what about your normal.dot....where is it on this machine?
Main Topics
Browse All TopicsUsing a Sony Vaio laptop, running Windows XP Pro SP1, With Office XP Pro, Symantec AV Corporate 8. I can open local files from Office (Word, Excel, PPT) with no problems. If I try to open Office files stored on the file server on the network, the laptop starts to hang. Task manager shows 2 instances of the Office application (Word, for instance) but the actual program does not get to the splash screen. Trying to end task does not get anywhere, but the "send error report" option does come up, however the task will not actually end. The laptop then needs to be hard rebooted. Other computers on this network do not have this problem. The laptop does not seem to be exhibiting any other issues. I can open PDF files from the same file server with no problems on the laptop. It appears to be limited to Office files only. Any ideas what may be causing this?
This Question has been solved and asker verified All Experts Exchange premium technology solutions are available to subscription members.
Experts Exchange has been collecting answers to technology questions since 1996…3 million and counting! If you have a question, chances are we already have your answer.
If you can't find the exact answer you're looking for, ask our exclusive community of 50,000 experts. You’ll get a personalized answer from a trusted professional.
Thousands of free tech tips, tricks, how-to’s and tutorials are available in our peer reviewed articles section. See for yourself how smart our experts are, no login required.
Access the answers to your technology questions today.
30-day free trial. Register in 60 seconds.
Members of the expert community talk about why the experience at Experts Exchange is different than what you will find anywhere else.

Try it out and discover for yourself.
30-day free trial. Register in 60 seconds.
Join the community of experts here and help other tech pros by answering question in your area of expertise. You can earn FREE access to all Experts Exchange's premium features and resources.
I was able to spend some time on this laptop finally. This is what I discovered:
Further research on the Symantec website yielded the following: http://service1.symantec.c
"When multiple clients copy or edit documents on a mapped network drive, each client downloads and scans each document that is accessed. This includes not only the documents that the user accesses, but any file accessed by the system. For example, if a user hovers the mouse pointer over a file listing in Windows Explorer, Explorer accesses the file in order to display file properties in a ToolTip, which triggers a scan. The cumulative effect of users with network drive scanning enabled can slow network traffic significantly, and is not necessary if the file server has virus protection." http://service1.symantec.c
Short answer: I unchecked the "Network Drives" setting on the "realtime protection" configuration and it alleviated the problem. Why this was hanging up only this guy's computer I do not know, I will have to look at other computers to see what they are set up like. He had the single click access to files turned on and that is the only thing I can think of that is different from all the other computers.
Business Accounts
Answer for Membership
by: JOrzechPosted on 2004-01-22 at 06:19:49ID: 10173931
For testing purposes, try disabling your antivirus and see if it still hangs.