Improve your domain computer login speed

As an administrator, you’ve probably dealt with complaints from users about the login process for their computers taking too long.  The reason for slow logins can originate from anything like the DNS, NetBIOS over TCP, the domain being in mixed mode, complex GPOs that deploy software, or any start-up program that communicates network resource to proceed.

Here is a simple registry tweak that can put the login process in async mode (meaning the logon process will not wait for anything but will instead proceed and give you the Windows screen so you can start work). Basically, it will show the login prompt before the network is fully initialized.

Enable Fast Logon: In a large network of computers, it is recommended to have Fast Logon enabled so the logon process for computers will be faster and won’t have to wait for the network to come to life. Here is the procedure:

Registry settings to enable Fast Logon

SyncForegroundPolicy (DWORD) = 1

in the hive

HKLM\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon

Change it to 0 to enable asynchronous logins.

You can apply this through the Desktop Central registry configuration for your client computers.