Explorer is slow to open some network folders

[JMD]

I have a strange phenomenon.

I'm trying to install several HP xw4200 workstations with AutoCad MAP 3D
2008. The computers are installed with Windows XP Pro (french version) with
SP 2 a network client, Netware Client (4.91 SP4) and the file server is
Netware 5.0. After having installed AutoCad, the network folder where are the
AutoCad files (containing serveral thousands of files, with a 6 Gb data
size), is long to open. Each time, I try to open a folder It take 10 seconds
and sometimes more. We can access to the other folders (smaller) on the same
server without problems.

It seems there is no network problems (network drivers and clients with the
last versions), and AutoCad is not directly the cause. But the AutoCad setup
installs several components Framework 2.0, MSXML Parser 6.0, MDAC 2.7 and
maybe some others. If I uninstall AutoCad the slowness disappears.

I could reproduce the problem on a computer with SP2, Framework 2.0 + french
language pack, MSXML Parser 6.0, MDAC 2.7. The AutoCad was installed and
uninstalled on this same workstation, and there was no more slowness problem.
But after I apply the windows update hotfixes and patches (after reboot of
the machine) the explorer was slow again. As I had more than 90 updates, It
is difficult to determine if one of these is causing the problem.

The same network folder is accessible without performance problem with
Windows 2000 (and AutoCad Map 5 - 20002). On the other computers of the
network there is no problem too. And, if the files are moved on a Windows
platform (such a simple workstation) there is no problem of performance even
on the new computers.

Any idea for that problem?

 

[JMD]

I did some other tests.

I'm not sure the problem appears too after applying the updates of windows
update on a computer without AutoCad (It seems Autocad was always present as
opposed to what I believed when I did the windows update procedure).

But, I've seen that AutoCad installs DWG TrueView 2008, a viewer for .DWG
Autocad files. And on a computer without problems, if I just install DWG
TrueView 2008, the slowness appears after the computer reboot. If I uninstall
this viewer all work fine.

I've done some captures before and after the DGW True View 2008
installation, with Winshark (Etherreal), so when there is the slowness and
when all work fine. I've compared the captures I see some differences but I
don't know decrypt them. There is "NCP over IP" (Netware) frames and some
requests "Read from a file" that are not presents when the slowness don't
occur. And the server is not always replying quickly to these requests. So, I
think the cause is there. But why?

Exemple of a NCP request and the reply
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NetWare Core Protocol
NCP over IP signature: Demand Transport (Request) (0x446d6454)
NCP over IP length: 36
NCP over IP Version: 1
NCP over IP Reply Buffer Size: 6
Type: Service request (0x2222)
Sequence Number: 250
Connection Number: 121
Task Number: 4
Function: 72 (0x48), Read From A File
Group: File System
Reserved: 245
File Handle: 0000E0E20900
File Offset: 148
Maximum Number of Bytes: 4

### few seconds after ... ###

NetWare Core Protocol
NCP over IP signature: Transport is NCP (Reply) (0x744e6350)
NCP over IP length: 22
Type: Service reply (0x3333)
Sequence Number: 250
Connection Number: 121
Task Number: 4
Response to Request in Frame Number: 62
Time from Request: 3.292229000 seconds
Function: 72 (0x48), Read From A File
Completion Code: 0 (0x8900), OK
Connection Status: Ok (0)
Number of Bytes: 4
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Is there someone who could help me ...
(Autodesk doesn't want to help us because they consider we are on a platform
not supported)

Thanks