Delays in Browsing Shared Files and Folders
Recently I’ve been having trouble of making small network of 6 computers working properly with each other through My network places. The problem is when browsing Workgroup members inside the network it takes long time to “see” shared folders and files in the root folder of a given PC. The network consists of 3 PCs with Windows Professional, one server Windows 2000 and two Home Edition PCs. They are connected through the switch that is connected to a router.
Note, Windows Explore can unexpectedly take long time to display Root folders if some items inside of it are inaccessible.
In my case I deleted all unnecessary shared items and left it at very minimum. I tried to remove the switch as well and connect just few computers through a router to no avail. In accessing the Internet there are no problems whatsoever. The problem is only inside the network in the form of a long delay when accessing shared items through My network places.
Let’s say I am on the one of these PCs trying to browse or “see” shared folders and files through My Network Places in the same Workgroup. I double click on My Network Places icon and then window with six computers opens up:
When I click on “Server” icon there is no problem – all shared folders open immediately. If I click on others I need to wait for a long time (about 20-30 sec) for shared folders to get opened. It is very strange as I checked network settings on each PC and they appear to be correct including all the necessary services are started.
The even stranger thing is that the lag happens only when you try to browse the root folder for example \\Reception, but when you try to go directly to a shared folder or file e.g \\Reception\\shared_file there is no lag, it opens immediately. It happens only if accessing a root folder using My network places. You can access root folder through Start then Run, type inside of an open box your root folder e.g \\Reception and it will open immediately as it doesn’t use “My network places” in this case.
The problem being resolved in PCs with Windows Professional by rejoining the computer to the Workgroup. Just open My Network Places and click on Set up a home or small office network link and the wizard will guide you through the process. Don’t forget to restart your PC. Also delete unused shared printers, files and folders in each network member PC.
In PCs with Windows Home Edition the same procedure didn’t solve the problem. The network system in a Home Edition OS is much worse than in Windows Pro. You can try to rejoin the PC to the same Workgroup and you may succeed in doing so but if all fails turn off your Windows Firewall.
This is nice workaround instead of just wasting tone of valuable time trying to figure it all out and making it work without a delay. Somehow it is very difficult to resolve this type of malfunction in Windows Home Edition. I tried different Home Edition PCs and all have the same problem.
If your modem or router have a built-in firewall you don’t need another Firewall anyway, it just slows your PC down.
If your router or modem doesn’t have built-in Firewall use a third party Firewall software that is better than Windows Firewall.
If you are not being able to resolve the same issue in Windows Pro by rejoining the PC to the same Workgroup you should try to turn the Firewall off as well. If it doesn’t help at least you know that the source of the problem lies somewhere else.
The thing is you can waist a LOT of time trying to resolve this issue when the problem is simply lies in the way the Windows Firewall works with My network places or wise versa.