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Can't launch any applications in Windows Virtual Machine, Performance slow.

Daniel Leavitt 0 Reputation points
2025-05-01T03:36:38.2366667+00:00

Hi,

I hope you can assist. I am new to Azure Windows Virtual Desktop. After starting my Windows Virtual Desktop, all I can do is launch File Explorer. Starting any other apps is either EXTREMELY SLOW or doesn't launch. For instance, I can't launch a browser. It feels like the system has no resources.

Yet, I am still being charged for a non-functional virtual machine. I can start and stop it, but I can't do anything besides look at the screen.

In addition, I am often randomly disconnected after establishing an RDC connection, sometimes after 5 minutes or 15 minutes. I don't see a pattern.

Any assistance would be appreciated before I cancel this disappointing service.

These are my specifications:

  • Standard B1s (1 vcpu, 1 GiB memory)
  • East US
  • Windows
  • x64

Thank you.

Azure Virtual Desktop
Azure Virtual Desktop
A Microsoft desktop and app virtualization service that runs on Azure. Previously known as Windows Virtual Desktop.
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  1. Arko 2,210 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator
    2025-05-01T07:58:41.22+00:00

    Hello Daniel Leavitt,

    What you're experiencing is actually expected behavior when using the Standard B1s windows VM size in Azure.

    Why you're facing this problem?

    Ans- The Standard B1s VM size only comes with 1 vCPU (burstable) and 1 GiB of RAM. While this might be okay for lightweight background services or command-line-only tasks, it is not enough for a full Windows GUI environment especially one that needs to run applications even basic ones from Microsoft (Edge, file explorer, or control panels)

    Actually, with this particular VM size, windows boots, but memory is immediately consumed by system services so when you try to launch apps, the OS begins paging memory heavily.

    This causes performance degradation, application launch failures, and even RDP disconnects if the CPU can't keep up. In short, the VM doesn't have the horsepower needed to run a graphical OS responsively.

    I tried it from my end as well and faced similar issue as yours.
    Vm2 Even my test VM was getting hung and was not able to load any apps. Just like you described, the desktop loaded after some delay. Opening edge browser or even settings caused freezes or very long delays.
    vm1
    The easiest and most effective fix is to resize your VM to a more appropriate size for GUI workloads. I tested this too, and it worked perfectly.

    az vm deallocate --resource-group arkorg --name testb1svm
az vm resize --resource-group arkorg --name testb1svm --size Standard_D2s_v3
az vm start --resource-group arkorg --name testb1svm

    Vm3

    Now if you see it is working fine.
    Vm4

    Reference Docs

    Azure VM sizes – B-series

    Choose the right VM size

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