Policies - Custom Start Menu stops responding

[cruford]

I am having an issue with sharing a custom start menu in Windows 98 policies. All clients are windows 98, servers are mixed NT/2k. I have a share called CustomD on our 2k server that is where the custom start menu is located. So the structure is this:

-CustomD
---Desktop
---Programs
---Start Menu
---Startup

Right now only 45 users are using the Custom Start Menu. In policies under SHELL > CUSTOM FOLDERS we have setup the path like \\%servername%\customd\folder.

My problem is the start menu freezes or hangs for anywhere from 3 to 5 minutes in some cases. Explorer stops responding if you check the task manager. You can end the task and it closes the start menu but as soon as the click on Start > Programs it will list the folders/files but when they go to a subdirectory it hangs agian. This random throughout the day but every user experiences it at least once a day.

I have checked file locks on the server when the users are hanging and nothing is locked. I am doing packet sniffing now and the only thing coming back up is my ACK response times are to long. I did notice in the packet capturing that evertytime you click a sub folder in programs it looks for \\%servername%\customd\programs\<folderName>\desktop.ini which doesn't exist but that doesn't cause it to hang.

Other notes on setup:
1. CustomD folder and all subfolders are read only
2. NT permissions are set to view only
3. .lnk files we have disabled link tracking
4. Customd Share is on a 2k server, users log into NT4 server

Anyone have any ideas on this, it has us stumped and nothing on the internet has helped yet.

 

[TekTippy4U]

Some guesses only;

Have you thought about disabling the write-behind disk caching on the 98 clients...buffer and file commit probs??
(not sure about all this, but i remember reading something about it)

How about each client d/l the Customized start menu through the Config.pol file at network logon ..since it's Read Only, it doesn't need modifying and updating..correct?? (except through your ADM file from server when necessary)..

again , just some thoughts, maybe way off

TT4U

Notification:
These are just &quot;my&quot; thoughts....and should be carefully measured against other opinions.
Backup All Important Data/Docs..All involved shall be spared the grief.

 

[cruford]

I have done some packet capturing and this looks to be a file locking issue. Seems our Win 2k Server does not have oppurtunistic file locking turned on. We are going to add some reg hacks to enable this and see if it helps our problem.

 

[TekTippy4U]

that's what i was kinda trying to say,(that good ole 'opportunistic' word eluded me) though i noticed in the first post that u said nothing was locked..
hope it works out for ya..
not that i'm any kind of a good network tshooter myself, though others here are more well informed, and, though i don't recommend double posting, you may want to try the 'win2k server' forum at Forum96 if the prob persists

TT4U

Notification:
These are just &quot;my&quot; thoughts....and should be carefully measured against other opinions.
Backup All Important Data/Docs..All involved shall be spared the grief.

 

[TekTippy4U]

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;296264

TT4U

Notification:
These are just &quot;my&quot; thoughts....and should be carefully measured against other opinions.
Backup All Important Data/Docs..All involved shall be spared the grief.

 

[cruford]

Yeah I found that Microsoft KB as well. Out network gurus are saying it's not a file locking issue because all the icons and folders are Read Only. But when I do the packet capturing the return SMB message is "File opened by another user (or mode not supported)". I will be posting this in the W2k Server Forum. Thanks for you advise TekTippy4U

 

[TekTippy4U]

Folder are NOT read only unfortunately.....in XP that is;

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q326549

2000 version....may or may not help in tracking the prob..

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;256614

TT4U

Notification:
These are just &quot;my&quot; thoughts....and should be carefully measured against other opinions.
Backup All Important Data/Docs..All involved shall be spared the grief.