Citrix Receiver - extremely slow remote desktop connection specific to a Windows 7 client

Question

I'm a software developer and I connect remotely to my office desktop using Citrix Receiver. On a new desktop at home running Windows 7 I notice consistent slowness when trying to use my Citrix remote desktop. It is slow to the point of being unusable. I see the correct display content as soon as a connection is made, but after that the desktop freezes and any input has a lag of 45-60 seconds to reflect. It is extremely "choppy" - it freezes, responds for a few seconds, then freezes again.

I am using a wired connection to a Time Warner Cable router. I have tried turning off the Windows firewall as well as the router's firewall to no avail.

Some other debugging info:

• A wireless Windows Vista laptop on the same network and router can connect with no problem or lag

• Oddly, if I use "Sun VirtualBox" and run a Windows XP virtual machine on the affected Win7 machine, I can connect to my Citrix desktop without the lag.

• I can also use the Citrix Outlook application without lag. I'm not sure what the Citrix term for this is but this does not go "through" my desktop, it is a stand alone Citrix app.

• I managed to get the (no longer supported) Java version of the Citrix client to run a few times, and there was no lag when using it.

I'm hoping someone has been in the position before because tech support is out of ideas and so am I.

Environment:

• Citrix Receiver version 14.1.200.13, running via Google Chrome.
• Windows 7 Ultimate N, Service Pack 1, 64 bit.
• Machine has an SSD for its primary HD, 8 gigs RAM
• i3-3225 Intel CPU
• MOBO: MSI Computer Corp. DDR3 1600 Intel LGA 1155 (Z77A-G43)
• Using the built in NIC on the motherboard

Thanks!

Solution

I've had this same exact problem - I mentioned this to a Citrix certified tutor whilst I was on a XenApp/Server course and he provided me with a very simple solution...

On the win7 box if you disable aero theme on the mouse settings. you will see a vast improvement.

Hope this helps.