JohnTwilley's Accepted Solutions

So I finally figured this out, and wanted to share my findings in case anyone else runs across this same issue. This was NOT (Directly) the August Windows Updates that caused the problem...but it played a part. This was the case of overzealous tweaking, to get that perfectly tuned desktop. I had, like many of you, gathered various Tweak utilities over the years that I use to streamline my Golden Images. One in particular, from thewindowsclub.com, had an option to check a box and "Disable the Lockscreen".   I'd been using this for many months without any issues.    But what does this actually do?!     It renames a folder in your c:\Windows\SystemApps so that the LockScreen App no longer works. Well this August, as part of the Windows updates, that LockApp was updated.  Two files were updated.  So the update recreated the folder and dropped in the two new files...the problem was that all of the other supporting files were missing.  They were in the older renamed folder.   Now I'm not real sure why the Taskbar was delayed 25 seconds upon logging in because of the renamed LockApp folder...but that's exactly what happened.  After renaming the folder back, everything was fast again. I'm sharing my mistakes in order to remind everyone to not use utilities without understanding what they are actually doing under the covers.  It may haunt you later. I wasted a few days of troubleshooting this issue! Happy Tweaking everyone!

OK.  I'll answer my own question.  LOL As usual, VMware OS Optimization Tool broke this... A new template created this "Issue". Here the Fix that was posted in the Fling Comments section "For anyone that runs this and gets "No Internet" and/or Outlook complains about no internet - One of the optimizations is to disable NCSI, you will need to set the local policy back to Not Configured to fix this. Settings GPO won't override the locally set gpo. Computer Configuration->Policies->Administrative Templates->System->Internet Communication Management->Internet Communication Settings->Turn off Windows Network Connectivity Status Indicator active tests. – This must be set to Not Configured (or disabled)" You may have to clear the reg entries at: HKLM\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\NetworkConnectivityStatusIndicator Problem Solved!! Note that one of the VMware guys said the following: "We don't really want to re-enable NCSI as there is a benefit to disabling it. We have added an extra setting to address this to the Windows 10 templates (update available through public templates and this will be included in the next release. (Whatever that version is) Group policy - Do not show the 'local access only' Network Icon HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Network Connections\NC_DoNotShowLocalOnlyIcon = 1 I just tested this with WIn10 1909 with Outlook 209, spun up an instant clone pool and it all worked as expected."

It is because you used the VMWare Optimization Tool.   That tool is buggy, and causes issues.   Read the Fling Comments, you'll see people posting complaints for the past two versions. VMware OS Optimization Tool Comments Sadly, the easiest fix is to roll-back to a clean snap-shot, and then EDIT the VMWare Optimization template...removing items you do not want, as well as ALL of the Modern App tweaks.

You can still use ThinPrint, but just disable having ThinPrint set the default printer. Try adding the following via Group Policy or in you Master Image. Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\ThinPrint\TPAutoConnect] "DisableSettingOfDefPrinter"=dword:00000001 "UserDrivenDefaultPrinter"=dword:00000001

Those are saved per user here: [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\TrayNotify] "IconStreams"=hex:14,00,00,00,07,00,00,00,01,00,01,00,15,00,00,00,14,00,00,00,\   7b,00,37,00,50,00,35,00,4e,00,34,00,30,00,52,00,53,00,2d,00,4e,00,30,00,53,\   00,4f,00,2d,00,34,00,4f,00,53,00,50,00,2d,00,38,00,37,00,34,00,4e,00,2d,00,\   50,00,30,00,53,00,32,00,52,00,30,00,4f,00,39,00,53,00,4e,00,38,00,52,00,7d,\   00,5c,00,50,00,62,00,7a,00,7a,00,62,00,61,00,20,00,53,00,76,00,79,00,72,00,\ The data is stored in ROT13 format, so you cannot 'read' it very well. I do not think that UEM can roam this... Here's a nice write up about it: https://tmintner.wordpress.com/2011/07/08/windows-7-notification-area-automation-falling-back-down-the-binary-registry-rabbit-hole/ Windows 7 Notification Area Automation – Falling Back Down the Binary Registry Rabbit Hole | Xtreme Deployment

OK, I'll answer my own question...hopefully it helps some of you out with logon performance. Here's what I did: Enabled "AppV 5.x Integrations" to use DirectFlex. Triggered DirectFlex executable for:  %ProgramFiles%\Microsoft Application Virtualization\Client\SyncAppvPublishingServer.exe Changed the DirectFlex Export to "Export at logoff" Now the 15 second delay on logon is gone. When the user see the desktop, "AppV 5.x Integrations" is immediately run (due to AppV "at logon" task schedule) and pre-populates AppV data. App-V 5.1 is now lightning fast compared to "out of the box" installs.  The Streaming is now the bottleneck, but that's the price we pay for saving storage! I have the following Reg files on the PC which help with performance.  (We are Streaming Apps to save space on the linked clones) [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\AppV\Client\Streaming] "AutoLoad"=dword:00000001 "SharedContentStoreMode"=dword:00000001 [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\AppV\Client\Integration] "PreserveUserIntegrationsOnLogin"=dword:00000001 PreserveUserIntegrationsOnLogin = tells the client to skip the clean-up on logon.  This one helps the most!  It requires the latest AppV hotfix.  Google it before implementation. AutoLoad=1  Automatically load previously used applications into cache.

OK.  I finally sorted this out. Our issue was with a single .ADMX policy for Office 2013 that prevented online access to web resources.  It seemed like an innocent setting, but caused the authentication pop-up.  I wish I had noted the exact one, but I was overly excited after hours for troubleshooting that I forgot which exact policy caused it.  It was not an Outlook 2013 setting, but an Office 2013 restriction that we use to speed-up Office products by turning off certain web/online features that are unnecessary. (Like web templates and web publishing) So if you are having similar issues with authentication, start simple by disabling all other settings, and slow enable until you find the cause. Thank you Pieter for your assistance with this matter!