Windows XP Peer to Peer Network - Slow browsing shares

[Nightfall]

Thought I might give this a shot here at the Anandtech community. Here is my equipment...

Linksys 16 port Workgroup Switch
Linksys Cable/DSL 4 port router (latest firmware)
CAT5e ethernet
3 computers running Windows XP Professional (fully patched according to Microsofts Website)
3Com 10/100 Ethernet Adapters 3c905c-TX in all systems

Computer 1 has a lot of storage and is considered a "server"
Computer 2 and 3 are workstations

Computer 1 has a network share available that has a lot of MP3's, software, and other data. When I try to browse the share from any of the other Windows XP systems, there is a obvious delay. This delay depends on how many files and directories are inside the directory. A couple folders don't have much in them so those shares pop up like normal...my "mp3" share that has a ton of music in it, it takes a good 10-20 seconds for the folder to open. If you navigate away from the folder and go back, the delay is still there. It is quite annoying. I have gotten used to keeping a window open inside those directories that have a lot of objects in them.

All shares and usernames/passwords are set up correctly.

I have tested the speed, and it looks to be right. I am getting 100 mbits a second so I know my switch isn't malfunctioning. I didn't have these problems with Windows 2000 Professional and the same 3 computers with the same setup. I know this has to be an XP problem. I brought in a Windows 98 system from work, plugged it in, and had the same issue on my network as the other XP systems. However, the XP systems could browse to a share on the Win98 system without any slowdown.

I have tried the QOS fix that was described in these forums, as well as the Scheduler registry fix without any change. I am tempted to install Windows 2000 Server on a system and connect into one big network at home to see if that fixes it. However, before I do anything, I wanted to run this by everyone here to see if anyone else is hitting this problem.

I know there are a lot of notices on other forums about this issue, but there are no answers. Someone has got to know something! Any questions/comments/or solutions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[Nightfall]

anyone?

 

[Strych9]

I'm having the same problem and I've posted on it several times and no one has come up with a solution. Funny thing is only two of my systems get the delay when accessing my server. The other machines on my lan experience no delay. They are all set up the same. It's been driving me nuts for a while now. I wish someone had a fix. Doesn't matter if I use NetBEUI or TCP/IP, I still get the delay.

 

[spidey07]

Doesn't this have to do with a registry fix for the indexing service? Don't know much about it but there is a fix. do a search on slow browsing shares on microsoft.

 

[Strych9]

I've applied that fix to all machines but still getting the delay in two of them. Driving me nuts.

 

[nomad147]

On Win2K this registry fix I found at www.w2kgamer.com fixed that for me. The entry is still there in XP but i don't know if it does anything. Just try your luck. Here is the article on it:

If you work on a LAN, or like me just have one setup at home then you will know that in its default configuration, Windows 2000 can take up to 30 seconds (!!!) to browse other computers through network neighborhood. The reason it takes this long is that there is an option enabled by default that tells Win2k to search for scheduled tasks on remote machines every time you browse. As 99.7% of us dont really need this, we can safely turn it off and drastically speed up our LAN browsing. This is how.

Click the start button, then select the "RUN" menu item. Type "regedit", without the " marks. The smart thing to do would be to first backup the registry, by selecting from the dropdown list, Registry --> Export registry file. Now, navigate to this registry branch.

MyComputer/HKEY_Local_Machine/Software/Microsoft/Windows
/CurrentVersion/Explorer/RemoteComputer/Namespace/.

Once you are there, you will see two entries. One starts with {2227A280-....).. Delete the other one! When selected it will say something like "ScheculeTasks" or something in the right pane.

Thats it! You dont even need to reboot, so go enjoy the lighting quick network browsing

Let me know if this helps. Also another fix I heard of is to typr "gpedit.msc" in the run box and browse to Computer Configuration/Administrative Templates/Network/QoS Packet Scheduler and modify the entry named "Limit reservable bandwidth" to the following. Choose enabled and change the value to "0%". You don't need to restart to see if it helped.

Cheers

 

[Strych9]

Tried both, neither helped. Anything else? I can't figure this one out. And like I said it only does it on two of my machines and only one way. No delay when the server connects to these machines. I only get the delay when they attempt to connect to the server. The other machines are fine.

 

[louie2001]

I have been fighting the same problem for some time.
I just set the NIC on the ICS computer to 10 Mbps
and now everything works fast and fine on all 3
computers.So what the hell is going on?
Do I have a bad cable or bad NIC?
I have tried 3 different hubs and switches up till now
so I don't think that is the problem.

 

[Strych9]

I've tested all hardware/cabling and that is not the problem. I didn't have this problem with Win2K either. It started when I moved to WinXP Pro. Someone out there has to have the answer.

 

[MyCulito]

You can speed up networking on WINDOWS XP by doing the following: It really works!

1.) Go to START, then RUN, then type GPEDIT.MSC, and hit Enter.
2.) This opens the Local Group Policy Editor box. When here, expand the following 3 boxes on the left-hand side:
COMPUTER CONFIGURATION
ADMINISTRATIVE TEMPLATES
NETWORK
3.) Next, choose QoS PACKET SCHEDULER, and double-click the line titled limit reservable bandwidth on the right side of the box.
4.) After double-clicking, select ENABLE, and where it says Bandwidth limit (%), type in 0.
5.) Hit ok, and restart your computer.


Good luck!

 

[Strych9]

That's been tried also. Didn't fix it.

 

[Saltin]

Im gonna put my two cents in here. This is a longshot, but I think the problem may be that the computers are looking for a master browser on the network and not finding one. Generally the PDC (NT 4) or PDC Emulator FSMO (2k) hold this role. I'm pretty sure a 2k client is incapable of holding it.
You can get around this by making an entry for every computer on the network in each clients LMHOSTS file.
Map the name to the IP.

It's just a shot in the dark, but it could help.

 

[Strych9]

I have my server set up as the master browser.

 

[spidey07]

I thought this was normal behavior. The client has to lookup all the icons for each and every file. How many files we talking here?

next step is to get a sniffer trace. might be the only way. Try to get a packet capture or use the built in network monitor and get a trace.

Also try mapping a drive directly to the folder having problems.

 

[Strych9]

<< I thought this was normal behavior. The client has to lookup all the icons for each and every file. How many files we talking here? >>

There are about a dozen shared folders on the server. When I try to access any of them (mapped or not) I get about a 20 second delay. This only happens with two of my machines and only since I moved to WinXP. The other machines don't have this problem (they are also on XP0. Server is running Win2K Adv Server.


<< Also try mapping a drive directly to the folder having problems. >>

Still get the delay here.


<< next step is to get a sniffer trace. might be the only way. Try to get a packet capture or use the built in network monitor and get a trace. >>

I'll check into this. Thanks.

 

[spidey07]

in that case sounds like some kind of microsoft network browsing issue. Hard to get into it right now, but rest assured fast and microsoft browsing generally don't mix.

Other things to check - multiple protocols on NICs and their binding order. MS hates having more than one protocol bound. Latest service packs installed, especially after ANY CHANGES WHATSOEVER on the machine. All PCs are on at least 90 minutes. All IP configs are correct - workgroup, DNS suffix, DNS search order, IP, MASK.

Can you post the output of "ipconfig/all" for all machines?

ps - welcome to the world of MS networking, where if you muck with it long enough and reboot it enough...sometimes it might work.

 

[Strych9]

spidey07, I pm'd you with ipconfig/all info.