Terrible performance after loading to Win2008 x64.

[timofcourse]

So I finally decided to take the plunge and re-image my laptop with Windows 2008 Enterprise x64. Here are the specs of my Dell XPS m1330:

CPU: Intel Core Duo T9300 2.5Ghz
RAM: 8GB
HDD: Samsung 256GB SSD
Graphics: nVidia GeForce 8400M GS

As you can see, its no slouch… I’ve been running Vista 32-bit (before upgrading RAM from 4GB to 8GB) and it ran as smooth as could be, zero complaints even with tons of (resource intensive) applications open at once.

Since installing Windows 2008 performance is far worse. Its very choppy most of the time, especially when resizing windows or opening programs. I notice my CPU usage maxes out pretty much anytime I try to do anything, especially these tasks. Any of the graphic intensive Windows screen savers either come close to locking up the OS or simply crash. Also the snipping tool is nearly unusable as the CPU maxes out at 100% when its in the select mode.

Ive run through all of the steps in this sites tutorial and the only roles Ive installed are Hyper-V (which I have yet to run any images) and the File Services. Ive also trimmed down my start-up items considerably since I was running Vista. I also have Performance mode to “Programs” instead of Background Services.

Even with Aero off, while it certainly improves performance a bit, still makes it every aggravating to use. Its almost as though its using the CPU for graphics acceleration instead of hardware acceleration from the graphics card or something.

Im really hoping I just have something configured wrong or maybe some bad drivers, because all reports and posts I see say I should be getting better performance… esp since Ive doubled my RAM and went from a 32-bit to 64-bit OS!

I really would love keep using Windows 2008 and welcome any suggestions anyone might have to get things running smoothly!!

Thanks a bunch!

[Arris]

This really sounds like the performance problems you get after installing Hyper-V. When you install Hyper-V, your “normal” Windows will also run on top of the hypervisor together with the virtual machines; in other words: your Windows Server 2008 x64 will run as a virtual machine beside the other virtual machines. The only difference is that it is a special one.

Try uninstalling the Hyper-V serverrole and see if the problems disappear! 🙂

Good luck!

Arris

[zorrack]

I have completely same issue. The machine is less sophisticated than timofcourse has, but still: AMD x64 QuadCore 2.3 GHz, 4Gb RAM, GeForce 8400GS. The performance is terrible. I’m trying to uninstall the Hyper-V now.

[zorrack]

Awesome! After removing Hyper-V everything just rocks!
No performance glitches, audio works perfectly, Aero works perfectly etc.

Does Microsoft goes to fix anything in R2?

[Remiel]

Yep I had the same issue – after i uninstalled hyper-v-role it works fine.

If activated hyper-v support in my bios but the performance was terrible

[timofcourse]

While Im psyched to hear the performance issue wasnt caused by something I screwed up, Im pretty bummed to hear Hyper-V caused such a performance hit. One of the main reasons to goto Win2008 was for the Hyper-V support as we’ve been using Virtual PC on our Vista laptops to run virtual images for work.

Are there any recommended settings one can make that at least minimizes the hit you take from Hyper-V? Its basically a requirement that I run it and Id like to do so with the least impact possible.

Thanks a bunch!

[mcclausky]

I had the same problems with Hyper-V installed. Just like most of you, the main reason for switching to server 2008 x64 was Hyper-V. I managed to run the OS smoothly after choosing the “Windows Standard” Color Scheme, located in “Window color and Appeareance”.

Hope it helps.

[VJunk]

This is an issue with accelerated video drivers and Hyper-V. Microsoft finally addressed it in KB article 961661: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/961661. It seems to be primarily with NVIDIA drivers but I am also experiencing it with an Intel graphics adapter in a Dell Latitude D830 (although the hard drive with this 2008 install was moved from a laptop with an NVIDIA GPU so that might have something to do with it). Switching to a 2008 in-box generic VGA driver fixes the issue but you lose Aero enhancements.

What I do is have the hvboot Hyper-V service set to manual (and therefore not started on boot) so everything runs fine. When I need Hyper-V, I start the service. Graphics performance goes down, but at least I can run Hyper-V. Once running, the service cannot be stopped so I reboot after I am done with Hyper-V.

Since the hvboot service does not appear in the Service MMC, you need to modify the registry directly. You can paste the following into a .reg file:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetServiceshvboot]
“Start”=dword:00000003

To set it back to automatic, change it back to 00000001.

To start the service, enter the following at an elevated (run as administrator) command prompt: net start hvboot

[timofcourse]

I did a bunch of testing and I didnt find stopping the service to have any effect. As was previously mentioned, I think once you install the Hyper-V role, your host OS (Win2008) is operating on a HyperVisor rather then using dedicated hardware, which is the actual cause of the system slow down. Also that hotfix was release back in Jan which I have definitely tested and had crummy performance since it was released.

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