System Performance Improvements
Customizations to Improve System Performance
To improve overall system performance enable or disable the features listed below. These customizations should be used carefully, as disabling/enabling one or many features may conflict with user requirements.
Disable the Screen Saver on DVMs (Desktop Virtual Machines)
Disabling the screen saver on DVMs will help in improving the overall performance of the DVM and might improve the RDP performance as well. To disable the screen saver, go to Start > Control Panel > Appearance and Personalization > Change screen saver and select None from the Screen saver drop-down list.
Disable IPv6
IPv6 is enabled by default on VMs and can be disabled if the processes or applications are not using IPv6 schema. Disabling the IPv6 may help in improving the overall DVM performance. To disable the IPv6, refer to the following Microsoft KB article: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/929852
Disable Windows Updates
Keeping the Windows updates off can help in improving the overall performance. To disable Windows updates (Windows 7 or Windows 8.1) VMs:
Go to Start > Control Panel > System and Security > Windows Update > Change settings and click Never check for updates.
Note
- The above steps are specific to Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 operating systems. For newer operating systems, it's respective configurations have to be configured.
- The purpose of disabling the Windows updates is not to stop important and critical updates on the system. But these should be managed in a way, the updates are being pushed in non-working hours without affecting the system performance.
Disable Power Management
Power management should be kept disabled in order to improve overall performance of the system. To disable power management, go to Control Panel > Hardware and Sound > Power Options > Show Additional plans and choose High Performance.
Disable Auto Sleep
Auto Sleep should be kept disabled in order to improve the overall performance of the system. To disable power management, go to Windows Settings > System > Power & sleep and choose Never in Sleep drop-down.
Increase Virtual Memory
Virtual memory is used by Windows as RAM. As such, increasing it can help in improving the overall VM performance. Follow the steps given below to increase the virtual memory:
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Go to Start > Control Panel > System and Security > System.
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Click Advanced system settings.
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Go to Performance > Advanced and click Settings.
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Go to Virtual Memory > Advanced and click Change.
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Specify the Custom size for the virtual desktop's virtual memory.
Disable Remote Assistance
If the feature is not being used, then keeping it disabled can help in improving the overall VM performance. Follow the steps given below to disable remote assistance:
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Go to Start > Control Panel > System and Security > System.
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Click Remote Settings link.
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In the Remote Assistance > System Properties, clear the Allow Remote Assistance connections to this computer check box and click OK.
Using a mix of Visual Effects and Performance
The Windows operating systems come with many visual components, and the users may not be using all or any of them and as such, these configurations should be wisely configured so that a balanced performance and visual experience can be achieved. Follow the steps given below to change the visual experience configurations:
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Open Start Menu, right-click on Computer and select Properties.
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Click Advanced System Settings.
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Go to System Properties > Advanced and click Settings.
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To disable all the visual experience features, select the option Adjust for Best Performance or click Custom to choose your settings.
Disable Network Discovery
Follow the steps given below to disable the network discovery:
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Go to Start > Control Panel > Network and Internet > Network and Sharing Center.
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Click Change advanced sharing setting link.
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Select the Turn off network discovery.
Disable Windows Defender
If the system is using a different Anti-virus than the Windows defender, the Windows Defender should be disabled in order to have only one such program scanning the system. Follow the steps given below to disable the Windows Defender:
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Go to the Start menu and type Defender to search for the Windows Defender.
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Click the Windows Defender application
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Select Tools > Options from the Settings section.
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Select the Administrator and clear the Use this program.
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Click Save and Yes when prompted to make the change.
Disable Scheduled Disk Defragmentation
Follow the steps given below to disable the scheduled disk defragmentation to improving the overall performance of the system.
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Go to the Start menu and type dfrgui to locate the defragmentation utility.
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In the Optimize Drives window
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Select the drive - click the Change Settings Configure schedule
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In another Optimize Drives window, clear the Run on a schedule and click OK.
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Note
We recommend to disable Scheduled defragmentation for the Linked Clones. Refer to the VMware article for details:
Disable 'NOT REQUIRED' Services
Many of the system and application services are not used frequently and it is advisable to disable them. This helps in improving system performance.
Disable Indexing Service
Indexing service makes the Windows search faster. If the Windows search is not being used often, it's better to disable it and improve the overall performance of the VM.
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Click Start, type services.msc and press Enter.
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Locate the Windows Search service in the list of services, right click it and choose Properties.
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In the General > Startup type, select the Disabled" from the dropdown list. Click Apply > OK to save the setting.
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If the service it already running, you will have to stop the service.
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Reboot the system.
Smart Card Device Enumeration Service
Locate and disable the Smart Card Device Enumeration Service using the same process as described to Disable the Indexing Service.
Other Services
As specified in the above sections, the user should identify services which are not used and should disable them manually to improve system performance.