XP PRO - NT 4 Server SLOW access

[EZClick]

After installing 2 new XP Pro boxes on a NT 4 domain, file access from the mapped drives is VERY SLOW. Like 3-4 minutes. A Win98 box will access the same share in 3-4 seconds. I tried to access a share on a workstation and it connected and displayed right away. It's specific to the XP-NT connection. Anyone have an idea?

Your help is greatly appreciated.

 

[EZClick]

bump... with all the references I have found searching the internet about this problem, surely 1 of you have encountered this and overcame it. ... need help!! PLEASE!!

 

[bcastner]

On a W2k domain these problems are almost always a combination of:

1. Autosensing failure between switch and workstation NIC; you can use this matrix for some hints as to how to force the workstation nic settings:

[tt]
Workstation Switch Result

Forced Half Forced Half Works
Forced Full Forced Full Works
Auto Auto Maybe
Forced Full Auto NO
Auto Forced Full NO
Forced Half Forced Full NO
Forced Full Forced Half NO
[/tt]

2. DNS resolution issues.

Slow logons from XP to a win2000 domain usually indicate a DNS misconfiguration issue. While the following is not a fix-all for all AD-domain problems, it is an absolute requirement that DNS is set up correctly before it will work properly. If your DNS is not set up like this, then you will experience problems like you describe. XP differs from previous versions of windows in that it uses DNS as it's primary name resolution method for finding domain controllers: How Domain Controllers Are Located in Windows XP <

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;314861>

If DNS is misconfigured, XP will spend a lot of time waiting for it to timeout before it tries using legacy NT4 style NetBIOS. (Which may or may not work.)

1. Ensure that the XP clients are all configured to point to the local DNS server which hosts the AD domain. That will probably be the win2k server itself. They should NOT be pointing an an ISP's DNS server. An 'ipconfig /all' on the XP box should reveal ONLY the domain's DNS server. You should use the DHCP server to push out the local DNS server address.

2. Ensure DNS server on win2k is configured to permit dynamic updates. Ensure the win2k server points to itself as a DNS server.

3. For external (internet) name resolution, specify your ISP's DNS server not on the clients, but in the forwarders tab of the local win2k DNS server. On the DNS server, if you cannot access the 'Forwarders' and 'Root Hints' tabs because they are greyed out, that is because there is a root zone (&quot;.&quot present on the DNS server. You MUST delete this root zone to permit the server to forward unresolved queries to yout ISP or the root servers. Accept any nags etc, and let it delete any corresponding reverse lookuop zones if it asks.

The following articles may assist you in setting up DNS correctly: Setting up the Domain Name System for Active Directory <

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;237675>

HOW TO: Configure DNS for Internet Access in Windows 2000 <

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;300202>

 

[eayko]

Hey, you know what .. we have similar problem.. bcastner suggested the above procedure, i'm still figuring out if it will work. Anyway, I have posted similar thread two days ago. Maybe you could tell me more about the details of your network .. so we could isolate the problem. Please tell us the configuration of your servers and your network. Thanks.

 

[bn2hunt]

We had a similar problem when our DNS server was on NT4. When we updated the DNS to Win 2k the problem went away.