question accessing file thru server

Have you checked the antivirus program settings on the PCs? It's possible the file is being scanned upon opening by the antivirus program. If this is the situation, change the settings to not scan .xls or .xlsx files.

Regards...

Also, make sure all users that have access to that file have the same access rights in AD (assuming that you want it that way).

Also, depending on the current load on your network, the speed of your networking, as well as the specs of each PC; it could some desktops aren't capable of handling that big of a file over the network. A 30MB excel file is quite a lot of data to crunch and cache.

What are the specs on these computers and what happens when you try and download a local copy and run the file from your computer?

placing a copy on a local desktop, the same one i tried to open it thru the network and it took about 5 min, it opens in about 5 seconds.....

using symantec enterprise protection, went in and excluded that file on the server be from scanning....no difference still takes about 5 min to open the one on the server and 5 seconds the one on the desktop. The desktop we are using has 3GB of ram so don't believe we are looking at a local resource issue.

also trying this at night when no one is on the network, so utilization is very low

ok, after a bunch of testing, it appears that what is causing the issue is the office file validation tool. As long as it is installed, problem exists (regardless of the anti-virus state) take it out...works fine...opens in ~5 sec....thanks for the hint on what to try, Something needs to be sent to Microsoft about removing that update!!!!