With the results of the Students Speak Survey and numerous complaints from students and faculty regarding the unacceptably long wait times students experienced when attempting to access the software in the PC labs, Illinois Tech worked with Microsoft to identify the problem, which was found to be related to the way Windows 10 handles the indexing of the drives. Microsoft’s proposed solutions did not generate the expected improvement.
The Office of Technology Services (OTS) then decided to test the PCs’ performance with Solid State Drives (SSDs) and found that this solution was effective in reducing the boot/login times from three to eight minutes to approximately 33 seconds!
In preparation for the end-of-the-academic-year rush, OTS staff worked around the clock to replace 230 PCs’ hard drives with SSDs in the below-listed labs and kiosks, which are the ones most frequently used by our students.
- Alumni Memorial, Room 218
- The McCormick Tribune Campus Center (MTCC) Trench Kiosk PCs
- Siegel Hall, Room 237
- Stuart Building, Room 112E
- Stuart Building, Room 112F
- Stuart Building, Room 112X (open lab)
- Stuart Building, Room 112J
- Tech Park North, Room 110
OTS is currently working on the remaining kiosk PCs located in MSV, Perlstein Hall, and Hermann Hall on the Mies Campus. Upon completion, OTS will continue to resolve the boot/login issues in all remaining PC labs that it manages/supports on campus.
Thank you for speaking up to let Illinois Tech know how the university can better serve our students.