Experiencing Slow First Logons After Windows 11 July 2025 Update?
Asked by
TechieSquirrel42
Has anyone else had a frustrating experience with significantly longer logon times after the latest update to Windows 11 in July 2025? In a shared environment like a school, it's pretty noticeable! We used to have a steady 20-second logon time, but now it's stretching to a minute and twenty seconds. I've tested with a PC that hasn't received the update, and the logon speed is still fast. I'm almost positive this slowdown is linked to the recent update, possibly due to the new AI features and the way apps are now deployed. Any insights or similar experiences?
Answers
If your loading time stretches over 10 minutes, just press the power button to force it into sleep mode. After waiting a few seconds, pressing any key should wake it up directly into Windows Explorer. Just something I’ve noticed—take it with a pinch of salt!
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Here’s a bit of insight if you’re curious. Check your Event Log under Apps & Services > Microsoft > Windows > AppxDeploymentServer (Operational). You might find a bunch of 5224 errors at login related to WindowsClient.CBS, which could mean it’s trying to delete files but failing, hence the delays. I’ve even tested the preview updates, but the same issue persists. Fingers crossed for the August patches!
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We’ve noticed this too in a standard Windows Domain setup with Active Directory. We’re currently awaiting the August updates to see if they fix it. For the clients we managed to block the update, they’re on 24H2, and those that have the new update have had to be rebuilt back to 24H2. For the rest? It’s a mess! I've created a Group Policy to speed up some of the processes, but the Start menu button is still sluggish. Here are a couple of tweaks I set up that might help:
1. Disabled ‘Always wait for the network at computer startup and logon’.
2. Set maximum wait time for network for roaming profiles to 15 seconds in the Group Policy.
Trying to mitigate issues with a logon script that kills and relaunches the explorer process has made a slight difference, but results can vary.
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Yeah, we’re facing the same issues in our Windows 11 computer labs after the July update. The initial logon used to be around 20 seconds, but it’s now taking about 90 seconds. However, once a user logs in the first time, subsequent logons on the same machine go back to being quick—only a couple of seconds. It looks like the problem might be related to how store apps are deployed, as you can see icons appearing one by one when the desktop loads. It’s not catastrophic, but definitely annoying! We’re hoping the upcoming August updates address this problem before classes start for us right after Labor Day.
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Is the slow logon affecting every user at their first logon, or is it only specific cases? I have one lab PC with the July updates that isn’t showing any delays. Have you checked the event viewer on at least one device for deeper insights?
TechieSquirrel42: It's specifically the first logon for all users that slows down, but once cached, it’s fast. I’ve been digging into it and can’t find anything obvious—just the AppxDeployment process taking an unusually long time. I even tried a fresh reimage with minimal software, but still faced the same issue.
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OldSchoolAdmin: What CPUs are you using? We’ve noticed similar slowdowns with our newer Intel machines (11th Gen+), while our AMD processors and older Intel ones haven’t shown these issues yet.