ago.
There were a plethora of OSs being used on smartphones of that era. Yet, even with Apple dominating, it was only a matter of time where its restrictiveness played in favour of the next best OS competitor - Android.

Surely you know what is Android, right? You're probably even using a smartphone running its Operating System.
This is an open-source OS, designed primarily for touchscreen-based mobile devices such as smartphones and tablet computers.
And pretty much all smartphone manufacturers use it today (other than Apple that is). Funny enough, it's based on a modified version of the Linux kernel.

History of both hardware and software is full of stories like these.
All that is needed is something to disrupt, either negatively or positively, to drastically change the tides, market tendencies and all business involved to adapt somewhat easily.

The world is already divided into several OSs, and for good advantage. 
Corporations, in many business/services today, already use Linux server solutions, and for a long time now.
Now, I don't think Linux will "overthrow" Windows in the mainstream laptop/desktop (if ever) but what I'm very sure of is that, the worse that Windows gets, the more users will look to Linux and give it a chance, migrate, realize the advantages, then stay there. And more widespreaded it becomes, word of mouth, hive mind and all that.
It will grow immensely, everything points to it.

The next months/years will be interesting, because Linux is already showing potential enough to give PC users an OS (in its various iterations, known as "distros") that is supposed to have what is needed and none of what is unneeded. Which is what everyone used to think about Windows all the way back, ironically.
 

Edited yesterday at 01:31 AM by LucShep

[SharpeXB]

22 minutes ago, LucShep said:

The world is already divided into several OSs, and for good advantage. 

This market isn’t. It’s 95% Windows. 

[SharpeXB]

27 minutes ago, LucShep said:

There were a plethora of OS being used on smartphones of that era

A smartphone isn’t a device that can use just any separate OS like a PC. It’s an all-in-one device, hardware and software combined. In a way that’s why Apple can keep a segment of the PC market. They aren’t just selling an OS they’re selling the whole device. With its form factor and design appeal and such. 

[LucShep]

As I said, "the world is already divided into several OSs, and for good advantage".  Which contradicts what you previously implied.
PC gaming is a only a part of the mainstream desktop/laptop market, itself a very delayed reflection of the global market, including Server and Web.
If the global tendencies already have shifted those (towards Linux), and with the mainstream OS in use (Windows) going worse - and it is - then the laptop/desktop market/segment may gradually go same way at any point (partially or globally).

As they say, numbers don't lie:



source: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/server-operating-system-market-106601



source: https://w3techs.com/technologies/comparison/os-linux,os-windows

Edited yesterday at 02:05 AM by LucShep

[SharpeXB]

2 minutes ago, LucShep said:

source: https://w3techs.com/technologies/comparison/os-linux,os-windows



 

This market, PC gaming, is 95% Windows

 

[diego999]

Just block him. He's just trolling at this point, ruining a meaningful debate.

[LucShep]

4 minutes ago, diego999 said:

Just block him. He's just trolling at this point, ruining a meaningful debate.

Indeed.
Cherry picking someone's quote and throw it out of context, to fit a broken narrative, is a classic sign of trolling.

*added again to the block list*

[SharpeXB]

14 minutes ago, diego999 said:

Just block him. He's just trolling at this point, ruining a meaningful debate.

 Nothing ruins a debate like facts
 

Also the original topic here had nothing to do with Linux.

Edited yesterday at 01:39 AM by SharpeXB