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Upgrading to Windows 11

Windows 10 has an end of life date of October 14, 2025 (see https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/end-of-support). As a result, many universities are requiring research machines on their networks to upgrade their existing OS to Windows 11 for security purposes. This document is intended to help you smoothly transfer your existing TDT software to your new OS or new machine.

Note

TDT recommends backing up all existing data and TDT folders to a backup hard drive or computer image before upgrading the OS of your computer.

While all TDT projects, which includes RpvdsEx circuits + ActiveX code, BioSigRZ, OpenProject experiments, and Synapse experiments, are forward compatible with all newer versions of TDT software releases, you will have to upgrade to v98 or later TDT software to stay compatible with Windows 11.

If you are upgrading to a brand new machine with no existing TDT software, you can easily download the latest versions of everything from our Downloads Page and proceed from there. Just be sure to also update the microcode on your hardware if updating your software to the latest version. If you need assistance with passwords or any part of the installation process, please contact support@tdt.com.

For Synapse Users

Synapse information is easily transferred because everything in Synapse (besides actual data and extra-database files such as user circuits) is saved into a database file. This contains all of your experiments, subjects, and runtime settings.

There is a folder C:\TDT\Synapse\Backups that contains, among other things, the last hardware rig you used (.synrig), a UserSettings.ini file, and the database file (.db).

To restore Synapse on a fresh computer:

  1. Install TDT Drivers and Synapse on the new machine.

  2. Replace synapse-1.db in C:\TDT\Synapse with the .db file from your Backups folder.

  3. Import the rig file (.synrig) via Menu -> Edit Rig -> Import.

  4. Move your older UserSettings.ini file into

    C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Local\Tucker-Davis Technologies\Synapse

    to restore all of your Menu -> Preferences settings.

  5. Additional important folders to migrate include: C:\TDT\Synapse\UserCircuits for any experiments with user gizmos or legacy circuits, C:\TDT\Synapse\MapFiles for any experiments with map files, C:\TDT\Synapse\ParFiles for experiments with Parameter Sequencer lists, C:\TDT\Synapse\StimFiles for any experiments that use fStim and stim files, and C:\TDT\Synapse\CamRefs for any experiments that used an iVn Video Capture iCon module.

    Please copy these folders, as is, into the C:\TDT\Synapse\ directory (replacing the existing fresh folders) so synapse can recognize any appropriate files if there are dependencies.

For OpenEx Users

Projects folders can be zipped and easily transferred to different computers. The only thing you will have to do is make a new Tank and Block location for the data to be stored if the folder paths are different on the new machine.

For BioSigRZ Users

Biosig configuration files (.acf files), calibration files (.tcf), and SigGen stimulus files (.sig files) are easily ported into a new installation of BioSig. Place .acf files into C:\TDT\BioSigRZ\Configs, .tcf files into C:\TDT\BioSigRZ\TCF, and .sig files into C:\TDT\BioSigRZ\SIG.

For ActiveX Users

ActiveX code and associated RPvdsEx circuits are readily used on newer versions of TDT software.