Office slows down when loading networked files

[schoenfeld.one]

We are witnessing strange behaviour from Microsoft Office 2003.

When we have our totally unrelated software running, Microsoft
Office(i.e. word/excel) load files from a share significantly slower
than when our software is not running.

Our software does not make use of any Office components, but does
contain significant legacy components and complexity (i.e. it uses
MFC/OWL/Win32).

Below is a list of trials under different scenarios. The evidence
reveals a 300% slow-down when loading a networked file and having our
software running in the background (in comparison to when our software
is not running).

Any suggestions?


Sample Data
==========
Local File Networked File Networked File
Trial No software With software No Software With software With software
no virus scanner
Open Close Open Close Open Close Open Close Open Close
1 7 0 4 3 2 7 5 0 8 0
2 5 10 8 11 3 0 5 10 3 0
3 6 3 9 0 2 0 9 0 25 0
4 8 4 6 9 2 0 9 9 5 0
5 9 3 4 0 2 0 6 0 25 0
6 10 1 3 13 2.2 1.4 6.6 3.8 9 0

SUM 45.00 21.00 34.00 36.00 13.20 8.40 40.60 22.80 75.00 0.00
AVG 7.50 3.50 5.67 6.00 2.20 1.40 6.77 3.80 12.50 0.00
VAR 2.92 10.25 4.89 27.33 0.13 6.53 2.81 18.13 81.92 0.00
STD 1.71 3.20 2.21 5.23 0.37 2.56 1.67 4.26 9.05 0.00

 

[Jezebel]

Working with a Word file is not a simple matter of loading the file into
local memory, working on it, then writing it back to disk when you close it.
When you open the file, Words create a lock file, a temporary working copy,
and optionally a backup copy. While you're working on the document, the
temporary file is updated continually. The consequence is that disk usage is
relatively heavy -- and if you're working over a network, network traffic
likewise. If your other software is also traffic-intensive, one would expect
a performance impact.

Beyond that, one can't really comment without knowing what impact your other
software has on your network.