Slow logon with folder redirection
Hi! Windows Server 2008R2 Windows 7 Clients When login on, the clients take between 1.5 and 4 minutes to log on. This only happens when a network connection is present. During the waiting time, nothing appears on the screen. It stays blue. After that, the system boots without any problem. I found this: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/899409, but this seems to be a bug which has been fixed long ago. I've found several topics of people with the same problem, but most of them have also roaming profiles, or are running XP-200 (or no replies at all). I've made the folder redirects using this manual: http://technet.microsoft.com/nl-nl/library/cc739647%28WS.10%29.aspx. I've enabled verbose messages, and the blue screen now shows "applying folder redirection". I used the information in http://clintboessen.blogspot.com/2010/06/debug-logging-for-folder-redirection.html this article, to make my logs verbose. The following interesting information was presented to me: Picture 1: http://www.imgdumper.nl/uploads3/4d101ecfa2a8f/4d101ecf95f6a-tech1.png Picture 2: http://www.imgdumper.nl/uploads3/4d101ee4f2c1f/4d101ee4e97aa-tech2.png As you can see, two folders aren't redirected, but the logon already took very very long. Now I log off. Then right again, I log back on. http://www.imgdumper.nl/uploads3/4d101eec40e96/4d101eec381f3-tech3.png Again it takes very long, but this time only 2 folders are redirected. And those 2 are the ones who weren't redirected before. Also, winlogon now specificies how long it took. This time varies between 90 and 250 seconds. There is a difference between using WiFi (54) and LAN (100). WiFi takes at least 3 minutes (almost a guarantee), while LAN sometimes takes 90 seconds. Both the network and the server have enough capacity available. The issue occurs at multiple clients and multiple user accounts. Please advice.
December 23rd, 2010 6:33pm

This kind of issues can be caused by several reasons. To improve the performance, you may: 1. Temporary disable antivirus and firewall. If the performance is much better then, we can confirm that the issue is caused by the security programs. They may scanning during the profile copying. 2. Disable auto-tuning. 3. Lower the size of the redirected folder as possible. 4. Boot in Clean Boot Mode and check if the issue is caused by any startup items. 5. Upgrade the wireless adapter driver. A possible cause is that the wireless connection is not established in time when log on. The redirection process may need to wait for the connection establishing. Since the performance is better with wired connection, the wireless connection is the most possible cause. If the latest driver does not resolve the issue, you may consider that this issue is related to hardware compatibility. Arthur Xie TechNet Subscriber Support in forum If you have any feedback on our support, please contact tngfb@microsoft.com.Please remember to click Mark as Answer on the post that helps you, and to click Unmark as Answer if a marked post does not actually answer your question. This can be beneficial to other community members reading the thread.
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December 23rd, 2010 10:41pm

Hi Arthur, It feels to me it's some kind of bug (or misconfigured) behavior and you provide me with all kind of general solutions. I'm not sure this would help. 1. I tried to disable AV and FW, no resolve. 2. Not sure what you mean. 3. 'Erhm'. The folder is several GB's. However, why would this be a problem? I doubt Windows needs to transfer --all-- the files every time I logon, in stead of only the changed ones, am I right? Lowering the size would pretty much defeat the whole purpose of my set-up. 4. It's not. Newly reinstalled pc experiences same issue. 5. The wireless connection however is established, since I can ping the laptop. However, it also occurs when LAN is connected or at LAN only pc's. Please advice. Thanks.
January 1st, 2011 9:11am

Hello, Can you check that the workstation's DNS point to the server's internal IP address and not to the ISP's external DNS records? It's possible that when a network is connected the time is spent looking for the DC and when there is not network it uses cached mode. MiguelMiguel Fra / Falcon IT Services Computer & Network Support, Miami, FL Visit our Knowledgebase and Support Sharepoint Site
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January 1st, 2011 1:59pm

Hi EagleCreek, Folder redirection and Roaming Profiles... both great technologies in theory. But, you have to get the configuration right in order for them to work efficiently and accurately. When configured properly, Server 2008 should redirect a users folder to a file share that you setup and then maintain a copy on both the local and the network share. Offline files is enabled by default only on the Client OS's. You must enable support for this on the Server as it is not on by default. And this may lie at the root of your problem because it appears that your clients are loading their entire profile each time they logon. Note: When properly setup, the initial copy to the Server as well as the ongoing syncing are supposed to be done in the background AFTER the user logs on successfully. This should have the effect of not slowing down the logon process. It also has the effect of allowing a user to access their files if the network is down... syncing files back to the Server when the network comes back up... again in the background. From your description of the behavior of your systems, I think that there is a misconfiguration on the Server side simply because it affects multiple clients and users instead of being isolated to one or two. Because of that, I would recommend that you go back thru your configuration setup (Group Policy settings, etc.) to make sure it is correct. Here's a link that will help with an overview of how best to setup your Server 2008 system to handle folder re-direction for your clients. You may also want to enable Roaming profiles as this will help with performance. Using Folder Redirection: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc753996.aspx The next link discusses configuring Offline Files for Windows 7 computers which is part and parcel with the overall strategy you are trying to employ: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff633429(WS.10).aspx Jagade "It's a tough life... but someone has to enjoy it!"
January 1st, 2011 4:40pm

Hi Falcon, To be honest, my gut says that isn't the issue. However, I double checked it (I don't like wasting one's advice.): DHCP-server . . . . . . . . . . . : 10.0.0.10 DNS-servers . . . . . . . . . . . : 10.0.0.10 10.0.0.14 208.67.220.220 208.67.222.222 212.54.40.25 194.109.6.66
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January 1st, 2011 4:41pm

Hello, Can you check that the workstation's DNS point to the server's internal IP address and not to the ISP's external DNS records? It's possible that when a network is connected the time is spent looking for the DC and when there is not network it uses cached mode. MiguelMiguel Fra / Falcon IT Services Computer & Network Support, Miami, FL Visit our Knowledgebase and Support Sharepoint Site
January 1st, 2011 9:59pm

To disable auto-tuning, please: 1. Click StartCollapse this imageExpand this image, click All Programs, and then click Accessories. 2. Right-click Command Prompt, and then click Run as Administrator. Collapse this imageExpand this imageIf you are prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation. 3. At the command prompt, type the following command, and then press ENTER: netsh interface tcp set global autotuninglevel=disabled This command disables the Receive Window Auto-Tuning feature. 4. Close the Command Prompt window. 6, Restart the computer. Also please note that when the files sync at logon, system needs to detect if any of the files was updated and replace the files on your local computer by the updated files on the server. You have GBs of files so there will be a longer time for the files’ statuses checking. That should be the cause of your problem. Generally, in your case 1.5 to 4 minutes for large profile redirecting is even a better performance. Please remember to click “Mark as Answer” on the post that helps you, and to click “Unmark as Answer” if a marked post does not actually answer your question. This can be beneficial to other community members reading the thread. ”
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January 3rd, 2011 10:44pm

Hey guys Sorry it took a while. You are talking about folder redirection and roaming profiles. However, I'm not using roaming profiles. Since I'm running many different configurations (laptop, netbook, desktop), I don't want my whole profile to be copied. I do want, however, be able to access my files from any location. [quote]Also please note that when the files sync at logon, system needs to detect if any of the files was updated and replace the files on your local computer by the updated files on the server. You have GBs of files so there will be a longer time for the files’ statuses checking. That should be the cause of your problem. Generally, in your case 1.5 to 4 minutes for large profile redirecting is even a better performance.[/quote] Well, I don't fully understand this. Yes, there's several GB's of data. However, at least 95% hasn't changed since the last logon. Also I thought Windows 7 was able to synch in the background. Since we don't have that "offline folders synch" dialogue anymore when logging on/off we had in Windows XP. (Besides: in Windows XP this windows appeared after loggin on, not during making the logon proces take ages) I will try the auto-tuning and come back to you.Best regards, Eagle Creek
January 27th, 2011 11:55am

Hey! Would this really be how we should accept it? How businesses run their operations? In 2011, I can imagine people have vast amounts of data stored on their laptop that needs to be synched with the network. They only thing I'm doing basically is making those files available offline. I never had any problems with this in the past, but since I used a domain folder redirection, it takes ages to log on. I've never heared of this problem in any of the businesses I've worked at. It feels like Windows 7 is moving all the files from the network back to my laptop --every time I log on--. Some kind of full replication, instead of the desired incremental. Never seen this with XP either. This can't be normal, can it??? Best regards, Eagle Creek
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March 9th, 2011 7:46pm

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