While Vista is still not completely supported in every variant with all features as of this writing in a View environment today, I have many customers running it and asking for tips on how to make it run better than it does out of the box. The following are some tips you can try AT YOUR OWN RISK. These are provided as tips and suggestions only. Some you might use and others not. This is provided as thinking and discussion points for running Vista. Now that the disclaimer is out of the way lets get started 🙂
First things first. Start with the XP deployment guide found here;
http://www.vmware.com/files/pdf/resources/vmware-view-xp-deployment-guide.pdf
Read that, then read this.
Installing
Loading of the Vmware SCSI driver floppy is not needed in Vista as it was with XP. Vista is able to recognize the SCSI hardware just fine. However using the LSI Logic driver is optimal but in seat of the pants testing I have not noticed a difference. In a scaled up environment you might.
Performance
RDP 6.2 should be used on the clients as it has added performance enhancements for Vista and Aero should you decide you would like to use it.
Theme
Aero utilizes advanced graphics features that do not work well across remote protocols. It also requires substantially more processing resources. Set Theme to something other than Aero from the Appearance settings for example, Vista Classic or Windows Classic.
This will completely disable Aero so that the end user can not turn it back on via Registry:
Expand and navigate to the following registry key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\DWN
On the right pane, there is an registry entry named ColorizationColor with type as DWORD. Right click on ColorizationColor, and select Delete on the right click menu. Click on OK to confirm the deletion.
Then right click on registry value titled Composition (type DWORD) and select Modify. Change the value to 0 (by default is 1).
Restart the computer.
Disable the screen saver
Leaving on the Screen saver will cause unneeded processor usage on the Host. This should be disabled to optimize processor usage.
Computer\Hkey_USERS\.Default\Control Panel\Desktop\ScreenSaveActive\0
Disable Superfetch
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management\PrefetchParameters\EnableSuperfetch
And EnablePreFetcher
set both to 0
Delete contents of c:\windows\prefetch after disabling and a reboot.
Disk Write Cache
Ensure that Write caching on the disk is enabled. Disk properties>Hardware>Properties>Policies
Swap File and RAM
System Properties>Performance >Advanced>remove Pagefile
* Delete and disable swap file if the Host has PLENTY of RAM. 768MB of RAM at least for the VM, 1024MB for advanced users. *
This can be subjective and should be played with. If the host is constrained for RAM or applications that use a swap file are being used the USE A SWAP FILE. This allows for the use of the Balloon driver and will optimize the use of RAM for the VM's. However if you have plenty of RAM try the VM's without a swap file and see how it goes.
Disable ASLR will result in more memory sharing and higher RAM utilization. This will lower overall security as you will need to turn off NX in the BIOS and DEP in the OS.
Security
Security is a relative term and this post is about performance not security. They rarely go together. Think twice before doing these steps if your environment is risk adverse.
Disable Fast User switching
Via GPO;
Click Start, type gpedit.msc and press Enter
Go to the following location:
Local Computer Policy | Administrative Templates | System | Logon
Set Hide entry points for Fast User Switching to Enabled
Quit the Group Policy Editor.
Via Registry
Click Start, type regedit.exe and press Enter
Navigate to the following branch:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Policies \ System
Create a DWORD (32-bit) Value named HideFastUserSwitching
Set the Value data for HideFastUserSwitching to 1
Quit the Registry Editor.
Windows Defender
Do you need it If refreshing the OS disk at every log out with View Composer? Probably not so disable it.
Run>msconfig>Startup> Uncheck Windows Defender.
Force Ctrl+Alt+Delete for log in for security reasons using View Manager
Press start->run
Type: secpol.msc
Press enter
Expand local policies
Click Security Options
Double-click "Interactive Login: Do not require CTRL+ALT+DEL"
Check Disabled
Click OK
This will require users to press CTRL + ALT + DELETE before being presented the welcome screen. The welcome screen will still be displayed and will allow the user to select their account from a list.
If you would like to remove the list of accounts and force the user to type his or her username and password, you will need to change another setting inside the local security policy window:
Double-click "Interactive Login: Do not display last user name"
Check Enabled
Click OK
With both of these settings in place, the same functionality of the old-style "Press CTRL + ALT + DEL to login" window is achieved.
Usability
Disable User Account Control (UAC). Maybe maybe not depending on your environment and the applications being used. If using Thinapp keep it, the apps will be running protected and in user mode so no worries.
And most important of all.
VM Tools does not install automatically. So install them, they include the balloon driver and all kinds of other goodies to make the VM run better.
Call to action
By The Way, these are just my observational testing results. If you have different results on this topic please add a comment as this should be a live document. I will update as I find more information both from you the clearly superior in mind VMware customer , myself your humble servant and the entire Desktop team here at VMware.
