Windows 2000 problem.... i think!!

[knappagh1]

Heres the situation. We have 3 Dell Dimentions with identical spec. 2 of them are fully up to date with windows patches etc. The third, we dont want to update just yet because for the problems were having with the other two.

I'll explain a bit further. When the users of the 2 up to date machines tries to open files through explorer, either locally or on the network, explorer will freeze for about 4-5 minutes before opening the files. When the users open the files through the application (eg, word, excel etc) the files will open with out any hastle. This lead us to believe it was a file assocaition issue, but all associations were correct. Now, when logged of as administrator, at times the files would at times open, but with no definate pattern to it. So we changed the users to local administrators but had no joy.

Now, in the mean time, one of the "comedians" in the office decided to pull the netowrk cable out of one of the PC's as a joke, but this deepened the mystry further as the local files would now open through explorer with out any delay. So, we were left believing it was a network/network card issue. Now because it was only these 2 machines experiencing this problem, we decided on the network card. We updated all the drivers and even replaced the cards, but to no avail. There still having the problem.

What were now thinking of doing is a rebuild, but we dont really want to go there.... one of the users likes to have a good moan at the expense of the IT Dept, and you can be sure that his PC will "never be the same" after a rebuild.

So im throwing out to all you good people. Does anyone know what might be causing the issue or have you come across the problem before? If you need any more information etc, just let me know.

Look forward to hearing from you all!!!!

Many Thanks,
Paddy

 

[Psyke]

I've seen this happen. Not sure what causes it, but my guess is that it might be caused by network traffic.

I've seen it happen around my office on Windows 2000 and XP machines. However it's not a constant problem.

But as you said, if i detach the network cable the delays in opening files no longer happen.

I'm interested also, to see if anyone has any further ideas around this problem.

 

[bcastner]

Make this registry change:

Step 1: Click Start > Run
Step 2: Type in regedit in the prompt
Step 3: Delete the Sub-Key with (Default) string value set to "Printers"
{2227A280-3AEA-1069-A2DE-08002B30309D}
Step 4: Delete the Sub-Key with (Default) string value set to "Scheduled Tasks"
{D6277990-4C6A-11CF-8D87-00AA0060F5BF}

Then read this discussion:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;814112

 

[UnlimCompSol]

I would like to know if the my documents folder is being redirected to another place on the network or is it on the local machine?

Do you have synchronization (sp) on?



Malik

http://www.unlimitedcomputersolutions.com

where your problems are our solutions!!

 

[knappagh1]

Psyke, we had thought of network traffic but we looked at it using Ethereal and it showed up nothing out of the ordinary.

bcastner, where abouts in the registry are you deleting those values from and why those values? i dont like to play in the registry if im not sure why in there and what im doing!!!!

UnlimCompSol, the My Docs folders are locally stored also, we dont use synchronization.

One thing we are looking at is a rogue shortcuts. We have had issues before where a shortcut to a location no longer on the network has caused hastle opening files through applications and explorer. Deleting the shortcuts solved that issue, but i dont think its the same here because the users are not accessing the same information or drives.

Thanks for the posts guys.

Regards
Paddy

 

[jlockley]

I had terrific problems after an upgrade to sp4. Suspecting the upgrade I removed it and everything worked fine. Added SP3 instead with a return of the issues. etc down the line.

Googling the problem all over showed that post upgrade problems are rampant. I eventually found out that the issue is/was the firewall. You might try removing the upgrades, then removing your firewall, reinstalling the upgrades (see if they work..or just try removing the firewall first, for that matter) then reinstall the firewall.

 

[knappagh1]

I cant see it being the firewall, jlockey. Nither machines have internet access and do not have a local hardware/software firewall.

We are beginning to suspect that updates are the cause. I dont believe its SP4 causing the problem.... its being installed on the machines almost from the upgrade became available. These problems have only surfaced in the last 2/3 weeks. Apparently though, the users thought everyone was having the same problem and didnt bother telling us, so were not 100% sure as to when the problems began. We know it was fine at the start of August when we upgraded to AD 2003.

So im now going to start removing updates one at a time... and that should be fun!!!!

Regards,
Paddy