Cruachan

I think they have probably fixed it by now. What I find concerning are the evident inadequate testing procedures prior to release of each update. It’s not as if this was a one off either, they have history with 1809. Hopefully this latest embarrassing episode will ‘encourage’ them to knuckle down and get things right. Suffice it to say I have locked down Windows 10 Pro at 1803, possibly for the next 6 - 12 months. It seems stable enough without any unwelcome surprises thus far. Hopefully by then the dust will have settled and there will be a clear path to follow free of risk and unnecessarily time-consuming hassle. Also, Windows 7 Pro has not received any updates for the past 6 months and continues to run like a dream. In reality all we really need to survive are regular backups along with sensible browsing habits, a healthy level of suspicion / mistrust for anything Internet / email / MS .......and, of course, decent firewall / antiviral / antimalware solutions standing at the gate to intercept any malign influences that may attempt to slip through. Regards, Mike

Hi Bob, I was wrong...again! Must stop doing daft things like this! KSFO (After!) I blame Windows 10 🤬 Problem is I have spent so much time over the past couple of weeks getting Windows 10 licked into shape that I have been neglecting the sim and forgot what scenery was and was not enabled/active. Now I'm back with my first love Windows 7 and rediscovering the delights it has to offer. Not saying Windows 10 is bad...just a tad different and, in my case, in dire need of cosmetic adjustments..lol Regards, Mike...and many thanks!!! Edit: Heard the latest.... https://wccftech.com/windows-10-bug-downgrading-pro-licenses-home/

Likewise. But you may be onto something - I’ll check everything relevant has been enabled. Pretty sure that is the case. These days I only enable airports relevant to a particular flight as optimises loading speeds of the sim. Mike

Hi Bob, I don't doubt it for a moment...hence my request for help 🙂 Regards, Mike

Hi, Was up in the A2A Bonanza this afternoon exploring recently installed ORBX FTX KHAF (Half Moon Bay Airport) when I thought I would pop over to KSFO to see whether there were any significant performance issues while flying this superb a/c. I tend to stay away from KSFO as frame rates usually plumit to the low twenties/high teens. As I dropped in altitude I was surprised to see texture problems manifesting as 'grass' on the runways. here are a couple of Top-Down shots illustrating the problem: KSFO (at altitude) KSFO (closer to the deck) Presuming this to be an elevation issue I tried ORBX's AEC (KSFO not listed, but I ran it anyway) and PILOT's AFM Configurator, both without any success. Then I tried Verifying the files for ORBXs' Northern and Southern Californian installations using the option provided in FTX Central v3.3.1.4. No joy there either. Any other thoughts or suggestions? Thanks, Regards, Mike

Well, in a nutshell, that pretty much sums up the current situation and the likely evolving (?actual) future scenario, at least as far as Prepar3D is concerned. Thanks Rob...I think! Regards, Mike

Hi, My experiences, albeit somewhat brief, have also been quite favourable thus far. Recently I decided to see what all the fuss was about and so installed Windows 10 Pro 64bit (1803) alongside my trusty Windows 7 Pro 64bit as a Dual Boot arrangement. Windows 7 installation remains intact and Windows 10 is installed on a Samsung 970 EVO 2TB V-NAND M.2 PCI Express SSD. So far all is good bar one reservation, see later. Imagine my surprise when I discovered I was able to ‘share’ my existing Steam installations (including Aerofly FS2) without having to reinstall any for Windows 10! Also, the existing purchased licences/keys for Apps running under Windows 7 are accepted when those same Apps are installed and activated under Windows 10. I presume this is because it’s assumed that only one instance of each App will be running in each booted O/S environment. All Windows 10 specific drivers are in place and the group policy editor configured to prevent any unwanted automatic driver updates. Windows Defender has been disabled in favour of ESET NOD32 antivirus. Everything seems to be working and the GUI is currently being tailored to suit my preferences. Now my reservation: As you can see from my signature my rig is still very capable and yet, in terms of responsiveness, Windows 10 is a little disappointing when compared to my Windows 7 Pro installation(*). Desktop activities in the latter are very snappy and satisfying whereas Windows 10 Pro seems less so. For example, if I right-click on the desktop and open the nVidia CP it appears almost immediately in Windows 7 whereas three seconds pass before the window opens in Windows 10. In fact Apps generally open faster under Windows 7. Many have stated that Windows 10 is faster than Windows 7. Really? Does make me wonder whether they have in fact come from an environment that was becoming bogged down from lack of regular maintenance. This behaviour does seem a little odd particularly with Windows 10 having been installed on a fast M.2 SSD: I appreciate much can still be done to prune out all the unnecessary Windows 10, supposedly ‘user-helpful’, features/embellishments but surely, even with these in place, one should expect a much faster out-of-the-box experience? Regards Mike Edit: (*) Stock Base clock has been maintained throughout this exercise. Now that all the important stuff is safely in place I intend to re-establish the overclock sometime in the next few days.

Reality check! Look around you. Just about every commercial outfit has adopted this practice. If only they realised how damaging this is in the eyes of their consumers who battle valiantly to have their voices heard and their complaints actioned. Just because they all do it is no excuse and simply attracts a loss of respect rather than an acceptance that they are being forced into this position by the legal constraints that rarely permit an admission of culpability. I have no idea whether this particular fault, the subject of this thread, lies at the door of LM. However, what must be certain is that LM must be aware of its existence and doubtless will have pinpointed the cause, or at least have a good idea of its likely origin. Arguably, the failure to share a solution with those affected makes it appear that they are indeed responsible when, in fact, this may not be the case. Unfortunately the pointing of a finger at another Developer can be equally hazardous unless it can be done with an absolute degree of certainty. Sadly, this is the world we live in these days and it’s unlikely to change. I, for one, would hold any organisation in far greater regard were they a) able to hold their hands up quickly when an issue has been identified, and b) showed a willingness to put things right as soon as is practicable. I’m far more likely to accept the temporary inconvenience and wait patiently for the implementation of a solution. Mike

I wonder how they are going to enforce these charges? Isn’t it more likely that this will encourage bad practice whereby many (could be talking millions) users choose to run without security update patching from Microsoft and instead rely more heavily on their antivirus/anti-malware products for ongoing protective measures? Mike

Well, well! Should we be surprised? Of course not. This is what it’s been about all along - the generation of an ongoing huge income stream from a captive global audience of users trapped (duped?) into relying on their operating systems. MS knows there are no serious viable alternatives, other than Linux which will never be adopted universally, so now the time has arrived to capitalise on that unassailably advantageous position in the market. Mike

Hi Marc, I’m assuming you are jesting. Were it to be true then surely such an ill-considered action would simply harden attitudes further and all those worthy Windows 7 users would lock MS out of the equation for evermore. Bring it on, I say, and see where it gets ‘em..lol! Time they were ‘encouraged’ to face the reality check which is long overdue. Isn’t it amazing how such a monolithic organisation continues to ride roughshod over everyone and does so with such apparent lasting impunity. Regards, Mike

Hi Rick, I tried Edge for an hour or so before I felt myself yearning to return to Firefox. Edge is okay and seems quite responsive, but then so is Firefox and Chrome. Now I have all three on my Win10 installation with all my pre-existing bookmarks and passwords, etc. synced so I’m spoiled for choice..lol! However, Firefox still remains my preferred browser. Regards, Mike

Hi Rick, Ah, I see. As you can tell from my signature, you’re a man after my own heart! However, curiosity has got the better of me. For better or worse (and with an eye to the future beyond Jan 2020) my curiosity is compelling me to explore what Win10 has to offer. A dual Boot setup involving a fast capacious drive dedicated for Win10 Pro is a neat solution while giving me the room to experiment. The NTFS file system allows access to all my drives, and their content, by both O/S. This could become important later on as it should be possible to share certain large blocks of existing data on the Win7 Pro installation with its Win10 Pro counterpart (drive letter arrangements are identical) that does not depend on the presence of program specific entries in their respective system registries. No idea how this will work out, but the journey should prove to be an interesting experience. Meantime, like you, I’m more than content to keep MS at bay from potentially wrecking my faithful Win7 Pro installation while I continue to develop the Windows 10 side of things. Plenty time ahead and nothing needs to be rushed. Regards, Mike

Hi Rick, Thanks! Yes, that’s one sure way of handling this irksome issue. Unfortunately, and for most of us, denying Internet access is not very realistic these days unless, of course, your rig is dedicated solely for the purposes of running P3D. Many software installations/Addons require internet access for verifications of legit ownership. How do you get around that? Avoid those Addons or connect/disconnect briefly as and when necessary? Regards, Mike

Hi Rick, One thing is certain, if MS are really determined to take this to its logical conclusion then they will have a variety of backdoors in their software permitting Developer access and thereby circumvent any attempts by the end user to hinder their masterplan! Never mind all the legal niceties, their legal staff will take care of that. Care to elaborate? I’ve just installed and licenced Windows Pro 64bit on a 2TB Samsung 970 EVO M2 SSD drive on my ASUS Rampage V Extreme MOBO (Dual Boot arrangement with my existing solidly performing Windows 7 Pro 64bit). I see the installed W10 Pro version is 1803. So far, nothing bad has happened, all seems well and, naturally enough, I’m keen to preserve the status quo for as long as possible as I start to learn what all the fuss is about surrounding this O/S. I note that an earlier graphic driver is currently in place 388.??, I forget the exact numbers. Regards, Mike