SharpCap Forums

Just wondering if anyone is running the final release of windows 11 and specifically if it’s running sharpcap ok…. I think the official date is October 5th but read it’s available now. Was going to hold off til I’m sure my Astro programs don’t have issues

Hi,

I must admit that I haven't had any interest in Win11 so far - Win10 is good enough. I suppose I better download Win11 and see if I can test it - apparently it may not be possible to use in Virtual Machines, which might stop me as I have no intention of upgrading my main PC just yet!

Microsoft are usually pretty good at backward compatibility, so I wouldn't expect big problems, unless they have added new security features that might get upset about creating image/video files, etc.

cheers,

Robin

Hi,

just an update - I downloaded Win11 and set up a virtual machine. SharpCap 4.0 installed fine and I could get a ZWO camera working too. Looking promising

cheers,

Robin

Thank you Robin for testing, just didn’t want to mess anything up by upgrading

Thanks Robin. This is very helpful. Unfortunately my Win 10 laptop died. Purchase of a new one includes Windows 11, so at some point in the near future I will be making this upgrade. One more question though: The laptops I reviewed all run Win 11 in “S” mode which apparently includes security features that reduce the opportunity for malware to install. Did you try installing and running SharpCap in Win 11 in S mode?

Thanks- Ron

Hi Ron,

as far as I can work out, you need to switch the machine out of 'S' mode to be able to install SharpCap, since S mode restricts you to only installing apps from the Microsoft Store. To be honest, that sounds like a dreadful thing for anyone into Astro, since incredibly few Astro apps are available in the Windows Store...

There are some rather brief Microsoft instructions here on how to get out of S mode - https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/win ... 1bfb28a307 - I suspect that there are better instructions elsewhere from people who have actually done this. My personal suggestion would be to make getting out of 'S' mode the first thing you do with your laptop - that way if you have difficulties and end up needing to take drastic actions like reset windows, you haven't wasted any effort on other configuration.

cheers,

Robin

Thanks Robin. I appreciate your expertise. My searches turned up similar advice. I’m expanding my search for a more capable but mid-priced laptop that comes with Windows 10 pro that can update to 11 when forced to. If I settle on the value priced one in 11 S mode I will for sure take your advice.

Clear skies (I’m hoping that for myself too in order to capture Leonard + Venus this evening)

One more question if I may: Is SharpCap user experience better with the more expensive touch screen laptops? I could see this as beneficial in the dark, if the software supports touch screen operations. Thanks for any replies - Ron

I use a windows Surface Pro 2. It is a dated model, according to Msft. I found that my fingers were too fat to get good control of things like the histogram sliders. I also tried using a pen, but that too provided poor control. I always use a mouse, or the track pad on the Surface Pro 2 keyboard.

Thanks. I’ve used a very ancient Dell D630 for years with great success with SharpCap, even running a ZWO ASI294MC pro to capture SER 16 bit RAW videos for lunar & planets, and also livestack for deep sky. It was a bit challenged but worked. I’ve decided to go with a 2019 release date computer, so used, but recent. I did this to start with Windows 10 but ability to update to 11 when finally forced to in several years. None of my other computers are able to update to 11 so this will become my main computer, hopefully for many years.

Skies have cleared so hoping to catch Leonard & Venus but reverting to my Canon T3i due to the laptop situation.

Ron