WinCC Flexible Runtime on All-in-One IPC: Touch Driver Setup

Overview

WinCC Flexible Runtime (RT) is the HMI visualization component of the SIMATIC HMI family. It executes projects compiled in WinCC Flexible ES on compatible Panel PCs, standard PCs, and SIMATIC HMI devices. For engineers seeking a compact form factor with integrated touch, third-party All-in-One (AiO) PCs such as the MSI AE203G series are an attractive hardware platform. The central question is whether a non-Siemens AiO can host WinCC Flexible RT and drive the integrated touch panel without manual driver intervention.

The answer is yes — with caveats. WinCC Flexible RT is a standard Windows application and runs on any PC that satisfies the published hardware and OS requirements. The critical decision point is the touch driver stack. SIMATIC Panel PCs and IPCs ship with the Universal Pointer Device Driver (UPDD) preinstalled, which abstracts the touch hardware. On a third-party AiO, the engineer must verify the touch stack (typically a TUIO or HID-compliant driver from the panel vendor) and, when needed, install UPDD or a compatible driver to achieve reliable single-touch operation under WinCC Flexible Runtime.

WinCC Flexible RT — System Requirements

WinCC Flexible Runtime operates on the following baseline configuration:

• Operating System: Windows XP Professional SP2/SP3, Windows XP Embedded, Windows 7 Professional/Ultimate/Enterprise (32-bit and 64-bit depending on Service Pack), Windows Embedded Standard 7, Windows Embedded Standard 2009
• CPU: Intel Pentium III, 800 MHz minimum; 1 GHz recommended for projects with many tags or large graphics
• RAM: 512 MB minimum, 1 GB recommended
• Hard Disk: 1 GB free for installation; SSD strongly preferred
• Graphics: SVGA 800x600 minimum, XGA 1024x768 recommended for full-screen Runtime
• Display: 16-bit color depth minimum
• Touch: Windows-catalog HID-compliant touch device, or UPDD-supported touch controller

These specifications are documented in the WinCC Flexible Readme and the product manual on the Siemens Industry Online Support portal. SP-level OS support varies; refer to the compatibility list (Siemens article 64847781) for the matrix of approved SP/OS combinations.

WinCC Flexible RT — Version Matrix and OS Compatibility

WinCC Flexible Version	Supported OS	Notes
WinCC Flexible 2007	Windows XP SP2/SP3, Windows 2000	Legacy; not for new projects
WinCC Flexible 2008 SP1	Windows XP SP2/SP3	First 2008 release
WinCC Flexible 2008 SP2	Windows XP SP3, Windows Vista Business/Ultimate	Vista supported
WinCC Flexible 2008 SP3	Windows XP SP3, Windows 7 Professional/Ultimate	Field-proven for Win 7
WinCC Flexible 2008 SP4	Windows 7 Professional/Ultimate/Enterprise	Stable for Win 7 32/64
WinCC Flexible 2008 SP5	Windows 7 Professional/Ultimate/Enterprise	Last SP, longest maintenance window

For Windows 7 64-bit hosts, WinCC Flexible 2008 SP4 or SP5 is required. For Windows 10 or Windows 11, WinCC Flexible RT is not officially supported — migration to WinCC (TIA Portal) Runtime Advanced is required. Older field-proven deployments use WinCC Flexible 2008 SP3 Runtime on Windows 7 32-bit for AiO Panel PC class hardware.

Touch Driver Architecture: UPDD

UPDD (Universal Pointer Device Driver) is a touch abstraction layer from Touch-Base Ltd. that translates raw touch events from a wide range of controllers (3M, Elo, eGalax, ILI, Pixart/Panorama) into standardized Windows pointer messages. Siemens licenses UPDD for installation on SIMATIC Panel PCs and IPCs, which is why those systems ship with touch "just working" out-of-the-box.

On a non-Siemens AiO such as the MSI AE203G (which typically uses a Pixart/Panorama touch controller with an eGalax/eETI HID driver), WinCC Flexible RT does not require a specific touch vendor — it consumes standard Windows pointer messages. The challenge is ensuring the controller's driver delivers stable, calibrated pointer events at the OS level.

Touch driver options for a third-party AiO host:

1. Vendor HID driver — Most AiO manufacturers ship a TUIO/HID-compliant driver on a companion DVD or via Windows Update. Verify the driver exposes a standard HID-compliant digitizer in Device Manager under Human Interface Devices as HID-compliant touch screen.
2. UPDD standalone — Available from Touch-Base. Recommended when the vendor driver is unstable, exhibits jitter, or does not support fine calibration under Windows 7.
3. Native Windows 7/8 touch stack — Windows 7 includes native multi-touch support for HID-compliant devices. Most AiO systems fall back to this automatically when the vendor driver is not installed.

All-in-One PC Selection Criteria

When sizing a third-party AiO for WinCC Flexible RT, evaluate the following against the project requirements:

Parameter	Recommendation	Notes
CPU class	Intel Celeron/Pentium dual-core for tag counts < 512; Intel Core i3/i5 for larger	Bay Trail (J1900) and newer are sufficient
RAM	4 GB minimum	Keeps Windows 7 responsive with Runtime resident
Storage	SSD, 64 GB or larger	Runtime logs and recipe DBs write frequently
Display brightness	250 cd/m² or higher for industrial environments	Consumer AiO typically ships at 200 cd/m²
Touch technology	Resistive single-touch most compatible; PCAP supported in single-touch mode	Multi-touch gestures not interpreted by WinCC Flexible
Front panel protection	IP65 front seal for washdown environments	Rare on consumer AiO
Temperature range	0–35 °C commercial; −10 to 50 °C extended for industrial	Specify at procurement

The MSI AE203G referenced in field deployments is a 20-inch AiO with Celeron J1900 / Pentium J2900 (Bay Trail) and 4 GB DDR3. It is adequate for small-to-medium WinCC Flexible projects and has been documented as a non-Siemens Runtime host with mouse-only operation out-of-the-box. Touch integration requires manual driver configuration.

Compatibility Tool — Siemens Article 64847781

The authoritative source for the WinCC Flexible Runtime compatibility list is Siemens Industry Online Support entry 64847781. The list details:

• Approved Windows operating systems per WinCC Flexible version and Service Pack
• Approved service packs and hotfixes
• Approved virtualization platforms (Hyper-V, VMware)
• Approved network adapters
• Approved SQL Server versions for Runtime log databases

The compatibility tool is updated with each new SP release. Always confirm that your specific WinCC Flexible RT DVD matches an entry in the latest list. The article is an exclusion matrix: a configuration not on the list is not supported. If your AiO ships with Windows 10, your project must be migrated to a current TIA Portal WinCC RT (Comfort Panels or WinCC Runtime Advanced) before commissioning.

Installation Procedure

Prerequisites

• AiO PC with the target Windows OS already installed and updated
• Vendor touch driver DVD or downloaded package (or UPDD installer)
• WinCC Flexible Runtime installation media matching the project ES version
• Original project file (.hmi or imported TIA-compatible XML)
• Administrator account on the target PC
• License key (floating or single-station) for WinCC Flexible RT

Step-by-Step

1. Verify OS edition. Open Control Panel → System and confirm Windows 7 Professional/Ultimate/Enterprise with SP1. WinCC Flexible RT will not install on Starter or Home editions.
2. Install chipset and graphics drivers. Download the latest chipset, ME (Management Engine), and graphics drivers from the AiO manufacturer. Restart.
3. Install touch driver.
   • Option A: Insert vendor DVD, run setup, and reboot. Verify in Device Manager → Human Interface Devices that HID-compliant touch screen is present.
   • Option B: Install UPDD. Run the UPDD setup, select the appropriate controller profile (auto-detect scans for connected devices), and complete calibration. Configure the UPDD Console to start with Windows.
4. Test touch in Windows. Open Paint, draw with finger, and verify cursor tracking, no offset, and no jitter. If tracking is inverted on Y-axis, the panel is mounted upside-down — toggle orientation in the UPDD Console or vendor utility.
5. Disable Windows Aero. Right-click Desktop → Personalize → Basic and High Contrast Themes → Windows 7 Basic. Runtime performance improves substantially.
6. Set power profile. Control Panel → Power Options → High performance. Disable screen saver and USB selective suspend. Disable disk indexing on the Runtime partition.
7. Install WinCC Flexible Runtime. Insert the installation media or run setup.exe. Choose WinCC Flexible Runtime from the component list. Accept the license agreement and enter the license key when prompted. Restart when complete.
8. Configure Runtime start mode. Launch WinCC Flexible Runtime from the desktop or Start → Programs → SIMATIC → WinCC Flexible → Runtime. To auto-start a specific project, create a shortcut to WinCCflexibleRT.exe with the argument /project <path-to-project.hmi>. Place the shortcut in Start → Programs → Startup.
9. Configure autostart on boot. Use msconfig → Startup to enable the RT shortcut. Configure Windows to auto-login a dedicated RT user account via netplwiz (disable password requirement) or set the password to blank and configure autologon via the registry under HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon with values AutoAdminLogon=1, DefaultUserName, DefaultPassword.
10. Test Runtime operations. Exercise every button, slider, and value entry to confirm pointer events reach the application. WinCC Flexible RT does not require multi-touch; single-touch suffices for all standard operations.

Touchscreen Calibration

If touch is offset from finger position, run the touch calibration utility:

• Windows native: Control Panel → Tablet PC Settings → Calibrate the screen for pen or touch input. Choose Touch input and follow the crosshair prompts.
• Vendor utility: Most AiO vendors ship a calibration executable (e.g., eGalaxTouch, ELO Touch, DMC Touch). Run as Administrator.
• UPDD: Open UPDD Console → Calibrate → 4-point or 9-point calibration. For 16:9 displays, 9-point is recommended for better edge accuracy.

Persist the calibration in the touch driver's settings. UPDD saves per-monitor calibration in the registry; vendor utilities save to their service configuration. Re-calibrate after any display driver change.

Performance and Tuning

For stable Runtime operation on consumer-grade AiO hardware:

• Disable unnecessary services: Windows Search, Superfetch, Windows Defender real-time scanning on the Runtime partition.
• Disable Windows updates auto-install: Group Policy → Computer Configuration → Administrative Templates → Windows Components → Windows Update → Configure Automatic Updates = Disabled. Schedule manual updates during maintenance windows.
• Reserve CPU and memory: Use msconfig → Boot → Advanced options to set number of processors and maximum memory. Not always required but useful for hard real-time behavior.
• Disable visual effects: System → Advanced → Performance Settings → Adjust for best performance. Re-enable Smooth edges of screen fonts for readability.
• Dedicated partition: Install WinCC Flexible RT on a partition separate from the OS to simplify backup and image management.
• Network isolation: Place the Runtime PC on a dedicated VLAN to prevent broadcast storms from the office network.
• UPS: A small UPS (600 VA) protects against brownouts and brief outages. The Runtime can be configured to write a status bit on UPS event via the WinCC Flexible UPS channel or a digital input card.

Licensing

WinCC Flexible Runtime licensing is per seat. Options include:

• RT 128 PowerTags — for small projects
• RT 256 / 512 / 1024 / 2048 / 4096 PowerTags — graduated by tag count
• RT Archive — for recipes and process value logging
• RT Scripts — for VBScript execution
• RT OPC Server — for third-party data exchange

A "PowerTag" is a process variable displayed or logged. Licensing is enforced via a license key bound to the PC's hardware (legacy) or via the Automation License Manager for newer versions. Recovery of orphaned licenses on AiO hardware failure requires Siemens Automation License Manager support.

Logging and Recipes

WinCC Flexible RT can write tag and alarm logs to a local or network database:

• Tag log: configured in the project as Logging → Tag Logging. Stored as a .csv or in a SQL Server Compact database.
• Alarm log: Reporting → Alarm Logging. Stored in the project directory by default.
• Recipes: stored in CSV or binary format in the project directory. Back up these files to a network share on close.

Configure log paths on a non-system partition to prevent runaway growth from filling the OS drive. Use the WinCC Flexible RT → Settings → Log paths dialog to redirect. For external data exchange, the OPC DA channel can be configured to consume data from third-party servers such as TOP Server; a published reference is the Software Toolbox integration guide available at howto_winccflexible2005_topserveropc.pdf.

Common Pitfalls

Symptom	Likely Cause	Resolution
Touch offset or inverted Y	Panel orientation mismatch in driver	Re-calibrate or set orientation in UPDD/utility
Touch dead zones at edges	Driver reports 5:4 active area on 16:9 panel	Re-calibrate with 9-point routine
Runtime crashes randomly	Graphics driver incompatibility or Aero enabled	Disable Aero; install certified graphics driver
Project will not load	License key missing or wrong version	Reinstall license via Automation License Manager
Slow screen refresh	Antivirus scanning Runtime directory	Exclude project directory from real-time scan
Touch stops responding after sleep	Driver loses USB device reference on resume	Disable USB selective suspend; use wake events
Project variable shows ######	Connection to PLC broken	Check network, IP, and PLC reachability

Migration Path — WinCC Flexible to TIA Portal

WinCC Flexible is in maintenance phase. New projects should be created in TIA Portal with WinCC Comfort Panels or WinCC Runtime Advanced. TIA Portal offers a project converter that migrates WinCC Flexible projects with caveats:

• VBScripts may require manual adjustment
• Custom controls are not migrated
• Recipe structure is preserved
• Alarm classes are preserved
• Connection configuration requires re-validation

For long-term support, plan the migration to TIA Portal on the next panel/HMI refresh cycle. TIA Portal V17 and later support Windows 10 64-bit and Windows 11 for Runtime Advanced on IPCs.

Verification Checklist

Before handover, run the following verification:

• All project screens open within 2 seconds of button press
• Touch calibration is accurate at all four corners and center
• Logs are written to the configured path
• Runtime restarts automatically on power cycle
• Network connection to PLC is restored within 10 seconds of PLC reboot
• User logon/logoff is functional
• Alarm acknowledgment clears the alarm state
• Recipe save/load completes without error
• System clock is synchronized (NTP or PLC)
• Language switch is functional
• No Runtime errors in the Windows system event log

FAQ