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AliGator

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Windows XP networking. Very slow connection in one direction.

I posted the following question on the Windows XP area. Perhaps this is the more appropriate place.

I have a networking problem which I have never been able to solve. At the present time I have a broadband modem/router connecting a desktop machine by cable and a laptop by wireless. Surfing the net with either machine at 1 meg is excellent. The problem is that local network communication from the desktop to the laptop is extremely slow, while from the laptop to the desktop is slick. If I try to access a laptop folder from the desktop it takes several minutes to open the folder. Once this is done further browsing is at normal speeds. Pinging works perfectly in both directions. This problem is independent of the physical network configuration. I started with a single cable connecting the desktop and laptop. Then I changed to a simple hub to enable me to add a Windows 98SE desktop to the cabled network and now I have dropped the 98SE machine and use the router to connect the desktop by cable and the laptop by wireless. The funny thing is that I use a backup program resident on the desktop to write laptop files to DVD on the desktop and this works at normal speeds. I have avoided this problem for over a year now by working one way from the laptop to the desktop but feel that there must be an explanation out there somewhere. Any ideas, please?
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infotrader

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AliGator

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FQDN "\\portable" works and I have deleted all but essential items from My Network Places. I could not specifically identify a dead share but at the moment two way communication is instantaneous. Could this be the answer? I'll give it 24 hours and report back.

Thanks for your interest.
Avatar of Tim Holman
Are both machines Win XP ?
Yes.
Have you tried setting up Simple File Sharing ?

http://www.practicallynetworked.com/sharing/xp/filesharing.htm
Hi AliGator,

Are you still having problem now, after you deleted a few shares/folders in the My Network Places?  If your network is already "working", I really don't see how re-doing your file sharing setup is going to resolve your problem (ok..  let me rephrase that...  IF it does fix your problem, it's not because Simple File Sharing is better than what you had, but somehow when you redid the share you fixed something in the registry)

- Info
>Comment from tim_holman  
>Date: 09/01/2004 02:20PM BST

>Have you tried setting up Simple File Sharing ?

Yes, I was using Simple File Sharing but it was taking in excess of 10 minutes for the desktop PC to open a folder on the laptop. I deleted all file sharing in My Network Places on both machines, retaining only HDD and DVD writer access, and everything started working at normal speed.

AliG.

>Comment from infotrader
>Date: 09/01/2004 05:49PM BST


>Hi AliGator,

>Are you still having problem now, after you deleted a few shares/folders in the My Network >Places?  If your network is already "working", I really don't see how re-doing your file sharing >setup is going to resolve your problem (ok..  let me rephrase that...  IF it does fix your problem, >it's not because Simple File Sharing is better than what you had, but somehow when you redid >the share you fixed something in the registry)

I am the only user of these two machines so I have shared access to the HDD's and DVD drives. I also had Simple File Sharing on some folders set up when I was new to local networking and just finding my way about. I deleted all of this latter category and everything suddenly fell into place. I did not touch the entries relating to the 2 HDD's and 2 DVD writers on the desktop and the HDD on the laptop. I did not delete and recreate them.

I have rebooted several times since I deleted the file shares and the network is stable and fast - in both directions. Hallelujah!

AliG.