Join me (Yong) for what’s new in Windows Server vNext (2016) Technical Preview 5 with the RTM/RTW around the corner.

What?  Microsoft Tech Talk formerly known as PFE Days
When? Thursday, August 4, 2016
Time? 6:00 PM-8:30 PM
Where? Microsoft San Diego
Address? 9255 Towne Centre Dr , San Diego, CA., U.S.A.
Floor? 4th Floor
Room? MPR Room

Meeting Schedule:

·  6-6:10 Food / Networking / Sign-in

·  6:10 – 6:15 – Opening / Welcome

·  6:15 – 8:30 Featured slot – Speaker

Abstract:

The session will cover the following aspects of Windows 2016 TP5**:

*  Cloud changing times

*  Fundamental Security Changes

*  Server 2016 Changes

*  Demo

*   Nano

*  Branches and Updates

** subject to change

R.S.V.P. here:

Microsoft Tech Talk: What’s New in Windows Server 2016 Technical Preview 5 – Yong Rhee
https://www.microsoftevents.com/profile/form/index.cfm?PKformID=0x37116669b6

I’m excited to announce that our peers from https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/ntdebugging/ have released a new debugger extension to make your life easier when troubleshooting the hardest (Level 400-500) issues.

The Managed-code Debugging Extension (MEX) is now publicly available for download.

MEX Debugging Extension for WinDbg
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=53304&WT.mc_id=rss_allproducts_windows

Download Mex.exe, and put it in c:\temp

Double click on Mex.exe and point it to c:\temp
Extract the contents of Mex.zip to c:\temp

copy c:\temp\Mex\x64 C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\Debuggers\x64\winext
copy c:\temp\Mex\x86 C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\Debuggers\x86\winext

In WinDbg (Windows Debugger)

.load mex.dll

!mex.help

Applies to Windows 10.

Hi all,

For those of you (IT Pro’s) moving/upgrading from Windows 7/8/8.1 to Windows 10.

For the most part, applications that work on Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 work on Windows 10.

The exceptions are going to be, applications that have a Kernel driver or Filter driver such as Disk Encryption, Antivirus (and other Security software), VPN software, etc…

There are three steps that you want to keep in mind when working on Application Compatibility.

1) For discovery and reports on compatibility problems, prioritization and rationalization, we (Microsoft) have now Upgrade Analytics (UA).  This (UA) provides with an inventory of the apps installed and its usage.  Which provides information about issues known to us (Microsoft).

Manage Windows upgrades with Upgrade Analytics

Get started with Upgrade Analytics

 
2) For discovery, the Application Compatibility Toolkit (ACT), UA, Microsoft Assessment and Planning (MAP) Toolkit and SCCM (and other 3rd party ISV’s) software inventories.
 
3) For application compatibility static analysis, you can try using Aaron Margosis LuaBugLight or if you need assistance from a PFE Developer, we have two Workshops that are available for Microsoft Premier customers:

The Application Compatibility cookbook should help you understand what has changed, which should/will help mitigate your issues.

Windows and Windows Server compatibility cookbook: Windows 10, Windows 8, Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2012, and Windows Server 2012 R2

Our Application Compatibility Product Group has a new website for ISV’s, where they (ISV’s) report what’s compatible with Windows 10, that as an IT Pro/IT Administrator, you might want to check out:

Ready for Windows
http://readyfor10.com which redirect to https://www.readyforwindows.com/

Ready for Windows – Frequently Asked Questions

Some items that I have run into when utilizing a Desktop/Laptop/Tablet that has a high resolution (4K resolution) capability:

Display Scaling changes for the Windows 10 Anniversary Update

Zoom Windows 10 Remote Desktop connections to older versions of Windows to improve your experience on a hi-DPI client display

And the famous Chris Jackson has the “The App Compat Guy” blogs that has a lot of tips on remedying Application Compatibility issues.

And some videos:

Windows 10 and App Compat (Part 1): What about my Windows Apps?

Windows 10 and App Compat (Part 2): How do I get to IE11?

Windows 10 and App Compat (Part 3): How do I get to the Edge?

I hope this helps,

Yong

Joe hailing from Beverly Hills, CA. neighborhood pointed out that the metric that we been using for Bytes, it might be the wrong measurement.

Instead of calling Terabytes, that the correct measurement is Tebibyte.

3000 (3×1000) Gigabytes = Terabytes (TB)

3072 (3×1024) Gigabytes = Tebibytes (TiB)

Tebibyte
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tebibyte

Thus, you will start seeing changes in the software and hardware out there.

Doug and Reggie from Beverly Hills, CA. were running into an interesting issue with their Windows Server System Center Operations Manager (SCOM) 2012 R2.

Randomly, the Microsoft Monitoring Agent service would go into a “Paused” state.

According to Tim H. (Operations Managers Escalation Engineer) Its supposed to go into a paused state if you have the SCCM feature to “enable maintenance mode” during updates is checked.

https://systemcentertipps.wordpress.com/2015/10/08/sccm-2012-disable-operations-manager-alerts/

Hello everyone,

Join Carlos Mayol and me (Yong Rhee) for what’s new in Windows Server 2016 RTM.

What?  Microsoft ‘Tech Talk’ formerly known as ‘PFE Days’
When? Tuesday, Nov. 15th, 2016
Time? 6:00 PM-8:30 PM
Where? Partner Site – Irvine, CA
Address? 15363 Barranca Parkway, Irvine, CA. 92618

Meeting Schedule:

·  6-6:10 Food / Networking / Sign-in

·  6:10 – 6:15 – Opening / Welcome

·  6:15 – 8:30 Featured slot – Speaker

Abstract:

The session will cover the following aspects of Windows 2016 RTM:

*  Cloud changing times

*  Fundamental Security Changes

*  Server 2016 Changes

*  Demo

*  Nano

*  Branches and Updates

R.S.V.P. here:

Microsoft Tech Talk: What’s New in Windows Server 2016 RTM – Carlos Mayol and Yong Rhee
Event URL: https://www.microsoftevents.com/profile/form/index.cfm?PKformID=0x8543552b1a
Meetup:  https://www.meetup.com/mttsocal/events/234771203/

Applies to:
Windows Server 2012 R2

This post comes courtesy of Carlos Mayol one of my colleagues here in Southern California.

Previously, I had published steps to collect a perfmon using logman locally on a machine which was for a “member server” and/or “guest O.S.”.

Setting a local perfmon in a Windows client or Windows Server.

If you are troubleshooting and/or investigating performance and/or scalability of your 64-bit Hyper-V 2012 R2 / 64-bit Windows Server 2012 R2 running the Hyper-V Role these are performance counters that you should consider.

Setup the two perfmon’s, one short interval and the other one, long interval.

Short-interval:
==========
:: Start a local Perfmon
logman.exe create counter %ComputerName%_short_interval -c “\Cache\*” “\Cluster Resource Control Manager\*” “\Cluster Global Update Manager Messages\*” “\Cluster Network Reconnections(*)\*” “\Cluster Resources(*)\*” “\Cluster NetFt Heartbeats(*)\*” “\Cluster CSV Block Redirection(*)\*” “\Cluster CSV Volume Cache(*)\*” “\Cluster CSV Volume Manager(*)\*” “\Cluster CSV Coordinator(*)\*” “\Cluster CSV File System(*)\*” “\Hyper-V Dynamic Memory Balancer(*)\*” “\ICMP\*” “\ICMPv6\*” “\IPv4\*” “\IPv6\*” “\Hyper-V Dynamic Memory Integration Service\*” “\Hyper-V Dynamic Memory VM(*)\*” “\Hyper-V Hypervisor Logical Processor(*)\*” “\Hyper-V Hypervisor Partition(*)\*” “\Hyper-V Hypervisor Root Partition(*)\*” “\Hyper-V Hypervisor Root Virtual Processor(*)\*” “\Hyper-V Hypervisor Virtual Processor(*)\*” “\Hyper-V Hypervisor\*” “\Hyper-V Legacy Network Adapter(*)\*” “\Hyper-V Replica VM(*)\*” “\Hyper-V Shared VHDX(*)\*” “\Hyper-V Virtual IDE Controller (Emulated)(*)\*” “\Hyper-V Virtual Machine Bus\*” “\Hyper-V Virtual Machine Health Summary\*” “\Hyper-V Virtual Network Adapter(*)\*” “\Hyper-V Virtual Storage Device(*)\*” “\Hyper-V Virtual Switch Port(*)\*” “\Hyper-V Virtual Switch Processor(*)\*” “\Hyper-V Virtual Switch(*)\*” “\Hyper-V VM Live Migration(*)\*” “\Hyper-V VM Remoting(*)\*” “\Hyper-V VM Save, Snapshot, and Restore(*)\*” “\Hyper-V VM Vid Numa Node(*)\*” “\LogicalDisk(*)\*” “\Memory\*” “\Netlogon\*” “\Network Interface(*)\*” “\Network Inspection System\*” “\NUMA Node Memory(*)\*” “\Paging File(*)\*” “\Per Processor Network Activity Cycles(*)\*” “\Per Processor Network Interface Card Activity(*)\*” “\PhysicalDisk(*)\*” “\Physical Network Interface Card Activity(*)\*” “\Process(*)\*” “\Processor(*)\*” “\Processor Information(*)\*” “\RDMA Activity(*)\*” “\Redirector\*” “\RemoteFX Network(*)\*” “\RemoteFX Root GPU Management(*)\*” “\SMB Client Shares\*” “\SMB Server Shares(*)\*” “\SMB Server Sessions\*” “\Server\*” “\Server Work Queues(*)\*” “\System\*” “\TCPv4\*” “\TCPv6\*” -f bincirc -v mmddhhmm -max 500 -si 00:00:02

logman.exe start %ComputerName%_short_interval

Note:  I personally like to capture all the counters and instances.  The reason is, I cannot tell you how many times, where I was looking at a perfmon, that I went, ok, the bread crumbs lead this way, let me look at that counter, just to find out, it wasn’t collected.  And then having to wait for the problem to reoccur.

::Stop perfmon

logman.exe stop %ComputerName%_short_interval

Long-interval:
=========
:: Start a local Perfmon
logman.exe create counter %ComputerName%_long_interval  -c “\Cache\*” “\Cluster Resource Control Manager\*” “\Cluster Global Update Manager Messages\*” “\Cluster Network Reconnections(*)\*” “\Cluster Resources(*)\*” “\Cluster NetFt Heartbeats(*)\*” “\Cluster CSV Block Redirection(*)\*” “\Cluster CSV Volume Cache(*)\*” “\Cluster CSV Volume Manager(*)\*” “\Cluster CSV Coordinator(*)\*” “\Cluster CSV File System(*)\*” “\Hyper-V Dynamic Memory Balancer(*)\*” “\ICMP\*” “\ICMPv6\*” “\IPv4\*” “\IPv6\*” “\Hyper-V Dynamic Memory Integration Service\*” “\Hyper-V Dynamic Memory VM(*)\*” “\Hyper-V Hypervisor Logical Processor(*)\*” “\Hyper-V Hypervisor Partition(*)\*” “\Hyper-V Hypervisor Root Partition(*)\*” “\Hyper-V Hypervisor Root Virtual Processor(*)\*” “\Hyper-V Hypervisor Virtual Processor(*)\*” “\Hyper-V Hypervisor\*” “\Hyper-V Legacy Network Adapter(*)\*” “\Hyper-V Replica VM(*)\*” “\Hyper-V Shared VHDX(*)\*” “\Hyper-V Virtual IDE Controller (Emulated)(*)\*” “\Hyper-V Virtual Machine Bus\*” “\Hyper-V Virtual Machine Health Summary\*” “\Hyper-V Virtual Network Adapter(*)\*” “\Hyper-V Virtual Storage Device(*)\*” “\Hyper-V Virtual Switch Port(*)\*” “\Hyper-V Virtual Switch Processor(*)\*” “\Hyper-V Virtual Switch(*)\*” “\Hyper-V VM Live Migration(*)\*” “\Hyper-V VM Remoting(*)\*” “\Hyper-V VM Save, Snapshot, and Restore(*)\*” “\Hyper-V VM Vid Numa Node(*)\*” “\LogicalDisk(*)\*” “\Memory\*” “\Netlogon\*” “\Network Interface(*)\*” “\Network Inspection System\*” “\NUMA Node Memory(*)\*” “\Paging File(*)\*” “\Per Processor Network Activity Cycles(*)\*” “\Per Processor Network Interface Card Activity(*)\*” “\PhysicalDisk(*)\*” “\Physical Network Interface Card Activity(*)\*” “\Process(*)\*” “\Processor(*)\*” “\Processor Information(*)\*” “\RDMA Activity(*)\*” “\Redirector\*” “\RemoteFX Network(*)\*” “\RemoteFX Root GPU Management(*)\*” “\SMB Client Shares\*” “\SMB Server Shares(*)\*” “\SMB Server Sessions\*” “\Server\*” “\Server Work Queues(*)\*” “\System\*” “\TCPv4\*” “\TCPv6\*” -f bincirc -v mmddhhmm -max 500 -si 00:05:00

logman.exe start %ComputerName%_long_interval

Note:  I personally like to capture all the counters and instances.  The reason is, I cannot tell you how many times, where I was looking at a perfmon, that I went, ok, the bread crumbs lead this way, let me look at that counter, just to find out, it wasn’t collected.  And then having to wait for the problem to reoccur.

Note 2:  You could change the interval for the long from to -si 00:05:00 to anything depending on how long you want to capture.  For more info on the sample interval that you need to choose, check out:  How often should Perfmon Sample?

::Stop perfmon

logman.exe stop %ComputerName%_long_interval

More information:
============
The three (3) ways of setting up a perfmon log

*  If you use my colleague Clint Huffman’s Performance Analysis of Logs (PAL), the “Hyper-V” performance is named “Microsoft Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V”.

How to setup an in-flight recorder:
•How To Equip Your Windows Server Environment With A Blackbox Flight Recorder
or
•How to create a “black box” performance counter data collector
or
•Put a BlackBox (Black Box) on your server!

Applies to:

Windows Server 2012 R2

Hyper-V 2012 R2

If you are troubleshooting an iSCSI storage problem, then these are the data that you should consider collecting.

The first item to consider is:

Using file copy to measure storage performance – Why it’s not a good idea and what you should do instead
https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/josebda/2014/08/18/using-file-copy-to-measure-storage-performance-why-its-not-a-good-idea-and-what-you-should-do-instead/

#2) Setup a perfmon

Setting a local perfmon in a Windows client or Windows Server.
https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/yongrhee/2015/05/16/setting-a-local-perfmon-in-a-windows-client-or-windows-server/
or

Setting a local perfmon in 64-bit Hyper-V 2012 R2 and/or 64-bit Windows Server 2012 R2 Hyper-V.
https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/yongrhee/2016/11/19/setting-a-local-perfmon-in-64-bit-hyper-v-2012-r2-andor-64-bit-windows-server-2012-r2-hyper-v/

#3) Setup a network trace

Network tracing (packet sniffing) built-in to Windows and Windows Server.
https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/yongrhee/2012/12/01/network-tracing-packet-sniffing-built-in-to-windows-server-2008-r2-and-windows-server-2012/

or

:: Start Network tracing (a.k.a. sniffing) tracing on Hyper-V 2012 R2 or Windows Server 2012 R2 Hyper-V
netsh.exe trace start scenario=AddressAcquisition,LAN,NDIS,NetConnection,Virtualization capture=yes capturetype=both report=yes persistent=no maxSize=4096 fileMode=circular correlation=no perfMerge=yes overwrite=yes traceFile=c:\Temp\NetTrace.etl

#4) Installing the tools for ETW tracing:

Download the latest Windows 10 SDK

Download: Windows 10 Software Development Kit (SDK)
https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/yongrhee/2015/08/11/download-windows-10-software-development-kit-sdk/

and then install just the “Windows Performance Toolkit”

WPT: Installing the Windows Performance Toolkit v5.0 (WPRUI, WPR, Xperf)
https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/yongrhee/2012/11/23/wpt-installing-the-windows-performance-toolkit-v5-0-wprui-wpr-xperf/

Note:  Just be aware that the screen shots showcase the Windows 8.1 SDK, but you want the Windows 10 SDK.

#5)  Setting up and starting the ETW tracing:

:: Start Kernel tracing and MiniFilter tracing
“C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\Windows Performance Toolkit\Xperf.exe” -on PROC_THREAD+LOADER+FileIO+DISPATCHER+CSWITCH+DISK_IO_INIT+PROFILE+FILENAME+DRIVERS+NETWORKTRACE+DPC+INTERRUPT+FLT_IO_INIT+FLT_IO+FLT_FASTIO+FLT_IO_FAILURE -stackwalk CSwitch+ReadyThread+DiskReadInit+DiskWriteInit+DiskFlushInit+FileCreate+FileCleanup+FileClose+FileRead+FileWrite+FileFlush+MiniFilterPreOpInit+MiniFilterPostOpInit -f c:\temp\Pre_Kernel.etl -BufferSize  1024 -MinBuffers 1024 -MaxBuffers 1024 -MaxFile 4096 -FileMode Circular

::Start iSCSI tracing
“C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\Windows Performance Toolkit\Xperf.exe” -start iSCSITrace -on msiscsi_iScsi:0xffffffffffffffff:0xffffffff:’stack’+1babefb4-59cb-49e5-9698-fd38ac830a91:0xffffffffffffffff:0xffffffff:’stack’ -f c:\temp\Pre_iSCSITrace.etl -BufferSize 512 -MinBuffers 320 -MaxBuffers 320 -MaxFile 4096 -FileMode Circular

::Start MPIOtracing
“C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\Windows Performance Toolkit\Xperf.exe” -start MPIOTrace -on 8E9AC05F-13FD-4507-85CD-B47ADC105FF6:0xffffffffffffffff:0xffffffff:’stack’ -f c:\temp\Pre_MPIOTrace.etl -BufferSize 512 -MinBuffers 320 -MaxBuffers 320 -MaxFile 4096 -FileMode Circular

::Start DSM tracing
“C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\Windows Performance Toolkit\Xperf.exe” -start DSMTrace -on DEDADFF5-F99F-4600-B8C9-2D4D9B806B5B:0xffffffffffffffff:0xffffffff:’stack’ -f c:\temp\Pre_DSMTrace.etl -BufferSize 512 -MinBuffers 320 -MaxBuffers 320 -MaxFile 4096 -FileMode Circular

::Start Storport tracing
“C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\Windows Performance Toolkit\Xperf.exe” -start Storport -on Microsoft-Windows-StorPort:0xffffffffffffffff:0xffffffff:’stack’ -f c:\temp\Pre_Storport.etl -BufferSize 512 -MinBuffers 320 -MaxBuffers 320 -MaxFile 4096 -FileMode Circular

::Start StoragePerformance tracing
“C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\Windows Performance Toolkit\Xperf.exe” -start StoragePerformance  -on A103CABD-8242-4A93-8DF5-1CDF3B3F26A6:0xffffffffffffffff:0xffffffff:’stack’+F5D05B38-80A6-4653-825D-C414E4AB3C68:0xffffffffffffffff:0xffffffff:’stack’+6B4DB0BC-9A3D-467D-81B9-A84C6F2F3D40:0xffffffffffffffff:0xffffffff:’stack’+C4636A1E-7986-4646-BF10-7BC3B4A76E8E:0xffffffffffffffff:0xffffffff:’stack’+CB587AD1-CC35-4EF1-AD93-36CC82A2D319:0xffffffffffffffff:0xffffffff:’stack’+cc7b00d3-75c9-42cc-ae56-bf6d66a9d15d:0xffffffffffffffff:0xffffffff:’stack’+90742496-54a9-4075-8079-425399080068:0xffffffffffffffff:0xffffffff:’stack’ -f c:\temp\Pre_Storage_Performance.etl -BufferSize 512 -MinBuffers 320 -MaxBuffers 320 -MaxFile 4096 -FileMode Circular

::Start Microsoft-Windows-TCPIP tracing
“C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\Windows Performance Toolkit\Xperf.exe” -start TCPIP -on Microsoft-Windows-TCPIP:0xffffffffffffffff:0xffffffff:’stack’ -f c:\temp\Pre_TCPIP.etl -BufferSize 512 -MinBuffers 320 -MaxBuffers 320 -MaxFile 4096 -FileMode Circular

::Start Hyper-V
“C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\Windows Performance Toolkit\Xperf.exe” -start Hyper-V -on BB510E5F-2EB9-491A-81E4-F04654388F2B:0xffffffffffffffff:0xffffffff:’stack’+67E605EE-A4D8-4C46-AE50-893F31E13963:0xffffffffffffffff:0xffffffff:’stack’+67DC0D66-3695-47C0-9642-33F76F7BD7AD:0xffffffffffffffff:0xffffffff:’stack’+F2E2CE31-0E8A-4E46-A03B-2E0FE97E93C2:0xffffffffffffffff:0xffffffff:’stack’+29F239D9-979B-4160-A7DD-C4EA36A75181:0xffffffffffffffff:0xffffffff:’stack’+EEBBE72A-286C-4CCD-BBAD-88957BF388C4:0xffffffffffffffff:0xffffffff:’stack’+90742496-54A9-4075-8079-425399080068:0xffffffffffffffff:0xffffffff:’stack’+177D1599-9764-4E3A-BF9A-C86887AADDCE:0xffffffffffffffff:0xffffffff:’stack’+7B0EA079-E3BC-424A-B2F0-E3D8478D204B:0xffffffffffffffff:0xffffffff:’stack’ -BufferSize 1024 -MinBuffers 1024 -MaxBuffers 1024 -f c:\temp\Pre_Hyper-V.etl

::The Hyper-V is optional, add it if you have the Hyper-V role installed.

#6)  Reproduce the issue

::<repro>
Timeout.exe /t 300

Note:  300 is in seconds.  300 seconds is 5 minutes.

Note 2:  Press Enter to stop

#7)  Stop the ETW traces:

::Stop all the iSCSI and Storage related traces
“C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\Windows Performance Toolkit\Xperf.exe” -stop -stop iSCSITrace -stop DSMTrace -stop MPIOTrace -stop Storport -stop StoragePerformance -stop TCPIP -stop Hyper-V -d c:\temp\Pre_iSCSI_Disk_Troubleshooting.etl

::Stop Network tracing tracing
netsh.exe trace stop

::Merge the WPP (Classic) based ETW traces
“C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\Windows Performance Toolkit\Xperf.exe” -merge c:\temp\Pre_iSCSITrace.etl c:\temp\Pre_MPIOTrace.etl c:\temp\Pre_DSMTrace.etl c:\temp\Pre_Hyper-V.etl c:\temp\Pre_iSCSI_Disk_Troubleshooting.etl c:\temp\iSCSI_Classic-WPP_ETW.etl

:: Stop the perfmon logs

logman.exe stop %ComputerName%_long_interval
logman.exe stop %ComputerName%_short_interval

#8)  Analyzing the data:

Measuring Disk Latency with Windows Performance Monitor (Perfmon)
https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/askcore/2012/02/07/measuring-disk-latency-with-windows-performance-monitor-perfmon/

Hyper-V Performance – Storage
https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/neales/2016/11/07/hyper-v-performance-storage/

Disk Performance Internals
https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/supportingwindows/2014/12/09/disk-performance-internals/

Deciphering Storport Traces 101
https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/askcore/2014/08/19/deciphering-storport-traces-101/

Register Here

Hi everyone,

Last week, I was home teaching a virtual (remote) internal class, and Skype for business (SfB) kept on dropping VOIP and the desktop sharing intermittently.

When my other peers where sharing their desktop, I was able to hear loud and clear, and the desktop sharing was fine.

I was using a Lenovo Thinkpad W541 due to the amount of RAM (32GB) and the two (2x) 1 TB SSD’s I had in it for my Hyper-V lab.

The Lenovo Thinkpad W541 was a replacement for a Lenovo Thinkpad W530 that was 5 years old.

This Memorial Day weekend, I had a chance to look into it.  Here are my findings…

My ISP:  Frontier Communications FIOS (Used to be Verizon FIOS) w/ max. of 75 Mbps down and 75 Mbps up.

The wireless router: Actiontec MI424WR Rev1.
Lenovo Thinkpad W541 with an Intel Dual Band Wireless AC 7260 w/ Bluetooth

The tests were done from my living room.  The exception is on the last screen shot, where I went to the room that had the Actiontec MI424WR Rev1 Wireless Router.

Windows 10 1607 (Anniversary Edition, codename Redstone 1 (RS1)) Enterprise Edition.

Troubleshooting:

================

Going to http://speedtest.net, and these are the numbers that I’m getting:

I’m getting 11.0 Mbps on the Lenovo Thinkpad W541 with an Intel Dual Band Wireless AC 7260.

Sometimes it would drop down to 1.0 Mbps.

Powershell

Get-NetAdapter

You could see the “LinkSpeed” is 1 Mbps.

Out of curiosity, I went to the Lenovo Thinkpad W530 with an Intel(R) Centrino(R) Ultimate-N 6300 AGN, and this is what I saw:

130 Mbps

http://speedtest.net results on the Lenovo Thinkpad W530 with an Intel(R) Centrino(R) Ultimate-N 6300 AGN:

which is quicker then my ‘newer’ laptop.

Step 0) Get some basic information about the network.

Start, CMD (Run As Admin)

netsh interface ip show config

netsh interface ip show dnsservers

netsh interface ip show ipstats

netsh interface ip show tcpstats

netsh interface ip show udpstats

netsh wlan show networks

My home network is called “C4QXH”.

netsh wlan show profiles

C:\Windows\system32>netsh wlan show profiles name=C4QXH

Profile C4QXH on interface Wi-Fi:
=======================================================================

Applied: All User Profile

Profile information
——————-
     Version                : 1
     Type                   : Wireless LAN
     Name                   : C4QXH
     Control options        :
         Connection mode    : Connect automatically
         Network broadcast  : Connect only if this network is broadcasting
         AutoSwitch         : Do not switch to other networks
         MAC Randomization  : Disabled

Connectivity settings
———————
     Number of SSIDs        : 1
     SSID name              : “C4QXH”
     Network type           : Infrastructure
     Radio type             : [ Any Radio Type ]
     Vendor extension          : Not present

Security settings
—————–
     Authentication         : WPA2-Personal
     Cipher                 : CCMP
     Authentication         : WPA2-Personal
     Cipher                 : Unknown
     Security key           : Present

Cost settings
————-
     Cost                   : Unrestricted
     Congested              : No
     Approaching Data Limit : No
     Over Data Limit        : No
     Roaming                : No
     Cost Source            : Default

netsh wlan show networks mode=bssid

netsh wlan show interfaces

I should be able to connect up to 130 Mbps for Link Speed

Source:

Fix network connection issues in Windows 10

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/10741/windows-10-fix-network-connection-issues

Result:

Nothing that stood out why the Link Speed was so low.

Step 1)  Checking to see what the biggest MTU size that my Wi-Fi router would allow

Result:

Which is not the issue.

Step 2)  Searching http://support.microsoft.com for Wi-Fi issues, I found:

Fix Wi‑Fi connection issues in Windows 10 Mobile
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/14218/windows-10-mobile-fix-wi-fi-connection-issues

The article mentions about Bluetooth working on the same frequency as “Wi-Fi” and to disable it.

Since this Wi-FI NIC is a “Intel Dual Band Wireless AC 7260 w/ Bluetooth”

Clicked on “Action Center”

Clicked on the “Bluetooth (Not Connected)” icon to turn it off.

Result:

Ok a slight improvement:

Step 3)  Searching the Technet Forums

https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/home?forum=SurfaceSoftware,surfacehardware,win10itprohardware,w8itprohardware,w7itprohardware,itprovistahardware&filter=alltypes&brandIgnore=True&sort=relevancedesc&filter=alltypes&searchTerm=Slow+wi-fi

which lead to:

Windows 8.1 Troubleshooting: Fix WiFi Connectivity Issues

https://social.technet.microsoft.com/wiki/contents/articles/28176.windows-8-1-troubleshooting-fix-wifi-connectivity-issues.aspx

One of the items to try was to turn off the “Remote Differential Compression API Support”.

Start, CMD (Run As Admin)

AppWiz.cpl

Then click on “Turn Windows features on or off.”

Result:

No observable difference in the Link Speed.

I went ahead and put “Remote Differential Compression API Support” back in.

Step 4)  Searching our (Microsoft’s) and Lenovo’s website for wireless connection issues, there were some articles that mentioned to do the following:

NETSH INT TCP SET HEURISTICS DISABLED
NETSH INT TCP SET GLOBAL AUTOTUNINGLEVEL=DISABLED
NETSH INT TCP SET GLOBAL RSS-ENABLED

Before disabling or enabling anything, I wanted to see what the default settings were.

Start, CMD (Run As Admin)

netsh.exe interface tcp show global

netsh.exe interface tcp show heuristics

In Windows 10, “Heuristics” is already disabled.

NETSH INT TCP SET HEURISTICS DISABLED

NETSH INT TCP SET GLOBAL AUTOTUNINGLEVEL=DISABLED

NETSH INT TCP SET GLOBAL RSS=ENABLED

Source:

Windows 8.1 Troubleshooting: Fix WiFi Connectivity Issues
https://social.technet.microsoft.com/wiki/contents/articles/28176.windows-8-1-troubleshooting-fix-wifi-connectivity-issues.aspx

Frequently drop or intermittent wireless connection Window 7, 8 and 10
https://support.lenovo.com/ae/en/solutions/ht502846

Result:

It didn’t make any difference on the link speed.

I put everything back to the default:

NETSH INT TCP SET HEURISTICS ENABLED

NETSH INT TCP SET GLOBAL AUTOTUNINGLEVEL=NORMAL

NETSH INT TCP SET GLOBAL RSS=ENABLED

Step 5)  Check the Network Adapter and Wireless Adapter settings for Power configurations.

My Power Options for the “Wireless Adapter Settings” was already set to “Maximum Performance” since I had opted for the “High Performance” Power Plan.

Source:

Setting Wireless Adapter Power Management
http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/network-and-i-o/wireless-networking/000005879.html

Unchecked the box for “Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power”.
Clicked on OK.

Result:

It didn’t make any difference on the “LinkSpeed”.

Step 6)  I got tons of hits with searching the web with keywords “Intel Wireless-N 7260” slow

e.g.

Intel® Wireless-N 7260 – slows

https://communities.intel.com/thread/47983?start=285&tstart=0

It would have been easy to blame it on the Intel Dual Band Wireless AC 7260 but wait…

The driver that was installed its version 17.15.0.5 2/22/2015

Went to Lenovo’s website and downloaded the latest Intel Dual Band Wireless AC 7260 w/ Bluetooth.

http://pcsupport.lenovo.com/us/en/products/laptops-and-netbooks/thinkpad-w-series-laptops/thinkpad-w541/downloads?linkTrack=Caps%3ABody_SearchProduct

The latest driver from Lenovo’s website is package version 19.50.1 that has a date of 4/13/2017.

Checking the Driver version, it was version 18.33.6.2 that has a date of 2‎/19/‎2017.

Result:

It didn’t make any difference on the link speed.

Note:  It didn’t make any difference on the link speed, but I would still recommend you guys to update it, since it has fixes that were reported by others.  Caveat:  As anything, test it before you roll-it out.

Now, normally if you want support from your OEM hardware vendor, you are not going to install the hardware drivers from the OEM manufacturer.

For the sake of checking to see if there was a newer one and perhaps the fix for my issue, I turned to the one from Intel’s website which has a newer package version 19.60.0 that has a date of 5/16/2017.

Source:

https://downloadcenter.intel.com/product/75439/Intel-Dual-Band-Wireless-AC-7260

Checking the Driver version, it was version 18.33.7.2 that has a date of 4/5/2017.

Result:  It didn’t make any difference on the link speed.

I uninstalled and went back to Lenovo’s latest Wi-Fi driver.  Which kept me supported by them.

Step 7) 

Advanced Intel® Wireless Adapter Settings

http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/network-and-i-o/wireless-networking/000005585.html

TechNote: Access Point Interoperability Issue with uAPSD
https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/network-and-i-o/wireless-networking/000005615.html

TechNote: Data Reordering Issue Causing Sporadic Wireless Disconnects
http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/network-and-i-o/wireless-networking/000005661.html

Wireless Disconnect Followed by Inability to Detect Any Networks
http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/network-and-i-o/wireless-networking/000005875.html

Windows® 10 and Supported Intel® Wireless Adapter Protocols
http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/network-and-i-o/wireless-networking/000021562.html

Looking at my “Link Speed”:

After these changes, it’s better at 52 to 54 Mbps but not the ideal of 130+ Mbps

Speedtest results when the Link Speed is at 52 Mpbs:

If I go to the room where the Wireless router is, it becomes better at 65 Mbps to 78 Mbps.

Speedtest results when the Link Speed is at 78 Mpbs:

Note:  The speeds will vary depending on the ‘host’ that http://speedtest.net is hitting.

At this point, it would have been ‘easy’ to point the fingers on the Intel Dual Band Wireless AC 7260 wireless NIC but…

Speaking with my peer Jacob who also has a Lenovo Thinkpad W541 w/ the Intel Dual Band Wireless AC 7260 wireless NIC.

He was getting the following LinkSpeed:

Yeap, 243 to 300 Mbps on the Intel Dual Band Wireless AC 7260 wireless NIC.

Which is not even near what my Lenovo W530 with the Intel(R) Centrino(R) Ultimate-N 6300 AGN is able to achieve.

The difference is, instead of the Actiontec MI424WR Rev1 he has a wireless router that supports 5Ghz channels.  While the wireless router that I got from my ISP doesn’t.

The lesson learned here is, if and when you get the latest Wireless NIC, make sure that your Wireless router also is capable of taking advantage of the new Wireless NIC.

I’ll make a follow-up post when I get my new Wireless router with my new “Link Speed” numbers.

Advanced troubleshooting:

==================

Troubleshooting Wireless LAN Connections

https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/dd569141(v=vs.85).aspx

More information about the Intel® Dual Band Wireless-AC 7260 Plus Bluetooth:

===================================================

Intel® Wireless Products Selection Guide
https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/wireless-products/wireless-product-selection-guide.html

Intel® Dual Band Wireless-N 7260 BGN with Bluetooth*: Product Brief
http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/wireless-products/dual-band-wireless-n-7260-bluetooth-brief.html

“Max Speed  300/867 Mbps”
Source:
Intel® Dual Band Wireless-AC 7260
http://ark.intel.com/products/75439/Intel-Dual-Band-Wireless-AC-7260

Wi-Fi CERTIFIED*  802.11agn
Source:
Intel® Dual Band Wireless-N 7260 – Product specification
http://ark.intel.com/products/75440/Intel-Dual-Band-Wireless-N-7260

“Delivers dramatically faster Wi-Fi speeds (up to 867 Mbps1) than 802.11n”
Source:
Intel® Dual Band Wireless-AC 7260 Plus Bluetooth®
http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/wireless-products/dual-band-wireless-ac-7260-bluetooth.html

Intel makes different versions of the 7260 adapter.

The wireless ac versions are: 7260HMW, 7260NGW, and 7260SDW
The dual band wireless n with bluetooth versions are: 7260HMW AN and 7260NGW AN.
The wireless n (no bluetooth) versions are: 7260HMW NB and 7260NGW NB
The wireless n with bluetooth versions are: 7260HMW BN and 7260NGW BN

PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_08B2&SUBSYS_C2708086&REV_BB\4&65BB5C0&0&00E1
PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_08B2&SUBSYS_C2708086

// Mine is a dualband w/ bluetooth which is version 7260HMW AN or 7260NGW AN.

David Das Neves my colleague started his own blog, and the first post is something that you don’t want to miss out:

Powershell Security at Enterprise Customers

https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/daviddasneves/2017/05/25/powershell-security-at-enterprise-customers/

David Das Neves has this detailed post about Windows 10 and Windows Server 2016 – Windows As A Service (WaaS):

Demystifying Windows as a Service – wake up! please.

https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/daviddasneves/2017/06/18/demystifying-windows-as-a-service-wake-up-please/

Applies to:
Windows Server 2008 R2

Windows 7

There has been a lot of changes to Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 Servicing.  This post is trying to put everything in one place for you to get up to speed.

Everyone should be at the baseline with:

“Enterprise” Convenience Rollup Update II (2) for Windows 7 SP1 and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1

https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/yongrhee/2016/05/20/enterprise-convenience-rollup-update-ii-2-for-windows-7-sp1-and-windows-server-2008-r2-sp1/

And as of Oct. 2016 this is the latest information of what we have regarding Security Updates:

More
on Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 servicing changes
https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/windowsitpro/2016/10/07/more-on-windows-7-and-windows-8-1-servicing-changes/

Supersedes:
Further
simplifying servicing models for Windows 7 and Windows 8.1
https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/windowsitpro/2016/08/15/further-simplifying-servicing-model-for-windows-7-and-windows-8-1/

Supersedes:

Simplifying updates for Windows 7 and 8.1
https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/windowsitpro/2016/05/17/simplifying-updates-for-windows-7-and-8-1/

So, you want to update your image?  Here is how to:

Building Windows 7 Images in 2017

https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/askpfeplat/2017/03/06/building-windows-7-images-in-2017/

And as of Apr. of 2017, the “Security Bulletin’s” have been replaced with:

Microsoft Security Updates

https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/security/bulletins.aspx

Yong