Will ACC still work on Windows 7?

[Kenneth Jurmann]

Quick quiestion, will I need to update to Win10 or will it be playable with Win7?

 

[Case_]

I wouldn't say the upgrade was free, it just didn't really cost any money. There's a bit of difference there, and that difference also partly explains why some people decided to not get it (emphasis on "some").

Also, you can get Win 10 for much less than 100 euro.

 

[GuitarTech]

I wouldn't say the upgrade was free, it just didn't really cost any money. There's a bit of difference there, and that difference also partly explains why some people decided to not get it (emphasis on "some").

Also, you can get Win 10 for much less than 100 euro.

OK; just looked, and you can get it cheaper. But, nevertheless: up until the end of 2017 you could upgrade for free. If it was free, how did it cost any money? Do you mean hardware upgrades cos the old hardware wouldn't run Win 10? How old are we talking about?
If someone has a computer that's so old that it can't run Win 10, then that is old..
What does it look like when they drive AC or rF2 etc with such an old box?
Win 10 is actually more efficient at using system rescorces than Win 7 ever was, and with driving sims you have to keep up to date with the system you're running if you want to be able to use the modern sims. It's expensive I know, that's probably the reason why a lot of simmers are old farts like me who have the coin to buy all the goodies.
I flew MS FS for 10 years, now there is a sim that will bring a computer to its knees, in comparison driving sims are easy peasy.
I built my new box in 2016, with a video card upgrade this year for under € 2000 altogether. When a GTX 1080 video card alone costs north of € 600, and the new cards over a thousand, how long do people think they're going to be able to use the modern sims with some old box that's 10 years old?
I remember being so exited about buying AC, and then the dissapointment after installing it, as I only had a slideshow ( sometimes under 20fps ). That was an AMD AM3 system with an ATI video card, and still with AGP bus. And only 2gb ram, that was all the mainboard could handle.
So I had to move on, and I built a modern box. And it's the same with an OS. You always have to keep up, that's the reason why I'm not using DOS 6 anymore ( yes, I'm that old )

 

[Case_]

If it was free, how did it cost any money?

I didn't say it cost money, in fact I said almost the exact opposite. I said it wasn't free, it just didn't cost any money. And I absolutely understand this might be a meaningless technicality to some, but there's a difference between something being free and something you don't have to spend money on. Google services are often mentioned as being free - they're not, you just don't pay money for them (by default), but it doesn't mean there's not a cost involved. In case of Google, you pay them by letting them use the data they get from your activities, or by having ads displayed in some instances/situations. Similarly, the upgrade to Win 10 wasn't free either.

If someone has a computer that's so old that it can't run Win 10, then that is old..
What does it look like when they drive AC or rF2 etc with such an old box? Win 10 is actually more efficient at using system rescorces than Win 7 ever was, and with driving sims you have to keep up to date with the system you're running if you want to be able to use the modern sims.

While I agree that Windows 10 is if not more efficient, than at least on par with Windows 7, and would be the first to defend Windows 10, it's really not as simple as that. I know from experience that sometimes, especially on older hardware (not old, just older), Windows 7 can offer a better experience on the exact same hardware. Not because the OS itself is better, but because drivers and any other software is simply more finetuned to Win7, having been with us for much longer. On top of that, some software can even have issues running on Windows 10 while running perfectly fine on Win 7. It's a complicated thing you can't handwave one way or the other so easily.

 

[GuitarTech]

Ok, I know from all your other posts that you know what you're talking about, so we'll agree to disagree But I still maintain that Win 7 has, to all intents and purposes, no future...

 

[RasmusP]

The trick was to do a full backup, upgrade to activate your win 7 key for windows 10, put your backup back in place and go dual boot

Not 100% sure if the PC itself or the win 7 key kept "the foot on the door" at Microsoft. Too long ago.
But I know I got it "for free" and have dual boot. I switch between them when needed. Like for the forza demo to win 10 or when dirt 3 decided not to start on win 7...
There are 3 things that bother me with win 10:
1. If you disable Cortana completely, you can't even search in your task menu at all
2. You can't completely deactivate win 10 updates (driver overwrite, inducing lags etc). You can only pause them for up to 30 days but you won't get note before this period ends. The auto updates will just kick in.
3. Win 10 like to call home quite a lot and after every second update the apps re-allow themselves in the firewall.

Maybe win 7 "calls home" to the same amount. I don't know. But I don't see it and I didn't read enough to know if it's there or not.

On my surface pro 3 btw win 10 is nice. Only problem is the update I can only deactivate for my "working hours". Which means I get home from university, fire it up to do something and it shreds away 10% battery while the fans are going crazy for 2-20 minutes.
I read a minimum of 10 hours about how to configure win 10 but I couldn't find any solution ..
I could kill updates via registry but that's one step too much as I'd like to get updated every now and then.

 

[GuitarTech]

[QUOTE="RasmusP, post: 2823741, member: 248219"
There are 3 things that bother me with win 10:
1. If you disable Cortana completely, you can't even search in your task menu at all
Who cares? I've been using computers without Cortana for over 30 years, and it always worked. Screw you Cortana

2. You can't completely deactivate win 10 updates (driver overwrite, inducing lags etc). You can only pause them for up to 30 days but you won't get note before this period ends. The auto updates will just kick in.
Why would anyone want to do that? It's a complete waste of time: just let it do its thing and get on with your life. Windows Update Service has never broken anything on my computer for any length of time. And never so broken that I couldn't drive a sim or use the net. And after the patch to cure the glitch: business as usual.
3. Win 10 like to call home quite a lot and after every second update the apps re-allow themselves in the firewall.
Maybe win 7 "calls home" to the same amount. I don't know. But I don't see it and I didn't read enough to know if it's there or not.
Who cares? I've been online for as long as the net exists. I fill forms out for this and that, I register for forums and mail lists, buy stuff online all the time with various credit cards etc etc. My data is plastered all over the net, and has been for the last 30 years. My rig sits behind a hardware firewall, and I've been using NOD32 virus protection for as long as I can remember.
What could MS find out about me that they didn't find out years ago? I've read that tin foil hats help a lot.
Anyone who really has something to hide should use the dark net anyway...

On my surface pro 3 btw win 10 is nice. Only problem is the update I can only deactivate for my "working hours". Which means I get home from university, fire it up to do something and it shreds away 10% battery while the fans are going crazy for 2-20 minutes.
Is the power brick broken? Or why would anyone do updates with the onboard battery? It boggles my mind...[/QUOTE]

 

[maelstrom]

If you disable Cortana completely, you can't even search in your task menu at all

Not quite sure where your info came from as I have Cortana completely disabled (I'm paranoid like that) and desktop search works fine for me.

You can't completely deactivate win 10 updates (driver overwrite, inducing lags etc).

That's not entirely true. It's easy to disable just the automatic driver updates in Windows 10 - I just keep the important and security updates enabled which I consider to be essential for safe system operation.

That said, I've yet to have an issue following a Windows update (and that includes major, feature updates).

 

[Case_]

It's easy to disable just the automatic driver updates in Windows 10

Though i have to say it didn't really work correctly when I still had a Logitech wheel - its drivers got overwritten by the ones from Windows on every bigger update, despite driver updates being disabled.

But I think you can disable updates completely via Group Policy. Though why would you.

 

[RasmusP]

Not quite sure where your info came from as I have Cortana completely disabled (I'm paranoid like that) and desktop search works fine for me.



That's not entirely true. It's easy to disable just the automatic driver updates in Windows 10 - I just keep the important and security updates enabled which I consider to be essential for safe system operation.

That said, I've yet to have an issue following a Windows update (and that includes major, feature updates).

I disabled cortana in the registry and my search was gone. Thanks for your info though, I will have a look at it again and try to get the search back! Windows key and searching is quicker than navigating to the icon. In a stressful lecture every second counts!

Updates: my surface pro 3 is mostly running offline or online behind the massive university firewall. Only connections then is office synchronization.

If I connect to the WLAN in the evening to study it goes hot and slow due to updating or just searching for the updates.
My said surface has only one thing to do:
University notes and some programs. I need the maximum run time from the battery and to make the battery last as long as possible I try not to shred away the battery by running high cpu loads.
No problem with updates but maybe once a week would be a nice option...
Theres the setting for pausing and you can set it to 30 days.
Sadly you don't get a push message when they end.
I will probably go down the "paid connection workaround" path where you tell Windows that your WLAN has a data limitation or it would cost you something so it stops the update service.

I don't wanna say that Windows 10 is bad but going from win 8 to 10 is definitely introducing some annoying stuff into my workflow and the time I invested to counter them wasn't really successful.
This shapes my opinion about the whole thing slightly negative...

 

[maelstrom]

No problem with updates but maybe once a week would be a nice option...

Are you sure it's Windows that's updating? Apart from the occasional exception, Windows usually only updates on the second Tuesday of each month - "patch Tuesday". Could they be updates specific to your Surface Pro?

I have to agree that there's a learning curve involved when upgrading to Windows 10, but no more (probably less) than I had going from XP to Windows 7.

 

[RasmusP]

Are you sure it's Windows that's updating? Apart from the occasional exception, Windows usually only updates on the second Tuesday of each month - "patch Tuesday". Could they be updates specific to your Surface Pro?

I have to agree that there's a learning curve involved when upgrading to Windows 10, but no more (probably less) than I had going from XP to Windows 7.

Actually I'm not. It's mainly the "Windows Modules Installer Worker" process that runs for 5-20 minutes at 80% CPU usage. Fan kicking in, Surface getting hot.
When I disable updates for x days, it doesn't happen iirc.

Guess I will invest a bit deeper soon!

 

[GuitarTech]

Actually I'm not. It's mainly the "Windows Modules Installer Worker" process that runs for 5-20 minutes at 80% CPU usage. Fan kicking in, Surface getting hot.
When I disable updates for x days, it doesn't happen iirc.

Guess I will invest a bit deeper soon!

Ah, the old "Windows Modules Installer Worker" bug, aka TiWorker.exe It's a known problem, and there is a workround for it. I had it with my office Laptop too, but after a complete new Install of Win 10 ( for a completely different reason) it was gone. Hack " Windows Modules Installer Worker fix " into Google for more info, I don't remermber what it is exactly, it's so long ago.

 

[RasmusP]

Ah, the old "Windows Modules Installer Worker" bug, aka TiWorker.exe It's a known problem, and there is a workround for it. I had it with my office Laptop too, but after a complete new Install of Win 10 ( for a completely different reason) it was gone. Hack " Windows Modules Installer Worker fix " into Google for more info, I don't remermber what it is exactly, it's so long ago.

Yeah I read quite a lot about that hehe. Thanks for the hint!
It doesn't seem to be a bug though. If I pause updates it doesn't happen. Also I set my "using time" to 08-19:00 and it never kicks in before 19:00!
It also does whatever it does and then goes silent until the next day. Appstore updates are deactivated as I don't have any apps from there.
It's strange... I guess it's just the search for updates. On such a little CPU (i5 4300U, 2 cores + HT with Turboboost to only 2.5 GHz) everything will cause high CPU usage. Watching 1080p youtube videos in chrome causes 50% CPU load while getting hot and fan kicking in, draining the battery! (Edge Browser only causes 20% for the same videos btw. and therefore no fan kicking in and battery holding up a lot longer!)

Battery isn't replaceable and during my longest days at uni I already have to plug it in between lectures. That's why it's such a big topic for me.
With a normal laptop with replaceable battery I wouldn't care. At least not like I do with my surface...

 

[GuitarTech]

The only problem with it is that it ramps up to maximum power when it's looking for, and carrying out, updates. For no good reason really, any computer is perfectly capable of downloading, and then installing, the updates parallel to normal use. I always used to kill it in the process manager, and there is a registry hack to stop it starting at all, but it's been a while now, and I've forgotten what I did. But you can find it easily on the 'net. Hope you find a solution

 

[Case_]

Watching 1080p youtube videos in chrome causes 50% CPU load while getting hot and fan kicking in

Sounds like HW acceleration disabled in Chrome...?

 

[RasmusP]

Sounds like HW acceleration disabled in Chrome...?

Nope. But I agree, it would make sense! Tried to switch it off though to no avail.
It's just chrome being chrome, not caring for resources

 

[Case_]

@RasmusP Any example of such video? Or do all of them do it? It'd be interesting to see how it does here, both in Chrome and in Vivaldi, which is my main browser (based on the Blink engine like Chrome).

 

[RasmusP]

@RasmusP Any example of such video? Or do all of them do it? It'd be interesting to see how it does here, both in Chrome and in Vivaldi, which is my main browser (based on the Blink engine like Chrome).

All videos! Where it really made a difference was with the Le Mans and nords 24h and with all Blancpain streams. The higher the resolution (probably Bitrate being more important), the bigger the difference.
It's also not only YouTube. It's basically all videos.

 

[Case_]

@RasmusP So I've tried this video:

Played perfectly fine in Vivaldi, around 10 % CPU utilization for the whole browser with around 50 tabs (but most of them hibernated) and around 13 % GPU utilization. So I've tried Chrome with just that one tab...and it showed over 50 % CPU utilization, I couldn't believe it. So I went into the settings to see if HW acceleration is enabled, and it was, so I thought about going into chrome://flags and see what's there that could have an effect on that. And while I was there, I just pushed "Reset all to defaults", restarted the browser...and it's now playing the video at like 5 % CPU utilization, holding over multiple browser restarts.

 

[69Harder]

Also, you can get Win 10 for much less than 100 euro.

I bought 2 Win 10 Pro licenses of eBay for about 3$ each.
Works like a charm
just stay away from the OEM version and you'll be fine !