Slow logons - Applying Folder Redirection

[Arthur]

Anyone got any other ideas please?

Two more hotfixes which might be worth a try?

KB981830 - Roaming profile users experience slow logons on Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2 client computers
KB2617858 - Unexpectedly slow startup or logon process in Windows Server 2008 R2 or in Windows 7

[FN-GM]

Out of interest what folder redirection settings have you got applied (Documents/Desktop/Startmenu) and where do they point (Network Drive/Local Drive)

Documents - to home area
Desktop - location on C drive
Start menu - location on c drive
Music and pictures - they follow the documents redirection.

One more question when redirecting their homedrive (My Documents) does the server you point them at have "File Screening Management" in place? We did find we were blocking a certain file type and that cause a problem.

I do yes, I will try suspending it and see what happens.

Thanks Arthur, I will give that shot

Thanks to you both!

[psydii]

I saw a couple of new hotfixes relating to slow logons and offline file interaction on this blog List of Offline Files (CSC) related hotfixes for post Service Pack 1 for Windows 7 SP1. - The troubleshooters and problem solvers... - Site Home - TechNet Blogs a few months ago but they were pulled. The implication being that they introduced regression bugs and they would be re-released q1 2012.

Other than the reference to links not working, I can find no trace of evidence to support the above. Got to love the internet.

I would love to see what settings and spec of machines Bossman is running to get consitantly <2 minute logons.

[Davit2005]

So for those of you who have super fast logons, what GPOs exactly have you applied?

- Folder Redirection Yes/No
- Printer Mappings Yes/No
- Network drive Mappings Yes/No
- Other various generic GPO settings Yes/No
- Roaming Profile or Local Profile?

6 folder redirections - Start Menu, Pictures, Favaourites, My Documents, Desktop, Application Data,
Deployed Printers with Prefrences for default Printers
Network Drives done by Logon Scripts
Lots of fancy GPO's, doing reg keys, Copying/creating folders etc.
Local Profiles


Based on our ICT machines which have the most software loaded. a Windows 7 32bit On a Dual Core 3.2 E5800 Intel PC, 4GB Ram (3GB Usable)
40 Seconds to Logon Screen, about 10 to 15 to working desktop if user logged on to machine previously. Was a lot worse initially (2.30 to logon screen) but seems to of improved even though doing a lot more in the policies now.

[FN-GM]

ah ha! found it what is causing it.

I had blocked desktop.ini files in home areas so that it doesnt show them as "documents when you view them in a list. I will find some other way for the desktop.ini to not do this and then remove the restriction. Now the logon times are under 20 seconds when i have of the restriction.

Thanks for all the input

[Michael]

6 folder redirections - Start Menu, Pictures, Favaourites, My Documents, Desktop, Application Data,
Deployed Printers with Prefrences for default Printers
Network Drives done by Logon Scripts
Lots of fancy GPO's, doing reg keys, Copying/creating folders etc.
Local Profiles

I redirect all folders apart from AppData.

I deploy printers using GPO, not GPP.

Network drives mapped using GPP.

I have some reg fixes, again deployed using GPP.

I use roaming profiles.

[FN-GM]

Now i have a fast logon i can also answer

- Folder Redirection Yes/No - Yep Documents, Desktop, Start menu, Pictures & Music
- Printer Mappings Yes/No - Yes by GPO
- Network drive Mappings Yes/No - Yes by GPP
- Other various generic GPO settings Yes/No - highly lockdown for student
- Roaming Profile or Local Profile? - Local for staff - Mandatory for students.

[DrCheese]

I had blocked desktop.ini files in home areas so that it doesnt show them as "documents when you view them in a list. I will find some other way for the desktop.ini to not do this and then remove the restriction. Now the logon times are under 20 seconds when i have of the restriction.

Ya :P I've warned against that multiple times on this forum when it's brought up as a solution to folders renaming themselves "My Docs" It was one of the first things I tried when attempting to solve that issue but it absolutely murdered logon times, which are already slow on some of our older machines.

Initial logon time is the one thing I hope that MS focus on in Windows 8. I've never been able to get our P4 era machines to under 20/30 seconds which is annoying.

[Michael]

To add further to this, I've managed to get logon down to 20-25 seconds and it all came down to tweaking policies.

Navigate to User Config > Policies > Admin Templates > System > Folder Redirection - Do not automatically make redirected folders available offline - Not Configured.

If you enable this on either Windows 7 Gold or Windows 7 SP1, you're guaranteed slow logons. It's a known bug and it'll be fixed in Windows 7 SP2.

If you enable verbose status messages Computer Config > Policies > Admin Templates > System - Verbose vs normal status messages - Enabled you notice a big difference when applying Folder Redirection policies/settings, taking about 2 seconds instead of many more like before.

The only thing I am confused about still is how some of you are managing 5 second logons with Folder Redirection. Without the policy Computer Config > Policies > Admin Templates > System > Logon - Always wait for the network at computer startup and logon - Enabled Folder Redirection fails and the user is forced to logoff and then back on again.

On the policy itself it also mentions:

Notes:
If you want to guarantee the application of Folder Redirection, Software Installation, or roaming user profile settings in just one logon, enable this policy setting to ensure that Windows waits for the network to be available before applying policy.
If Folder Redirection policy will apply during the next logon, security policies will be applied asynchronously during the next update cycle, if network connectivity is available.

Any suggestions would be welcomed!

[Badzeye]

I have been having trouble with Windows 7 logon and logoff times with our laptops connected to the wireless. I understand they will take much longer than a desktop to logon because of using roaming profiles over the wireless. However they have been hanging on please wait for the user profiles service on log on or log off sometimes to the point that they just have to be restarted and attempt to log in again with them.

I have enabled verbose mode to show me what GPOs this could be affecting but this seems to happen before any of the settings are applied as once it waits for a few minutes at waiting for the user profiles service the rest of the GPO settings can be seen to apply fairly swiftly and the rest of the log on process goes though without any bother.

I would be thankfull for any thoughts on what could be happening as it has been bugging me for a while. Thanks.

[mthomas08]

We have been having severe issues and its been certain PCs - theres were built with Windows 7 using FOG.

Now we went round to all the PCs having this problem where they sit there loading the roaming profile for the kids for 15+ minutes and we rebuilt them. This solved our problem.

Only issue to remain is when their roaming profile needs deleted (because I need to lock it down even more) they have to logon and logoff then log back on. Their first logon does not load the roaming profile.. luckily enough we are not having to delete roaming profiles often. Probably one student a week.

[FN-GM]

I have been having trouble with Windows 7 logon and logoff times with our laptops connected to the wireless. I understand they will take much longer than a desktop to logon because of using roaming profiles over the wireless. However they have been hanging on please wait for the user profiles service on log on or log off sometimes to the point that they just have to be restarted and attempt to log in again with them.

I have enabled verbose mode to show me what GPOs this could be affecting but this seems to happen before any of the settings are applied as once it waits for a few minutes at waiting for the user profiles service the rest of the GPO settings can be seen to apply fairly swiftly and the rest of the log on process goes though without any bother.

I would be thankfull for any thoughts on what could be happening as it has been bugging me for a while. Thanks.

What kind of profiles are you using?

[bigal06]

ah ha! found it what is causing it.

I had blocked desktop.ini files in home areas so that it doesnt show them as "documents when you view them in a list. I will find some other way for the desktop.ini to not do this and then remove the restriction. Now the logon times are under 20 seconds when i have of the restriction.

Thanks for all the input

thanks for finding this. I have been experiencing slow logins for some time now - well since I setup the screen filter that is!

[FN-GM]

thanks for finding this. I have been experiencing slow logins for some time now - well since I setup the screen filter that is!

I had just rejigged our system last week. The login times are fast now

[bigal06]

I had just rejigged our system last week. The login times are fast now

Did you find another solution to the desktop.ini other that screen filter?