The standard Windows installation contains some services, policies, and settings that may affect the performance of a guest session. The following are recommended changes to a Windows Gold Image to improve the end user's experience. This list is based on the Windows 10 operating system.
Refer to the Microsoft Windows documentation for steps to configure or disable settings for all Windows Gold Images.
Recommended Windows Changes Table
| Service or Feature | Recommended Action | Reason for Change | Automated in Gold Image Install |
|---|---|---|---|
| Automatic Updates | Disable | Updates the operating system, which should be managed through a VDI-aware endpoint management product. | Must be disabled manually. |
| Offline Files | Disable | Enables users to synchronize data with a shared network drive. Normally disabled, this can be enabled if there is a specific need for offline users. | Must be disabled manually. |
| Internet Explorer First Run screen | Disable | Configures Internet Explorer, which would require each user of the image to navigate through this screen. | Automatically disabled. |
| Background Intelligent Transfer Service | Disable | Uses network bandwidth to retrieve system updates. | Automatically disabled. |
| Superfetch | Disable | Caches data to RAM so that it can be immediately available to an application. This can affect the performance of some multi-media applications. | Automatically disabled. |
| System Restore | Disable | Creates system snapshots and restore points for recovery, which is unneeded in a virtual session. | Automatically disabled. |
| Windows Logon Screen Saver | Disable |
Displays a logon screen saver, which is not needed in a virtual session. |
Must be disabled manually. |
| Sleep Mode | Disable | Puts a machine into a low power state without entirely shutting it off, which should be disabled for virtual sessions. | Must be disabled manually. |
| Screen File | Set Minimum and Maximum to an identical value | A single size screen file prevents the system from expanding and creating significant IO. | Must be performed manually. |
| Boot Animation | Disable | Animation, which uses system resources and creates a longer boot time, should be disabled, | Must be disabled manually. |
| Background Defragmenter | Disable | Rearranges data on the disk to create contiguous sections of data, which can lessen performance. Must be disabled. | Must be disabled manually. |
| Scheduled Defragmenter | Disable | Rearranges data on the disk to create contiguous sections of data, which can lessen performance. Must be disabled. | Automatically disabled. |
| Background Auto-layout | Disable | Moves the most-used data closer to the center of the disk to expedite boot time, which can impact performance. | Must be disabled manually. |
| Machine Account Password | Disable | Forces a reset of the machine account password after 30 days by default, which is unnecessary for virtual sessions. | Automatically disabled. |
| Audio recording and playback, and Video Playback | Enable | Enables users to record and listen to audio and play video in a session. To allow audio recording, VERDE sets the following registry key:
The setting is disabled by default (). VERDE sets it to (0) and then enables the Windows Audio Service. |
Automatically enabled. |
| Windows Defender | Disable | Press the Windws key + R and run gpedit.msc. In the Local Group Policy Editor, navigate to Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Windows Defender. Set "Turn off Windows Defender" to Enabled. |
Must be enabled manually. |
| One Drive |