Windows Server 2008 running SLOW

Server Manager Tool Locking Up My Server

I have had this recent issue with some Windows Server 2008 R2 (s). The server is slowing down tremendously, administrator log ins can take a very long time, and overall performance is terrible. It seems like it has happened all at once, so maybe a recent Windows Update is to blame. I have not had time to figure out exactly what may be the cause, but I use WSUS (update services) on a scheduled basis, so all my servers are updated together. My main concern was stopping the pain.

Although I don't always use the built in Server Manager tool, I determined that in fact this tool is the culprit. I opened it on one of the servers and it locked up terribly - and brought everything else to a standstill. CPU and RAM usage spiked for lengthy periods. On one server I was even getting an error within the Server Manager tool, even after multiple refresh tries.

Remember that as the Server Manager is customized, changes are actually saved in the profile (usually the Administrator profile). So, we have to essentially clear some temp files to clean out some stale cache. Sound familiar?

Solution? Open Server Manager, but be sure to give it ample time to fully open. If you force close it then the situation is even worse. Once opened, go to File/Options and then click "DELETE FILES". Restart the Server Manager Tools (NOT the whole server). It is not going to save large amounts of space. In fact, it has nothing to do with this (may range from 500 KB - 3 Megabytes). But it looks like if Roles and Features are edited a few times, i.e. added/removed from the server, then the old settings hang around and cause trouble.

The above worked instantly for me. Hope it helps!