I recently read a article in Microsoft DS blog about the change in the way GPOs processes startup/logon scripts in Windows 7 and Windows 2008. The thing here is that, till XP/2003 days, computer startup/user logon scrips used to get executed in synchronous manner. That means, if you have more than a script configured in computer startup/user logon via GPOs, those scripts will get executed one after another. This behavior is changed in Windows 7/2008. In these latest operating systems, computer startup/logon scrips are asynchronous…means, execution of scripts starts at the same time. The big advantage I am seeing with this approach is, faster start/logon times in Windows 7/2008. Considering the hardware that we use to run Windows 7/2008, running scripts simultaniously will not tamper any of the computer resources and it’s a good move by Microsoft to increase the logon/startup speeds.
However, for some customers, running scripts synchronously might be a requirement. Output of one script might become inout to next script. In such a cases, you can always make Windows 7/2008 to process startup/logon scripts synchrounouly by altering registry key values.
Logoff/shutdown scripts are always Asynchronous and there is no tweak available for it to make synchronous.
Registry keys to create are…
Computer Preference
Key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESoftwareMicrosoftWindows NTCurrentVersionWinlogon
ValueName: RunStartupScriptSync
Computer Policy Key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionPoliciesSystem
ValueName: RunStartupScriptSync
User Preference
Key: HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindows NTCurrentVersionWinlogon
ValueName: RunLogonScriptSync
User Policy Key: HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionPoliciesSystem
ValueName: RunLogonScriptSync