Windows 8 Slow Start

[AndyDavis]

My kids school updated all their PCs (desktops and laptops) to Windows 8 about a year ago and logging in has become painfully slow. Can take 5-10 minutes in some cases. They've been told that 1st logon is slow then each time after that it should be faster, as long as they use the same PC every time, which is a bit tricky to do. Especially for the laptops as its all shared.

Does that sound right? I thought Windows 8 was supposed to boot up in under a minute? It shouldn't take 5-10 minutes to download the profiles and setup the PC for each user. The PCs are all relatively new and RAM was upgraded before they moved to Windows 8.

 

[footprints]

Certainly find my 8.1 boots up in under a minute, astoundingly quick after being used to XP.

Have you run any maintenance tools? Sounds like they may have lots of programs loading at start up.

I use System Mechanic works well for me.

 

[AronSearle]

I suspect there is some programme tying up resoucres, like a virus checker doing a startup scan, or some programmes driver playing silly buggers.

Check you virus checker settings, see if it is doing a scan on startup.

It might be better to do scheduled scans, rather than scan on startup (I personally just do a manual scan every few months).

Go into msconfig (I assume windows 8 still has that), turn off any programme not needed at startup, (the programme will still work +90% of the time when you try to run it, it just won't automatically load up at start).

You can't break anything doing this, you might just stop something working, in which case just go back into msconfig and turn it back on.

Also, laptops use very little electricity in sleep mode, you can get into the habit of using that, rather than a full turn off.

 

[AlanE]

Go into msconfig (I assume windows 8 still has that), turn off any programme not needed at startup, (the programme will still work +90% of the time when you try to run it, it just won't automatically load up at start).

control+alt+delete - select 'Task Manager' then 'Start-up' tab.

 

[Astra99]

If this is the school's PCs/laptops on the school's network, then it sounds like it is a network/domain controller problem. Is there a domain controller hosted on the local network, or does it rely on the education authority's intranet (wide area private network) to "find" the domain controller?

True enough, every time a new (domain) user logs on, Windows creates their own desktop settings on the local PC, which does take some time. Subsequent logons to the same PC will be quicker, because the user's profile already exists on the local PC. In such cases, I would expect Roaming Profiles to be set up on the DC for each user, so no matter what machine the end user logs onto, their profile is loaded "on the fly" from the DC.

HTH

 

[mattylad]

I also wonder if the domain controller was updated at the same time as the PCs?

 

[AndyDavis]

Sorry for the late reply...

According to the school's IT company the DC is hosted on the school server and roaming profiles exist for each user. They've run some tests and now think the problem is due to the thick brick walls of the school. The school has wireless hubs in the classrooms but not in the areas outside where most of the problems are happening. So they've suggested installing hubs in those places too.

Seems a bit odd, I didn't think brick walls could make that much of a difference, but we'll see what happens.

 

[Astra99]

If the wireless signal is degraded (and thus running at the very lowest speed) then things will take a long time to load, but equally, once loaded the network/internet access times will remain pitifully slow.

Locally hosted applications (notepad, local directory listings etc) should work at normal speed. If, once the profile is loaded, everything runs at normal speeds, then I find it difficult to work out how the IT guys came to their conclusion. After all, if the wireless connection is only achieving 1Mb/s during logon, it is unlikely to suddenly jump up to 54Mb/s once logon is complete!

 

[mattylad]

A classroom of kids trying to logon and download roaming profiles all at the same time via WIFI, not surprised it's slow.

IMO They would be best with some CAT5-6 cables to a switch etc

 

[AndyDavis]

Well they've put in a wifi access point in the area outside the classes and its made a small difference but not much. They tested it with just 5 laptops and performance wasn't great. Apparently some of the classes are now also complaining about slow internet access. So they think it might be an external - Virgin - problem, who provide the broadband to the school. If that's the problem then how come the desktops (which use ethernet cables) are running fine?

I can see this one running and running.

 

[EddieM]

If that's the problem then how come the desktops (which use ethernet cables) are running fine?

Presumably because the wifi has contention issues, whereas the ethernet connections (assuming switched) do not.