WIndows 8/8.1 and 10 Change The CPU BIOS

[dawman]

Last summer in July, 2015. I decided to accept the "free" Windows 10 upgrade on an 8.1 Windows install.
In August I had my very first ever crash using Native apps and Scope during a gig.
No biggie, I rebooted and everything was fine.

Got scared so I decided to unrack my PC and go to a chassis with more fans.
It was an outdoor gig, so I assumed it was a heat related crash.
Happened again twice on an indoor gig with all of the new Fans and Mid Tower PC Case.

Posted here about it, lots of opinions, etc.
Then again on another indoor gig in October.

Fuck that shit, went into the BIOS and noticed the settings I "ALWAYS" disabled like Thermal Throttling, hyper threading,
were all enabled.
So I continued to play and noticed this appeared to fix things.

I have time off so I am builing PCs and doing gigs with the 1 x PC and XITE-1 that I have used for over a year.
No troubles but I started building Windows 10 DAWs, 2 of them using Z170 and H170.
Bidule will not see the ASIO drivers in Scope, so screw this nonsense after developers sent me fixes from log files I gave them and nothing worked.
I am nervous about using the single PC I have so I started building a new Z97 using proven, mature hardware and Windows 7.

While reading and tweaking the PC I already have I noticed Windows 8.1 had dozens of "important" upgrades.

I decided to see what they would do.

It took 30 minutes to get all of this crap loaded, re booting, etc.
Then after "installing" the OS alerts me that it wants to delete all of the shit is said I needed.
OS said "cannot complete upgrade, will remove the changes".....

Fuck this shit.
Finally after another 20 minutes "undoing" everything I re booted, everything is working fine.

Decided to confirm my suspicions and sure as shit Windows went in and screwed up my CPU settings.
Did not change Fan, or Boot Priority, just took my GPU onboard setting (meaning the on die GFX), changed it to PCI-e even though I don't have a card there, and brought back Turbo Fuck, HyperThreading, Throttling, etc.etc.

So these guys are a bunch of dirtbags, and lie about accessing your PC.

My newest build using Windows 7 will "NEVER" upgrade or join their gay cloud...

I spent thousands for the first time in years of trouble free gigs, trying to build something better, something newer, something that just fucking works.

I now have 2 x Windows 7 builds, nothing online.
A super fast i7 6700k for internet since it is useless for anything else using Windows 10.

If you have a working Windows 7 build, do not upgrade, no matter silly useless shit they promise.

Never again will I attempt to get better performance, it doesn't exist.

[hubird]

That's why S/C should have invested in OSX...
Great you've found your definite setup tho

[ronnie]

Glad you brought this up...

I have zero troubles with my HW4600 Quad hosting 3 Scope PCI cards. The thing cost me $250 with 8GB of RAM, I added a 2TB Hybrid Sea-Gate. At 2.6 Ghz it runs Diva, Kontakt and any other VST. Yup, Win 7 Pro 64.

My Dell E6420 ATG (All Terrain Grade) laptop sports an i5 at 3.0 Ghz (locked in Turbo) with 8GB ram, 160GB SSD and a PCIe Slot. Cost me $199.

Added 500GB EVO 850 SSD and will upgrade the keyboard to backlit. Takes my 96Khz Echo PCI card and runs Cantabile 3 with Pianoteq, VB3, Lounge Lizard, Diva, and Kontakt and effects without breaking a sweat. Echo ASIO is multi-client so I can run more than one thing at a time.

That little credit card Indigo I/O in the Express slot is 12 years old and sounds as good as anything out there. My MidiPlus 2X2 USB has 2 real MIDI DIN ins and outs and takes any MIDI keyboard even those that have USB that are not Class Compliant but have MIDI and hooks em up without any fucking drivers. And its a nice little solid aluminum brick.

Now if can afford an XITE it will plug right in. The ATG variant is triple layer magnesium with black powder coat and rubber bumpers and can stand a 3ft drop and a cup of liquid on the keyboard. The screen is visible and bright in direct sunlight and with the backlit keyboard addition the lights in the venue can be nice and low. It is dead silent. When the fan goes on it's barely audible. Yup, WIN7 Pro 64 bit. Real nice portable live box with BlueTooth too.

But I dread taking out my custom built wacked out 4Ghz i7 with 32 GB and 3 SSDs because it cost me close to $2400 all told with a 27" external monitor and 5 USB hard-drives and a MOTU firewire box. It stays in the studio where it works great, when I disable the bloat services, and doubles real nice for Photoshop and video editing. Win 8.1 Pro 64, with the occasional poorly timed surprises.

But the el-cheapo W7s above are solid and handle all my investments in Scope and or Native without so much as burp. Reliable company refurbs with 6 to 12 month warranties that came looking brand new! The Dell ATG new was like $2 grand with an i7, 8GB SSD and backlit. Great find at $199. They're out there from $200 to $400+ with an i7.

Less mucking around, more time for music and and damn cheap!