Hey y’all, Mark here with some great news. A massive Slow Boot Slow Login (SBSL) hotfix rollup for enterprises that includes 90 post Windows 7/2008 R2 SP1 hotfixes is available for download. The hotfixes focus on performance (Hooray!) and stability (Hooray again!). There are improvements to the DFSN client, Folder Redirection, Offline Files and Folders, WMI, and SMB client to name a few. There also improvements to Group Policy which gets blamed for pretty much everything when I’m doing a WDRAP. You can read the full list here.
Few things I want to point out. First, this applies to both Windows 7 SP1 clients and Server 2008 R2 SP1 as seen here. This is how you can take full advantage of the networking updates.
“To take full advantage of this improvement for Windows 7 clients that log on to Windows Server 2008 R2 servers, install this rollup update on Windows 7 clients. Additionally, install this rollup update on the Windows Server 2008 R2 servers that clients authenticate and retrieve user profiles, policies and script data from during the startup and logon process. You can update your environment by installing this hotfix rollup on both clients and servers in no particular order.”
Second, use Xperf to baseline before and after the update is applied. We’ve been talking about Xperf forever here. Use this as an opportunity to really be the hero. Show the improvement that can affect EVERYONE in the enterprise daily. Multiple that by how many work days there are and that is a nice thing to hang your hat on. Not a bad day at the office.
Post in the comments how much time you saved. We love to hear before and after stories.
Finally, as the article states, “We recommend that you apply this hotfix rollup as part of your regular maintenance routine and build processes for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 computers.” That does include putting this in your test lab first right? Right? Right!?
Thanks to all the PFEs, CTS and Devs that help collaborate to make this happen. Specifically the Dude Jeff Stokes, BenChrist, and A. Conner for driving this bus.
Mark “Let’s Not Blame Group Policy Just Yet” Morowczynski