I have 8 new clean install PC's running in one department, XP and oriffice 2003. All fully patched on a windows 2000 network.

On any one or two PCs at any given time, not at the same time or with any pattern, the open dialog box will run so slow it is virtually unsuable, the application will stop responding, and then recover. A reboot doesn't do owt.

If it was an issue on all i would be better placed to troubleshoot but it isn't and does it only intermittantly.

The dialog box is a windows component and not office is that right?

Any body got a clue because i bloody haven't.

The Open Dialog box is a standard component which resides within COMDLG32.OCX (which is the ActiveX interface to COMDLG32.DLL. However, this will not likely be the source of your problem, since that interfaces with Explorer, I would suggest it's a networking issue, and it's trying to find mapped drivers, new servers, etc.

My thoughts too, but Explorer is straight in, mapped drives are connected and no problems.

Doesn't stop it occuring, especially if you have the enhanced dialog with Network Places, etc. which does appear under Office XP +

Seems to have been an issue with the file sharing on the 2000 server and XP machines, have re-installed SP4 and it appears to have solved it.

This is still doing it, it's nothing to do with the dialog box, and is a networking issue of some description, an incompatibilty between the XP machines and the 2000 server, have tried dissabling SMB signing to no effect, i can find nothing on the microsoft website other than problems with virus software causing it.

Intemittantly some machines will cease to function and then recover, always whilst saving, opening, or browsing the network. This can happen for 1 minute or half a day. A reboot always sorts the problem. It never happens on all at the same time, although they appear to be affected partially when one is on tilt.

Any other ideas chaps?

Question, do you have a) large zip files lying around, b) anti virus software running scanning everything, c) high network usage at any point.

It's had to diagnose without being there really, because I'd do more with my fingers than I can think of with my head...

Yeah i understand that.

Not alot of zip files.
Network usage is minimal for the vast majority of the time. CAD workstations are saving to the server, but the size of these files never exheeds about 3 Mb and even those are the exception. Running 100Mps fully switched throughout, and i never see a collision on the boxes, or any correlation between large files being open and the go slow.

I may try removing all virus software from the server, and giving it a couple of weeks to see what happens (mail is scanned before it reaches us courtesy of the lovely people at messagelabs and they each have desktop virus scanning aswell.)

Actually to add to the above i now have another 4 XP boxes, different make, different software other than the standard office suite, all with the same problem. So it's all pointing to server and XP or just server.

Update: Their DNS was pointing to the wrong place.

crunt = spanna

Only taken a year to figure it out. :\

Have a gold star on me - may have taken a year, but at least that's one more problem down.

:youwin: :youwin: :youwin:

Ride,


Thanks.


Regards

C.