Windows 2000 slow in bringing up file lists

[joeltrettin]

We have several laptops setup with Windows 2000 Pro and they all seem to have a similar problem with being extremely slow when trying to access or browse files in Windows Explorer or the File Open portion of Word, Excel, etc. Basically if you hit File Open and then try to open any of the mapped network drives or even C: it takes about 20 seconds for the underlying folder/file list to appear. Retrieving files also seems to take forever. I don't think it's a network traffic issue since our various Win95/98 PCs hooked up to the same switch port bring up the folder/file list instantly and it does the same thing with C:?!?! Has anyone ever seen this before? I'm stumped.

 

[isguyatlanta]

Sometimes laptops wind up with two NICs (an internal and a PCMCIA) make sure one of them is disabled while docked. Also, if the loopback adapter is installed it can cause this.

 

[F1Tech]

Hi,

I had a similar problem with this.
We tracked it down to having slow or inaccessible mapped drives, try disconnecting these types of drives and see if the performance improves.

F1

 

[joeltrettin]

Thanks for responding but I figured it out...what I found was that when these laptops were imaged (all with the same Ghost image) we had a Novell Netware server running on the network. W2K correctly identified this on the network and setup the appropriate Client for Netware and IPX stack for the network card. About 2 months ago, we retired our Netware server but did not think the clients would be affected but obviously they were. I uninstalled the Netware stuff, rebooted and the problem has been solved. Thanks for your input though.

 

[BonCourage]

Hello. I am having the same slow file list navigation problem that joeltrettin described, although his solution cannot work for me. I've noticed that I can navigate up or down in a file structure without delay, until I reach Desktop level, in which case I have the 20-30 second delay. This is happening on desktop units with all mapped laptops disconnected. Any ideas?

 

[Hondy]

I have seen a similar problem and the problem related to the profiles and file off-line synchronisation turning this off and creating a new user profile fixed this. Synchronisation was not something I installed conciously but was nevertheless installed by default.

 

[BonCourage]

Thanks for the reply Hondy.

Where do I turn off the file off-line synchronization? Why does this affect me when I'm connected to the network?

Do I copy all of my Documents and Settings folders over to the new user profile or is that undermining my efforts? I assume its user profiles you are referring to.

BonCourage

 

[thefourthwall]

i came across this KB article the other day. do any of you think this might be the culprit?

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;263939

thefourthwall

 

[BonCourage]

The article refers to degraduation over time (after a computer has been on for a long time). My problem occurs even after bootup. I also do not have a RAID configuration.

 

[thefourthwall]

joeltrettin:

thought i had found the right KB with my previous posting, but had not. searched again, and found this, which *may* be of help, but is not in and of itself a solution -- you still have to bother micro$oft. the link is

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;321126

and the title of it is

"The "Look In" and "Save As" Boxes in Common Dialog Boxes Are Slow"

does this help?

thefourthwall

 

[mcamci]

We have similar issue as yours, but due to Novell Client in our computers. If I remove the Novell client, file-->open or browse is faster.

If you have novell server, adding a hosts entry seem to speed up a little bit.

If you don't have novell servers and client, please ignore this, and may be a WINS should be configured in the network.

 

[BonCourage]

thefourthwall,

The article seems to address the exact problem I'm having. It seems Microsoft prefers I wait for SP4. Do you know when it will be released?

 

[Hondy]

BonCourage

I had the exact same problem, and turning off the off-line file synchronisation in the GPO (user conf/network/offline..) and recreating the profile fixed it. I haven't had the problem for months now. Also when you log off you get a synchronisation window, you can edit your own settings from there too.

It also resolved a problem whereby it would think I'm not on the network, and show me as off-line in the systray.

 

[BonCourage]

Hondy,

This sounds promising. I, however, do not know how to navigate through Windows enough to do what you are saying. Is it asking to much for the itemized steps on making this change? This is embarrassing, but I do not even know what GPO is.
Humbly,
BonCourage

 

[Hondy]

No worries

Before I write it all, I'll do a bit at a time in case we are not on about the same things. I'm assuming you have active directory running.

Go to Active Directory Users and Computers (Admin tools)
Right Click the name of your domain and click properties.
Select the Policies tab (from memory, the 3rd tab anyway)
click on the policy name and click edit.
Now Find the network section and poke around for the synchronisation settings.

See how you go, sorry it's sketchy I'm doing it from memory but you should get the idea. If we are on the same lines i'll help a bit more accurately.

 

[BonCourage]

Hondy,

On the server, I went to the domain properties then to Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\Network\Offline and the same under User Configuration. In both cases, all available choices are listed as "Not Configured." ???

BonCourage

 

[Hondy]

Yup, sounds like you have a default policy!
Look at the synchronisation item, go in to the description.
You will see that "Not Configured" equated to a default choice, in this case I think it's default is on (check this in the description tab).

Once you have disabled it, create a new profile on the machine having slow browsing problems (remember to sign on as Administrator rather than the user). Do this by renaming both the local copy and the copy on the server, this way you can still retrieve desktop icons and favourites for the user (don't copy the whole profile back or it'll screw up again).

If you get the synchronisation screen when you log off, click on "details" before it disappears then have a poke around. Let me know if this worked.

 

[BonCourage]

Hondy,
When I go to edit the synchronization item, it gives me three choices:
1. Not configured
2. Disabled
3. Enabled
The present selection is "Not Configured".

I also have never received any message boxes on logging off or shutting down that refer to file synchronization.

Should I continue?
BonCourage

 

[Hondy]

Not configured doesn't mean ON or OFF, it means "could be ON" "Could be OFF", depending on what Microsoft felt should be the best default, in this case Not Configured means On. (sorry this is from memory, but you will get the picture).

Whether you should continue? up to you, but this fixed it for me. If you can't succeed with this bit, try to recreate the profile anyway, I think you'll find it sorts it (but maybe not forever, until sync ruins it again).