Slow performance of Windows Server via RDP

Question

Slow performance of Windows Server via RDP

Robert Studer 0

When connecting to one of our virtual servers via RDP or Splashtop, local session manager takes a long time to load and once connected there seems to be no access to Windows button or search box. We have a dozen other vm servers and they All work fine using either method.

Any help would be appreciated,

Thanks

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3 answers

Your answer

Answer 1

Hello Robert, I’m Henry, here to help.

If the Start button is unresponsive:

Restart Explorer: Task Manager (Ctrl+Shift+Esc) → Windows Explorer → Restart.
Restart Shell Host: End StartMenuExperienceHost.exe (or ShellExperienceHost.exe) in Task Manager; Windows will auto‑restart it.

For delays at Local Session Manager:

Firewall Bloat: Check HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\SharedAccess\Parameters\FirewallPolicy\FirewallRules. If thousands of entries exist, prune them (often AppX rules).
Domain Controller: Ensure the VM communicates with the DC without latency.

Splashtop specifics:

Video RAM: Allocate 128–256MB in hypervisor settings.
Mirror Driver: Toggle Mirror Driver/Hardware Acceleration in Splashtop settings to fix rendering issues.

I hope this information and these keywords help point you in the right direction for your research. Let me know how it goes, and if this answer helps, feel free to hit “Accept Answer” so others can benefit too

Answer 2

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Answer 3

The symptoms match known Remote Desktop performance issues where logon is very slow and the shell (Start menu, search, etc.) is unresponsive or appears hung.

For Windows Server 2012 R2 specifically, a common cause is a deadlock in Remote Desktop Services when it tries to load user configuration from a domain controller over a slow or congested link. This can make Local Session Manager and logon appear to hang and can leave the desktop partially loaded.

To mitigate this on an affected Windows Server 2012 R2 VM:

Back up the registry first (required for safety).
On the problematic server, open regedit.exe.
Go to one of these keys (whichever exists in your environment):
- HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows NT\Terminal Services
- HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Terminal Server\WinStations\<Connection Name>
  (By default <Connection Name> is RDP-Tcp, but it may have been renamed.)
Create a new DWORD (32-bit) Value named:
- fQueryUserConfigFromLocalMachine
Set its Value data to 1.
Close Registry Editor and restart the server or at least restart Remote Desktop Services.

This forces the server to query user configuration locally instead of the domain controller during logon, avoiding the deadlock and improving RDP logon performance and shell responsiveness.

If the server is running a later OS (for example, Windows Server 2016), this behavior is already the default and the registry change is not required. In that case, or if the issue persists after the change, apply the latest cumulative updates for the OS and verify domain controller/network performance, as slow DC responses can still cause logon delays.

If the VM is Azure-based and you see black screens or incomplete desktops after reconnecting, ensure the OS has the relevant monthly rollup updates installed for its version, as several RDP black-screen and performance issues are fixed by those updates.

References: