What is your current OS? And other related questions!

[Klaiber]

Hi All,

 

This is a question for both guests and JG1 members alike!

 

What operating system are you currently using?  And how many people plan on switching to Windows 10?

 

And for those who have Windows 10, does it work reliably with your current flight sims?

 

The reason I'm asking this has to do with compatibility issues.  The main games that we're flying right now are Rise of Flight, IL-2: Cliffs of Dover, IL-2: Battle of Stalingrad / Moscow, and DCS World.

[-Hawkeye-]

Great job on the wording and questions.  Better than I would have done!  Thanks!

 

I hope there will eventually be more input from pilots who are actually using Win10 already!

[Lee]

RoF doesn't always pick up all my CH controllers.

 

I use the full CH kit; Fighter Stick, Pro Throttle, Pro Pedals, Throttle Quadrant, and Multi-Function panel.  The controllers are programed using the CH Control Manager.

 

I've had to stop using a script file to launch CH Control Manager, downloaded the CH RoF profile, then launched the RoF game.  Not all the controllers were being seen in RoF.

 

I have found manually launching Control Manager then downloading the CH RoF profile seems to work.  Jury still out.

[-Hawkeye-]

Lee, do you have "CMStart.exe" in the Startup folder?  IS there a "Startup" folder in Windows 10?  That's a shame.....I have 2 CH controllers.....the software is old and I'm sure it will never be updated.  Have you tried a compatibility setting for the above?  Maybe a "Run as administrator"?

 

It sure would be a pain to have to download the profile into the controllers every time you are going to use RoF  

[Lee]

Just installed the latest windows 10 update.  Seems to have resolved the problem.  Three sucessful restarts with all controllers working properly in RoF.

 

S!

[-Hawkeye-]

Great news.  Thanks!

[-Hawkeye-]

Changed my votes because I upgraded to Windows 10 over the weekend.  The last question is a biggie; I answered no to compatibility problems because in the end I have none that are known to me right now.  That wasn't the case at all initially, however.  First, I had no sound.  Sound card is a Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Champion PCI-e (could that name be any longer???).  None of the software would open, said it couldn't find any device.  The card showed being installed in the device manager. Then after a couple of reboots for other reasons, an updater came up for Creative products which recognized my hardware and software and said I needed updates, so I ran that.  After the reboot I had basic sound, but still none of the software worked.  This is a huge thing since this card has a million settings and 3 different modes, and you won't get any quality at all without proper settings.  I started researching on the internet and found out everybody with these cards was having trouble with Windows 10, and there was some guy who made some 3rd party drivers that were supposed to work.  Supposedly Microsoft was "working diligently" with Creative to get workable drivers.  I didn't want anything to do with the 3rd party drivers because people said even those would lose their settings.  I sort of gave up for the day and began considering rolling back to WIn7 (they give you one month to do this).  Trying to get Win10 to update itself proved to be very frustrating.  It's not like before when you could just go to control panel and force it to check for and install updates right now.  Basically you so to a separate place (illogical) called "settings" and from there you can ​check ​for updates and it will show you if there are any (I had at least 15 or so) but it just sits there thinking it's going to do it eventually and you're supposed to be too stupid to worry about it; there was no way to make it do it NOW.  Back in the Control Panel there's a section for "Security and Maintenance" in which you can tell it what time you want it to do maintenance (in one hour increments) so I set it to the next available hour and waited.  Nothing happened so I put my machine to sleep, went to bed and hoped for the best.

 

Next day I checked I checked the control panel again, and saw that there was now a button there for "run maintenance now".  I don't know why that appeared, whether it was the result of an update that occurred, or just time that had gone by.  I pressed the button, then went back to the Settings area and saw that the updates were actually downloading and installing.  Once that was all done, it seemed like if you "check for updates", it seems to download and install them at that time.  In any case, a lot was updated, and once the reboot was done, the sound did not work at all anymore.  I read some more on the internet and found a post where one guy said that you had to go to Device manager, disable the device, then enable it again.  This worked for me to get the basic sound back.

 

At this point I gave up trying to let Windows fix itself with regard the sound.  I went to the Creative support website, and lo and behold there was a new driver posted for my card series that said it was for Windows 10.  I didn't have much confidence that it would work....surely this must be the driver that Microsoft was already using, right?  It went through what looked like the same update process as it did before....recognized my hardware and software, and ran an installshield.  After the reboot, I looked over at my hardware, and the red lights came on on the front of my sound control panel!  Everything for that works!

 

Have to go now, will add the REST of the story later...

[Klaiber]

Hi Willy,

 

Definitely keep us posted!  Right now, I'm seriously considering upgrading to Win10 (as you can see that I'm the only person still running Vista).

[-Hawkeye-]

Well, I got a "little" long-winded.

 

A point by point critique for my Win7 to Win10 upgrade:

 

1) Big-time sound card driver problems.  Eventually solved.

2) Problems upgrading from TrackIR v. 5.1 to v 5.2.2 (final).  Install shield program locked up before completion.  Reboot after x64 drivers installed but before new program installation allowed installation to complete properly.  Lucky guess.

3) Much work getting RoF back to it's previous functionality.  Joystick 0 became Joystick 1 and vice-versa; had to redo every controls map in every area with any reference to either joystick device; every axis, button and control.  X4 maps!

3) Initially, longer boot times than Win7 with same programs.  Booting faster now, unknown reasons.

4) Change for the sake of change.  Hybrid of Win8.1 and Win7.  Some illogical organization of tools IMO.  Control of some areas easier (Startup items), some areas harder.  Will get used to it.

 

In the end, it works again; probability that future updates will improve the interface.

 

S!

[-Hawkeye-]

Hi Willy,

 

Definitely keep us posted!  Right now, I'm seriously considering upgrading to Win10 (as you can see that I'm the only person still running Vista).

Klaiber, just wondering if you're aware that an upgrade to Win10 from Vista is not free.  You can buy a boxed copy licensed version for $119.00 .  Here is some guidance on that; it suggests that you might as well do it if and when you upgrade your hardware.

 

Win10 for Vista

[Klaiber]

Thanks for that!  I appreciate it.

 

I'm currently trying to save enough money to build a new computer.  Mine is currently from 2009, though I've Frankensteined it with more RAM, a newer card and a faster drive.  When I finally take the plunge, I think Windows 10 is probably the way I'll go.  It makes the most sense overall, and gives me the most longevity.

 

And hopefully, by the time I do that, most of the problems Win10 is having with games will have gone away.  Crossing my fingers.

[-Hawkeye-]

I need to do the same thing (upgrade hardware).  I'd like to see other people's thoughts and opinions as to what they think would be a good rig, if money wasn't really a concern.  Ideas on the most reliable/best performing motherboards, Intel processor, amount and type of memory, best SSD's, etc.  I would keep my current case, and transfer the video card and maybe sound card at first, because that stuff can be easily upgraded later; but I want to see what a good starting point would be for the core of a new system.  The last thing I built was quite a while ago; my son got an ASUS motherboard that was pretty high quality and made for gaming, which supported a Core i7 Quad processor with a pretty good speed.  I suppose that getting a new 6-core processor would be the way to go, but I haven't really researched anything and don't know the best rigs anymore.

 

The idea would be "what would be your dream gaming rig right now if you could afford it" type of informal poll. 

[Klaiber]

I'm out of touch with what the best components are right now.  I was actually hoping to start spec'ing something out over the holidays.  I'd gladly post what I come up with.

[Moxy]

~S~

 

For spec'ing out, this is a great place to start.

 

http://www.maximumpc.com/best-of-the-best/

 

Mox

[-Hawkeye-]

Wow, Jackpot!  Thanks Mox!

[Somnus]

I did an in-place upgrade from Windows 7 and had no real issues. I just needed to reinstall my freetrack drivers. Everything else worked alright though!

[Klaiber]

~S~

 

For spec'ing out, this is a great place to start.

 

http://www.maximumpc.com/best-of-the-best/

 

Mox

 

Thanks Mox!

[Britchot]

Klai, did you ever upgrade?  Gotta get those commo programs running

[Klaiber]

Not yet.  Looking to upgrade my computer in the Spring.

[vonKost]

I'm posting late on this one, but I went to windows 10 when it was released because it was a free upgrade and I have not had any real trouble with it running sims and such. One thing you might consider for a new PC is getting a Solid State Drive for way better load times. I have a regular hard drive that is big and a smallish SSD that I put games on.

 

vK

[Britchot]

Okay, I just updated to Win 10 because it was free for me but not for much longer.  I wanted to take advantage of the DirectX 11 that will eventually run games and yeah, it was an easy decision.  

The upgrade from Win7 was super easy.  I don't think much of anything has changed (I only had to reassign my headset and microphone so far) and my first thoughts are it's a win! (pun intended)

[-Hawkeye-]

They really have worked out a ton of issues with drivers and such since it first came out.  It really was good that you waited but were still able to upgrade for free.  Hopefully it will work out well for Klaiber too, when he finally upgrades. 

[Snaggle]

My upgrade was a piece of cake.

 

Only issue, sound card went out took headset with it.

 

Good news was I was able to try one of the USB sound cards!! Better the the MB built in one. So no loss, but after 10+ year flying Helos my wife says I'm deaf as a post.

 

Got a new Logitech G230 headset so it all worked out in the end.

S!

[Karl Spackler]

Yeah Windows 10 isfine. I hated Windows 8 and 8.1. I couldn't find anything. They're stupid tile thing they tried to shove down everyone's throat from their Windows Phone OS was garbage. I upgraded to Windows 10 and hated it and rolled back inside of 20 minutes. Later, after reading more about it, I acquiesced to Microsoft's nagware popup after removing KB3035583 I don't know how many times after thinking over DirectX and support and the fact that I don't want to have to pay for it later when 7 finally goes the way of XP. 

 

It's fine. Lots of unnecessary doohickies. The tile nonsense is still there, but at least the start menu is familiar enough. Advertising has to be suppressed. Lots of habit tracking for marketing purposes that's everywhere if you choose express settings (don't do that). File structure is familiar, design does take a little though to translate from what you're used to.