Windows 10 USB Power Management Issues

Windows 10 seeks to reduce power consumption and, hence save battery life, by switching off USB devices that are dormant and drawing 'excess' power. This can cause USB devices, such are Saitek panels and joysticks, to disconnect in flight leading to a loss of control inputs and displays. This thread describes 2 ways of over coming the automatic shutdown of USB devices. Method 2 is the best but should only be done if you are confident in your abilities.

Method 1

1. Identify the VID/PID for the affected USB device(s). Using the LINDA Setup Joysticks page, find the line for the device and note the 9 alphanumeric value at the start of the line (eg. 06A30D050 for Saitek Radio Panel). The Vendor ID is the first 4 characters and the Product ID is the second 4 characters; the last digit is a count of the number of similar devices (eg. 06A30D050 --> VID=06A3 and PID=0D05).
2. Open the Windows Device Manager.
3. Click on Human Interface Devices.
4. Now the slow bit. Right-click each USB Input Device and select Properties. If there is a Power Management tab, then click on Details tab and select Hardware IDs and identify the matching VID/PID for the device(s) of interest. Otherwise, try the next device.
5. With the device identified, click on the Power Management tab.
6. Untick the 'Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power' checkbox.
7. Click OK.
8. Repeat from step 4 for other devices.

Method 2

CAUTION - This method requires direct manipulation of the Windows Registry. It should only be undertaken if you are confident in your abilities. No warranty is provided for those using this method. Be warned!!

1. Identify the VID/PID for the affected USB device(s). Using the LINDA Setup Joysticks page, find the line for the device and note the 9 alphanumeric value at the start of the line (eg. 06A30D050 for Saitek Radio Panel). The Vendor ID is the first 4 characters and the Product ID is the second 4 characters; the last digit is a count of the number of similar devices.
2. Open RegEdit.
3. In the lefthand pane, locate the tab Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Enum\USB.
4. Find the entry for the device(s) VID_{vid}&PID_{pid} (eg. VID_06A3&PID_0D05).
5. Click on the arrow to the left.
6. There will be one of more entries underneath (eg.7&3908cf29&0&3). Each refers to the number of times the USB device has been plugged into different USB ports.
7. Click on each entry and then on Device Parameters.
8. In the righthand pane, find and double-click on the entry EnhancePowerManagementEnabled.
9. Change the value from 1 to 0 and click OK.
10. Repeat from step 3 for each device.

After carrying out the above methods, restart the PC and your Flt Sim. The USB should no longer switch off in use unless you change the USB port being used. Repeat the procedure if you do unplug and reconfigure your USB ports.