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MED-V: Factors that Contribute to a Slow MED-V Workspace

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Assuming the basics have been considered (where the host operating system and the guest operating system have been allocated enough memory) here are some factors that can contribute to a slow starting and slow performing MED-V workspace:

1.) Use of Unnecessary Services in the Guest:

Disable any services that are considered non-essential to the application, OS, or the MED-V Guest Agent.

2.) Group Policy Processing/Scripts:

Make sure all domain group policy scripts or processing of Group Policy Scripts are not contributing to the slow startup. If the MED-V close action is SHUTDOWN, then every time you restart the MED-V Host agent, including upon logon, the Windows XP operating system will need to start and log on as the user. Group Policy processing will occur for both the machine and the user in this case.

3.) Boot.INI delay:

Ensure the timeout in the guest Windows XP's BOOT.INI file is set to 0

4.) Screen resolution:

Set the guest screen resolution and refresh rate (use 1024 X 768 X 60hz) and turn off the guest Screen saver.

5.) Queued NGEN items:

Force any delayed generations to finish:

%WinDir%\Microsoft.NET\Framework\net version\ngen.exe ExecuteQueuedItems

%WinDir%\Microsoft.NET\Framework64\net version\ngen.exe ExecuteQueuedItems

6.) Startup Group applications:

Remove unnecessary apps from the Windows Startup group.

7.) SYSTRAY icons

Remove third-party system tray apps

8.) Disable System Restore

wmic /namespace:\root\default path SystemRestore call Disable %SystemDrive%\

9.) Windows Defender scans

Disable Windows Defender file scan

10.) Enable SuperFetch

Enable SuperFetch by going to  HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentC­ontrolSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management\Prefetcher and set EnableSuperfetch to 1

11.) Scheduled Tasks

Delete the following scheduled tasks (if they exist)

schtasks /delete /tn "\Microsoft\Windows\Defrag\AutomaticDefrag" /f

schtasks /delete /tn "\Microsoft\Windows\Defrag\ScheduledDefrag" /f

schtasks /delete /tn "\Microsoft\Windows Defender\MP Scheduled Scan" /f

schtasks /delete /tn "\Microsoft\Windows Defender\MpIdleTask" /f

schtasks /delete /tn "\Microsoft\Windows\RAC\RACAgent" /f

schtasks /delete /tn "\Microsoft\Windows\RAC\RACTask" /f

schtasks /delete /tn "\Microsoft\Windows\RAC\RacRulesDownload" /f

schtasks /delete /tn "\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Error Reporting\QueueReporting" /f

schtasks /delete /tn "\Microsoft\Windows\Customer Experience Improvement Program\Consolidator" /f

schtasks /delete /tn "\Microsoft\Windows\Customer Experience Improvement Program\OptinNotification" /f

schtasks /delete /tn "\Microsoft\Windows\Customer Experience Improvement Program\UploaderRunOnce" /f

schtasks /delete /tn "\Microsoft\Windows\Customer Experience Improvement Program\Uploader" /f

schtasks /delete /tn "\Microsoft\Windows\Media Center\mcupdate" /f

schtasks /delete /tn "\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsBackup\Windows Backup Monitor" /f

schtasks /delete /tn "\Microsoft\Windows\Application Experience\ProgramDataUpdater" /f

schtasks /change /disable /tn "\Microsoft\Windows\SystemRestore\SR"

schtasks /delete /tn "\Microsoft\Windows\Application Experience\AitAgent" /f

schtasks /delete /tn "\Microsoft\Windows\DiskDiagnostic\Microsoft-Windows-DiskDiagnosticDataCollector" /f

schtasks /delete /tn "\Microsoft\Windows\RescueMyPC\RMPNotification" /f

schtasks /delete /tn "\Microsoft\Windows\Energy Efficiency Wizard\AnalyzeSystem" /f

schtasks /change /disable /tn "\Microsoft\Windows\Maintenance\WinSAT"

12.) Defragment the Drive prior to deployment

While disabling automated defrag tasks are recommended, you still want to make sure the drive is not fragmented prior to packaging and deploying with MED-V.

If the drive is already fragmented and the workspace has been deployed, this can be done using the GUI or simply running the following from a published XP command prompt:

defrag C: -f

13.) Turn off all Visual XP Effects

From an XP Command prompt, open up Control panel (CONTROL.EXE) and navigate to "System." Then Click "Advanced," then under "Performance," click "Settings." Select "Adjust for best performance." Click OK twice.

14.) Tune Explorer

Save this output as a REG file and import it into the Windows XP Guest.

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\policies\Explorer]

"UseDesktopIniCache"=dword:00000001

"NoRemoteRecursiveEvents"=dword:00000001

"NoRemoteChangeNotify"=dword:00000001

"StartRunNoHOMEPATH"=dword:00000001

"NoRecentDocsNetHood"=dword:00000001

"NoDetailsThumbnailOnNetwork"=dword:00000001

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\MRXSmb\Parameters]

"InfoCacheLevel"=dword:00000010

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\\shellex\PropertySheetHandlers\CryptoSignMenu]

"SuppressionPolicy"=dword:00100000

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\\shellex\PropertySheetHandlers\3EA48300-8CF6-101B-84FB-66CCB9BCD32}]

"SuppressionPolicy"=dword:00100000

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\\shellex\PropertySheetHandlers\883373C3-BF89-11D1-BE35-80036B11A03}]

"SuppressionPolicy"=dword:00100000

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\explorer\SCAPI]

"Flags"=dword:00100c02

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\SessionManager]

"SafeDllSearchMode"=dword:00000001"SafeProcessSearchMode"=dword:00000001