I have observed that the PowerShell console can be slow to open across various computers, sometimes taking several minutes. This slow start impacts not only the command shell (powershell.exe or pwsh.exe) but also the execution of logon PowerShell scripts via Group Policy Objects (GPO) or scheduled tasks. In this piece, we will explore possible causes for the sluggish startup and methods to reduce loading time.<\/p>\n
The Measure-Command<\/strong> cmdlet provides insight into how long it takes for PowerShell to load. Execute the following command to check load time:<\/p>\n If the load time exceeds 500 ms, PowerShell will log:<\/p>\n For example, a startup time of 12 seconds signals slow executing code in profile files, indicating a possible problem.<\/p>\n To compare startup speeds, you can run PowerShell without loading profiles using the options To list all profile files used during the startup, run the command:<\/p>\n You can also check the contents of the profile files using:<\/p>\n Review these files for unnecessary commands or functions and optimize where possible.<\/p>\n Examine the installed modules, as a large collection could impede startup speed. List available modules with:<\/p>\n To remove unused modules, employ:<\/p>\n Analyze the loading time of each module using:<\/p>\n Consider preventing automatic loading of all PS modules by adding:<\/p>\n VMware PowerCLI Delays<\/strong>: If you are using the VMware Infrastructure Management module, it might delay loading due to CRL checks. You can disable CRL checking through the registry or in the Internet Properties applet.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Antivirus Software<\/strong>: Sometimes, antivirus software may delay the startup. To check which DLLs are loaded during startup, run:<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n Then, in a new PowerShell session, use:<\/p>\n If your antivirus library is present, add exclusions for the PowerShell processes.<\/p>\n By employing these strategies, you can address the common issues related to slow PowerShell startup and enhance its performance.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I have observed that the PowerShell console can be slow to open across various computers, sometimes taking several minutes. This slow start impacts not only the command shell (powershell.exe or pwsh.exe) but also the execution of logon PowerShell scripts via Group Policy Objects (GPO) or scheduled tasks. In this piece, we will explore possible causes […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":11041,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[117],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11040","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-powershell"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cheapwindowsvps.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11040","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cheapwindowsvps.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cheapwindowsvps.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cheapwindowsvps.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11040"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cheapwindowsvps.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11040\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cheapwindowsvps.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11041"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cheapwindowsvps.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11040"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cheapwindowsvps.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11040"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cheapwindowsvps.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11040"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}powershell -noprofile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass ( Measure-Command { powershell "Write-Host 1" } ).TotalSeconds<\/code><\/pre>\nLoading personal and system profiles took XXX ms<\/code><\/pre>\nChecking Profile Files<\/h3>\n
-noprofile<\/code> for PowerShell or -noProfile<\/code> for PowerShell Core.<\/p>\n$profile | select *<\/code><\/pre>\nGet-Content $PROFILE.AllUsersAllHostsGet-Content $PROFILE.AllUsersCurrentHostGet-Content $PROFILE.CurrentUserAllHostsGet-Content $PROFILE.CurrentUserCurrentHost<\/code><\/pre>\nManaging PS Modules<\/h3>\n
Get-Module -ListAvailable<\/code><\/pre>\nRemove-Module -Name ModuleNameUninstall-Module -Name ModuleName -AllVersions -Force<\/code><\/pre>\nMeasure-Command { Import-Module ModuleName -Force }<\/code><\/pre>\n$PSModuleAutoLoadingPreference = 'None'<\/code><\/pre>\nAddressing Other Possible Issues<\/h3>\n
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powershell.exe -c "Write-Host $PID;Start-Sleep -s 60"<\/code><\/pre>\nGet-Process | where {$_.Id -eq <YOUR_PID>} | select -ExpandProperty modules<\/code><\/pre>\n\n
ngen.exe<\/code>. Use the following command:<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n$env:PATH = [Runtime.InteropServices.RuntimeEnvironment]::GetRuntimeDirectory()[AppDomain]::CurrentDomain.GetAssemblies() | ForEach-Object { $path = $_.Location if ($path) { $name = Split-Path $path -Leaf Write-Host -ForegroundColor Yellow "`r`nRunning ngen.exe on '$name'" ngen.exe install $path \/nologo }}<\/code><\/pre>\n\n