Operating systems can end up being a lot of work for administrators; work to configure the image, work to install the applications, and work to provide the best user experience possible. As with any software, what is provided to you is what the developer intended, but not necessarily what you want or need for your end users.
This blog series introduces you to Windows® Operating System (OS) optimizations, starting with version 1903. I will attempt to keep these optimizations as environment agnostic as possible. Hopefully, these optimizations will be just as good to administrators of physical machines as to a virtual environment utilizing Nutanix Frame®, Citrix® Virtual Apps and Desktops, or VMware Horizon®.
This series aims to share the seemingly infinite number of ways you can optimize a Windows environment, with something for beginners as well as administrators familiar with optimizations but looking to deliver an even better experience within their environment.
Of course, the optimizations provided in this blog series are intended only as a guide. Be sure to vet any optimizations carefully and test the optimizations described in this series internally before pushing the changes to your production environment.
The first entry covered Active Setup. The second entry covered the Microsoft® Store. In each case, we discussed what each piece is, how it works, and how to optimize it.
This blog addresses two sections, specifically Services & Scheduled Tasks. More specifically, we will discuss their purpose, how they work, and what can be done to optimize them. These sections of the Windows OS have been around for a long time and while they do not change often, their ability to cause havoc in an environment has been thoroughly documented, see some examples here and here.