[gptalk] Re: always wait for network at computer startup or logon
- From: "Cruz, Jerome L" <jerome.l.cruz@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "gptalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <gptalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 23 Sep 2008 15:28:46 -0700
Daniel,
I've got a very specific opinion here (I do not like to 'have' my opinion
because I'd like my system to boot faster, but...)
In our 150,000+ PC environment, we specifically have turned that policy setting
on (Enabled). It allows our devices to get certain GPO changes faster and more
consistently. It also allows us to know that 'emergency' scripts directly hit
targeted devices, the first time (and 'every' time), as they boot up. If you've
ever been in an emergency situation, you 'know' that management wants to know
the status of your emergency deployments and fixes every hour on the hour (and
maybe even more often). Many times we have to use a Computer Startup script and
without the 'Wait for the Network" setting, it typically requires a second
reboot to deliver the patch.
Yes, you could tell mgmt:
"It'll take a couple of days to fix the 'xxxxx' issue (something
running in the wild within your company) plus all the repair work
to fix the problems. You see, we chose to shave a "few extra
seconds" off the boot up time with this 'setting' and it'll take
an extra full day (or reboot cycle) to get the devices patched.
Yes, I know the factory is down...yes I know that costs us
(X,000's - XXX,000's of dollars a day), but folks really wanted a
few extra 'seconds' when booting every morning or when going to
meetings in conference rooms."
Instead, you could tell them:
"All booting devices will be patched the moment they boot up 'today',
the factory will have minimal downtime, and that there should be
minimal cleanup work to do".
Also, if you have any users with Roaming Profiles, their systems go into
different behaviors (after the first time logging in) that essentially
're-enables' the 'wait for the network' behavior as they attempt to check
against the user's profile server...and, of course, need the network ready to
go.
Lastly, the behaviors between client systems with no changes required versus
those that need to wait for the network (roaming profiles or those processing
GPO updates...like software deployments or new Computer Startup scripts) can
make your Help Center's "End User Support Scripts" more complex and increase
'lost workstation hours' trying to support differences between the various
systems. [These develop as instructions to resolve: "Sir/Madam: Please reboot
your device now and you should be fixed. What? It didn't work, hmmm... well,
let me elevate this to the next support level" ... and perhaps all that was
needed was an additional reboot...but then, who really knows?]
=======================================
Also, do not trust the 'visible' screen for what is happening. It can only list
the things that the OS developer's told it to display...and in non-verbose
mode, that's not much. If you were to switch the user login status display to
verbose mode, you'd see much more (both at logon and at logoff). Much better is
to know that logs such as UserEnv.log in verbose mode will show you nearly
everything significant going on in the bootup/logon process. While the
'visible' display may be stuck at the message showing that 'security settings'
are being applied, you'll discover that they started and completed in moments
and that the developers just didn't update the 'visible' display. In fact, what
I usually find is that the system is launching many different services and
executables in the background... and "that's" what's going on. More detail on
these kinds of activities can be captured using utilities like Sysinternals'
(now Microsoft's) "Process Monitor" set to "Enable Boot Logging".
Good Luck,
Jerry
-----Original Message-----
From: gptalk-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:gptalk-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On
Behalf Of Smith, Brad
Sent: Thursday, September 18, 2008 8:00 AM
To: gptalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [gptalk] Re: always wait for network at computer startup or logon
Daniel,
We run 18,000 users and have just gone through a project to enable this.
We have also seen the gains you quoted, with little or no side effects.
I advise you to test against your environment fully (if you haven't
already) but suggest you won't hit many problems if your environment is
fairly generic MS. In addition, it might be an idea to run Autoruns on
the machines that are reporting the slowest start times. MS have just
released a new version, the link for it is below.
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb963902.aspx
Hope this helps,
Brad
-----Original Message-----
From: gptalk-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:gptalk-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]
On Behalf Of rpo
Sent: 11 September 2008 06:23
To: gptalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [gptalk] always wait for network at computer startup or logon
hi all,
in trying to reduce startup/logon times. i'm reviewing a policy that has
"always wait for network at computer startup or logon" set to enabled.
in my testing ou, i've disabled it and startup times have decreased by
around a min. apparently the default setting is disabled, but i'd like
to hear about people's opinions on this setting? should it be on or off.
additionally, in regards to the startup slowness, i notice there seems
to be a long wait at "applying computer settings". what exactly occurs
here? i've used policy reporter and it shows that during machine policy
refresh, establishing the link speed and determining it is a fast link
takes less than a second, there is then a 20-30 sec delay in the log
before anything else starts happening, can anyone shed some light on
this?
thanks,
daniel.
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