Speeding up first user logon and debloating

I build desktops for a college with an AD domain.

I'm gearing up to create Windows 11 Enterprise desktops to clone. I'm looking for ways to streamline the OS, so that when a user logs on to lab or library computer for the first time, it doesn't take forever in the "Preparing Windows" creation of local user profile. I define forever as over 60 seconds.

I found a debloater on the github that runs in PowerShell. That helped.

Any further suggestions?

TIA,
David

Hi, @DLevineCSC, and welcome to the Windows Eleven Forum (aka 11F).

I did some looking around, and figure that you've probably already checked these out as well, but here are a couple I think have merit in case you haven't explored them:


Simple ideas here that should (probably) already be incorporated into your AD setup, but just in case.


The second point in this one is how we used to do it that the college IT dept that I worked at when in school there. We had numerous computer labs that students would log into, and first time log in usually sat right at about 30 - 45 seconds for those machines, and this was back in 2008 - 2011.

Interestingly, I also ran across this:


If that forced 1 minute delay in the NetLogon service is still present, it might be well worth exploring if there is a way to script this manually so that the delay is not longer applied. However, being as old as it is, I don't even know if it applies today with modern Windows servers and clients, nor if it can be bypassed / altered.

Hi John,

Thank you for your welcome message and response.

Having been at this gig for 25 years I've tried various network-based user profile solutions, mandatory, roaming, Citrix, VDI etc. Over the years we migrated to the cloud from our LAN servers and I've returned to more primitive but reliable local desktop methods. I want my lab computer users to only need a LAN server for authentication, then the cloud for their documents.

With my Windows 10 LTSC images in various lab settings, the logon time for a new user was consistently under 60 seconds. I credit the cleanliness of the LTSC version for most of this. I use about a dozen local policy settings, and for labs with printers rely on network GPOs to connect them.

Working with Windows 11 Enterprise (the LTSC release is a year away apparently), the OS is generously supplied with apps I don't want users to see, let alone try to use, e.g. Microsoft Store, Xbox, etc.

Thankfully, 11 has the same core as 10, so I can use the very same autounattend.xml answer file I've been using for the past 5 years. Maybe the "copy profile" feature will work this time.

Sorry for the rambling. I guess I'm looking more to declutter the local OS as much as possible. There are a bunch of de-bloaters on github, and I wonder if anyone reading this can recommend one.

Thanks,
David Levine

Ahh, gotcha.

I figured you would have probably already encountered these things, and given 25 years at it, I'm not surprised.

I haven't used any of the debloat scripts from GItHub, though I was tempted to use on, Sofia I think it was called, and there are quite a few PS scripts out there (even in the PS Gallery online) that can be used to debloat Windows.

The usual caveats apply, removing something may break something else, because Microsoft lol, but in the end, I think your autounattend script should be the best way to get most of that done.

And especially considering this is not consumer-grade Windows 11, but the Enterprise licensed installs, I'd suspect that building an .ISO with the ADK and PE addon and incorporating your current autounattend and perhaps tweaking it to make a new one built specifically for 11 Enterprise might be the best (overall) method, if more time consuming. My thoughts behind this are quite simple, actually - because most scripts out there are targeting consumers with consumer-grade licenses versus an Enterprise license, which, from my understanding, should give you a whole new level of configurability.

I could be wrong about this, and that 11 Enterprise is no different from consumer-grade licenses, but I'd think that an Enterprise license, geared toward enterprise use, would not be as restricted in terms of configurability.

Hopefully others here who have used some of the specific scripts you're look into will chime in.

long logon is bloat in task scheduler or startup programs.. for other installed trash or services to debloat use chris titus powershell script... just warning for edge uninstall in script you cant get it back after uninstall