Optimise XP Desktop for VDI and XP tweaks

[co6812]

I have heard people talk about this in other threads but was wondering if anyone could ellaborate.

I am putting in a remote access solution using an SSL Gateway, Provision Networks CB and 60 XP VMs sitting on a HP MSA1000 SAN running on two HP DL580s.

We have an Standard XP build across our organisation so I have P2Vd this to use as a template and have made the following changes:

\* GPO to limit max Colour Depth on TS sessions to 16bit[/b]

*A reg hack to ensure our domain name is always the default choice in the log in to box[/b] - reg add "HKLM\software\Microsoft\Windows NT\Currentversion\winlogon" /V DefaultDomainName /D DOMAINNAME /F[/i]

Does anyone know of other tweaks and changes that could be made to the XP build or GPOs that may improve performance over RDP and with ESX etc etc.

Many thanks

[epping]

i would scrap that a start a gold image on vm, there is no way i would start off with a p2v machine, u are asking for alot of trouble in the future.

[epping]

\

• GPO to limit max Colour Depth on TS sessions to 16bit

\* A reg hack to ensure our domain name is always the default choice in the log in to box - reg add "HKLM\software\Microsoft\Windows NT\Currentversion\winlogon" /V DefaultDomainName /D DOMAINNAME /F

this kind of stuff depends on your connection brooker and the devices u are using to access the VD

[co6812]

Thanks for your replies so far,

Whether applied by CB, GPO or in the build it would be interesting to know what changes/settings can be applied to an XP desktop to make it work better in a VDI environment.

Screen Res is an obvious example.... ...But I'm just wondering if there are any more. Is there any reg keys that can be changed to make it optimised RDP for instance?

FYI - We are not using any particular client device. Users will be connecting from their own Home PCs over ADSL through an SSL Gateway and then Provision Networks CB to an XP VM in our datacentre.[/i]

Message was edited by:

co6812

[epping]

OK i am doing the same thing with a Juniper SSL, i have made no real changes to the XP image. obviously its best to dissable any backround on the desktop, the refresh rate is horible.

you can make the usual RDP changes that improve performance, but i have yet to come across anything that makes a massive change

maybe other people have found some killer settings that they could recommend.

[williambishop]

Force classic desktop, use the default windows XP screensaver, disable services...

A good feature to add is disk timeout so that if you have latency on the san you won't suffer, etc.

[GBromage]

Force classic desktop, use the default windows XP

screensaver, disable services...

Actually, change the screen saver to "Blank screen", or disable it altogether.

If you use the windows default one (the windows logo bouncing around the screen), it consume CPU time and because the logo will be in a difference position on each machine, ESX can't do any memory sharing magic on the video memory.

For the same reason, if your machines are all connecting via RDP, not over to the console, crank the console's screen resolution and colour depth down as far as you can, to decrease the amount of RAM that each VM needs to maintain. By way of example:

640 x 480 x 255 colours (1 byte per pixel) = 307,200 bytes

800 x 600 x 24 bit colour (4 bytes per pixel) = 1,920,000 bytes

1024 x 768 x 32 bit colour = 3,145,728 bytes.

Now multiply your memory saving by the number of VMs you're hosting. It's worth the effort.

[dugbrown · Accepted solution]

Guys, for a slew of registry and system tuning tips related to optimizing and tuning a system to run via RDP, or even ICA if you are using Citrix's Desktop Server, then visit http://www.dabcc.com/forumcontent.aspx?sectionid=18. You can download the pdf which is basically a 50 plus page doc of registry tweaks and also a slew of system configuration changes. There is also a forum on this page related to the topic of tuning a system to run in a "thin" world.

Do note it says it is for Citrix Presentation Server but almost all tweaks apply to RDP / VDI too. The only section that does not is the Citrix specific section.

So, I hope it helps...

Tweaks and Tips

http://www.dabcc.com/forumcontent.aspx?sectionid=18

DB

[williambishop]

A lot of shops have security requirements that the screen "lock", which requires the XP screensaver. The blank screen does not lock over RDP.

[GBromage]

I think that you can lock the workstation without having a screen saver, though. Can't remember how offhand but there is a way of doing it.

[williambishop]

Works on a regular pc, in vmware, no. You have the option in screensavers for no screensaver, but a timeout and require password. You can also enable it under power settings....but again, these don't work in vdi(at least not reliably).