Explorer.exe causing slow transfer speeds !

[Jazz]

ok, heres the situation,. when i transfer big 700mb files from one partition to another, it takes 3 minutes...

But if i start the file copy process and immediately kill the explorer.exe process, the copy takies only 18-20 seconds ! can someone tell me why is this happening and how do i overcome this problem

Another thing to take notice is that, when i keep the explorer.exe and then start the copy phase with cmd.exe, it takes the same 3 min's to transfer..

But then again if i kill the cmd.exe it completes in 18-20 seconds..

Why are the explorer.exe and cmd.exe cause of slow transfer speeds in Windows XP ??? i've checked this with windows 2003 and it works perfectly there, i.e takes only 18-20 seconds to copy the file..

I've also tried reformatting the primary os, install xp without sp1, with sp1 and with sp2.. still the same thing... slow transfers till i kill the explorer.exe process

I bet thsi is the most challengin question, u've heard.. and me too.. so lets see if we can come around this problem together..

I bet many out there too are experiencing very slow transfer speeds from their hdd's and they dont even know this cuz they never might have thought that explorer.exe is the root cause of this evil !!

Bye,

Jazz

[neosapience]

The only thing I can think of is that some setting (like IoPageLockLimit) may be out of whack for your system. I've seen it happen before, where certain motherboards just do NOT like the settings that XP uses. Disabling explorer/cmd may be forcing the system to use 'default' settings and thereby temporarily rectifying the problem. Look around the net for some info on these reg settings -

IoPageLockLimit

Win32PrioritySeparation

LargeSystemCache

SystemPages

You also may want to make sure your BIOS settings are set properly and that your Windows DMA transfer mode settings are set to 'DMA if available' (using the device manager).

Best O' luck to ya.

NS

[Jazz]

Ohh, chee thanks.. atleast someone replied i thought i was just talking to myself, in this forum !

n'ways thanks for ur suggestions, i'll try to look it up. but i think the settings that i use are the default settings enabled with xp..

Still i'll try to find if i can rectify this prob..

n'ways this problem has already forced me to think alternative solutions.. so by the time i even come across a page scratching the surface of this problem, i've been already shifted to one of the best os'es out there...

LINUX (gentoo) and i heard that reiserfs4 is much much better than any other fs out there in the wild.. so, the adventure begins

Bye,

Jazz

[/\/\o\/\/]

i'v seen (and had myself) allot of this kind a problems with XP,

and network access, most seems to be related to al kinds of new pre-fetching / locking sh#t M$ has build in explorer

some problems are :

- zip-folders (explorer pre-reads the contents (popupbaloon) <- regfix available)

- Mediafiles (reading properties)

- Office files opening verry slow (esp. Excel) (lock problem mentioned by neosapience)

maybe XP is also doing such things while you copy the file

must you can tune a bit in the Registry but for all mentioned problems only the ZIP/MediaFile problems, are really solved here

main line is that the explorer is exploring to much on his own

good luck

gr /\/\o\/\/

[Jazz]

Hmm, i've kinda disabled the zip folders completely using nLite.. also by reg tweaks.. and how should i know what setting to tinker with ?

I had read a article explaining how to change the disk block size from 4kb (default) to 64k or 128k to allow very fast access and transfer speeds, that does mean that i'll lose extra space if i have small files, but at this time of utter grief and frustration... i just dont care abt the space..

Please can u help me find the reg tweak that u were talking abt ?

Bye,

Jazz

[neophyte]

Yes, you will lose space if you set your block size to 8,16,32,64kb etc. However, that would only be for files less than the size of the block.

[Jazz]

Ohh i'm so sorry, in my above post i menationed that i had read that article.. what i forgot to mention was that it was a long time ago, and i'm not finding it again.. so if ayone know how to change the block settigs via registry, or find an article showing how to do that.. then pls post it.,..

Bye,

Jazz

[Sunil]

block settings cannot be changed via the registry, you will need specialised tools, partition magic and other partition management tools can help you to do this.

[/\/\o\/\/]

this workaround works in some cases :

Disable searching for schuduled tasks :

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/Software/Microsoft/Windows/Current Version/Explorer/RemoteComputer/NameSpace

delete {D6277990-4C6A-11CF-8D87-00AA0060F5BF}

there is also a KB about reading media file properties don't know the KB number.

below some other interesting KB articles (none of them realy worked for me)

greetings /\/\o\/\/

319440 Logon Delays Over Slow Links if Oplock Is Not Granted for the Policy File

306981 Level II Oplocks Are Not Granted After a File Is Locked

324002 Searching Files Across a Network May Leave Open Files

296264 Configuring Opportunistic Locking in Windows

812513 File Takes an Unexpectedly Long Time to Open Through Server Message Block Protocol

[/\/\o\/\/]

another couple

Windows XP automatically searches the network for shares and printers upon connecting to the network. This is probably useful in a SOHO or home network but not the enterprise. To disable XP automatic discovery:

In Explorer, click Tools

Click Folder Options

Click the View tab,

Uncheck Automatically Search for Network Folders and Printers in Advanced settings list.

under xp services disable SSDP Discovery Service

also networkneighbourhood seems to slow things down

HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer\NoRecentDocsNetHood to 1