Sunday, June 16, 2013

OptimizeVM: Fast Windows Guests for VMware

Do you make Windows VMs? Are they slow? OptimizeVM will make them fast(er).

I got tired of re-googling and re-typing the same commands over and over make my Windows VMs fast, so I collected them on Github: https://github.com/artemdinaburg/OptimizeVM.

OptimizeVM is based on the commands provided in the official VMware View Optimization Guide.

The goal of OptimizeVM is to minimize disk access and remove fancy graphical effects. Certain Windows features, such as Windows Search, System Restore, Windows Updates, and Registry Backup will cause constant background disk access. The disk access makes your VM slow and increases virtual disk size. These features are also unnecessary for VMs that get reverted to a clean snapshot every couple of days.

The script also removes some annoyances like the Action Center, Network Location Wizard, hidden file extensions, and so on.

The disabling of some features, such as Windows Firewall, Windows Defender, and Windows Update do lower the security of your system. If you are very worried, turn them back on. I leave them off since in my workflow VMs get reverted to a clean state every few days.

If you want to speed up your Windows VMs, here are a few more useful links: