WinxpSP1 Pro: Very slow network browsing.

Hello

I've been haunted by this problem for a while now. Browsing network drives
is very slow using WinxpSP1pro on a 100mbit lan setup with a 100mbit switch,
it's extremely annoying. Coming from Win98se , it browsed network drives
almost as fast as the local drive.

I've tried the suggestion mentioned here but it doesn't seem to speed up the
process
http://www.winguides.com/registry/display.php/913/

Another suggestion I would like to try needs me to setup something in the
"Active Directory Users and Computers" config, but I do not see such an icon
in the "Administrative Tools"

Now would it help if I download the Administration Tools Pack?
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...displaylang=en

The download is very slow, I guess Microsoft's servers are swamped at the
moment. Any other way to get accesss to the Active Directory Users and
Computers" config?

Or perhaps someone can suggest a fix they tried that worked for them?

Thanks!

We had very similar experiences - slug slow network response under Windows
XP. I have found a solution that works for us, but first some history:

Prior to last summer we had a mix of Windows 95 and 98 clients accessing a
Win NT 4 Server. All was well with the world. Then we added our first XP
client and noticed that its access times were MUCH slower than 9x.
Example, one folder on the server with 3600+ files took less than 1 second
for the 9x clients to open, but XP was taking almost 15 seconds.

Thinking that our Pentium 100 (yes 100) with 96 meg of ram might be the
cause, I decided to upgrade the hardware to AMD 2600+ and 512 Meg ram. Of
course, NT 4 did not like the transplant so I had to reinstall it. Then I
discovered that we had an Upgrade disc and the 3.5 disc cannot be found.
Rats! Bite the bullet and purchase Server 2003. No difference - 9x could
still thumb its nose at XP.

I tried all sorts of combinations and permutations to test it all, and the
final conclusion is only one: XP TCP/IP is slug slow! Since the problem
happened under both NT4 and 2003, and ONLY to XP, the server and its
software was not the problem.


I tried adding the NWLINK/NETBIOS combination and it sometimes worked.
That is, it seemed that as long as netbios was the "default" things were
fine, but inevitably, after a couple of days, or a reboot, TCP/IP took over
and performance was down the drain again. I could fix it temporarily by
unclicking TCP/IP in the connection properties, try to access the server,
and then rechecking TCP/IP. This seemed to make NWLINK/NETBIOS the
"default" again for a while, but only for a while.

THE SOLUTION!

Add NETBEUI to all XP clients, and Server 2003, and make it the "default".

1) from the XP cd from \valueadd\msft\net\netbeui copy nbf.sys to
%systemroot%\system32\drivers and copy netnbf.inf to %systemroot\inf (you
will not find these files on the 2003 disc, use the files from the XP disc
instead).

2) open my network places/view network connections, and open properties on
your network connection. Use Install to add the NETBEUI protocol that now
appears. Click OK to close the properties dialog.

3) On the top menu, click on Advanced and Advanced Settings. NETBEUI
should be the top (first) protocol listed. If it isn't click on it and use
the up arrow (to the right) to move it to the top, in both locations.

DONE! Our performance is now sparkling and stable. Of course, NETBEUI is
no longer supported by Microsloth, so we will have to wait until they
acknowledge this TCP/IP speed problem and fix it. Until then, at least my
users can get a days' work in almost 1 day.


Please, all who try this, let me know how it worked for you.

Bruce Waldie, P.Ag.
PhotoComp Systems Inc.









"sams" wrote in
:

Hello

I've been haunted by this problem for a while now. Browsing network
drives is very slow using WinxpSP1pro on a 100mbit lan setup with a
100mbit switch, it's extremely annoying. Coming from Win98se , it
browsed network drives almost as fast as the local drive.

I've tried the suggestion mentioned here but it doesn't seem to speed
up the process
http://www.winguides.com/registry/display.php/913/

Another suggestion I would like to try needs me to setup something in
the "Active Directory Users and Computers" config, but I do not see
such an icon in the "Administrative Tools"

Now would it help if I download the Administration Tools Pack?
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...c16ae515-c8f4-
47ef-a1e4-a8dcbacff8e3&displaylang=en

The download is very slow, I guess Microsoft's servers are swamped at
the moment. Any other way to get accesss to the Active Directory Users
and Computers" config?

Or perhaps someone can suggest a fix they tried that worked for them?

Thanks!

We have the same problem here we did all the tests and tweaks in the registry that Microsoft and other sites recommend. The only short term working solution that we found was to use the Netbeui protocol as you did. The problem with Netbeui is that it gene
rates a lot of broadcasting on the network and when you have a lot of computers on a network, you cannot use Netbeui everywhere.

We found an alternative solution but only for our laptops! The solution is to use the PCMCIA card D-Link DFE-650 with the TCP/IP protocol. We have been using this solution for a while on two laptops (with TCPIP only), one running W2000 and the other one
XP. We have not found a card working well for our desktops and we are still looking for one. We think that the chipset is different from the other D-Link cards that we have because this is the only fast one.

To open a folder with 10 000 files it takes only 6 seconds with the laptops compare to 42 seconds with another card.

If somebody find a PCI card working well with TCPIP please let me know.

Stephane Casse

Did you try moving "Microsoft Windows Network" to the top of the provider
order?

--

Ken Wickes [MSFT]
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.


"Stephane Casse" wrote in message
...
We have the same problem here we did all the tests and tweaks in the
registry that Microsoft and other sites recommend. The only short term
working solution that we found was to use the Netbeui protocol as you did.
The problem with Netbeui is that it generates a lot of broadcasting on the
network and when you have a lot of computers on a network, you cannot use
Netbeui everywhere.

We found an alternative solution but only for our laptops! The solution
is to use the PCMCIA card D-Link DFE-650 with the TCP/IP protocol. We have
been using this solution for a while on two laptops (with TCPIP only), one
running W2000 and the other one XP. We have not found a card working well
for our desktops and we are still looking for one. We think that the chipset
is different from the other D-Link cards that we have because this is the
only fast one.

To open a folder with 10 000 files it takes only 6 seconds with the
laptops compare to 42 seconds with another card.

If somebody find a PCI card working well with TCPIP please let me know.

Stephane Casse

I'm referring to the provider order tab in the advanced settings options on
the advanced menu.

--

Ken Wickes [MSFT]
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.


"Stephane Casse" wrote in message
...
In the Window "Local Connection Properties" of my card I always put first
"Client for Microsoft Networks" if it is what you mean.
I don't understand why with the old D-Link card DFE-650 that works but not
with other cards.

Stephane Casse

I'm referring to the provider order tab in the advanced settings options on
the advanced menu.

--

Ken Wickes [MSFT]
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.


"Stephane Casse" wrote in message
...
In the Window "Local Connection Properties" of my card I always put first
"Client for Microsoft Networks" if it is what you mean.
I don't understand why with the old D-Link card DFE-650 that works but not
with other cards.

Stephane Casse

I'm referring to the provider order tab in the advanced settings options on
the advanced menu.

--

Ken Wickes [MSFT]
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.


"Stephane Casse" wrote in message
...
In the Window "Local Connection Properties" of my card I always put first
"Client for Microsoft Networks" if it is what you mean.
I don't understand why with the old D-Link card DFE-650 that works but not
with other cards.

Stephane Casse

I'm referring to the provider order tab in the advanced settings options on
the advanced menu.

--

Ken Wickes [MSFT]
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.


"Stephane Casse" wrote in message
...
In the Window "Local Connection Properties" of my card I always put first
"Client for Microsoft Networks" if it is what you mean.
I don't understand why with the old D-Link card DFE-650 that works but not
with other cards.

Stephane Casse

I'm referring to the provider order tab in the advanced settings options on
the advanced menu.

--

Ken Wickes [MSFT]
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.


"Stephane Casse" wrote in message
...
In the Window "Local Connection Properties" of my card I always put first
"Client for Microsoft Networks" if it is what you mean.
I don't understand why with the old D-Link card DFE-650 that works but not
with other cards.

Stephane Casse

I'm referring to the provider order tab in the advanced settings options on
the advanced menu.

--

Ken Wickes [MSFT]
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.


"Stephane Casse" wrote in message
...
In the Window "Local Connection Properties" of my card I always put first
"Client for Microsoft Networks" if it is what you mean.
I don't understand why with the old D-Link card DFE-650 that works but not
with other cards.

Stephane Casse

I'm referring to the provider order tab in the advanced settings options on
the advanced menu.

--

Ken Wickes [MSFT]
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.


"Stephane Casse" wrote in message
...
In the Window "Local Connection Properties" of my card I always put first
"Client for Microsoft Networks" if it is what you mean.
I don't understand why with the old D-Link card DFE-650 that works but not
with other cards.

Stephane Casse

I'm referring to the provider order tab in the advanced settings options on
the advanced menu.

--

Ken Wickes [MSFT]
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.


"Stephane Casse" wrote in message
...
In the Window "Local Connection Properties" of my card I always put first
"Client for Microsoft Networks" if it is what you mean.
I don't understand why with the old D-Link card DFE-650 that works but not
with other cards.

Stephane Casse

I have the same problem, and a little part solution, too. I deleted all the
drive mappings and created connections in My Network Places. The browsing is
still slow when going through these, but at least I can access files on my
own machine without waiting an eternity.




"Ken Wickes [MSFT]" wrote in message
...
I'm referring to the provider order tab in the advanced settings options
on
the advanced menu.

--

Ken Wickes [MSFT]
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no
rights.


"Stephane Casse" wrote in message
...
In the Window "Local Connection Properties" of my card I always put
first
"Client for Microsoft Networks" if it is what you mean.
I don't understand why with the old D-Link card DFE-650 that works but
not
with other cards.

Stephane Casse

I have been having a similar problem with slow browsing. I have been monitoring this forum for the last several weeks trying to find an answer. I found that we used a Single Level Domain Name to Identify our root domain, Microsoft does not recommend the u
se if single level domain names in Active Directory, however they did publish an article on what to do to make it work.
What I did find is if you set up Active Directory with a single level domain name (like the way Windows NT used to have their domains) the Windows XP boxes don't play well. The Microsoft Knowledge Base Article 300684 explains what you need to do in the re
gestry to make things work.

Most of the posts I reviewed seemed to have the same problem as I did (the single level domain name). By following the recomendations in the Knowledge Base Article we did speed up our network browsing from 28 seconds to open a network share to about 9 sec
onds of lag time.

Hope this helps .

Larry Keith
Coastal Telco Services

----- Pratish Dayalji wrote: -----

Microsoft say slow browser networking is by design. They knew all along people would face this problem. Read the following MS KB article,

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=288801

Pratish