XP: Speed Up Network Browsing

Contributor Icon Contributed by AlexTheBeast Date Icon December 4, 2003  
Tag Icon Tagged: Windows

Due to an XP odd behavior, the network browsing is sometimes delay by 15 to 30 seconds. Learn how to stop this delay.


Who knows why, but XP first checks for scheduled tasks on a target machine before it will list the files and folders for that target machine.

We’ve all seen this. You click on a network computer to browse… and you sit there and wait. We can download files screaming quick, but, man, that first delay is a killer.

Somebody will probably leave a comment that this delay is needed to prevent the world from coming to an end. That 15 to 30 seconds drives me crazy… and this is how to stop it.

This involves the registry so backup your registry before trying this. Heck, you probably should back up your whole computer and take out life insurance as well.

In regedit navigate to:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\
Explorer\Remote Computer\NameSpace

And delete the following key:
{D6277990-4C6A-11CF-8D87-00AA0060F5BF}

Close regedit and reboot.

This should turn off the check for scheduled tasks before browsing… and get rid of that blasted delay.

Previous recipe | Next recipe |
 

Viewing 9 Comments

    • ^
    • v
    This "pause" can happen on 2000 as well. I've seen it in a Novell Network for the most part, but it can happen on any non MS file server. The Novell way of getting rid of it is to upgrade to Novell Client 4.83 SP1 or better which removes this function for the Novell shares, but Samba still pauses. The above regedit will fix it in most cases, but upgrading explorer or several other pieces of the MS pile mayh cause it to revert to the original version. The Novell fix is permanent.
    • ^
    • v
    <ul id="quote"><h6>Anonymous wrote:</h6>This "pause" can happen on 2000 as well. I've seen it in a Novell Network for the most part, but it can happen on any non MS file server. The Novell way of getting rid of it is to upgrade to Novell Client 4.83 SP1 or better which removes this function for the Novell shares, but Samba still pauses. The above regedit will fix it in most cases, but upgrading explorer or several other pieces of the MS pile mayh cause it to revert to the original version. The Novell fix is permanent.</ul>
    • ^
    • v
    I have been search for a solution to that 10 to 15 second delay when accessing network directories and thought this would be it, BUT when I checked my registry, this file is already gone and XP is still slow to access the network drives initially. Once it has accessed a drive, XP seems to remember and is pulls them up fast the next time, but eventually as I change from directory to directory, it starts again. I've also noticed that when working in a program that accesses a file on one of the network drives, sometimes it takes so long for XP to access the network, that the program I'm using has started to time out.

    Any suggestions would be SO greatly appreciated. I know it's only 10 or 15 seconds, but it's a real pain in the net.

    Thanks!
    • ^
    • v
    I've had the same problem for weeks (since XP was installed) on our PC's here at work. This solution worked for us: In the Novell Client Properties Advanced Settings make sure "bad server name cache enabled" is on and that the "bad server name cache timeout" is set to the max value.
    • ^
    • v
    I have 3 XP machines.
    two are connect by CAT 5 to Linksys wireless router
    one is connected by USB wireless to the Linksys

    I did the regedit thingee here on all 3 machines.
    rebooted all three machines.
    Opening Network Neighborhood remained at 30 seconds.

    So this tip, in MY EXPERIENCE, is hog wash .. NO GOOD.
    Did it work for anyone??
    Any other ideas?
    • ^
    • v
    I'm not 100% sure, but I think our very same problem started with the installation of our firewall. It seems to be blocking the broadcasts from the servers master browser list. So basically, every time the machine gets rebooted, it has to find and verify the server is on it's local network segment...
    • ^
    • v
    I tried the registry trick with no luck, but here's what finally fixed it:

    WindowsXP runs the WebClient service which is used to seamlessy integrate with WebDav, but slows down your folder browsing (it has to time out before passing the request back to the normal process).

    Go to Control Panel, Services, and locate WebClient. Right click and stop this service, then try your browsing.. you can always restart it if you don't like the results. If you like it, double click on the service and select DISABLE from the Startup Type drop down menu.
    • ^
    • v
    The webclient hack works.

    Thanks !!! :lol:
    • ^
    • v
    I tried this today and feel like it worked just great. I have been putting up with this for a year now.

    Thank you for taking the time to add this "fix". Yes, it was only a few seconds, but that wasn't long enough for a break and too long for no good reason.

    Jonna
 
close Reblog this comment
Powered by Disqus · Learn more
blog comments powered by Disqus