"Applying Computer Settings" taking a long time

DebAmstutz · August 05, 2010, 09:11:38 AM

I just want some opinions, as our own tech guy is supposed to be handling this. If we turn a workstation off (and this may happen on reboots, too) and then turn it back on, after we log into the network, the "applying computer settings" is taking at least 5 minutes and more for people other than myself. Someone else emailed our tech about it and he said "It is the virus software. It is usually 2-3 minutes." He said that over 5 minutes is excessive and that he's made changes. I turned my workstation off this morning and back on and it took at least 5 minutes. I'm thinking virus software shouldn't even take the 2-3 minutes, but I'm no expert, that's for sure. Anyway...for you who handle this kind of thing all of the time, would you have any suggestions I could make to the tech guy? Not that I'm sure he'll pay any attention...lol.

Thank you!

Bloody Jack Kidd · August 05, 2010, 09:32:31 AM

AV may not be the culprit - which antivirus do you use?

The "Applying Computer Settings" part of login covers many things - lots of cogs are turning in the background. One common offender is DNS, could also be Group Policy Objects being loaded etc.

Setting up more verbose User Environment logging is a common response to troubleshooting these kinds of problems - but is not something for the faint of heart.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/221833

You could enable it - grab the log file - post it here for analysis - and disable the verbose logging, it's not something you want to leave on.

DebAmstutz · August 05, 2010, 11:16:06 AM

From one "test" the tech did this morning...it very well could be the AV, as he took it completely off the owner's computer, had him reboot it, and the desktop appeared almost instantly. The "wait"times range anywhere from 2-3 minutes to almost 20 minutes. I'm just wondering what the bill will be when he finds the answer....

Bloody Jack Kidd · August 05, 2010, 11:24:30 AM

I know some AV products try to do a "critical file" sweep early in the boot process as a questionable strategy for better protection - but it shouldn't delay boot time excessively.

Bob · August 05, 2010, 11:46:38 AM

Probably forcing it to update in login script each time.

Bloody Jack Kidd · August 05, 2010, 11:59:36 AM

Quote from: Bob Connor on August 05, 2010, 11:46:38 AM
Probably forcing it to update in login script each time.

ew... that ain't the best of practices... if the update hangs that could definitely make you wait.

Jeff Zylstra · August 05, 2010, 12:58:26 PM

Some good answers here. On my personal computers, I've noticed that a lot of software likes to check for updates immediately upon boot up, which can cause long delays. Part of this is because necessary services have not started yet - things like network access, other services that the offending service expect to already be running, etc... Go into MSCONFIG, go to the "startup" tab, and uncheck all but what is absolutely necessary and reboot. There is also a bootlog feature there which may be helpful.

If you're using roaming profiles where it copies a user's data files back and forth, that's a whole other rabbit hole. HTH.

Matthew Udovich · August 05, 2010, 03:03:36 PM

I like AutoRuns from Sysinternals for messing with startup items. http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb963902.aspx

Jan Regnier · August 05, 2010, 03:44:15 PM

Quote from: Matthew Udovich on August 05, 2010, 03:03:36 PM
I like AutoRuns from Sysinternals for messing with startup items. http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb963902.aspx

Is there a single PC version of this? or is it geared toward only networks?

Matthew Udovich · August 05, 2010, 03:46:23 PM

I use this same one at home, I don't think it matters if the machine is on a network or not.

Jeff Golas · August 10, 2010, 10:52:08 AM

A lot of AV software can let you delay its update time so that the comp can boot before it bogs it down..may be something to look into if its truely updating during the boot process.

DebAmstutz · August 10, 2010, 11:43:28 AM

Funny thing...the electricity was off sometime between Saturday afternoon and Monday, and the time to boot has gone WAY down...not sure if one has anything to do with the other, but no more messages from the tech guy about it, either!

insurebaltimore · August 16, 2010, 11:45:28 AM

Quote from: DebAmstutz on August 05, 2010, 11:16:06 AM
From one "test" the tech did this morning...it very well could be the AV, as he took it completely off the owner's computer, had him reboot it, and the desktop appeared almost instantly. The "wait"times range anywhere from 2-3 minutes to almost 20 minutes. I'm just wondering what the bill will be when he finds the answer....

I see this from time to time on our network. For us, it's related to hung updates. Dunno what causes the update to hang, but cycling power gets the PC back in working order. It only happens once in a blue moon, and only to certain PC's, so I don't think it's AV related.